This duo were joined in traffic by the morning by Boat 230<\/strong> and ‘Princess Alice’ 706<\/strong> which proved exceptionally popular on what was a beautiful sunny day. Both trams were due to run in early to allow two more trams to emerge, but the weather prompted a slight change of plan, so 230<\/strong> stayed out with 700<\/strong> and 706<\/strong> both returning to Starr Gate depot, their place on the promenade being taken by Standard 147<\/strong> and Boat 600<\/strong> which performed the final trip to Fleetwood of this first day. Unfortunately ‘Princess Alice’ sustained a damaged trolley head on its return to the depot, but otherwise the day was a tremendous success and everything went according to plan.<\/p>\n Easter Saturday 19th April may not have been as warm as the Friday but the sun shone once again, encouraging plenty of day-trippers to enjoy a traditional tram ride. Due to its mishap the previous day, ‘Princess Alice’ was not available for its planned run to Fleetwood in the morning, and so Twin set 272+T2<\/strong> was joined by Boat 600<\/strong> instead. Bolton 66<\/strong> and Standard 147<\/strong> were also out for a while before being swapped over for Boat 230<\/strong> and Balloon 717<\/strong>, both of which performed the later Fleetwood trip, after 717<\/strong> had been re-named earlier in the day (as reported in a separate story).<\/p>\n The weather took a turn for the worse on the third and final day, Easter Sunday 20th April, although this did not dampen the spirits of the hardy enthusiasts who turned out early to enjoy Brush car 631<\/strong>‘s first public run of the year. This car operated the morning Fleetwood journey along with Balloon 717<\/strong>, whilst Standard 147<\/strong> and Balloon 700<\/strong> did the final tour of the weekend. The only other heritage tram to operate during the day was Bolton 66<\/strong>, the weather being deemed too cool for the Boats, and passenger numbers were noticeably lower as a result. One of the day’s unexpected highlights was an unusual journey performed by car 66<\/strong> which turned back at Thornton Gate, whilst a minor defect on 631<\/strong> was quickly rectified enabling this tram to complete its full day shift.<\/p>\n In addition to the trams running in passenger service, each of the three days saw a different selection of trams posed for photography on Blundell Street and this kept up the English Electric theme, with the Balloon cars taking centre stage. Good Friday saw a very rare chance to see all four of the flat-fronted ‘Millennium’ cars in a line – 707<\/strong>, 709<\/strong>, 718<\/strong> and 724<\/strong> – and although these trams are generally considered to be very ugly, particularly in their garish advert liveries, the quartet made a fine sight together which was widely praised. By contrast, Saturday’s display of ‘B Fleet’ Balloon cars 713<\/strong> and 719<\/strong> was a little underwhelming; plans to pose the elusive 720<\/strong> on Blundell Street had to be abandoned due to ongoing problems with the car’s doors, although it was positioned on the depot track fan as a compromise. Finally, Easter Sunday saw both snowplough fitted Balloon cars 701<\/strong> and 723<\/strong> posed together with 1970s liveried 715<\/strong> peeking out of the depot itself.<\/p>\n In spite of a few potential operational headaches, Blackpool Transport put on a fantastic show over the Easter weekend with a limited pool of trams put to good use, ensuring that the interest and excitement was maintained across all three days. The\u00a0heritage tram team\u00a0can now bask in the glory of a successful weekend – but not for long, as the heritage tram fleet\u00a0will be back in action in less than two weeks for the May Day Bank Holiday!<\/p>\n Bolton 66 heads north on a rather miserable Easter Sunday whilst operating on the heritage service, its destination blind presumably stuck on 'Starr Gate'! (Photo by Colin Macleod)<\/p><\/div>\n A splendid scene with two green and cream streamliners at Fleetwood Ferry, also on Easter Sunday. The newly named Balloon 717 and Brush car 631 stand at the Ferry where they were posed for photos. (Photo by Chris Callan)<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Another exciting year for Blackpool Transport’s fleet of historic trams got properly underway over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, with the welcome return of the increasingly popular heritage tram service. For three days, nine of the traditional fleet returned to … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/66-CM.jpg\" "\\"66")
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