Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Blackpool’s heritage trams were once again out in force with the now familiar gold timetable in operation on both Sunday 30th & Monday 31st August. Normally six trams would be used for this, which is pretty good going – but on the Sunday an extra driver was available, allowing seven heritage cars to run simultaneously: a new record for the post-upgrade era.
The star attraction on this weekend was undoubtedly Ex-Towing Railcoach 680 which had only recently returned on loan from the Heaton Park Tramway following a superb repaint in 1990s green, cream and black livery as worn by this car when it was fresh from the workshops after a major overhaul in 1992. On Sunday, the tram was rostered to perform the first departure of the day from Pleasure Beach to Fleetwood at 1000, but to cater for the expected high demand for 680‘s first run on Blackpool tracks since 2008, it was joined by Centenary car 642 which joined the six scheduled heritage trams as a special, running as directed just like in old times. Its first duty of the day was to follow 680 from Pleasure Beach to Fleetwood and back to cater for anyone left behind by the Railcoach which, unsurprisingly, was filled to capacity for this historic event. This was in fact 642‘s first visit to the northern terminus for two years and so this was a popular addition to the day.
The other five trams which ran on the timetabled heritage service on 30th August were Bolton 66, Twin set 272+T2, Boat 600 and Balloons 701 and 715. The latter two were very welcome choices as they perfectly complemented 680‘s 1990s look, with 715 in the double deck version of the same livery style being a particularly welcome choice. Unfortunately car 600 suffered problems with its trolley pole quite early in the day, leading to it being replaced by sister car 230 – and then further excitement was provided by ‘B Fleet’ Balloon 711 which was used in normal passenger service along with two Flexities on specials to support the core service. Of particular note, 711 managed a rare trip to Starr Gate and also visited Cleveleys at least once during the day. This meant that a total of nine traditional trams had run on this day, a very impressive total making for an exceptional day on the tramway.
Bank Holiday Monday 31st August was slightly less exciting than the previous day but was still highly enjoyable. Once again 680 stole the show and this time it was joined on heritage tours by Fleetwood Box 40, Twin set 272+T2 (making its third appearance in as many days), Brush car 631, ‘Princess Alice’ 706 and Balloon 717. Once again 711 was used on specials as an ordinary passenger car and again it performed journeys to both Starr Gate and Cleveleys. This meant that a grand total of fifteen different traditional trams had run over the course of the three-day weekend, as Boat 227 and Balloon 700 had been used on Saturday 29th August along with cars 230, 272+T2, 701 and 711. Notably the weekend witnessed the first extensive use of modified Balloon cars alongside an enhanced heritage output rather than being part of the heritage roster, which certainly helped to shift the large volume of people in town whilst also improving an already diverse vehicle turnout.
All too soon another weekend of heritage tram activity was over, although with the illuminations just around the corner there is much to look forward to – and of course the lavish 130th anniversary weekend is also just a few short weeks away!
Railcoach 680 arrives at Pleasure Beach with its first passenger working in Blackpool since 2008, along with Centenary car 642 which was used to duplicate 680's first Fleetwood trip. (Photo by Rob Bray)
Another flashback to the early 1990s is provided by Balloon 701 & 715 at Bispham, in special Routemaster red & white and the standard green & cream livery of the period respectively, reflecting how both trams looked when 680 was in regular service in its current livery.
Unusually 'B Fleet' cars on specials have been using North Pier as a southbound terminating point recently. Here 711 demonstrates by reversing here on 30th August.
A delightful scene with 101 year old Box car 40 on Pharos Street in Fleetwood on Monday 31st August.
Contrasting Towing cars 272 and 680 pass at Bispham on 31st August, giving some idea of how 680 may look had the process of permanently coupling the Twin sets being extended to cover the last three sets. (Photos x 4 by Bradley Jones)