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Disclaimer : The opinions and commentary voiced on this page are those of the author and do not have the automatic endorsement of the Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust unless otherwise stated.

2019 - Rigby Road New Titles

Dec 31, 2018

2019 - Rigby Road New Titles

An impressive display of Rigby Road books (and 2019 Calendar) proudly shown off by the Author at Blackpool Visitor Centre which stocks (nearly all) the available titles for sale year round. Thank you Visitor Centre. Blackpool Transport's Customer Services Office on Market Street also has some of the recent titles on sale in 2019. 2019 will see the special book on Blackpool's buses through the years since 1921 - as well as a further title in the Municipal Transport series

Christmas In Town

Dec 29, 2018

Christmas In Town

TALBOT SQUARE - Tramway Junction almost complete looking east (above). Note the steel work for a new hotel on the site of the former Yates Wine Lodge. Looking west with the new three way junction trackwork in place, TALBOT ROAD looking east towards Bickerstaffe Square and North Station. SIGNS OF THE TIMES. Bus stop closure on the Promenade where traffic has been diverted due to tramway trackwork. THE SANTA BUS at Central Library terminus of Service 14 to Fleetwood. All Ima

That Time of the Year

Santa's Bus

143 Sixty Years On

Dec 17, 2018

143 Sixty Years On

Standard Car 143 repainted postwar standing outside Marton Depot on Whitegate Drive looking supremely smart. The Indicators had been moved from the earlier position above the top deck end glazing to a lower and more easily read fitting over the driver's windscreen. A wartime adaption on a number of enclosed Standards. Image : John Woodman Archive It was 1958 when Standard Car 143 was selected to become the replacement 'Engineering Car' replacing duties carried out by for

Sunday - Work in Progress

Dec 16, 2018

Sunday - Work in Progress

With a deadline for completion by Tuesday work on completing the track junction connections from the Promenade into Talbot Square is underway over this weekend and into Tuesday. Much of the diverging tram track from Talbot Square onto the Promenade is already complete, although some individual rail sections remain to be installed. But the priority is to free up the southbound line to allow passage of cars from Tuesday next week. In the interim a single track service from

Wyre Dock - Way Back When

Dec 14, 2018

Wyre Dock - Way Back When

A rare aerial photo of Wyre Dock taken circa 1918. Unfortunately not sharp renditioning but discerning readers can just note two Tramroad Company cars passing in the centre of the lower edge of the image. Multiple railway lines and sidings cluster around the Fleetwood Ice Company site in the middle centre. The outlet centre occupies land to the north of that business while the A585 follows the lower line of the railway across the image. Sadly the Tramroad Company depot i

Promenade Action

Dec 13, 2018

Promenade Action

Bright sunshine with colder temperatures found work crews busy connecting up the new tracks leading into (and out of) Talbot Square to the promenade tramway for the first time. Teams were engaged in traditional permanent way activity welding and smoothing the new railhead links on individual conjoined rail. A sense of the activity is evident from these images taken this afternoon by the Author : Securing smooth rail connections between the new track and promenade line. T

Dec 7, 2018

Lessons From France - And Our Past

Frustration and anger with the permanent political establishment across the Channel has boiled over onto the streets of towns and cities throughout France. Donning yellow high viz jackets a cross section of young and old are taking to protest against the body politic and impact of lowering living standards. Taxes both direct and indirect are making it a monthly challenge for working families to maintain a stable and affordable life year on year. And then there are the youn

Manchester 'Christmas Cracker' Event

Dec 5, 2018

Manchester 'Christmas Cracker' Event

As previously announced during the previous week we attended the annual Christmas trade event at the Manchester Bus Museum and saw many familiar faces and even actual readers of Rigby Road Publishing titles - now there's a surprise. Attended mostly by males of a certain generation and despite bad weather, a train drivers strike on Northern Rail (a weekly occurrence every Saturday now), the show was well attended both by bus and rail enthusiasts and traders. Held within the

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