Tram Talk

John Woodman Despite the fixation on Blackpool's collection of vintage trams there remains a gaping void in the town's recognition of involvement in formative decades of transport developments. Whilst deserved recognition on most, if not all, of Blackpool's built heritage in the form of its three piers (unique in the country), the Tower and its impressive buildings: the Winter Gardens complex plus the marvellous Grand Theatre - there is a completely blank screen over tran

John Woodman 1952 drew widespread acclaim including a special Blackpool illuminated tram revised to mark the beginning of new Reign. Both RHO Hills and Hunters were anchor stores in the town's vibrant shopping centres - sadly now just fading memories. The Transport Department excelled itself with the arrival of the first of the Coronation cars from Charles Roberts company and publishing a special edition of the Transport Guide in blue. The buses fared less well with a

John Woodman I am reminded by that oracle of Blackpool bus history - Mike Morton, that the AEC models bought to render staff economies by replacing Mr Franklin's late deliveries of rear platform crew manned double deckers - were in fact bodied by the Marshall company and not as I stated - Willowbrook. Below : PD3 398 passing the poster adorned wall of North Station on Service 12 with a none too impressive promotion for 'Greenall Whitleyland' ales. John Woodman Archive

John Woodman One of the more unusual fleet livery applications involved Blackpool Transport's sudden affection for London's Routemaster buses. This began during Derek Hyde's management with an initial example being acquired for testing. Despite having phased out open rear platform Leyland's in favour of front entrance single deck models built by Willowbrook to a bland and almost utilitarian finish and subsequent fleet of Leyland Atlanteans in green and cream - the apparen

John Woodman Recent reports on urban locations in England cite Blackpool as one of the most deprived towns in the country as far as urban greenery is concerned. Whereas at one time Blackpool was renowned for the quality of its streetscape and the upkeep of green space - principally due to its pro-active Parks Department, nowadays the absence of trees, tended shrubbery, flowering plants and managed lawns are noticeable in much of the town's central wards. Of course this (as

John Woodman I am obliged to Mike Morton for further clarification of the image on the previous Blog referring to a special tour car 5573. It is in fact a 'one-off' and called the 'T3Coupe'. It comes complete with an onboard bar sponsored by Starpromen lager and the rear section glaaing is removable in fine weather. They do things in style in Prague ! Lessons could be learned in Blackpool Available for private hire 5573 is the only blue tram among Prague's huge flee

John Woodman One of Europe's finest collection of urban transport and especially trams is to be found in the Czech Capital City - Prague. Over many decades management and staff of the Prague transport system have ensured that representative examples of evolving tram designs and styling have been retained. Stored within a cavernous depot the ever enlarging collection is maintained by transport staff together with generations of dedicated volunteers. The trams (not all of

John Woodman Blackpool's tram fleet today seems downright dowdy when compared to other UK operators, small in number though they may be. What seemed an inspirational livery when it first appeared in 2011 on the light rail fleet, has morphed into a discoloured worn appearance disfigured by multiplicity of warning notices liberally applied to windows and doorways, plus roof level advertising of less than appealing designs. Possibly the only two Bombardier cars with anything

Sarah and Derek Redmond with John Woodman The National Tramway Museum continues with its conservation and restoration work to a very high standard. Following detailed attention to the large open top car 102 of Newcastle Corporation which will allow it to enter service at the museum's completion of overhaul of LCC number 1 of 1932 now in its final stages. Intended as a prototype of a series of modernised trams by the London County Council its appearance coincided with tran

John Woodman Not much appears on this site about our cousins in Australasia - even though there are plenty of fascinating tram heritage operations as well as operating systems in Adelaide and Melbourne. The latter city is the Australia's equivalent of Glasgow's one-time tram network - but unlike Scotland's loss in 1962, Melbourne's MMTB operator determined resolutely to buck the trend of replacing trams which saw Sydney's great tram system succumb to buses (along with almo