Possibly the most famous Blackpool tram to the general public, Balloon 710, has returned to Rigby Road Depot where it will become an exhibit at the Tramtown visitor attraction. The tram made the short move from outside storage at Wyre Dock on Wednesday 8th February 2023.
As we’ve reported extensively on these pages, 710 is widely known in non-enthusiast circles as the “Alan Bradley Tram” having been involved in one of the most iconic scenes on ITV’s soap opera Coronation Street. In a episode originally broadcast in December 1989, the tram was seen to knock over the dastardly Alan Bradley as he chased Rita Fairclough across the tram tracks on North Promenade. Obviously. it was all make believe but despite that 710 became well known as the tram which killed Alan Bradley and has remained so despite the fact it is over 33 years ago!
Last running in 2007, 710 was acquired by the then Friends of Fleetwood Trams as part of their ambitious plans for a tourist attraction in the town. Originally stored in a yard on the outskirts of Fleetwood it was moved to Wyre Dock on 3rd July 2013 and it has remained in that outside storage ever since. With the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s plans formally abandoned last year all of their trams were put up for sale which led to a lot of speculation about what would happen to the “iconic” 710.
Plans for it to go to Rossall School and then Sandtoft fell through and it seemed that this would be the end of the tram. Until Tramtown came to the rescue and agreed to transfer the tram back to Rigby Road where it would become a static exhibit (at least for the foreseeable future). It is planned to cosmetically restore the tram back to its late 1980s condition with this work due to be completed by Tramtown volunteers and not take up valuable workshop space from any operational trams.
The move of 710 – which retains a very faded Metro Coastlines Magenta and Yellow livery – took place with little hitch on Wednesday 8th February with it being manoeuvred from Blundell Street into the depot by Unimog 939.
Tramtown plan an official unveiling in the future but for now the tram is back under cover for the first time since leaving Rigby Road in 2011.
Delighted with the outcome so far.
I have very mixed feelings about this development. On one hand, its about time that the obvious marketing potential of 710 has finally been realised – opportunities to engage the general public with trams should be grabbed with both hands in my opinion and a tram being part of an iconic TV moment is certainly that!
However, I still feel that it is a tragedy that 710 was left outside for so long before it was ‘rescued’. Even if the Fleetwood group were unwilling to sell it, BTS could have offered sanctuary at Rigby Road as they did with several other trams, including the FHLT’s own 627 and 761 before ownership transfers, and others including 708, 726 and the infamous Trampower thing. Presumably nobody thought 710 mattered enough to offer to store it undercover – until someone finally decided it was, by which time it had deteriorated to a point that it will probably cost tens of thousands to make it fit even for static display. Such a waste of effort and money that could have so easily been avoided.
It remains to be seen if the Tramtown volunteers are up to the job of restoring a tram, as their previous achievements seem limited to things like painting doors, weeding and washing trams. If they do a good job this could really give them some credibility and inspire far more confidence in the whole heritage tram/depot plans… it will be interesting to see what happens next!
The way I see it, everything that goes on in Blackpool is an incomprehensible shambles.
Why do you write that? I haven’t been able to visit for some time, and wonder what the problems might be.
Read the article then read about everything that has happened to Blackpool heritage trams since 2009 and it might give you a clue.
That is very harsh… there was a lot of good stuff going on post-upgrade. Admittedly there were some things that were very questionable in hindsight, and we probably turned a blind eye to some of the negatives as we were simply so grateful to have any heritage service at all – but certainly I had some of my best times on the trams in 2013-14. It felt like the wheels really started to come off (pardon the pun!) in 2016, with things getting progressively worse ever since.
One suggestion: keep it in its current condition, but paint it all over white and name it ‘Dumbo’
It really is great to see that 710 made it back ‘home’ in one piece. I suppose this is the moment of reckoning for the volunteer team – a golden opportunity for them to shine, or not as the case may be. Let us hope that they do excel, which in itself will be very good for Tramtown as it will encourage support along with restoring faith to those in doubt. Much as voluntary work is based on goodwill and availability, I feel it is of great importance that the team at Tramtown don’t allow to go to waste this chance to impress and gain general confidence in the Heritage organisation.
As an aside, I do hope that those trams that don’t make it from their open storage can prove useful in providing parts to ensure the continuation of similar cars in preservation, either in Blackpool or elsewhere. No doubt the bodywork of the railcoaches plus trailer is in a parlous state similar to that of 710. However I would expect that things such as bogies and controllers coud ber salvaged and put to good use in future projects.
Lets hope they actually paint it correctly – the original press release said 80s livery – in fact it was in 90s livery when Aln Bradley met his demise.