Roy B

Continued from above: I used to catch a Barton bus from Nottingham to Long Eaton back in the 70s so have always liked their livery. Here we have 966 RVO, a 1963 dual-door Yeates bodied Bedford VAL14. (Pic credit David Mitchell) London Country liveried Routemasters RML2412 (JJD 412D), and RML2234 (CUV 334C) sandwich Green Line liveried RMC1469 (469 CLT). The last acted as a styling prototype for the longer RCL-type Green Line Routemasters but lost its amended body to RMC1502 at a subsequent overhaul. However, it has been restored with RCL style wide front blind-box, side transfers, and deeper wings. (Pic credit David Jukes) Impressive Exhausts: Shortly after leaving King’s Cross, Doncaster’s V2 2-6-2 No 60889 darkens the sky at Holloway on 3 April 1955, when heading the 9.59am relief to Edinburgh. The locomotive was burning brickettes, which contributed to the pyrotechnics. No doubt the local residents would be none too happy, especially if the washing was out! (Pic credit Philip Kelley) BR Class 6MT 4-6-2 No 72008 Clan Macleod puts out an impressive display when departing from Perth with the 4.45pm fish train from Aberdeen to Manchester in 1965 (Pic credit WJV Anderson) Grubby ’Princess Coronation’ No 46256 Sir William Stanier F.R.S. comes charging up Shap with a Glasgow to Birmingham express on 14 September 1955 (Pic credit WJV Anderson) Diesels could also ‘put on a show’ and, here, the roar of the twin engines from ‘Deltic’ Royal Highland Fusilier are producing a strong exhaust at Belle Isle, as D9019 lifts its train up the bank out of King’s Cross on 20 October 1968 (Pic credit Brian Stephenson) A big round of applause if you've stayed with me this week! Next week is the final one for this Off Season. Racing-wise we’ll have a look at the last Birmingham meeting, plus three F2 meetings from the south-west, before we make tracks to see what gems remain of a once busy summer Saturday railway line.

