Blackpool Tramway Fleet/Disposals List

[bluegoblin7]

I've had to leave my comprehensive list of Blackpool's fleet (Disposals and retentions) without update for a while due to real life commitments, and it's now at the point where I feel I'd be resurrecting an old topic for the sake of bringing it back, so I felt it best just to begin a new one - here we go! Mods, feel free to merge if that would be more appropriate.

Current to 23-12-11, and there will be no further changes to this list until 2012 as far as tram departures go.

Boat cars

• 600 - Overhauled in 2010 and to be retained by Blackpool Transport. Named 'Duchess of Cornwall'. Currently operational and fitted with transponders and low voltage system.
• 602 - Presently out of service but due to return to operation in 2012 following some work. Due to be named 'George Formby', following funding for aforementioned name coming from the Society.
• 604 - This car is being retained by Blackpool Transport but there are no current plans to return the tram to service.
• 605 - This tram has been purchased by the Lancastrian Transport Trust.
• 607 - The tram is now part of the National Collection. Remains at Rigby Road depot undergoing overhaul - due to move to Crich in January 2012.

Brush cars

• 621 - Purchased by the Friends of Fleetwood Trams and moved to Kirkham Prison for restoration on 15th December 2011.
• 622 - Purchased by the LTT and moved to their Brinwell Road premises during 2010. Intended as a source of spares.
• 623 - Purchased by the Manchester Tramway Museum Society and formerly on display at the Museum of Museums in Manchester. Now at Heaton Park, undergoing commissioning work for a planned re-entry into service on January 22nd.
• 625 - Purchased by Merseytravel, and moved to outside storage at Knowsley on 20th December.
• 626 - Purchased by Merseytravel, and moved to the tramway at Birkenhead in 2010. Has been approved for use by the Railway Inspectorate, and has also received a trolley pole, but it is yet to operate in passenger service and is, for now, tucked up in the depot at Pacific Road.
• 627 - Fleetwood's last tram has been appropriately reserved by the Friends of Fleetwood too. It moved to Kirkham Prison on the 16th December.
• 630 - Donated to the National Tramway Museum. Moved to Crich on 21st/22nd December, and is now in the workshops for commissioning work.
• 631 - Fully operational, to be retained by Blackpool Transport as a driver training vehicle.
• 632 - Owned by the Lancastrian Transport Trust. Operational to November 2011, but not expected to see further use in Blackpool.
• 633 - See Illuminated fleet
• 634 - Purchased by enthusiast Andy Ashton and left Blackpool in November 2009. Has had external repaint and much work inside. Now at Rushden, but not operational.
• 636 - Experimental test car, now at SET in Derby, but full status unknown.
• 637 - Also purchased by the LTT as a source of spares, but still at Rigby Road.

Centenary cars

• 641 - Sold to Friends of Fleetwood Trams. Withdrawn.
• 642 - Unsold. Withdrawn.
• 643 - Unsold. Withdrawn.
• 644 - Sold to Farmer Parr's, Fleetwood, where the tram is expected to become a 'play tram', Farmer Parr's is the current advert contract on the vehicle, though it is possible that it is out of contract. Withdrawn.
• 645 - Unsold. Withdrawn.
• 646 - Sold to Friends of Fleetwood Trams. Withdrawn.
• 647 - Unsold. Withdrawn.
• 648 - Unsold. Withdrawn. Rejected by National Tramway Museum due to lack of depot space.

Twin cars

• 671+681 - Purchased by Merseytravel, moved to outside storage at Knowsley on December 19th and 20th.
• 672+682 - Unsold. Withdrawn.
• 673+683 - Sold to unknown individual. Withdrawn.
• 674+684 - Sold to unknown individual. Withdrawn.
• 675+685 - Sold to unknown group. Withdrawn.
• 676+686 - Sold to LTT. Not operational. Stored at Rigby Road.
• 677 - Scrapped to provide parts for the restoration of the Western Train.
• 678 - Sold to LTT, in store at Rigby Road.

