{"id":19831,"date":"2005-09-16T12:37:07","date_gmt":"2005-09-16T12:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=19831"},"modified":"2017-12-12T12:45:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T12:45:32","slug":"the-blackpool-fleetwood-tramway-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=19831","title":{"rendered":"The Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramway 2005"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the fourth successive year BRITISH TRAMS<\/em> ONLINE<\/em>\u2019s webmaster Gareth Prior reports on \u201cA Week in Blackpool\u201d, in a format completely ripped off from another publication\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Saturday 3 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Warn and sunny. Slightly blustery.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was, of course, the first weekend of the Illuminations and coupled with unseasonly weather thousands of people decided to spend the weekend in Blackpool. My notes for the day are not complete as I didn\u2019t arrive until around 1230 after a good journey up by train, but what was seen were lots of trams on specials, seemingly coping with demand. Included in those trams on specials were Boats 602<\/strong>, 604<\/strong> and 605<\/strong> (evening only), Coronation 660<\/strong> and Open Top Balloon 706<\/strong> \u201cPrincess Alice\u201d. 660<\/strong> made at least one journey north of North Pier with it being seen returning south bound for Pleasure Beach at 1247 at Cocker Street. Boats 604<\/strong> and 605<\/strong> both made late night appearances with 605<\/strong> seen at St Stephens Avenue heading back to depot at 2255 and 604<\/strong> heading that way at 2330. Another late runner was 706<\/strong> which took charge of the third Illumination Tour of the night \u2013 seen at 2230 heading back south. The tram service was coping admirably until 2100 when a Honda Bike Rally caused trams to be suspended. Dozens of bikes had to escorted across the tramway at the Metropole Hotel and this involved stopping all trams for a 5-10 minute period in the vicinity, causing slight delays to service trams for the remainder of the evening.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 707, 2 \u2013 709, 3 \u2013 718, 4 \u2013 711, 5 \u2013 719, 6 \u2013 723, 7 \u2013 700<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 722, 9 \u2013 710, 10 \u2013 726, 11 \u2013 701, 12 \u2013 715<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (20): 66, 602, 604, 605, 622, 631, 641, 643, 644, 646, 660, 675+685, 680, 702, 703, 706, 712, 720, 721, 761<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

2. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

3. Open Top Balloon 706<\/p>\n

4. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

Sunday 4 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Warm and sunny. (rain very late evening c2300)<\/em><\/p>\n

What a day! Incredibly warm weather and crowds of people remaining in Blackpool still due to the switch on weekend meant it was mainly a good day on the tramway. Boats 602<\/strong>, 604<\/strong> and 605<\/strong> (evening only again) were again out on specials and were today joined by Standard 147<\/strong> and Open Top Balloon 706<\/strong> on the Promenade specials. I have to admit it was nice to have a ride on a Boat in the sunshine rather than the pouring rain! (The last time I was on a Boat was at last years 70th Anniversary Celebrations when I got caught in a major rain shower). There were plenty of specials out during the day and on the main part of the Prom there were no obvious large queues of people being left behind by full trams. The Boats were particularly popular with very few journeys not being full.<\/p>\n

The success of the day, however, was not matched by a good evening. Everything was going well until 2000 when there was a believed incident at Manchester Square. Balloon 709<\/strong> was involved and caused major disruption. Observation at Bispham during the evening saw Balloon 723<\/strong> (route 2) arrive at 1952 bound for Fleetwood, practically on time but after that the next tram to head for Fleetwood was Centenary 647<\/strong> (on specials) at 2119 \u2013 nearly one and a half hours later. The next timetabled Fleetwood tram to depart was 761<\/strong> (on route 1) which was noted at 2150 \u2013 actually on time but 5 Fleetwood journeys had been cancelled in the meantime. Some journeys as far as Cleveleys and Thornton Gate were run in this period, including 718 (route 3) and 700 (route 6) to Thornton Gate and 719 (route 7) to Ash Street. Blackpool Transport did attempt to run a replacement bus service but with the Illumination traffic being busy this was next to useless with buses having to turn off the Prom and thus missing many of the stops. Eventually, something approaching normality resumed with 707 being taken from depot to replace 709<\/strong> on route 4.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 761, 2 \u2013 723, 3 \u2013 718, 4 \u2013 709 (707), 5 \u2013 711, 6 \u2013 700, 7 \u2013 719<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 701, 9 \u2013 715, 10 \u2013 722, 11 \u2013 721, 12 \u2013 710<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (13): 147, 602, 604, 605, 622, 643, 644, 647, 702, 703, 706, 712, 720<\/p>\n

Test Run: 646<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

2. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

3. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

Monday 5 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Cloudy with some sun \u2013 late evening misty<\/em><\/p>\n