Continued from above: Boat 602 – built in 1933. Red and Cream style similar to 30's Green and Cream, renumbered back to 227 Boat 600 - built in 1933. It has shorter body sides than the rest of the boats. Named "Duchess of Cornwall" it received bumpers instead of lifeguards as part of the heritage fleet. Boats: Technical Information Numbered: 225 - 236 (now 600 - 607) Built: 1934-35 Built by: English Electric, Preston Seats: Swing over Seats Capacity: 56 Motors: EE 327 HP 40 x 2 Controllers: EE Z6 Braking: Westinghouse air-wheel, rheostatic, hand wheel Current Collector: Trolley Upon his arrival to Blackpool Corporation Transport In 1933, Walter Luff looked at the fleet he inherited and decided that the replacement of the fleet of Toastrack trams running on the promenade was a priority. The main reason for the replacement was for the safety of the conductors who would be collecting the fares. As there was no central aisle, the conductor would have had to move along the running boards and hold on for dear life to the handrails along the outside of the trams to gather in fares, whilst also trying to avoid colliding with trackside obstacles such as traction poles. Walter Luff's idea was for an open topped car with a centre entrance and central walkway for the conductor to collect the fares safely, and to allow for safe boarding and disembarking for the passengers. The prototype 'luxury toastrack' numbered 225 arrived in 1933 and was immediately used in service and proved to be immensely popular with passenger and crew alike. A further eleven of these 'luxury toastracks', numbered 226 - 236 were ordered and soon arrived and were put into service. The’ luxury toastrack’ soon became known as the Boats due to them looking similar. Boat 225 had lower bodysides than the eleven production boats and gained the nickname 'Little Willy'. When the Boats entered service, they were allocated between two depots with four being based at Rigby Road for easy access to the prom for use on specials, whilst the remaining eight were based at Marton Depot for use on the Circular and Coastal tours. During the period of the Second World War, the Boat Cars saw very little use as there weren't as many holidaymakers in the town, and the main priority was to ensure that the service trams and extras required were crewed. Following the war, as the visitors returned and the staff who had been called up returned, the Boats returned to service. The Circular tour did not return until 1957 so most of the tours operated along the coast from Tower to Little Bispham and south to Pleasure Beach, with the Boats featuring heavily on this tour. The Circular tours returned in 1957 for a brief period of four years operated by the boats until the Lytham Road route closed in 1961. From 1962 the Boats operated once more on the Coastal tour route as well as on specials along the prom. In 1959, the Boat trams received their only modifications to date, when they received plastic windscreens on either end. In 1962, Marton Depot closed along with the route that it served, meaning a new home for the Boats had to be found. The eight allocated to Marton Depot were transferred to Bispham Depot for the 1963 season. This move was short lived as Bispham Depot closed in October 1963. Due to there being less trams required following the closure of all the town routes, the decision was taken to withdraw four of the Boat Trams. 229, 231, 232 and 234 were stored in Blundell Street depot, where they were joined by the remaining eight Boats in service in time for the 1964 season. Early in 1968, stored Boats 229, 231, 232 and 234 were scrapped in Blundell Street depot having been stripped of useful parts first. The remaining Boats were renumbered 600 - 607 in 1968. In 1971, Boat 601, made a one way journey across the Atlantic, when it was sold to the Western Railway Museum, Suisun City, California. 601 still sees regular service there. 603 also made a trip to America in 1976, for the Philadelphia Bicentennial celebrations, returning to Blackpool in 1978. 603 never returned to service in Blackpool as it had been regauged to 5ft 3 inches in Philadelphia and was sold to Muni in San Fransisco to operate on its F line in 1984. 603 has been modified to carry wheelchair passengers and can only be driven from one end. It was renumbered back to 228 when it entered service with Muni. 600 spent a period on long term loan to Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester from 1984 (the initial part of this was to allow Manchester 765 to attend the Centenary celebrations in 1985). 600 had to have its trolley tower removed to allow it to enter the depot at Heaton Park. Boat 606 became the first and to date only Blackpool Tram to run in Scotland in 1988, when it made the journey north to operate at the Glasgow Garden Festival. A special tramway was built through the Festival site and 606, in an attractive Blue and Yellow livery with adverts for Belhaven Beer on the side proved very popular with the visitors. 606 returned to Blackpool following the end of the festival in September 1988. In 1990, the Boats received new two piece windscreens to replace the original plastic screens as they were beginning to suffer from scratch damage, reducing visibility for the driver. At the same time, they were painted in a multitude of colourful liveries, 602 was painted in a very smart yellow and black 'handy bus' livery, similar to that carried by Blackpool Transport mini buses at the time. 604 was repainted into Routemaster red and white livery, this matched balloon 701 which was also outshopped in this livery. 605 was painted into wartime livery (a fictitious but smart livery for this type of tram as the boats remained in original livery during the war), 606 was painted blue and yellow, and 607 was painted yellow and green, and covered with Travelcard adverts. In 1992, Boats 602 and 604 were fitted with pantographs with nylon ropes tied onto the current collectors to stop them falling off and injury the passengers. Although the addition of a pantograph made the Boat trams look smart and cut down the amount of maintenance needed, they were soon converted back to trolley operation after Blackpool Transport received many complaints and compensation claims after passenger's clothes were showered with grease and dirt from the overhead line when it rained. Boat 604 lost its red and white Routemaster livery sometime around 1996 and received 1990s Green and Cream livery. In 1998, boat 600 returned from long term loan to Heaton Park in Manchester. The tram was repainted into original livery and received Fylde Tramway Society roundels in its trolley tower. Boat 606 made its final journey in Blackpool in August 2000, when in an exchange for Blackpool Standard Car 147, which was in store at Trolleyville, Cleveland, Ohio in the USA, it made the long voyage by sea with 147 going the other way. Following the closure of Trolleyville, 606 moved to the National Capital Trolley Museum in Washington, where it is running, minus its trolley tower, due to the height of the overhead. In 2004 boat 600 was fitted with strings of lights as during the Illuminations in the 1950s and 60s. The fitting of these lights was done in preparation for the tram procession for the 70th Anniversary of the streamlined fleet, in which 600 was to take part. At the end of the 2004 season all Boats were withdrawn as part of a fleet reduction exercise. Following a number of complaints and a huge outcry by the public, 600, 602, 604 and 605 were returned to service during 2005 proving just how popular this type of tram really is and that it's true that nothing beats a ride along the prom on a Boat tram on a warm and sunny day. In June 2008, 600 was repainted in its original livery and named "Duchess of Cornwall". During 2009, it received an overhaul where it kept its original shape and features, but lost its distinctive lifeguards, which were replaced with plastic skirts as per balloon 717. It was converted to low voltage operation with a control box mounted behind the tower. 602 and 604 were withdrawn for 2009 but both were later re-instated. 605 was preserved and spent time on loan at Beamish before being bought by and moved to the Muni tramway in San Francisco, USA in 2013. It has since been repainted in 30s green and cream livery and renumbered back to its original number, 233. During 2012, Boat 607 moved to Crich permanently, following a repaint back into 1930s livery, the removal of the windscreens, and regaining its original number of 236. It is seeing regular service at Crich. In 2012 Boat 604 received a repaint into 60s green and cream, gained its original fleet number of 230, with pictures of George Formby in the roundels on the trolley tower, and George Formby nameplates, and entered service with the heritage fleet. 602 followed suit in 2013, being reliveried in BCT red and white livery (unprototypical for a Boat tram, but looks fantastic), and was renumbered 227. 230 is currently stored awaiting a rewire to modern safety standards. This tram was built as 327 in 1953 entering service in Blackpool in the last month of that year (the penultimate of the popular with enthusiasts class of trams to both be delivered to and enter service on the tramway). The troublesome VAMBAC equipment remained fitted to 327 until the start of 1967 when it received the conventional Z4 controllers. Renumbering to 663 followed in 1968 and after soldiering on until the end of the 1974 season the tram was withdrawn from service. Saved for preservation 663 left in 1976 and then led a nomadic life around the north of England with stays in Lytham, Southport, Bradford, St Helens and Richmond before in 2003 it returned to Blackpool and joined the Lancastrian Transport Trust collection at Brinwell Road. Some work was undertaken here but following the transfer of the LTT trams to the Blackpool Heritage Trust 663 finally returned to Rigby Road in December 2013. The overhauled bogies Waiting for attention Standard 147 Standards: Technical Information Built: 1923-1929 Builder: Blackpool Corporation Transport / Hurst Nelson (Motherwell) Seating Capacity: 78 Fleet Numbers: 28, 33-43, 45-51, 53, 99-100,142-160, 177 Controllers: BTH B510 Motors: BTH B510 Trucks: Preston McGuire Equal Wheel Bogies Current Collector: Trolley Current Operation: 147 in service as part of the Heritage Fleet, 143 under restoration as part of the heritage fleet. The Standard Trams were built during the 1920s to replace a number of older tramcars, such as the 'Motherwell' trams, many built around the turn of the century. Following dismantling, the Motherwell tram cars would donate their reasonably new top decks to the Standard car that replaced it. Initially, the Standard cars were built with open balconies and open end vestibules, offering no protection to the driver against strong winds, the sand blown in by the strong winds and the rain. Of the forty two Standards built, thirty five of them were built by Blackpool Corporation Transport and the other seven were built by Hurst Nelson of Motherwell. The final two Standards to be built (numbers 51 and 177) featured windscreens, this feature would be retrofitted to the other forty standards by 1933. Standard 177 was actually built from spare parts left over from the Standard building program When introduced, the Standard trams wore the then tramway colours of red and white with gold fleet numbers, this gave way to green and cream livery in the 1930s. Seventeen Standards received enclosed balconies during the 1930s, with the remainder retaining open balconies for the remainder of their working lives. Standard 33 became the first of the Standard Cars to be withdrawn and scrapped, being dismantled in 1940, Standard 46 would become the second, also making its demise in 1940. Standard 50 was withdrawn and scrapped in December 1940 after the tram was blown over during a gale near the Metropole Hotel. In April 1944, Standard 36 derailed on the corner of Church and Abingdon Streets, crashing through the shop front of Sweet and Clarke Outfitters. The tram was repaired and returned to service. The Standard Cars mainly saw use inland on the Layton, Central Drive and Marton Routes until the closure of the Layton and Central Driver routes in 1936. The Standards carried on working the Marton Route until the introduction of the Marton Vambacs in 1949 which saw them relegated to specials and peak time extras. The result of this was the withdrawal of a number of Standard Cars in the early 1950s with the majority of them being scrapped. However, Standard 144, one of the withdrawn trams escaped the scrapman for a new life at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine, America. The tram was transported to Liverpool Docks by lorry, then by freighter across the Atlantic. Standard 143 was withdrawn in 1957 and found a new life as an engineering car. It was fitted with a bus engine in the lower deck to allow it to move without electric power if required. At first a large part of the covered top deck was retained apart from the middle section which was removed to allow an inspection gantry to be fitted. However, the remaining windows and roof were soon removed making 143 open topped. In a bid to maximise revenue during the Illuminations period, Standards 159 and 160 received exterior illuminations to allow them to be used as additional feature cars, whilst also operating as normal specials in the daytime. Standard 40, which had been withdrawn as only the Standards with closed balconies were being retained, returned to service for a tour of the system in 1957 and was retained in service until 1962, becoming the last double decker with open ends in use anywhere in the country. The next double decker tram with an open top to operate on a commercially run tramway would be Balloon 706, which made its return to service in this form in 1985. By 1962 only a handful of Standards remained in service, these were Standards 40, 48, 147, 158, 159 and 160. 40 and 48 were withdrawn in October 1962 after being selected for use on the final service on the Marton Route with 40 operating the final journey from Talbot Square, and 48 operating the final journey from Royal Oak prior to the route’s closure on 26th October. Following withdrawal, Standard 40 joined sister car 49 at Crich Tramway Museum in Derbyshire, whilst Standard 48 crossed the Atlantic to the Oregon Electric Railway in Oregon in the USA. Standards 147, 158, 159 and 160 continued to see use until 1966 when Standard 160 was scrapped, whilst 158 went to Crich for spare parts and was subsequently scrapped. Standard 159 went to the East Anglian Transport Museum, where it was restored and still operates today. Following a farewell tour of the system in 1966, Standard 147 also crossed the Atlantic, where it ended up at Columbia Park, Cleveland, Ohio. Standard 40 was repainted back into original red and white in 1985 and returned to Blackpool in 1985 for the Centenary of the tramway. Standard 143 (as 753) caught fire whilst operating on diesel power in 1990 and was stored unserviceable until it was donated to the Lancashire Transport Trust. Standard 147 returned to Blackpool in 2000 from Ohio with Boat 606 going the opposite way in exchange. Following a major restoration job, Standard 147 returned to service in 2002 and is now part of the heritage fleet. Standard 143 was returned to Rigby Road in 2010 with a large part of the overhaul complete, however further work was not carried out and it returned to the LTT workshops in 2012 before returning to Blackpool in 2013. 143 returned to service briefly in 2019, however a motor fault has seen it sidelined awaiting repair by a specialist firm. Also in the pic alongside the Standard is Centenary 642. The Centenary Cars: Technical Details Fleet Numbers: 641 - 648 Built: 1984-1988 Trucks: Blackpool Transport 5ft 6in wheelbase and Metalastik suspension Motors: English Electric 305 57 Horsepower x 2 Controllers: Brush Chopper Controls Braking: Chopper Controlled air braking / hand wheel Current Collection: Pantograph Dimensions: Length 51ft 6in, Width 8ft 2in, Height 9ft 4in Seats: 54 In the early 80's, it was becoming clear to Blackpool Corporation that there was a dire need to replace their fleet of OMO cars, which were carrying the burden of operating most of the timetabled services throughout the year. The OMO trams were built in the early 1970s from the 1930s built English Electric Railcoaches and the underframes were starting to droop badly. Rather than building, or rebuilding their own trams, the Corporation put out an invite to tender for the building of the new trams and in the end the contract was awarded to East Lancashire coachbuilders. The tender was originally for ten cars however funding was cut and eventually only seven trams were built. The new trams had seating for 54 and could take up to 16 standing passengers, which was more than the OMO and Railcoaches could carry. They were the widest trams in the fleet with a much more roomy and modern interior. Rather than using the standard controller and brake handles used in much of the fleet, they were fitted with the more modern Thrystor Controls that were also fitted to the Jubilee trams. They did however have the tried and trusted English Electric motors used in the rest of the fleet. The trucks used Metalistik suspension which was also used on the OMO car trucks. The bodies of the Centenary trams had many similarities and compatible parts with a number of single deck buses which were in service across the UK at this time. The trams were named Centenary Cars as the first tram numbered 641 arrived and entered service in 1985 which was the tramway's centenary. Also in 1985, a test tram numbered 651 which had the same style of body to 641 went into service. The tram was fitted with GEC motors and Marley and Taunton bogies modified from a withdrawn Coronation. The other six Centenary Cars were put into service in two batches ofthree with 642, 643 and 644 arriving in 1986, and 645, 646 and 647 arriving in 1987. Due to a cut in funding by the Government the final three Centenary cars, which would have been numbered 648 - 650, never arrived. In 1990 following the end of experiments, it was decided that 651 would be useful as a standard Centenary Car. Blackpool Transport bought the body and work started fitting standard Centenary Car trucks, motors and suspension to make it compatible with its sister cars. 651was then renumbered to 648. The eight Centenary cars formed much of the winter and early season output throughout the late 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. However, during this period these cars proved to be troublesome, with numerous unexplained faults and breakdowns caused in part by the high mileages which these cars were expected to operate (often seven from eight cars needed on a daily basis during the winter) resulting in major service disruptions and in some cases, long periods out of service. Would there have been less problems if more of these trams had been built? When faults and breakdowns did occur, the OMO cars (until they were withdrawn in 1993), Brush cars, Railcoaches and occasionally Balloon, Millennium and Jubilee cars had to operate in their place. Midlife overhauls started for the Centenary Cars in 1998 when 642 was withdrawn for an overhaul that would change the appearance of the tram. 642’s overhaul included larger destination boxes, and a reconfigured roof and body side to stop the pantograph grease from running down the side of the tram. New headlight clusters and new saloon windows were fitted. It was often seen out on test during the summer of 1999 before it entered service in autumn 1999. 641 was next and received a similar overhaul returning to service in 2000. 646, 643, 644 and 647 were next to be overhauled in that order over the following years, receiving a more angled front end to eliminate the need for the expensive curved glass windscreens and to allow flat glass to be installed. They also received small triangular windows at the driving ends. 645 was refurbished in 2003 in a similar style to 643, 644, 646 and 647 except that it's front end was more flat and didn't feature the small triangular windows. The overhaul also contained a front end skirt, eliminating the need for a lifeguard. 648 was the final car to be overhauled and with future preservation in mind, the tram retained its original front ends complete with original radiator grill, however it gained the front end skirts just like 645, and the raised sides to stop the pantograph grease running down the side of the tram. The interior was modified like the other trams in the fleet. Originally, all Centenary cars carried the 1980s fleet livery. This gave way to the 1990s fleet livery, however fleet livery was not worn by any Centenary cars from the mid 1990s onwards and the trams carried numerous overall adverts over the years, with 641, 642, 643 and 645 ending their service days carrying base coats from previous adverts carried. From 2000 - 2004, some of the burden was taken off the Centenary trams when the Brush Cars and Railcoaches took over the operation of the service in the early season until the start of the main timetables, when the double deckers or twin cars took over timetable operation. From 2005, the Centenary cars saw more use during the summer period on both crew and driver only specials following the mothballing of the majority of the Brush Cars and Railcoaches. They continued to dominate output on the winter timetable until winter 08/09 (as the tramway was closed over the winter period for track relaying over the following three winters) and on both the timetabled service and specials in the summer until 2011. The service during 2011 only ran from Pleasure Beach to Little Bispham with eight trams required for service. Five or six Centenaries were used daily with two or three Brush Trams seeing use on the short workings to Cabin. 2011 was to be the final year of service. With the impending completion of the tramway upgrade, and the class of trams being unable to be made compatible with the new platforms, or be given step free access, the writing was on the wall for them. The first casualty was the pioneer tram 641, which was withdrawn with numerous faults during summer 2011 and never ran again on the tramway. 643 was withdrawn in October 2011, and the remaining six cars soldiered on until the final day in service for the old fleet, 6th November 2011. On the final day, 645 had the distinction of being the final tram to pick up passengers at Lytham Road tram stop. 645 failed during the day and had to be towed back to depot. 643, which had been withdrawn just a few weeks before was hastily reactivated using parts from 645 and the tram had one last outing in service. Following the withdrawal of the old fleet at the end of service on 6th November 2011, six out of eight of the cars were sold and moved to new homes. 641 was bought by Friends of Fleetwood and following a period of storage in their yard, it was adorned with photographs and displays for Blackpool FC and was on display at the Pleasure Beach. The tram was later repainted purple and adorned in an advert for local charity 'Horizon Blackpool', but is now stored in Fleetwood Docks. 644 was bought by Farmer Parrs Animal World on the outskirts of Fleetwood. The tram still wears its advert for the company on one side, and one driving end as it did in its final years in service. The remainder of the tram is in a yellow base coat. 643 and 645 were bought by Caravan Parks for use as cafes. 643 received a mainly off white with green bands livery, which although unauthentic for a Centenary car, and similar to the livery carried by a Coronation tram, suited it. 643 only lasted one year in this role before it was donated to the Friends of Fleetwood trust and stored at Fleetwood Docks. 643 was then bought by a school in the Midlands area. 646 was also bought by Friends of Fleetwood, however as it had the Paul Gaunt Furniture all over advert, it was displayed in the said company's car park. 647 moved to the North East after being bought by NEETT and is displayed at the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum in Sunderland. It has been stripped of the vinyls from its B&M Bargain’s advert and is expected to receive an original red, white and brown livery formerly carried by the Blackpool Trams pre 1933 but not historically correct for this type of tram. Unfortunately, 646 was vandalised whilst stored in the car park at Paul Gaunt’s with a number of windows being smashed and an attempt by the same vandals to set the tram on fire. 646 was later sold on and sadly the tram has now been scrapped. A proposed move for 648 to Crich fell through and it joined the heritage fleet at Blackpool. The tram entered service with the heritage fleet in 2012 originally in the same condition as it ended normal service in 2011, however over the winter of 2012/13 it received 80s green and cream livery, the livery originally carried by this tram when it made its debut as 651 back in 1985. Some of the features received during 648's mid-life overhaul were reversed such as the removal of the skirts at both driving ends and the reinstatement of the traditional life guards. The increased body sides were also reduced back to their original size. The only modern concession is that the new hopper windows and modernised interiors remain. 642 also remained unsold and was originally expected to be used as a source of spare parts for 648, however the tram has seen some use as a back-up for 648, and occasionally as an extra driver only operated special on the heritage service. 642 retained the faded yellow base coat that it wore during its final years in service until 2018, when after two years in storage awaiting repairs to a fault, the tram was repainted into a recreation of an advert for Blackpool Transport and Heritage Tram tour Travelcards from the mid-1990s, with the ends receiving 1990s green and cream. 642 has also received modifications to its front ends to allow retrofitting of original style headlights and indicators. The tram has however, retained its increased height body sides, modernised hopper windows, modernised interior and larger destination blind boxes. Following five years at the Windy Harbour Caravan Park just outside Blackpool, 645 was deemed surplus to requirements and was taken back by Heritage tram tours to join the heritage fleet. It returned to Blackpool in late July 2017 and will represent the final form that the refurbished cars took, however this is likely to be sometime in the future as the tram will need to receive an overhaul and with two Centenary cars in service, a third is probably not needed at this time. The Centenary Trams will go down in history as being the last class of First Generation Tram to be built for a British Tramway. Number 647 will also go down as being the last new First Generation tram to be built and enter service. More pics from the depot in the gallery. Miscellaneous Pics: Loco sheds, particularly roundhouses, can be atmospheric places. In this March 1965 view at Bristol, Barrow Road, 4920 is framed between 73003 and a pannier (Pic credit Michael Messenger) Continues below:

