{"id":12219,"date":"2015-08-21T19:53:26","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T18:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=12219"},"modified":"2015-08-21T19:54:39","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T18:54:39","slug":"in-pictures-blackpool-680-comes-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=12219","title":{"rendered":"In Pictures: Blackpool 680 comes home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a super-fast but superb repaint into its 1990s livery, Blackpool Ex-Towing car 680 <\/strong>was transported from Manchester back to Blackpool on the morning of Friday 21st August by Calkelds Heavy Haulage. Less than two weeks after it ran at Heaton Park in its previous cream livery for the last time, an immaculate green, cream and black 680 <\/strong>touched down on Blackpool tracks as the second visiting tramcar to return to Rigby Road in the post-upgrade era.<\/p>\n

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Just hours after receiving the finishing touches to its repaint, 680 <\/strong>was brought outside early on the morning of 21st August – so far the only brief opportunity to see the tram out in the open at Heaton Park in its new\/old livery. The process of loading commenced at around 0800 and soon afterwards, 680 <\/strong>was ready to leave. An uneventful road journey followed and the car was back ‘home’ by lunchtime. After an equally efficient job was made of unloading the tram, it was then shunted into the Electrical Compound with some assistance from Blackpool Transport’s Unimog wago. There, the pantograph tower and lifeguards will be restored and the all-important transponders will also be fitted to enable it to operate on the modernised tramway for the first time. Interestingly, of all the Blackpool trams which have returned from various museums on loan, 680 <\/strong>has broken the record for the shortest gap between departing for a new life in preservation, and returning for a visit!<\/p>\n

It has not yet been confirmed when the tram will enter service in Blackpool although it will of course play a major role in the 130th anniversary weekend in September, and details of its passenger debut will be revealed once a date that can confidently be achieved is decided upon. Naturally, British Trams Online <\/em>will keep readers updated on all developments with 680 <\/strong>– and we’ll also be publishing a special photo gallery showing its return to Blackpool.<\/p>\n

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One last look at 680 inside the original Heaton Park tram depot, and an unsual view of the completed paint job, seen from the roof of Hull 96! (Photo by Martin Bryan)<\/p><\/div>\n

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680 is seen in the open air for the first time following its repaint as it is loaded onto the lorry used to take it back to Blackpool. (Photo by Martin Strickland)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Welcome back! 680 is seen on Blundell Street just after touching down on Blackpool rails for the first time since it left, initially for Beamish, in December 2013. (Photo by Dave Growns)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Following a super-fast but superb repaint into its 1990s livery, Blackpool Ex-Towing car 680 was transported from Manchester back to Blackpool on the morning of Friday 21st August by Calkelds Heavy Haulage. Less than two weeks after it ran at … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12219"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12227,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12219\/revisions\/12227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}