{"id":93,"date":"2012-03-21T19:40:43","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T19:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=93"},"modified":"2012-03-21T19:40:43","modified_gmt":"2012-03-21T19:40:43","slug":"brush-cars-621-627-sent-to-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/?p=93","title":{"rendered":"Brush Cars 621 & 627 sent to jail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hot on the heels of Ex-Towing Railcoach 678 <\/strong>came the departure of two more much-loved Blackpool trams which have been acquired for preservation by the Friends of Fleetwood Trams. The cars in question were both Brush Railcoaches of particular historical significance: cars 621 <\/strong>and 627<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

These trams were not destined to join the rest of the collection in outdoor storage at Fleetwood however, but instead have moved to Kirkham Prison. There the trams are to receive some restoration work, and as reported last week, they will be worked on by some of the prison inmates as well as volunteers from the tram enthusiast community. It is believed that 621 <\/strong>has been given a two-year sentence, suggesting that the work involved may be quite detailed for this car, whilst 627 <\/strong>is set for an early release with completion reportedly expected in time for the tram to be put on public display next summer, when the new Fleetwood museum is due to open.<\/p>\n

621 <\/strong>was the first of the duo to depart, leaving its home of almost 75 years on Thursday 15th December. 627 <\/strong>followed a day later, leaving Rigby Road in a blizzard after being loaded up in appalling weather conditions. Both cars had their pantograph towers removed for the journey as well as the lifeguards, and 621 <\/strong>was seen sporting a fake destination of \u2018Fleetwood via HM Prison Kirkham\u2019 at one end! Other than that the trams didn\u2019t require any preparation for their road journeys and both cars retain their\u00a0 advertising liveries, for the Hot Ice <\/em>show and the Buccaneer Family Bar<\/em> respectively.<\/p>\n

Both of these trams had been mothballed (along with most of their sisters) in November 2004, although 627<\/strong>\u2018s last journey on the tramway was actually in November 2009, when it became the last traditional tram to leave Fleetwood with passengers on board during a spectacular Fylde Tramway Society tour. The car was chosen for this role as it had also been the last tram to leave North Station, and it is therefore especially pleasing that it
\nhas been preserved \u2013 and particularly appropriate that it will reside in the town of Fleetwood! 621 <\/strong>was also suggested for a return to service in 2007 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Brush cars, but 623 <\/strong>was chosen for this role instead as it was in a better structural condition. However, as the first of 20 Brush cars constructed, 621 <\/strong>is
\nanother extremely worthy choice for preservation and many people are sure to be pleased that it will not be moving too far from home. The trams have also remained largely intact during their time in storage, so restoring them to a presentable condition for display shouldn\u2019t be too challenging to their new owners.<\/p>\n

Report by Andrew Waddington<\/strong><\/p>\n

With thanks to the Trams Today Facebook page (<\/em>http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/#!\/pages\/Trams-Today\/144002195699684<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hot on the heels of Ex-Towing Railcoach 678 came the departure of two more much-loved Blackpool trams which have been acquired for preservation by the Friends of Fleetwood Trams. The cars in question were both Brush Railcoaches of particular historical … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.britishtramsonline.co.uk\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}