Continues from above: Works Railcoach 259 is an original design Brush Railcoach built in Loughborough in 1937, its original fleet number was 287.In 1968 it was renumbered 624 as part of the BTS fleet renumbering programme, before it was renumbered again to 259 when it joined the works fleet.When it joined the works fleet it was painted green but retained a lot of its original features which the other Brush cars lost during modifications. These include the sliding sunroof(which slots under the trolley tower), air operated doors(which can be controlled by the driver) and twin destination blinds at each end. The Rocket - rebuilt 1961 and stored since 2002. The space race came to Blackpool in the form of the Rocket tram. It was actually a much altered tram number 732 and is still in storage. Regrettably, the practicalities of having a sloping floor and using it safely with a high passenger load means bringing it back into service raises quite a number of practical and safety issues which are proving difficult to overcome. On a wet night in 1961 A magnificent sight which is greatly missed On the left is open topped Balloon with trolley pole and authentic top deck seats, named Princess Alice since 1985. Major overhaul began in late 2019. One of the most popular trams of the past 30 years in Blackpool. 706 was rebuilt into open top condition – although not a restoration as such with many more modern features included – in time for the 1985 centenary after the tram suffered damage in a collision at Pleasure Beach on 22nd July 1980. Returned to service in 1985 706 was completed in an original green and cream livery style and also received its now iconic name “Princess Alice” in a special ceremony. It also received side adverts for the Fylde Tramway Society and was running with a Pantograph. The tram was very much the go-to tram in fine weather for Prom specials at this time with its open top deck very popular with tourists for a quick trip. The top deck's wooden seating At this time the tram had returned to an approximation of the original fleet livery carried back in 1934 with its Princess Alice name (originally applied in 1985 shortly after its restoration to open top condition) restored to a wooden board instead of the painted on version seen previously. The tram had also received original style destination blinds at one end in 2004 for the 70th anniversary of the streamlined trams and one of these remained in situ.Today Alice is waiting its turn to go through the workshops for a full restoration to operational condition having been withdrawn from service after running for the best part of 30 years since its last major attention. As it is today in storage. The route blind lies on top of the right hand seats. Continues below:

