Tram Talk

John Woodman An excellent recount of the small municipal transport system in Maidstone is recommended to lovers of heritage books covering trams and in this case trolleybuses. The smartly turned out fleet of distinct light brown and pale cream trolleybuses gave the residents of Maidstone a service they were proud of until buses in pale blue and cream took over in the 1970s. Robert Harley is more well known for his volumes on London's tramways but in this latest volume vent

John Woodman Nothing new here. The Tramways and Electricity Department generated their own power as part of the municipally owned power system in the good old days. Marketing of new domestic electric 'white goods' was advertised in the annual Transport Timetable issued FREE to residents.

John Woodman Those readers awaiting eventual emergence of the long promised book on Blackpool's buses will have to wait a while longer I'm afraid. The entire bus operation is destined to be radically changed in the near future as Blackpool Transport replaces its existing ADL fleet (and Citaros) with all-electric models of types yet to be approved. The bus system will have to adjust to this new era with consequent redesign of Rigby Road's Bus Garage and vehicle servicing fa

John Woodman The abrupt 'lockdown' applied to the National Tram Museum by the government's Office of Road Rail has no doubt startled many followers of heritage trams in Britain. It could hardly have come at a worse time in the year, with the long Jubilee Holiday imminent with the onset of the summer season (although the weather so far has failed to comply with annual 'norms'). Visitors intending to ogle the Museum's eclectic fleet will be thoroughly disappointed, given th

John Woodman Blackpool Council and its wholly owned transport operating company has the chance to create a world class display of evolving tram and bus development since the advent of electric power. As the earliest town in Europe to inaugurate electric tram service on public roads Blackpool holds a world class reputation in harnessing the new energy source. Its Council Members spurned steam, horse, cable for the very first proven trials of electric power. Brought to the se

John Woodman As preparatory plans emerge to reconfigure the 1930s tram depot on Hopton Road it is becoming necessary to consider an eminent display that tells the story of Blackpool's embrace of electric power from the 1880s right up to the 2020s. Fortunately many examples of tramcar design and development, (mostly unique to Blackpool) still exist, albeit with examples in diverse collections. The story of electric power and its diverse application has to be of equal impo

John Woodman A driveby on Rigby Road today afforded the chance to see the latest features at TramTown entrance which Colin MacLeod (yes himself) warned me about earlier in the week. The TramTown team have resurrected the floral tribute which was created for the 1985 Centenary and positioned in front of what was then St John's Church. Positioned at the entrance way to the depot the refurbished 'momento' has been embellished to approximate the styling of a Balloon car and is

John Woodman While today's followers (and users) of Blackpool's trams and buses may feel they are benefitting from one of the country's more 'progressive' transport systems, those of a certain age will know better. As the town struggles to see completion of the redevelopment at the former North Station site with a much needed extension of the tram service to the vital mainline railway terminal, it is worth bearing in mind that trams ran to North Station for nearly seventy ye

John Woodman I was more than surprised to receive a large package today filled with photo prints of Blackpool buses (and trams) mailed in Huddersfield. These came from the owner of Blackpool PD2 300 = John Hinchliffe who has been patiently working on restoration of this classic vehicle over many years. Now reaching a certain age (much like myself) John is shedding some of his collection and materials and intending to retain the Burlingham bodied double deck bus from 1951.

John Woodman While Blackpool Corporation Transport were in the throes of improving the riding qualities of the 1939 built 'Sun Saloon' class 10-13 utilising new resilient wheel bogies and 'VAMBAC' controls as the most economic means of upgrading the all street running tram service to Marton - a parallel exercise was underway in the port city of Rotterdam in 1949. The city had undergone a massive air attack at the onset of the German invasion in 1940 destroying a large part