Ex-towing Railcoaches

• 678 - Purchased by Friends of Fleetwood Trams, moved to outside storage at Fleetwood on December 14th.
• 679 - Moved to LTT premises at Rigby Road. Being converted back to EE Railcoach 279, though progress stalled.
• 680 - Sold to MTMS and expected to leave Blackpool and operate at Heaton Park soon.

Balloons

• 700 - One of 9 retained Balloon cars with door modifications.
• 701 - To be retained by BTS as a possible tenth car for conversion. Presently at Starr Gate depot.
• 702 - Sold to MTMS. Currently in outdoor storage at Bury.
• 703 - Sold to LTT and now at Beamish Museum as Sunderland 101. Operational as a large capacity winter car.
• 704 - Initially sold to MTMS but then swapped with LTT's 708. In store at Rigby Road.
• 706 - To be retained by BTS and will receive transponders and low voltage equipment over the Winter. May also get modified doors, but not yet confirmed.
• 707 - Modified fleet post-2011. Operational and advert contract for Coral Island.
• 708 - Sold to MTMS. In outdoor storage in the Manchester area.
• 709 - Modified fleet post-2011. Operational and advert contract for SEALIFE Centre.
• 710 - Sold to Friends of Fleetwood Trams and in outdoor storage in the Fleetwood area.
• 711 - To be retained by BTS and currently in the works receiving the widened centre entrance platforms and plug doors.
• 712 - Left Blackpool for National Collection in 2010. Reverted to original number of 249 and on display in 1930s livery in Exhibition Hall.
• 713 - Modified fleet post-2011. Operational and advert contract for Hounds Hill Centre.
• 715 - Owned by the Lancastrian Transport Trust. Operational to November 2011, but not expected to see further use in Blackpool.
• 716 - Sold to Ptarmargin Transport Solutions. In outdoor storage in a car park in Perth.
• 717 - Fully operational, to be retained as part of heritage fleet though could receive door modifications.
• 718 - Modified fleet post-2011. Operational and advert contract for Madame Tussauds.
• 719 - To be retained by BTS and currently in the works receiving the widened centre entrance platforms and plug doors.
• 720 - Modified fleet post-2011. Operational and advert contract for Wall's.
• 721 - Sold to unknown buyer, in store at Rigby Road.
• 722 - Scrapped late 2009.
• 723 - Operational in advert livery for Sands Venue, to be retained by BTS for possible door modifications, but expected to be withdrawn at end of 2011 season.
• 724 - Modified fleet post-2011. Operational and advert contract for the Lyndene Hotel.
• 726 - Sold to Friends of Fleetwood Trams and in outdoor storage in the Fleetwood area.

Illuminated cars

• 732 - Rocket. Owned by LTT, in store at Rigby Road.
• 733+734 - Western Train Locomotive and Carriage. Fully operational, with wheelchair lift. To be retained.
• 736 - Frigate. Fully operational. To be retained.
• 737 - Trawler. Fully operational. To be retained.

Jubilee cars

• 761 - Purchased by Friends of Fleetwood Trams and in outdoor storage in the Fleetwood area.
• 762 - Donated to the National Tramway Museum. Moved to the Museum on December 8th 2011, and presently in the workshops undergoing commissioning works.

Trams of Interest

• Stockport 5 - Left Blackpool 25/08/11 for the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester.
• OMO 8 - Future unknown - not operational. Owned by LTT.
• Fleetwood Box 40 - Owned by the Tramway Museum Society and to be retained in Blackpool after fitting of battery-operated transponders.
• Bolton 66 - Possibly to be retained and fitted with pantograph, though nothing known for certain at this point. Not operational. Owned by Bolton 66 Group.
• Standard 143 - Expected to join operational fleet for 2012, presently in storage at Rigby Road part completed. Owned by LTT.
• Standard 147 - Fully operational and to be retained. Owned by BTS.
• Coronation 304 - Future unknown - not operational. Owned by LTT.
• Sheffield 513 - Left Blackpool earlier this year for new home at East Anglian Transport Museum. Owned by Beamish Museum.
• Replica Vanguard 619 - Left Blackpool in 2010 for Heaton Park Tramway, now repainted as Heaton Park 7. Tram has possibly been donated to the MTMS, but is officially at the Park on a long-term loan. Presently withdrawn and in outdoor storage at Heaton Park due to a lack of depot space. Owned by BTS.
• Coronation 660 - Not operational, but expected to receive low voltage equipment and transponders for 2012. To be retained. Owned by BTS.

