{"id":43953,"date":"2022-02-22T20:00:50","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T20:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=43953"},"modified":"2022-02-22T19:36:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T19:36:07","slug":"motors-fitted-to-standard-143-now-let-the-testing-commence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=43953","title":{"rendered":"Motors fitted to Standard 143 \u2013 now let the testing commence!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Its been the news that seemed as it may never happen but whisper it quietly, Blackpool<\/strong> Standard 143<\/strong> may finally fully enter passenger service this year with its failed motor having been replaced over the past few months. Static testing is now underway ahead of a full program of on the move testing and then an entry into service on the Blackpool Tramway later this year.<\/p>\n

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As many of you remember this won\u2019t be the first launch into passenger service for Standard 143<\/strong> since the completion of its restoration as it was originally launched on Monday 23rd<\/sup> September 2019. Unfortunately, during this launch run it suffered a motor fault and had to be towed back to depot by Engineering Car 754<\/strong> part way through its first night back out. Aside from being towed to North Pier and Tower the following weekend for display during the Anniversary Weekend, that was the last that 143<\/strong> was seen outside of the confines of Rigby Road with it having spent most of its time over the past 29 months within the Fitting Shop waiting for work on its motors.<\/p>\n

But now comes the news that 143<\/strong> has now had the defective motor replaced (understood to have seen the good motor from 147<\/strong> transferred) and that static testing has commenced. This is just the first stage of its return to service though, as this time a full period of testing will be undertaken (the previous launch had seen no real testing having taken place as the work went \u201cto the wire\u201d not allowing time for this). After the static testing there will be testing under power on the depot fan and then onto Hopton Road before the tram is allowed back onto the Prom. This will see testing and mileage accumulation take place and only when it has covered a certain mileage will it be cleared for service so the 2019 situation can be avoided again.<\/p>\n

It is hoped that, subject to everything going according to plan with testing, that 143<\/strong> will be re-launched into service around Easter 2022. However, this is all dependent on whether testing is successful and 143<\/strong>\u2019s owners, the Fylde Transport Trust, will not release any firm details of any relaunch just yet to make sure everything is at it should be. But it does give us all something to look forward to that 143<\/strong> may become a fully fledged member of the heritage fleet in Blackpool relatively soon \u2013 and we\u2019re sure it will soon become a very popular member! When it does return it will be first time it has properly (ignoring its ill-fated initial launch) carried passengers in almost 65 years!<\/p>\n

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143 is seen at the depot during the Vintage Weekend having been moved into the Electrical Compound \u2013 probably a good sign that something was happening! (Photograph by David Maxwell, 19th February 2022)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Its been the news that seemed as it may never happen but whisper it quietly, Blackpool Standard 143 may finally fully enter passenger service this year with its failed motor having been replaced over the past few months. Static testing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43953"}],"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=43953"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43955,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43953\/revisions\/43955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}