After addressing the various software/hardware compatibility issues, if at all possible, you run into a lot of the same issues that stand in the way of heavy rail EMU preservation.
Its expensive to carry out for a niche market.
Second gen trams are a thousand times more complex than your typical first gen cars. To the point that many fleets tend to suffer highly from reliability towards the end, even with money, parts and engineering experience held with the operators.
Is a second generation LRV running up and down Blackpool promenade a few times a month going to generate the income required? Absolutely not.
Should the compatibilty be addressed, and someone is willing to throw unlimited funds at the project, the recent clamp down by the ORR on heritage tramways will also make it very, very difficult for the small, volunteer operated tramways to get close to operating something of that size/complexity.
Many are on a steep, uphill battle just to continue operating the small and simple cars they have been running for years.
As a side note, we at Heaton Park are well aware of how long the only preserved LRV, T68 1007, has been gathering dust. It is safe and dry indoors but there should be some traction on the project to get it displayed at the tramway in the next year or two.