For the first time in the week two Twin sets were on Fleetwood service with 672+682<\/strong> on route 6 and 685+675<\/strong> (trailer first all day \u2013 except for one journey to Ash Street) on route 5. Balloon 702<\/strong> started off the day on route 3 but by lunchtime this had been replaced by high intensity headlight example 700<\/strong>. 723<\/strong> (route 7) operated at least one journey top deck closed around lunchtime from Fleetwood, this was despite the fact there were two conductors \u2013 luckily there were not huge amounts of people wanting to travel back into Blackpool at this time. There must have been some late running during the day as 701<\/strong> (on route 10) was noted at 1904 on the centre track at Cabin waiting to form its return journey to Starr Gate. There were very few specials out during the day but it was probably adequate for the amount of people wishing to travel by tram. In the evening, rather oddly the third Illumination Tour was run by Centenary 642<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 707, 2 \u2013 711, 3 \u2013 702 (700), 4 \u2013 719, 5 \u2013 685+675, 6 \u2013 672+682, 7 \u2013 723<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 720, 9 \u2013 715, 10 \u2013 701, 11 \u2013 721, 12 \u2013 703<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (10): 622, 630, 631, 633, 642, 643, 644, 646, 647, 680<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

2. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

3. Centenary 642<\/p>\n

Tuesday 6 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Warm and sunny after initial cloud<\/em><\/p>\n

This was a day that Twin set 672+682<\/strong> would rather forget, having caused the service to be in chaos twice, once in the morning and once in the height of the Illuminations. The morning incident was at Cleveleys when the tram was on route 4 and may also have involved a Cleveleys car as the fifth tram in the afternoon to Cleveleys was normally a special. Services to Fleetwood weren\u2019t actually that badly affected with only one 25 minute gap between trams being noted. 681+671<\/strong> were eventually taken from depot just after 2pm to resume route 4, although at this stage it was 50 minutes behind the schedule. The tram got further behind schedule in the afternoon being seen 70 minutes late and running short to Pleasure Beach at Gynn Square and then later it ran only as far as Bispham. It was eventually back on time with the 1703 from Bispham \u2013 some five hours after it had come from depot.<\/p>\n

The engineers at the depot worked wonders to ensure that 672+682<\/strong> was repaired so that it could be used on specials in the late afternoon\/early evening \u2013 they probably wish they hadn\u2019t bothered! The service had reformed following the problems but disaster struck at 2100 when 672+682<\/strong> failed at Cliffs Hotel. Despite all efforts of the driver he could not get the tram to move and chaos ensued. Immediately behind the tram was Railcoach 680<\/strong> and after around half an hour it was decided to push the twin set to the centre track at Cabin and this was done slowly, with passengers still on board both trams. Once at Cabin, passengers alighted from 672+682<\/strong> to board other trams and one by one the trams which had been stuck behind it started to move northwards. The following list shows the northbound trams as they passed at Cabin:<\/p>\n

2134 \u2013 680 to Bispham<\/p>\n

2137 \u2013 685+675 to Thornton Gate<\/p>\n

2139 \u2013 722 to Cleveleys<\/p>\n

2139 \u2013 672+682 empty to Little Bispham<\/p>\n

2140 \u2013 642 to Bispham<\/p>\n

2141 \u2013 700 to Fleetwood<\/p>\n

2142 \u2013 683+673 to Little Bispham<\/p>\n

2144 \u2013 701 to Cleveleys<\/p>\n

2145 \u2013 641 to Little Bispham<\/p>\n

2147 \u2013 723 to Fleetwood<\/p>\n

2148 \u2013 633 northbound Illumination Tour<\/p>\n

2149 \u2013 644 to Bispham<\/p>\n

2151 \u2013 715 to Cleveleys<\/p>\n

2152 \u2013 736 northbound Illumination Tour<\/p>\n

2153 \u2013 709 to Fleetwood<\/p>\n

2154 \u2013 647 to Bispham<\/p>\n

This shows that of the seven trams on Fleetwood service four were stuck in this queue and three of the five Cleveleys cars were also severely delayed. In total there were 13 trams caught up in the mess and the service did not recover by the end of service. By the time Blackpool Transport had scrambled a replacement bus service the trams were moving again and the bus was sent back to depot! The crew of 672+682<\/strong> returned on this bus to take 710<\/strong> out instead.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 709, 2 \u2013 761, 3 \u2013 718, 4 \u2013 682+672 (681+671), 5 \u2013 675+685, 6 \u2013 700, 7 \u2013 723<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 701, 9 \u2013 715, 10 \u2013 721, 11 \u2013 720? (?), 12 \u2013 722<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (17): 605, 622, 630, 631, 641, 642, 643, 644, 646, 647, 672+682 (710), 673+683, 680, 702, 703, 711<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

2. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

3. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

4. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

Wednesday 7 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Blustery, cloudy but dry.<\/em><\/p>\n

A day which was mainly spent in Manchester, and away from the Blackpool Tramway. From notes which were taken there didn\u2019t appear to be any problems with the service with the same trams being on the 12 routes in the evening as there was in the morning before I left. The evening was quiet with an England football international and blustery conditions and this meant there were only two Illumination Tours needed. Following the tours, Frigate 736<\/strong> ran a special to Little Bispham and then back to Pleasure Beach.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 761, 2 \u2013 711, 3 \u2013 719, 4 \u2013 685+675, 5 \u2013 723, 6 \u2013 700, 7 \u2013 709<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 722, 9 \u2013 721, 10 \u2013 701, 11 \u2013 715, 12 \u2013 710<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (11): 622, 626, 630, 641, 642, 646, 647, 672+682, 680, 703, 736<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

2. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

Thursday 8 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Cloudy with sunny spells. Rain late evening.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jubilee 761<\/strong> caused trouble around lunchtime when it failed on the northern section of the tramway \u2013 it had been operating specials. It was seen returning to depot out of service and driven by a fitter at Cabin at 1227. Just before that three Fleetwood service cars were seen heading southbound within four minutes of each other \u2013 it took a while for things to approach normality again. The crew of 761<\/strong> took 671+681<\/strong> out on specials instead. For the second evening in a row 736<\/strong> ran a couple of specials following tour duty and was tonight joined by Trawler 633<\/strong>, which also ran a special late evening.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 723, 2 \u2013 700, 3 \u2013 719, 4 \u2013 673+683, 5 \u2013 684+674, 6 \u2013 709, 7 \u2013 711<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 715, 9 \u2013 721, 10 \u2013 722, 11 \u2013 726, 12 \u2013 701<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (15): 622, 630, 631, 633, 641, 642, 646, 647, 680, 702, 703, 710, 736, 761 (671+681)<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

2. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

Friday 9 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: wet with some dry spells. Still warm though.<\/em><\/p>\n

Brush 623<\/strong> made an appearance on Driver Training in the morning (seen heading north at Tower at 0950. In addition Jubilee 762<\/strong> (not previously seen during the week) was noted as being on a test run (again seen at Tower at 1037 northbound). There were a couple of changeovers on service trams during the day, 710<\/strong> replaced 726<\/strong> on the Cleveleys service during the morning and 685+675<\/strong> were called upon to replace 683+673<\/strong> on the Fleetwood run in the early evening. The wet weather in the morning had meant there were not many people in the town wanting to travel by tram and as such capacity was certainly there.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 711, 2 \u2013 718, 3 \u2013 684+674, 4 \u2013 683+673 (685+675), 5 \u2013 709, 6 \u2013 719, 7 \u2013 700<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 715, 9 \u2013 701, 10 \u2013 726 (710), 11 \u2013 702, 12 \u2013 721<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (12): 622, 630, 633, 641, 644, 646, 647, 671+681, 672+682, 675+685, 703, 761<\/p>\n

Driver Training Tram: 623<\/p>\n

Tram on Test: 762<\/p>\n

Illumination Tours:<\/p>\n

1. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

2. Trawler 633<\/p>\n

3. Frigate 736<\/p>\n

Saturday 10 September 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Weather: Cloudy but dry<\/em><\/p>\n

Only half a days notes today, as I had a train to catch to get home again. Balloon 707<\/strong> was noted on an early morning test run, north through St Stephens Avenue at 0816. It had been receiving attention in the Fitting Shop earlier in the week. The tram was later seen running to Cleveleys \u2013 although whether as a special or on service is not known. The Promenade specials were in the hands of Bolton 66<\/strong>, Standard 147<\/strong> and Coronation 660<\/strong>. The other specials were totally in the hands of 3 crew trams with no single deckers out in the morning. Jubilee 762<\/strong> made its first appearance of the week on service following its obviously successful test run of yesterday.<\/p>\n

Fleetwood Service: 1 \u2013 761, 2 \u2013 719, 3 \u2013 700, 4 \u2013 762, 5 \u2013 718, 6 \u2013 711, 7 \u2013 709<\/p>\n

Cleveleys Service: 8 \u2013 710, 9 \u2013 702, 10 \u2013 701, 11 \u2013 703, 12 \u2013 715<\/p>\n

Trams on specials (9): 66, 147, 660, 671+681, 672+682, 707 (may have taken over from something on Cleveleys service), 720, 721, 722, 723<\/p>\n

Tram on Test: 707<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The fourth successive \u201cWeek in Blackpool\u201d was helped this year but nice warm weather at the start and this helped tram output. With the sun out the Boats were out in force (only 600<\/strong> of the four serviceable members didn\u2019t appear) and this encouraged people to take a ride on the trams, with very few Boat journeys not being pretty much full. There were of course the usual breakdowns and delays with the Tuesday evening 672+682<\/strong> incident being the worst of the lot, with 13 trams being stuck behind it once it had been cleared. Of the serviceable fleet 600<\/strong>, 678<\/strong>, 724<\/strong> and Blackpool and Fleetwood Box 40<\/strong> were the only ones not to make an appearance in service, although 40<\/strong> is currently out of service with a fault.<\/p>\n

All in all, there were plenty of trams out at most times in Blackpool during the week with the sight of long queues of people being left behind not very common. However, it has to be said that I was already in Fleetwood on the Tuesday when queues may have been forming on North Shore in Blackpool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the fourth successive year BRITISH TRAMS ONLINE\u2019s webmaster Gareth Prior reports on \u201cA Week in Blackpool\u201d, in a format completely ripped off from another publication\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19831"}],"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=19831"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19833,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19831\/revisions\/19833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}