The Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust have confirmed that notice has been given to remove the trams from its collection which are currently stored at Kirkham Prison by the end of the year. Far from most announcements of an imminent release however, this may not be such good news for the trams involved as the decision places a question mark over their future survival.<\/p>\n
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Two FHLT-owned vehicles have been languishing at the prison since the winter of 2011\/12 when many of the surplus trams left Blackpool for pastures new. The affected vehicles are Brush Railcoach 621 <\/strong>and Centenary car 641<\/strong>. There are no known plans for the future of either car and neither have received any significant attention since leaving their native tramway. Not only will a new location have to be found to store them, but also the required funds to pay for them to be transported to any new home would have to be found by an organisation which has been rather strapped for cash since its inception, casting further doubts over their futures.<\/p>\n It has been indicated that, due to this situation, the Trust is now looking to review its strategies and consideration will be given towards disposal of the trams, which could potentially see 621 <\/strong>and 641 <\/strong>find a third owner. Although both are pioneers of their respective types, re-homing them if required could be difficult however: the two classes are already more than adequately represented in the Blackpool heritage tram collection, and the various other preservation groups have all had plenty of opportunities already to acquire Brush and Centenary cars, with the former class being particularly abundant at locations as varied as Crich, Manchester and Birkenhead.<\/p>\n Although not directly mentioned by the Trust, privately owned Towing car 673 <\/strong>which is unofficially part of their collection is also currently housed at Kirkham Prison and will therefore presumably also have to be moved or risk being scrapped. The upper deck of an Edinburgh tram was also acquired by the FHLT some time ago and transported to the prison grounds, although little has been said about this since its arrival. Another potential blow to this group concerns Jubilee car 761<\/strong>. Although safely housed undercover at Rigby Road, the temporary storage agreement for this unique tram is due to expire next year and so it too may well need to be re-homed, again at considerable cost to its owners. It is naturally hoped that serious consideration will be given to a permanent transfer of ownership of 761 <\/strong>to the newly formed Blackpool Heritage Trust to ensure its survival and potentially pave the way for a future return to service on its home system. Unlike the other FHLT cars, 761 <\/strong>would fill a massive gap (in more ways than one!) in the Blackpool collection and would undoubtedly be a much appreciated asset to the heritage fleet.<\/p>\n Although the loss of any historic tramcar is always sad, it is probably time to accept that at least some of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust’s collection are almost certainly doomed to a date with the cutter’s torch. Unless any individuals with a particular fondness for the trams at Kirkham is willing to come forward and either provide the required funds to move them, or possibly buy them and arrange for them to be re-housed, it is difficult to envisage a positive outcome when the cars are evicted at the end of 2014. The Trust must now decide where its priorities lie, and as noble as its original aims may have been, the changing landscape of tramcar preservation has rendered their initial proposals somewhat irrelevant. It may well be that the best contribution some of its tram can make to the preservation movement as a whole would be to provide spare parts for other trams, and hopefully if any difficult decisions have to be made then the trams affected will be made available to other groups and individuals either for this purpose or to be preserved.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust have confirmed that notice has been given to remove the trams from its collection which are currently stored at Kirkham Prison by the end of the year. Far from most announcements of an imminent release … Continue reading