When you think of the Blackpool Boat Car in the United States of America you would probably immediately think of San Francisco, which is now home to three of the class. But it isn’t the only place you can see a Boat Car in the USA as a fourth example can be found at the National Capital Trolley Museum in Washington D.C. – 606.
606 has been in the USA for 26 years having first gone across the Atlantic in 2000 as part of the deal which saw the repatriation of Blackpool Standard 147. It initially went to the Gerald Brookins Museum of Electric Railways (latterly the Lake Shore Electric Railway Museum) and would stay there for nine years, and then in 2009 it was purchased by the National Capital Trolley Museum.
The tram is operational – although not on the day of these photos when it was under exam – and is often used on the museum’s tramway during the summer. In a collection which features many trams from across Washington D.C., America and beyond, 606 is unique in that it is the only open car.
606 retains the yellow and blue livery it finished its operating career in Blackpool in but has lost its trolley tower with the trolley affixed to the central roof as the overhead is at a lower height than it would have seen when back home on the Fylde Coast.
- The National Capital Trolley Museum is open Saturdays throughout the year and Fridays during the main season. More details at https://www.dctrolley.org/
606 is seen under exam at the National Capital Trolley Museum. (Both Photographs by Mark Foster, 19th September 2026)