Continued from above: There are quite a number of trams at the back of the depot that haven’t seen the light of a day for some years. It’s always a treat to see that these stalwarts from the past still remain. A varied assortment at the back of the depot The tram body-lift Twinset 272 +T2 from 1960 has heating fitted. Awaiting repairs and rewire following an electrical fire. Twin Cars: Technical Details: Motor Coach Built: 1935 (Converted for trailer operation 1958 - 1961) Built By: English Electric Seating: 56 Seating Type: Swing over seats Controllers: EE Z4 Trucks: EE Equal wheel bogies with 4ft wheelbase Motors: EE 305 HP 57 x2 Brakes: Westinghouse air wheel, hand wheel, rheostatic Current Collector: Pantograph Trailers Built: 1960 Built by: Met Cam Seating: 66 Trucks: Maley and Taunton 27 inch equal wheel bogies with 5 ft 6 inch wheel base Controller and Brakes as per Motor Coach. The concept of using Trailer operation in Blackpool was not a new one when discussed in 1957. Back at the formation of both the Blackpool Corporation Tramway and the Fleetwood Tramroad, trailer operation was used early on. However it was quickly abandoned as being unpractical and time consuming to turn around at the terminus. Joseph Franklin, the head of Blackpool Corporation Transport, was interested in re-introducing trailer operation to allow for more high capacity trams that could easily have their trailers dropped off when not required. He went to Germany to look at trailer operation in some towns and cities there. Following the visit, Series 2 English Electric Railcoaches 275 and 276 were admitted to the works for conversion into what would become the first 'Progress' Twin Car. The conversion meant that both 275 and 276 would lose their distinctive pointed cab ends, which after alterations to the underframe, were replaced with flat ends. The flat cabs were required to allow the fitting of couplings to allow both the motor and trailer car to be coupled together. 276 would retain all its electrical equipment and driving cabs, whilst 275 had its electrical equipment removed and became a trailer for 276. Originally numbered 275 and 276 Upon completion in 1958, the new twin set was demonstrated to the Mayor of Blackpool. The Mayor was transported on the demonstration run from North Pier to Little Bispham and back again. The experiment was deemed to be a success, and as a result, an order for 10 trailers was placed with Metropolitan Cammell. The trailers were longer than the motor coaches with a capacity of 66. Meanwhile a further 8 Series 2 Railcoaches were converted to operate as motor sets. The trams chosen for conversion for the Twin Car programme were 272 - 281. Initially any motor could pull any trailer and as such 277 +T1 became the first true motor/trailer set to operate. On completion of the programme, standardisation took place and it was a regular occurrence for the Twin motor to haul the trailer with the corresponding number. As well as being regularly used to haul a trailer, 272-281 could also operate singly as a normal Railcoach if required. The initial operation of the Twin Car sets saw some flaws with their operation discovered early on. The main was that driving equipment was only located in the Railcoach, this meant that it was only possible for each set to run 'loop the loop' journeys and were limited to using the Starr Gate and Pleasure Beach loops in the southern end of the system, and Little Bispham and Fleetwood loops in the northern end of the system thus resulting in a lot of dead mileage. On departing the depot, each set had to travel either to Little Bispham or Fleetwood first before being able to head south, and then travel at least as far as the Pleasure Beach before heading north to the depot. It was also planned that the trailers would be dropped off at quiet times but there were operational difficulties and some costly solutions which would have been needed to allow this to happen. Firstly, there was nowhere convenient to leave the trailers, they would have had to have been left on the centre tracks at Tower, North Pier, Cabin, Bispham and Thornton Gate, or the short siding at PleasureBeach, or the loop at Fleetwood ferry. This then would mean that there was less capacity for turning trams and for waiting there during meal breaks. The trailers would have required hand brakes to be fitted to stop them from rolling away on gradients, and would also have needed to be fitted with locks to keep the public out when they were stored. A costly solution to number one would be to build storage loops on the prom but that would have required a remodel of the track and points to be fitted as well as crossovers. The only other option which did happen was for the motor and trailer to return to depot and the trailer shunted into an empty pit. This was seen as time consuming as this meant that the crew off the Twin set were off the prom and shunting the trailer around whilst they could be on a tram carrying passengers. The most simple and effective solution to this problem was found, and in the late 60s seven sets were permanently coupled together with a set of the driving equipment relocated to the trailer allowing driving from either end which allowed reversing to take place. 677 and 687 were the last set to be coupled permanently, being done in 1970. The trams were renumbered from 272-281 to 671-680 for the motor coaches, and T1-T10 were renumbered 681-690 in 1968. The remaining three Twin car motors which weren't permanently coupled up, were rarely seen with their trailers after 1970 and were often used as ordinary Railcoaches. This situation became permanent from 1972, when trailers 688-690 were withdrawn and either sold or scrapped. The seven permanently coupled sets were rarely used out of the peak of the summer season, which was between June and October. Use was limited to busy times such as market days, and during the Illuminations. The Twin sets were repainted into half green, half cream livery during the 1970s and would retain this same livery (and in some cases, the same coat of paint!) until the 1990s.They received very little works attention during this time. 675 had its roof windows panelled over on the outside of the tram with new plastic panelling covering the space where those windows were on the inside. This work was done in 1975 and was the only Twin car vehicle to receive this work. The motor cars were fitted with pantographs during the early 1990s, thus making reversing easier as there wasn’t a trolley pole to get turned any more. Trailer 681 had to have its cab end rebuilt in 1999 following a collision with another tram during the previous year that crushed the cab. Having spent many years in the shade and with limited use compared to other members of the fleet, the Twin Cars really came into their own in October 2002, when all double deckers were banned from travelling north of Thornton Gate due to the track being in poor condition. Faced with a dilemma of how to deal with large crowds heading to Fleetwood on Market days at one of the busiest times of the year without most of their highest capacity trams, the staff at Blackpool Transport decided to operate the Fleetwood service using as many Twin cars as possible on as many routes as possible. On the day the ban came into operation, Brush cars operated the timetable whilst the Twin cars were all prepared for their stint on the timetabled service. The following day, all seven sets operated on seven out of the nine routes on the Fleetwood service. This was the first and the last time that all seven sets operated on the timetabled service at the same time. However they would feature heavily on the Starr Gate - Fleetwood service for the remainder of the 2002 illuminations and the 2003 summer season. In preparation for the 2003 season, work was undertaken over the winter of 2002-03 on sets 671+681 and 672+682, which were taken into the works and had heaters fitted to both the motor and trailer cars, their seat cushions replaced and repainted into Line 2 and Line 1 Metro liveries respectively. The third repaint, which wasn't completed in time for Easter was for 674+684, which was to be repainted into Line 4 livery. The tram was required for service over the Easter weekend and was pressed into service in new undercoated panels and had been rubbed down ready for painting. The repaint was completed by May 2003. 673+683 and 675+685 were also repainted in Autumn 2003, and Autumn 2004 respectively. A minimum of four Twin cars were required for timetabled service daily over Summer 2003, with most sets used in service or specials on Market Tuesdays. The double decker ban north of Thornton Gate was lifted by Easter 2004 following extensive track relaying, meaning normality could return, however the Twin cars continued to operate on the Starr Gate to Fleetwood route when there was a shortage of suitable trams, but this was rare as double deckers were preferred. One of the downfalls of using the Twin cars on the Fleetwood service was that they were slow loaders due to passengers not being able to decide what door to use and which vehicle to sit in, resulting in the trams running late and occasionally having to turn short of their destination. Following the mass withdrawal of trams at the end of the 2004 season, un-refurbished sets 676+686 and 677+687 were both withdrawn and stored for possible further use. In June 2007, 677 was scrapped (apart from a section from the underframe and a section of the body framework) to provide a replacement body section for the restoration of the Western Train. 687 became a store for spare parts for the Western train, and also for parts salvaged from 677. In 2009, set 671+681 was withdrawn as surplus to requirements as was 674+684 which had a faulty coupling between the sets. Regular use in service was once again a common occurrence during the 2010 season as sets 672+682 and 675+685 were both used frequently on the Pleasure Beach - Thornton Gate intermediate service. As a number of trams had been sold and / or had departed the tramway, a further pair of Twin cars were returned to service with 671+681, and 673+683 being used for the Illuminations period. At the time, only trams fitted with transponders were allowed to run north of Bispham. Both trams were limited to journeys as far north as Bispham before being withdrawn in November 2010 at the end of the season. With the end of the traditional system in 2011, it looked to be the swansong for the Twincars, with both 672+682 and 675+685 seeing use on farewell tours on the last day of service, with 672+682 also replacing 711 which had suffered a fault for its last journey. A proposed move to Crich fell through for 672+682 and they were retained for the heritage fleet and repainted into original all over cream livery whilst receiving the original pre 1968 numbers of 272 + T2. 673+683 and 687 are in outside store at Fleetwood Docks, whilst 674+684 are at the North East Land Sea and Air Museum in Sunderland. 676+686 remain stored at Rigby Road Depot. Having moved around to various places, 671 and 681 both returned to Rigby Road depot at various times. 675+685 returned to use in September 2015 having been painted in 70s Green and Cream livery. An electrical fire onboard Twin Car motor 272 during the 2016 Gold Weekend, saw the set's withdrawal as it was discovered that the full set needed rewiring. At the end of the 2016 season, 675+685 had a detailed inspection of its wiring and it was found that the set also needed a full rewire. These remain stored awaiting a rewiring along with 272+T2. 675+685 is expected to be high up the list for a rewire to allow a return to service. These two photos show the tram out of service. In 2004 the Motor Car is in the Paint Shop where it has been repanelled and is awaiting repainting as part of its mini-overhaul. The tram was dragged out onto Hopton Road on 28th September 2019 during the September Spectacular event. One of the noteworthy members of the twenty strong class of Brush built rail coaches (284 - 303) is number 290 which latterly was renumbered 627 in the great fleet renumbering saga of the mid 1960s. Previously unremarkable, the tram's fame and importance is entirely due to it becoming the very last tram to depart from Blackpool's North Station in October 1963 on the final night of that historic service to Fleetwood. Opened in 1898 by the Blackpool & Fleetwood Tramroad Company - the service provided travellers arriving by train at Blackpool North (originally Talbot Road Station) with a convenient coastal route all the way to the Fleetwood terminus outside both the Ferry to Knott End and Fleetwood's own railway terminus adjoining the River Wyre. From here travellers once took advantage of seagoing steamers onward to Barrow, Scottish ports on the west coast, Belfast and the Isle of Man. Taken over by Blackpool Corporation in 1920 - the Tramroad Company and all of its assets, which included 41 single deck open and closed trams, morphed its line with the seafront services of the Corporation Tramways but retaining unique railway type destinations along its route, as well as the service number '1'. It was the only Blackpool tram service to be numbered. Brush car 290 was based originally at Bispham Depot with fellow cars until 1963 when the North Station tram service was converted to bus operation. Thereafter 290 transferred to Rigby Road Depot for remainder of its service life which continued on up to 2010 when it became redundant. There was naturally an active interest in securing the tram for preservation as a priority. In 2012 it was transferred to HM Prison in Kirkham, along with sister car 621 for storage. HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 merited a special display in conjunction with Blackpool Council who added a short length of tram track on their land at the Pleasure Beach terminus. The Trust arranged for two Fleetwood schools and the Blackpool and the Fylde College to create a series of murals commemorating the Queen's reign which were used in each of the saloon windows. A celebratory colour scheme of gold, white and silver was painted onto the tram after repair work was carried out on sections of the tram's roof by Colin MacLeod at the prison. New external LED lighting strips were added to the side panels and ends of the car together with a rendition of the side 'sweeps' favoured by Blackpool's Transport Manager during the 1930s and 1940s. In this condition the tram then was moved to the display track at the Pleasure Beach attracting a great deal of attention. Following the Diamond Jubilee in partnership with another Blackpool cultural project involving a street artist 'Inkie', the repainting of the tram in a dramatic 'punk' style as part of a town centre street art display took place. This did not always find favour with traditionalists but nonetheless was a worthy contribution to the town's seafront attractions. The Trustees then repainted 290 in a traditional green and cream transport colour scheme for its final years of display. On conclusion of two years in this format, the tram was removed to make way for another of the Trust's preserved cars, Centenary 641. Number 290 then was given accommodation in Rigby Road Depot where it presently resides whilst a long term home for the car is considered. Continued below:

