{"id":12812,"date":"2015-10-16T21:29:30","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T20:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=12812"},"modified":"2015-10-16T21:29:30","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T20:29:30","slug":"picture-in-time-blackpool-illuminated-rocket-732","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=12812","title":{"rendered":"Picture in Time: Blackpool Illuminated Rocket 732"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We are heading back into the depths of Rigby Road Depot for today\u2019s Picture in Time image as we continue our review of the illuminated tram fleet. The tram which caught the eye of our photographer today is the iconic <strong>Illuminated Rocket 732<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Constructed from <strong>Pantograph 168<\/strong> it took less than five months for the tram to become the <strong>Illuminated Rocket<\/strong> in the workshops at Rigby Road with an entry into service in its new radical style being in September 1961. As well as being shaped like a Rocket the tram had a number of unique features with the seats being fixed at an angle to line up with the windows whilst the entrance and exit was situated at the end of the tram rather than on the side. It was also originally a single ended car with no controls provided at the back, although this did change in later years. The end came for the <strong>Rocket<\/strong> at the end of the 1999 season with the tram having to be withdrawn requiring an overhaul which was never to come. Donated to the Lancastrian Transport Trust <strong>732<\/strong> did attempt a farewell tour in April 2002 but a smashed lifeguard at Thornton Gate bought a premature end to this. <strong>The Rocket<\/strong> remained at Rigby Road Depot stored for the LTT until an arrangement was reached with the Illuminations department to cosmetically restore the tram for 2012 illuminations. This saw the tram displayed on Gynn Square roundabout and it remained there for two seasons before it was returned to Rigby Road but this time as part of the Blackpool Heritage fleet where it waits its turn for full restoration.<\/p>\n<p>This photo, taken on 5th September 1974, shows <strong>The Rocket<\/strong> in Rigby Road Depot with its lights switched on. <strong>The Hovertram<\/strong> can be seen behind.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_12813\" style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?attachment_id=12813\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-12813\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12813\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12813\" title=\"732-am\" src=\"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/732-am-550x368.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/732-am-550x368.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/732-am-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/732-am.jpg 1273w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-12813\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photograph by Alasdair MacFarlane<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are heading back into the depths of Rigby Road Depot for today\u2019s Picture in Time image as we continue our review of the illuminated tram fleet. The tram which caught the eye of our photographer today is the iconic &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=12812\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12812"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12815,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12812\/revisions\/12815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}