{"id":50372,"date":"2023-07-19T22:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T21:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=50372"},"modified":"2023-07-20T19:10:15","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T18:10:15","slug":"in-pictures-blackpool-centenary-645-moves-to-crich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=50372","title":{"rendered":"In Pictures: Blackpool Centenary 645 moves to Crich!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are stories you expect and then there are stories you don\u2019t! We think this one falls firmly in the latter category! Blackpool Centenary 645<\/strong> has been donated to the National Tramway Museum at Crich where it is to be assessed with a view to becoming the second Access Tram at the museum, as well as having the benefit of being one person operated at times when there may be crew shortages.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

645<\/strong> originally entered service in Blackpool in September 1987 and was one of eight Centenary Cars built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in Blackburn \u2013 the last standard gauge traditional trams built new in the UK. It remained operational almost to the very end of the traditional tramway in Blackpool, but had the honour (ignominy?) of being the last tram to have to be towed back to depot having failed on the final day of service on 6th<\/sup> November 2011.<\/p>\n

The tram has since enjoyed a bit of a nomadic life with its first port of call after withdrawal being the Windy Bay Harbour Caravan Park. It was moved there in January 2012 where it was intended that it would be used as a caf\u00e9 and gift shop. Whilst at the caravan park it received a graffiti livery on top of its red and white livery (the remnants of an old all advert livery, complete with white chevrons on the ends inspired by the Sunderland repaint of Balloon 703<\/strong>) \u2013 a livery that it retains to this day.<\/p>\n

645<\/strong> would remain at the Caravan Park until July 2017 when, with it being deemed surplus to requirements, it was purchased privately and then donated back to the Blackpool Heritage Trust and made the move back to Rigby Road. Although it became one of the trams to change ownership to the Fylde Transport Trust when the two collections merged, 645<\/strong> remained stored at Rigby Road, as it did when ownership returned to Blackpool Transport in 2022 after the FTT reviewed the trams it had in its care. Until now that is!<\/p>\n

When 645<\/strong> returned to Blackpool Transport\u2019s ownership it was not planned to return it to operational condition with it due to provide spare parts to the two other Centenary Cars in the Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours fleet (642<\/strong> and 648<\/strong>), so this latest development is both a surprise and a pleasing one at that!<\/p>\n

Blackpool Transport Services have agreed to donate the tram to the National Tramway Museum and an assessment will now be made for its suitability to become a second Access Tram at the museum to take some of the pressure off Berlin 223 006-4<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Crich volunteers, Peter and Susan Whiteley, have made a significant donation to not only fund the transportation of the tram from Blackpool to Derbyshire, but also to help cover some of the money needed to restore it to operational condition. Without their genrosity and foresight this project would probably not have even been considered.<\/p>\n

Peter commented: \u201cI realised that the tram would possibly make a good “Access 2” tramcar as it has a flat saloon floor, is 8ft wide and has offset centre doors, which makes the body very strong and maximises space in the saloon. It is a large single decker so would retain a significant number of seats allowing it to be used as an Access tram at the same time as a service tram. It is One-Person operated, so will enable a 3- car service when we have crew shortages. It also represents the last 1st Gen UK built\/operated tramcar. It ticks a lot of boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work is due to start shortly on the full assessment of the tram and a detailed assessment\/costing to see what is required. That would then be followed by a full refurbishment and reinstatement of the traction electronics.<\/p>\n

Dr Mike Galer, General Manager at Crich, said: \u201cWe are looking into the possibility of having a second tram which is accessible to wheelchair users, and we are very grateful to Blackpool Transport Services and Peter and Sue Whiteley to give us the opportunity of exploring this option with this tram.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the deal concluded for the tram to move, it departed Blackpool on Tuesday 18th<\/sup> July, arriving at Crich later the same day. Allely\u2019s provided the haulage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

645 shortly after arrival at Crich on the back of the low loader. (Photograph courtesy of Crich Tramway Village)<\/p><\/div>\n

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A side view of 645 as it waits outside the depot. (Photograph courtesy of Ian Rigg\/Crich Tramway Village)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Unloading commences in the depot yard. (Photograph courtesy of Crich Tramway Village)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are stories you expect and then there are stories you don\u2019t! We think this one falls firmly in the latter category! Blackpool Centenary 645 has been donated to the National Tramway Museum at Crich where it is to be … 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":[7,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50372"}],"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=50372"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50382,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50372\/revisions\/50382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}