Continued from above: Okay, let’s have another look around the Blackpool tram depot at Rigby Road. Don’t fall down any pits! In 2012, Blackpool’s trams were upgraded to run with light-rail trams, and since then around 60 volunteers have continued to operate a fleet of 20 heritage trams for tourists and residents. Whilst the Flexity trams are based at the newer depot at Starr Gate this Rigby Road depot houses the older fleet of trams. The roof needs a lot of work to remain water-tight, and a fund-raising effort is underway for this. The cost of repairs has been valued at around £1million. Plans are in place to regenerate Rigby Road depot into a museum, workshop, and stabling area for operational trams, but these plans cannot progress until the roof is repaired. £10,000 will pay for the replacement of all the guttering to help provide a short-term solution. Every £100,000 will mean that a portion of the roof can be repaired. The roof is made up of 5 apexes and replacing half would go towards preventing further damage. Two of the Illuminated trams were being prepped for the evening run Old and new in the bus yard A tank appears in the bus yard A Balloon tram’s underframe Somewhat overlooked is Engineering Car 754 which alone among the light rail fleet sports a singularly bright colour scheme - all over yellow. Built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders this tram is the latest in a line of overhead cars. Engineering Cars Starting with the former ex Conduit Car 4 which provided an additional role of shuttling bakery items from the town centre to the important military convalescent hospital built at Squires Gate during the Great War. Being fitted out with double opening doors in the sides - allowing removal of the large wooden trays of bread, cakes and other comestibles, number 4 had an extended life until replacement in the 1930s by its successor. Following a lingering afterlife at the very rear of Bispham Tram Depot over many years painted in a dingy all over dark green it resurfaced in 1960 as one of the quartet of vintage trams commemorating Blackpool's 75th Anniversary of electric tram operation. One thing led to another with number 4 of the very first tram fleet becoming a prized exhibit at the National Tram Museum - revisiting Blackpool for the memorable Tramway Centenary in 1985 carrying passengers in the formal procession. The successor was a former passenger tram with an interesting pedigree. Built originally as a two axle open top car number 31 in 1901 it was radically rebuilt with extended bodywork and given bogies until withdrawal. It was one of five similar rebuilds from this class - and through virtue of its new role as 'Engineering Car' numbered 4 in the somewhat haphazard Works Fleet roster - it gained immortality when after withdrawal it came under the custodianship of Beamish Museum. Here it was brilliantly restored to late 1920s appearance, regaining its original fleet number. Standard 143 was converted to an Engineering Car but has now been restored to it's original condition In 1958 Standard 143 was designated as replacement Engineering Car emerging from the bodyshop retaining its top deck enclosed balconies and renumbered 3. The lower saloon became home to a pensioned off diesel engine from a pre-war Blackpool bus allowing the tram to travel without need for the overhead power supply. Quite soon the confines of the upper deck features saw the end 'cabins' removed but Engineering Car 3 continued to sport its Standard car livery unlike the all-over green usually assigned to Blackpool's works fleet. Eventually it too saw its days ended, with a premature withdrawal due to an extensive fire in the lower deck. By then it had been relegated to pole painting work with the advent of the above mentioned brand new bespoke Engineering Car 754 ordered by Blackpool Transport - the very first instance of a completely new works tram on the system. Fortuitously yet again, longevity of works cars - saw 143 begin a return to its early 1920s open ended appearance. 143 returned to Rigby Road to see eventual completion of this important restoration which provided a comparison between the original design for the Standard class in 1922, to the final all-enclosed condition demonstrated by sister Standard 147 - itself a marvellous survivor. Surety of a tram's preservation certainly involves becoming a works car in Blackpool. Numbers 4, 31, 143 and eventually 754? Box 40, Rack 2, Grinders 1 and 2, Permanent Way Cars 167, 624 and the electric locomotive can also not be overlooked for future preservation. Inside the paint shop A couple of old advertising boards survive. Note the fares! Continues below:

