Sunday 23 June 2013

Heritage Trams for Totally Transport

Standard 147 leaves North Pier, being paralleled by the ex Hong Kong 12m Metrobus on the Seafront 12 service


Sunday 23rd June saw the annual Totally Transport vehicle rally being held on the South Promenade in Blackpool, as is often the case this year's event was subjected to some pretty atrocious weather again for late June. The skies were leaden grey with heavy cloud for most of the day, but to make matters worse there was a strong westerly wind that increased in force as the day wore on. All the hard work that the entrants had put in cleaning and polishing their exhibits into pristine condition was completely undone by the salt laden gales. By the end of the day every vehicle on the promenade was coated in a sticky film of wind blown salt spray, meaning that all the vehicles would need a thorough wash again after they returned home! As was to be expected, the forecast poor weather meant that the planned Boat cars were a non-starter for the heritage output on the day. The trams chosen for the morning tours were Standard 147 and Balloon 717, being swapped later in the day for 706 Princess Alice and Bolton 66, the open-topper being a strange choice given the extremely strong winds and heavy skies. The Heritage Tours operated as a shuttle service between North Pier and the Pleasure Beach throughout the day.

Balloon 717 was the second car on the morning heritage output, seen here from the top deck of Standard 147


Princess Alice loading on the Pleasure Beach loop, with a few adventurous souls braving the gales on the top deck!


Bolton 66 loading passengers at North Pier before reversing and heading south for the Pleasure Beach

No comments:

Post a Comment