Tram Talk

As the weeks go by - electrification work along the railway from Kirkham to Blackpool North takes on an air of urgency for completion by the scheduled deadlines and before the first of the seasonal crowds descend on Blackpool and the Fylde coast (by rail). A well organised set up at Blackpool North by the Rail Replacement partnership is now embedded at the station entrance with queues of buses ready to collect rail passengers bound for Preston Station. A direct bus replacem

A damp drab and miserably cold January weekend - what better reason than to fill the promenade with old trams on sparsely filled 'heritage tours'. The use of the current occupants of Rigby Road Depot for special hires, wedding parties and the like in out of season months is perfectly understandable - drawing important and welcome private hire fees to the coffers of the team responsible for Blackpool's heritage tram set up. I am informed such 'hires' are the most profitable

The Marton tram service has managed to retain its allure for both transport historians and heritage interests, as well as Blackpool residents through the years. Even though the trams last ran along Church Street and Whitegate Drive over fifty five years ago impressions are still fresh for those fortunate enough to have been around in their final decade of operation. Not only was there a dedicated fleet of smooth running trams to operate what had been a three minute frequenc

Capital trams on display at the National Tramway Museum in Derbyshire in 2016 One of the more notable achievements amid the Derbyshire quarry landscape at Crich has been the emergence of a series of distinguished tramcar restorations - the latest of which is make steady progress towards final completion. Whilst the capital had the UK's largest tramway system and total number of trams, their memory and recognition in London itself has been desultory as far as official museum

Outside the BLESMA home on Lytham Road is probably the most disgraceful bus shelter in Blackpool. It would appear no Council attention has been given to it since its erection in the dim and distance past. Just how the shelter was allowed to get into this state without local concerns being voiced with the Ward Council Member is remarkable. Nonetheless this is how a Blackpool bus shelter looks in 2018 on the supposedly better class of neighbourhood in South Shore. No glaz

Ghosts from former times continue to emerge into the daylight whenever excavations take place in Blackpool's main highways. In this case it is strengthening bridge work ongoing at Squires Gate with reinforcement of the roadway over the south Fylde railway line running between Kirkham and Blackpool South Station off Waterloo Road. Contractors scraping off the top layers of successive tarmac managed to reveal one rail from the former tramway which connected the Lytham St Anne

Leopold Grove, Blackpool provides the rarest glimpse of both past greatness and the town's new beginnings. Marvellous visuals on protective hoardings provide images of the soon to be created conferencing centre joining together old designs and the new. While this is not going to be some amazing new edifice it will nonetheless stand to serve as evidence of what is actually achievable in a compact space abutting period structures, themselves iconic marvels in their time. The

A passing encounter at Rigby Road today saw the standby snowplough being shunted briefly on to Hopton Road - no doubt in preparation for any contingency during the current weather conditions this January. Whilst Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England have had to deal with sustained snowfall during the past few days - so far the west coast has only had to face severe gale force winds and high tides. I qualify the word 'only', given the wind chill factor

Despite the disparaging remarks and sad comments appearing on social media regarding the experience of the UK firm Trampower Ltd. the persistence of its Principals in pursuing a British designed and developed low floor tram is to be applauded. In fact their initiatives over the past decade have been supported directly and indirectly by Blackpool's public owned transport operation to the extent that the very first low floor tram to operate in Britain (albeit on test) was alo

Blackpool is no stranger to Cardiff buses (or tram) given the number of buses leased or purchased by Catch22Bus over the past few years all of which arrived complete with bi-lingual signage and initially with Cardiffbus livery. Only one Cardiff (or indeed Welsh) tram has operated in Blackpool and this was for a few weeks and not for passengers. Cardiff Corporation Tramways Water Car 131 did what it said on the label, carried water in a large tank and spread it over the stre