Continued from above: An engine change on the 542 car Peter Gilbert works on the replacement Charlie Guinchard had a damaging end to his weekend courtesy of Brad McKinstry Willie Barnes took the Horry Barnes Trophy on parade before the race The bonnet of Timmy’s newer car Carl Boswell’s car had been in the wars The Harry Barnes car needed front end repairs after some hard hitting action More pics in the gallery Continued below:

Continued from above: Martin Ford had a tyre warmer on the front left #Love f2s Zoe interviews Rob on the grid Parc ferme Following an extended practice session for the World Finalists, the action began with grid-setting time trials for the overseas qualifiers. Amongst the eight drivers, five were from Northern Ireland and three from continental Europe. Two-time world champion Wim Peeters (H124) and fellow Dutchman Johan Schoutan (H55) overcame the extra cost, red tape of customs regulations and Covid quarantine requirements to travel with their own cars, while regular World Finalist Jan Bekkers (B96) borrowed machinery supplied by Gordon Moodie (7). Each contender made two solo runs, with the running order reversed for their second attempt. Peeters set the pace to secure the third row inside starting position. Graham Fegan (NI998) joined him on the outside. Following the trials a dummy grid was formed on the raceway and spectators were able to take part in a grid walk, take photos and collect autographs. The opportunity was then taken to gather all 14 F2 world champions present on the day, who could count an incredible 30 titles between them. The WF grid: Inside Outside 226 Billy Webster 606 Andrew Palmer 647 Chris Burgoyne 38 Dave Polley H124 Wim Peeters N1998 Graham Fegan 968 Micky Brennan 905 Rob Mitchell 13 Andy Ford 560 Luke Wrench NI747 Brad McKinstry B96 Jan Bekkers 527 James Riggall 183 Charlie Guinchard 149 Reece Cox 78 Henry King NI918 Shea Fegan NI467 Aidan McFerran 542 Steven Gilbert 126 Jamie Avery 618 Ben Lockwood 4 Martin Ford H55 Johan Schoutan NI175 Stephen Wright 324 Jordon Thackra 890 Paul Rice 9 Harley Thackra 24 Jon Palmer 801 Jack Cave 16 Craig Wallace 218 Rob Speak 674 Steven Burgoyne 629 Euan Millar 921 Jack Aldridge 7 Gordon Moodie After a couple of support heats the 35 finalists emerged on parade for the main event, greeted by plenty of cheers, and the odd good-natured boo. Having gridded up, the atmosphere went up another notch when on the first rolling lap the field fanned out to form a four-abreast salute to the crowd. It was reminiscent of the big sprint car meetings in the United States, but a first for racing on this side of the Atlantic. At the drop of the green Billy Webster took the lead from the man who started directly behind him, Chris Burgoyne, with Andrew Palmer in third. At the end of lap one Graham Fegan sent Micky Brennan into a spin which caught out some of the lower gridded cars as they entered turn four. James Riggall, Charlie Guinchard, Rob Speak, Steven Gilbert, Henry King and Jon Palmer were delayed in the chaos. At the front Wim Peeters moved into second, and Dave Polley passed Andrew Palmer for fourth. After five laps Burgoyne pushed Peeters into Webster, who in turn cannoned into the backmarking Schoutan. Burgoyne was through into the lead and as Webster ran wide it allowed Peeters and Polley to demote him to fourth. After a caution for Schoutan, who was sent hard into the wall in the incident, Burgoyne and Peeters both made untroubled restarts. Fegan thundered Polley around the fence who kept his foot down, although he dropped to the lower reaches of the top ten. It later turned out that he had broken his wrist in the incident. By half-way the leading duo were well clear, and Webster was having to try and defend against Wrench for third. Brad McKinstry bumpered his way past Fegan for fifth with the latter then getting involved in a battle with Gordon Moodie who had come from the back of the grid. As the frontrunners were negotiating traffic Wrench passed Webster for third, and Peeters sensed a chance to make an attack for the lead as the gap to Burgoyne narrowed. In went the bumper but only light contact was made as Peeters was too far back. He half-spun, and when he recovered Burgoyne was gone. Over the remaining laps the way ahead for Burgoyne opened up with no backmarkers to deal with. He reeled off the last few laps to claim his second world title. The gap of 19 years was only slightly shorter than Bill Batten’s 22-year wait for his final world crown in 2004. Burgoyne performed the victory donuts before celebrating on the roof of his car. The outgoing champion Moodie was among the first to congratulate the winner. Peeters had to settle for second, his fourth top-two finish in the past five runnings of the big race, although he had a scare when post-race scrutineering discovered that his under-seat safety protection plate was missing. While Peeters faced a heavy fine and suspended ban, the offence was not deemed worthy of disqualification so he held onto the position. Wrench completed the podium places, his pace in the closing stages not enough to overcome the gap the leaders had built. In the post-race presentations, an emotional Burgoyne admitted he would be able to savour his success more than the first time around all those years ago. “The first one was a bit of a whirl,” he said. “I was a bit young, didn’t understand it. But this one, it just feels so real now.” Result: 647, H124, 560, 226, NI747, 7, 801, B96, 674 and NI998. Gordon chats with the new World Champ A few pics from Sunday: Sunday morning’s job was to re-fit the engine A quick gold spray Chris about to start his lap of honour Continues below:

Hi there folks, Get yourselves a long brew, and a packet of biscuits and we’ll start first with a look back to the: 2021 F2 World Final at Skegness – Saturday 4th September 2021 At the 3rd August meeting a unique first for Brisca happened - two sisters racing at the same meeting. Jessica and Rebecca pose for a photo for the family album with a very proud mum and dad It had been eleven years since an F2 WF had been staged here and a huge amount had changed in the years between. A change of promoter, a repositioning of the pit gate, much of the fence replaced, and the bar beyond recognition. Earlier in the year, there were doubts as to whether there would be the usual representation from the Netherlands. Happily this had all turned out well in the nick of time. With some true tarmac experts amongst the entry coming across the North Sea, would we be seeing another Dutch victory? Stephen Wright from NI Wim Peeters from the Netherlands Speaky doing double duty this weekend Belgian Jan Bekkers was using a Gordon Moodie car Charlie Guinchard on the grid flies the Euro Champ flag Continues below:

Hi there folks, A good opening meeting today for the F2's at St.Day. A number of new/refurbished cars on show, and some entertaining racing. A nice refurb from Matt Westaway. It didn't end the meeting like this though after a massive hit into turn one from the man below. The Semtex Kid was back with a bang with an earth shaker of a payback hit on 835 A nice refurb from Matt Very nice RCE from David Simpson - ex Stock Rodder Looking good in grey for Adam Pearce A new WRC for Lauren Stack A perfect debut for WRC#49 winning Aaron the first Final of 2022 A good 31 car turnout raced to a full format meeting. Heat 1: 14 cars. A last corner sort out saw long time leader Dale Moon (302) go wide which allowed Kieren Bradford (27), and Steven Gilbert (542) through. Result: 27, 542, 302, 988, 835, 232, 464, 184, 208 and 572. Heat 2: 17 cars. Dave Sansom (352) in his ex-Reece Cox (149) car broke clear for the win from a closing Ben Borthwick (418) Result: 352, 418, 689, 979, 667, 320, 536, 35, 194 and 736. Cons: 14 cars. Result: 895, 736, 605, 828, 460, 572, 777, 928, 663 and 87. Final: 24 cars. A fast charging Matt Westaway (835) put a hit in on Dave Sansom entering turn one early on. The 352 car recovered immediately to give chase, and attempted to use another car as a snooker ball hit to get 835. This didn't work out though as 835 escaped and opened up a gap on his pursuer. However, a back-marking 928 car on the home straight slowed 835 enough for Semtex to get within range. A monster hit into turn one followed with Matt cannoned up the fence. A caution to get the winded driver out followed. Damage to the 352 car prevented him from continuing. Meanwhile the rapid 184 car had eclipsed the opposition to claim the first Final of 2022. Result: 184, 418, 542, 667, 27, 302, 689, 895, 460 and 35. GN: 19 cars. An opening lap shunt into turn one saw 928, 208 and a couple of others stuck on the outside line. Next time round 605 ripped a rear outside wheel off as he collected one of the stranded cars. A caution period to clear the cars fell in 184's favour as his lap handicap was reduced. On the restart he got into the top 3 and looked on for the win but got delayed momentarily which lost him track position which couldn't be made up in the laps that were left to run. Result: 418, 689, 542, 667, 27, 184, 302, 895, 736 and 572. More pics in the gallery.