Other

• Railgrinder 752 - Owned by MTMS. Presently in outdoor storage at Bury.
• Railcoach 259 - Owned by LTT. At Rigby Road, restoration stalled.
• Engineering Car 754 - To be retained. Owned by BTS.

Flexities

• 001 - Arrived in Blackpool at 3.10AM on Monday, 29th August 2011. First test run took place a few days after c.0500 and launched on September 8th with two demonstration, passenger carrying runs to Pleasure Beach and back.
• 002 - Fourth Flexity 2 to arrive in Blackpool.
• 004 - Second Flexity 2 to arrive in Blackpool.
• 005 - Third Flexity 2 to arrive in Blackpool.

Hope this is all of help.

Jack

 

[317666]

It's a shame 648 has been rejected by Crich. In the old thread though, it was said that despite rumours, it hadn't been rejected!

Is it likely that the unsold cars will be scrapped?

 

[northernrail]

[*]626 - Purchased by Merseytravel, and moved to the tramway at Birkenhead in 2010. Has been approved for use by the Railway Inspectorate, and has also received a trolley pole, but it is yet to operate in passenger service and is, for now, tucked up in the depot at Rigby Road.

Pacific Road

 

[bluegoblin7]

It's a shame 648 has been rejected by Crich. In the old thread though, it was said that despite rumours, it hadn't been rejected!

Is it likely that the unsold cars will be scrapped?

The confirmation of 648's rejection didn't come until mid-November, and there was nothing to suggest otherwise coming through official, museum channels, nor "internal" sources. By November it was apparent that it would not be possible to raise enough money to construct storage for 648 and the Twin car and so the regretful decision had to be made to reject the car from the collection.

As far as the Twin goes this is unlikely to change - the length is just not practical (over 100ft!) and it would never be likely to operate at the Museum due to its length and the requirement for a three-person crew. However, all is not lost on the Centenary and motions are underway to bring a car to the Museum after all - it just requires one last push to meet the required funding targets (We have £8,000, we require £10,000 - PM me for details) and a Centenary can come to Crich after all.

All of the currently unsold cars are known to have interested parties in them - including the Centenaries - so I expect most will get sold before long. Your question regarding scrapping is hard to answer though, as I fully expect the majority of the sold cars to also get scrapped at some point down the line - it's just simply not economical to preserve around 70 tramcars that are largely identical, and there isn't the manpower nor resources to make it happen.

Indeed, none of the MerseyTravel trams are expected to remain in their current guise, being heavily rebuilt, whilst the LTT have a couple of trams that are also solely for spares. I have my doubts about the long-term survival of others (Including the majority that are housed outside - wooden bodied tramcars don't like water!) but we will see.

Pacific Road

Too many Roads! Rigby Road, Pacific Road... meh!

 

[317666]

Ah right, thanks for that info. Nothing lasts forever you're right, although it would be nice to see as many preserved possible. During my only visit to Blackpool, I only managed to go on 630, 644, 648, 718 and 720, so would like a chance to travel on more types such as the twin sets.

 

[bluegoblin7]

Ah right, thanks for that info. Nothing lasts forever you're right, although it would be nice to see as many preserved possible. During my only visit to Blackpool, I only managed to go on 630, 644, 648, 718 and 720, so would like a chance to travel on more types such as the twin sets.

Not a problem! Shame that you didn't manage to get on more trams, particularly as both 718 and 720 will be operating again in the New Year, but there should be opportunity to travel on other classes in preservation, except perhaps the Twin Sets - as mentioned, 671/681 are unlikely to remain in their current condition with MerseyTravel, whilst 676+686 are non-operational and would require an amount of work by the LTT to be returned to use. Sets 3, 4 and 5 have unknown buyers/futures, whilst Set 2 is, as yet, unclaimed/unsold.

Personally, I really hope that at least one Twin set will appear on an operational tramway; they're my personal favourite class of tram and it would be great to be able to both ride on one again and ride on one in different surroundings!

Jack