{"id":8789,"date":"2014-08-20T15:48:52","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T14:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=8789"},"modified":"2014-08-20T22:49:29","modified_gmt":"2014-08-20T21:49:29","slug":"blackpool-coronation-304-runs-on-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=8789","title":{"rendered":"Blackpool Coronation 304 runs on test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another small piece of tramway history occured on Wednesday 20th August 2014, when a VAMBAC equipped tramcar operated on the upgraded Blackpool system for the first time. The honour of performing this historic duty went to Coronation car 304 <\/strong>which also became the first of the former Lancastrian Transport Trust collection to be commissioned for operation since rejoining its home fleet.<\/p>\n

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On this occasion, 304<\/strong> was not carrying passengers but merely emerged for a test run along the promenade following several weeks of attention in the Rigby Road workshops. During this time the tram has not only been made roadworthy, but has also had its full decorative beading restored at both ends; this was missing at one end since its last full repaint but the tram has now been returned to an even more immaculate condition. Looking none the worse for a period in outdoor storage, 304 <\/strong>emerged from the confines of the depot during the early afternoon on 20th August. Once on the main line, it headed first to Bispham before reversing and running to Pleasure Beach, and then heading to Foxhall where it reversed for the short run back to the depot after a succesful maiden voyage. This was the tram’s first outing on its home tracks since November 2010, although it had of course run more recently at Beamish Museum during a short term loan. This was also the first outing of any Coronation car in Blackpool since 2011 when sister car 660 <\/strong>– curently stored out of service at Rigby Road – ventured to the then new Starr Gate depot so that it could undertake clearance tests with the new tram wash plant.<\/p>\n

Whilst it is tempting to get over-excited about the return of 304 <\/strong>there are still some hurdles to be overcome before this magnificent tram can be considered for passenger service. It is believed that just one of the tram drivers who were trained on this car are still with Blackpool Transport, and it will therefore be essential to train crews on it before it can be used. It remains to be seen when this will occur, but just to see Coronation 304 <\/strong>back on the prom again – a sight that we once feared would never be witnessed again – was a real treat for the lucky few who saw it, and a mouthwatering glimpse of something to enjoy in the future.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Blackpool Transport have now confirmed that 304 <\/strong>has been tested ahead of a possible appearance on the heritage service on Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August. However, this will be subject to further testing and driver training, as expected, and a final decision as to whether the tram will operate in passenger service has not yet been made, hence the initial secrecy as to whether the car would run. We would like to congratulate everyone involved in getting this magnificent but highly complex tram operational, and whenever it is approved for service we are certainly in for a treat!<\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, Coronation car 304 is seen peeking out of the Fitting Shop whilst under attention in preparation for its return to use in Blackpool. (Photo by Chris Callan)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Another small piece of tramway history occured on Wednesday 20th August 2014, when a VAMBAC equipped tramcar operated on the upgraded Blackpool system for the first time. The honour of performing this historic duty went to Coronation car 304 which … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8789"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8789"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8808,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8789\/revisions\/8808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}