Continued from above: Miscellaneous Pics Rootes Group Works Transport A 1955 shot showing several new Superpoise tractor units on the left, coupled to car transporter trailers, and an impressive line-up of more Superpoise and Bantam tractor units on the right, behind the early post-war Superpoise dropsider. There are four QX models visible, including a van at the end of the line. These were used to transport car bodyshells from Pressed Steel to Coventry. Here’s another great line-up taken from the other direction. We see more of the Bantam tractor units and half a dozen 8 cwt ‘Express’ delivery vans. The lack of employees cars in the car park over the road suggests this was a Sunday morning job! The story of how complete cars were built inside the six-floor Singer factory is worthy of a book in itself. Here we see a rather snazzy 1½ ton FC van, operated by Rootes dealer Holmes & Smith, being unloaded by a white coated driver. Next door, a fork-lift is loading a complete new Humber bodyshell onto the top of some crates on a QX dropsider, while a Rootes internal transport Superpoise and what looks like another dealer’s QX completes the line-up. Even before Hillman Imp production resulted in a lengthy supply chain to Scotland, the Rootes Group often used rail transport to ship completed cars to the docks for export. The covered railway wagons on this train hauled by a BR Standard Class 5 loco were of ‘drive-through’ design to allow for end-loading. Next week: We’ll take a look at the F2 WF, and then have a stroll around the Rigby Road tram depot. Pics from the St.Day 2022 F2 opener will be on here tomorrow evening.

Continued from above: The view from the top deck as a Flexity approaches heading north The present and past side by side. Flexity 005 heads south, whilst the Western Train awaits its passengers at the North Pier stop. The Western Train’s tender trailer car dates from 1928. The Western Train 733+734 The idea for the Western Train came from then Transport Manager Joseph Franklin's wife, when watching a Western Film. Built in 1962, from Railcoach 209 (originally built 1934) and Pantograph 174 (built in 1928), the Western Train has delighted holidaymakers for over 50 years. Original features included smoke coming out of the funnel, and real logs on the roof of the tender section. It was used to transport guests to the official opening of the ABC Cinema in Church Street in 1963, and subsequently were the last trams to operate in the town centre as the Marton Route had closed during the previous year and the track was kept especially for the opening. Just like the Rocket, the Western Train was fitted with a remote controller and air brake at the rear of the coach in 1967. 1968 saw the Locomotive numbered 733, and the coach numbered 734. 733+734 were both rewired during the 1980s. In 1999 they were withdrawn in need of another rewire, whilst 733's underframe had started to droop, giving the locomotive a banana type look. Other than a further outing when both halves of the train were towed to Fleetwood for the 2003 Tram Sunday, they would languish at the back of the sheds until 2007, when it was announced that Heritage Lottery fund were funding a restoration of the train. The trailer's underframe and bodywork were found to be in excellent condition and a rewire and restoration of the interior to Pantograph car condition were carried out. The locomotive required more work. A new underframe was built, and the frame from one of the passenger saloons from Twin Car motor 677 was grafted on the new underframe for use as the tender, whilst the remaining framework from the loco also transferred onto the new frame. Following the rewire, re-panel, and fitting of new lighting, 733+734 were returned to service in 2009, regaining their rightful place on the illuminations tours. A superb sight at night, and a real head turner To finish here’s a couple of pics from a few years ago when there was some serious snow on the ground. An OMO tram marooned south of the Pleasure Beach A tremendous sight. The snowplough fitted 723, with two pushing clears the tracks at Norbreck Castle. Continues below:

Continued from above: The driver needed to keep the cab window open to stop it steaming up. At the peak of the snowfall he was getting more in the cab than outside! Balloon 717 heads north from Cleveleys to the Thornton Gate cross-over. 717 in 1930s livery. This tram dates from 1935 and still has original features and fittings. Balloon 715 in a near white-out at North Pier The same location within a couple of hours. It was blue sky and sun, and all the snow had gone! Here’s 648 at the North Pier stop. Heading for Fleetwood A thawed out 717 717’s swingover seats Continues below:

Continued from above: Last weekend (18-20 Feb) there was a special three day event held on the Blackpool tramway. Five 90yr old members, and one near 40yr old youngster of the original tram fleet were out on the full system for a hop on-hop off enthusiasts/ general public extravaganza. Depot visits were also available, as well as evening tours on the illuminated Western Train. However, the rough weather played its part as all trams were suspended on the Friday owing to the high winds which scuppered the evening tour. All went to plan during Saturday, and most of Sunday until the evening tour. The wind had picked up again to such an extent that the overhead wires were being blown sideways. The Western Train was heading north on the reserved part of the track where the wind was at its strongest. Loss of contact between the pantograph and the overhead occurred frequently which made for a nerve-wracking journey for the driver. With the wind whipping the wire back and forth there was a risk of the pantograph becoming tangled and smashed. Fortunately the tram made its way back undamaged, but very slowly. The whole fleet (including the Light Rail vehicles) were called back to the depot, and all services cancelled for the remainder of the evening. The pics below were taken on the Saturday where the rare (for Blackpool) snowfall added to the scene. The start of the snowfall looking north at Bispham from Centenary tram 648 Number two end of this 1984 built vehicle 648 on the Pleasure Beach turning circle A Loughborough built 1937 Brush car at the same location This is the 1960s green and cream livery English Electric controls A very clean interior Brush cars 631 and 621 at Bispham. 621 spent time in storage at Kirkham prison, and Beamish before returning to Blackpool in 2016. Like 631 it was built in 1937, but is painted in the 1950s livery. Continues below:

Continues from above: As Grandon lost a wheel and the associated suspension, that was overshadowed by the extensive front end damage which was suffered in the same incident by Carl Boswell (84). After the race was brought to another temporary halt, just five cars remained for the last segment. Darby looked in control, but a strong by Paris saw him relieve Darby of the lead for a lap. However, Darby fought back to claim first place and land the Cornish title. Bristol Sunday 30th August 2021 There was a massive crowd on hand on this gloriously warm and sunny day high in the Mendip Hills. The cars raced to a two from three format. Andy Smith helps out on the 921 car. Brad McKinstry (747) alongside. Top 3 results: Ht 1: 584, 931 and 828. Ht 2: 700, 895 and 667. Ht 3: 127, 700 and 584. Mike Cocks copped for some damage in his heat, but had it repaired for the GN Jack Bunter got his money's worth out of this three-wheeler in one of the support races Final: 667, 700 and 127. Tommy Farrell won the Final, and finished second in the GN GN: 700, 667 and 53. Continued below:

Continued from above: St.Day – Sunday 29th August 2021 The BBC were filming at this event. They were gathering footage for a documentary in the We Are England, Belonging series entitled: Cornwall’s Last Raceway. It is very good and is available on BBC iPlayer now. Returning briefly to the Semi-Final’s, there were 11 south-west based drivers who gridded but only three of them managed to make it through. Congratulations to Jamie Avery (126), Paul Rice (890) and Steven Gilbert (542). Justin Fisher (315) was a reserve at the Semi meeting, and did make a brief appearance in the non-qualifiers heat at the start of the meeting, but soon hit problems that left him needing to be pushed off, post-race, by one of the recovery tractors. Whether the mechanical issue was traced to a sandbag has yet to be confirmed. This meeting saw the Snell Family Trophy raced for. The sizeable trophy needs more than one person just to lift it! It was the fourteenth time in its history that this jaw-dropping piece of auto sculpture for the Brisca F2’s was being raced for. It was created by former Hot Rod star Tyrone Snell to be raced for each season at St. Day. The trophy features an array of motor components which are commonly found being used on modern day F2’s. The framework to the trophy which holds everything in place is finished in trademark lime green – the colour strongly associated with Tyrone from his Hot Rod racing days, and from his days as a famed and respected manufacturer and supplier of quality trailers. Top 3 results: Ht 1: 605, 828 and 35. Ht 2: 895, 667 and 418. Cons: 24, 584 and 325. Final: 24, 35 and 700. GN: 540, 605 and 689. Julian Coombes was out of the Final soon after the start JP was the winner of the Snell Family Trophy Despite there only being 13 Saloons in attendance they stole the show. During the opener the Phil Powell (199) car ended up with the back end mangled after Warren Darby (677) cannoned Simon Paris (672) into him. Phil’s car ended up exactly like this after an earlier season Taunton meeting. The Cornish Championship was on offer for the main event and this race brought multiple explosions. The first of these saw Junior Buster (902) bundled into the pits bend, and as he barrel rolled, Richard Regan (319), who was racing his ex-Diggy Smith car for the first time clambered up and on top of him in truly spectacular fashion. The race was stopped and when it resumed, the lead continued to change hands, before another explosive moment as Darby thundered Jack Grandon (277) into the pits bend wall. Various bits and pieces of the 277 car are retrieved off track. Continued below:

