It\u2019s been an exciting week for the Manchester Transport Museum Society,\u00a0which has seen two of the organisation\u2019s ex-Blackpool trams travelling by road\u00a0to new homes.<\/p>\n
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The week started in fine form on the morning of Monday 28th November, when Blackpool\u00a0 Balloon car 708<\/strong> was dragged out of the Electrical Compound at\u00a0Blackpool and loaded up on Blundell Street, adjacent to the Fitting Shop. A low\u00a0loader from Scott\u2019s Heavy Haulage had been spotted stabling outside the tram\u00a0depot at Rigby Road over the preceding weekend leading to a great deal of\u00a0speculation, and sure enough a tram was indeed on the move. After an uneventful\u00a0loading process \u2013 presumably the team from Scott\u2019s can just about load a\u00a0Balloon car in their sleep by now \u2013 708<\/strong> left its home of 77\u00a0 years after 1100 and arrived at Bolton later that day. The tram has moved to\u00a0 this site for temporary storage, but hopefully it will one day operate on the\u00a0 preserved tramway at Heaton Park, Manchester. It was intended that the car\u00a0 would be housed inside a large building, but unfortunately unforeseen\u00a0 circumstances at the last minute dictated that 708<\/strong> had to be\u00a0 deposited outside. It is hoped that this situation will not be for long though,\u00a0 and that the tram will soon be provided with secure storage undercover.<\/p>\n For the record, 708<\/strong> last operated in passenger service\u00a0during the 2004 illuminations, by which time it was already in a visibly poor\u00a0condition, not helped by its weather-worn paintwork dating back to 1999.\u00a0 However this was not 708<\/strong>\u2018s last outing on the Blackpool 708<\/strong>\u2018s journey was just the start of the week\u2019s tramcar\u00a0 movements though \u2013 and the second move of the week was even more exciting! The\u00a0 same low loader which had been used to transport 708<\/strong> was taken\u00a0 to Trafford Park the following morning, where it collected Brush Railcoach\u00a0623<\/strong> which was duly taken to Heaton Park! The tram had resided at\u00a0Trafford Park since May last year when it left Blackpool, initially for display A short length of temporary track was laid in front of 623 inside the\u00a0 building which has been its home for the last 18 months, and the car was then\u00a0 carefully winched aboard the trailer, before emerging into the daylight. After\u00a0making the short journey across Manchester, 623 arrived at its new home in the\u00a0early afternoon and touched down on Manchester rails at 2:40pm. Despite its\u00a0arrival being greeted by a hailstorm and then torrential rain, the Scott\u2019s\u00a0workers and tramway volunteers were undeterred and the tram was unloaded\u00a0quickly, after which it was shunted into the depot by another ex-Blackpool As 623<\/strong> has not operated for just over two years, it is\u00a0expected that it will require some minor attention before entering service in\u00a0Manchester, which will include the fitting of a trolley pole atop a shortened\u00a0trolley tower. If all goes to plan then it is hoped the launch the car into\u00a0passenger service early next year; details will no doubt be released by the
\ntramway, as it remained available for emergency use in its capacity as a\u00a0 snowplough car, and indeed a heavy snow fall led to it making one final run on\u00a0 12th March 2006. Despite its long period in store, the tram remains largely\u00a0 intact apart from a few missing window panes and indeed it could probably be\u00a0 made serviceable on at least a restricted basis with fairly minimal effort. The\u00a0 car\u2019s owners have not yet confirmed their long-term plans for 708, but at least\u00a0the tram has escaped the confines of Rigby Road to see another day.<\/p>\n
\nin the short-lived \u2018Museum of Museums\u2019 alongside fellow MTMS-owned tram Balloon
\n702<\/strong>. Both cars have been stored in another part of the same complex\u00a0 for most of 2011 after the attraction closed down, but with plans afoot to\u00a0redevelop the site, the MTMS were given notice to move both trams.\u00a0 Unfortunately 702<\/strong> is too tall to fit in the current tram depot\u00a0 at Heaton Park, and will therefore be moved elsewhere, but the opportunity to
\nprovide a fully enclosed car for winter operation at the park, in the shape of
\ncar 623<\/strong>, was clearly too much to resist.<\/p>\n
\nresident, Stockport 5<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
\ntramway in due course once a launch date is confirmed, and this will of course\u00a0be reported here on British Trams Online<\/em>.<\/p>\n