Hi there folks, A brief look at four F2 meetings this week, followed by some pics from last weekend’s tram event at Blackpool. Bristol – Wednesday 18th August 2021 15 cars raced at this last midweek outing. These welcome visitors were first to arrive The new Matt Stoneman (127) transporter brought him luck as he won Heat & Final Andy was kept busy Not a good night for Ryan Sheahan (325) Top 3 Results: Ht 1: 127, 736 and 325 Ht 2: 736, 127 and 315 - 390 eighth. Final: 127, 667 and 736 - 390 eighth. GN: 667, 315 and 736 - 390 fifth. Northampton Semi-Final Meeting – Sunday 22nd August 2021 The first Semi-Final lined up with the front row of Dave Polley (38) and Andrew Palmer (606). Missing from the line-up were Gordon Moodie (7)(ill), Tony Blackburn (225), who had lent his car to Jack Aldridge (921), and Courtney Witts (780), who was injured at King’s Lynn. Steven Burgoyne (674), Luke Johnson (194) and Michael Lund (995) therefore joined the grid from the reserve list. As the race got going Palmer nosed in front of Polley until the red flags came out for Jamie Jones (915) who ended up on his roof as the rear half of the grid piled into the third bend. 606, 38 and Luke Wrench (560) headed the restart. Wrench was pushed wide at the drop of the green which aided the front two to break clear. Mark Gibbs (578) lost a wheel and as he dragged his car to the infield ended up brushing the leader’s car which gave Palmer a scare. He and Polley safely negotiated the backmarking traffic to secure their places on the front two rows of the WF grid. Rob Mitchell (905) finished third, while Wrench and Charlie Guinchard (283) traded places a few times. Wrench hit the European champion wide on the last bend to claim fourth. Jamie Avery (126) and Paul Rice (890) could both be proud of their efforts to successfully qualify in their regular tarmac cars. Result: 606, 38, 905, 560, 183, 377, 78, 126, 4 and 890. The second Semi-Final gridded up with Micky Brennan (968) and Jon Palmer (24) on the front row. Second row starter Jack Cave (801) edged inside of Brennan at the start but the two-time world champion held onto his lead as, from the outside of rows two and three, Jack Aldridge spun, and Ollie Skeels (124) was clobbered. Matt Linfield (464) was another who had a spin, and with other pile ups occurring a caution was called. Brennan made a good restart and built a gap to the rest headed by Rob Speak (218), Palmer and Cave. However, the man making moves through the pack from mid-grid was Billy Webster (226). He used the bumper to good effect to shove Cave past Palmer and overtake them both in the process and move up to third. At half-distance Webster was lining up to pass the 218 car. The eight time world champion half spun, and was collected by the 226 car. While Webster managed to extricate himself from the scene, chaos followed, with Cave and Palmer among those to lose out a lot of ground before the yellows came out, with Speak unable to continue. With the exception of Brennan and Webster remaining in front the cars following them had changed completely. Chris Burgoyne (647), Andy Ford (13), Reece Cox (149), James Riggall (527) and Steven Gilbert(542) were next in line. Cave and Palmer were still running but outside the top 10 and with very hobbled cars. Brennan made what he thought was another good restart as he raced clear to win, but was penalised by the steward for his start-stop-start technique, which caused a concertina effect, and was docked two places. That promoted Webster to the win, and Burgoyne into second. Further action between Cave and Palmer, which also caught out Courtney Finnikin (55) didn’t help their cause and both were shown technical exclusion flags, for a broken exhaust and wheel guard, respectively. Result: 226, 647, 968, 13, 527, 149, 542, 618, 324 and 9. Other top 3 results from the day: Ht 1: 286, 47 and 209. Cons: 218, 995 and 55. Final: 13, 69 and 183. GN: 226, 69 and 38. Tommy Farrell’s 20+ year old wing Continued below:

Continued from above: Looking quite at home representing Stevensons MFR 41P is former Grampian No.60 (ORS 60R), a 1977 Leyland Leopard PSU4C/4R with Alexander Y-type 45-seat body. This is a great pic. The driver of an unidentified LMS ‘Patriot’ 4-6-0 leans from his cab as a New Cross Speedway Supporters Club special comes past Albury, on the WCML. It has been suggested the train was heading for Manchester on 21st August 1937, where the supporters were due at the first leg of the National Speedway League final against Belle Vue. (Credit to Mike Morant) With only three weekends left from now until the F1 season returns i’ll not be able to give full coverage to all of the remaining eight F2 meetings from 2021 that i’ve got left. Instead, i’m going to list the results, and put any photos of interest on for these dates over the remaining w/ends. However, i will be looking in depth at the WF meeting, and the last ever Birmingham. These will be in a fortnight’s time along with our last walk off the beaten track this winter. We’ll be having a look at an area out in the wilds where the highest railway viaduct in England once stood. In addition to this there’s not one, but two abandoned signal boxes to see! Next weekend sees the first Brisca F2 meeting of 2022. This is at the United Downs Raceway, St. Day. Check back here and we’ll have a look at any new cars, drivers etc. In addition I’ll put some pics on of this weekend’s Blackpool Trams Heritage event.

Continued from above: Coal stock had a storage capacity of 250,000 tons. (Many thanks to the Gang of 3 for these great photos) The ‘Five Sisters’ have been gracious enough to reveal all of their secrets, and have been the perfect date, so now i think it’s time to leave their ghostly embrace. A final look at this vision of beauty More pics in the gallery Trams in Trouble With the wild weather over these past few days it’s the track of the Blackpool tramway from earlier storms that is in the spotlight this week: High tide and storm, Manchester Square, Blackpool. Saturday 12 November 1977 Further south down the promenade at Watson Road, Blackpool. Saturday 12 November 1977 Storm damage, Pleasure Beach turning circle, Blackpool. Saturday 05 February 1983 (Pic credits to Ian 10B) Miscellaneous Pics The oldest bus in the Delaine Heritage Trust collection is this splendid 1956 Willowbrook-bodied Leyland PD2/20 No.45 (KTL 780), passing through Bourne on its way from Rippingdale. No.47 is a Yeates Europa-bodied Leyland Tiger Cub seen here setting off from Market Deeping. Beautifully restored by Leicestershire Museums. Continues below:

Continued from above: In Derby back in the 70s & early 80s there always seemed to be a bit of "mystique" about the 202xx ex D83xx batch of 20s as none were ever Toton based back then, the only ones were occasionally the Tinsley based ones, though they were far from common at Derby where the bog standard Toton based machines reigned supreme. In 1983 this monstrous ex-Scottish one, 20217, along with equally monstrous 20179 which was ex-Haymarket appeared on the scene. 20217 & 20179 arrive at Willington power station with a coal train from Denby on 21st September 1983. Back in the 70s at this location you would never in your wildest dreams expect to see these ex-Scottish 20s. At full load the two stations together burnt a total of 8,400 tons of coal every 24 hrs At full output the 6 boilers would burn 52,000 tons of coal a week Each train brought around 1000 tons of coal The Derby to Burton main line to the right Continues below:

Continued from above: The hot water inlet pipe goes straight up the centre into a mushroom shaped water spray nozzle assy In close up. The water then travels back down through the cooling fins. The supports for the brick cooling fins There was a slight breeze blowing on this visit. However, the updraught within the tower was that great it was difficult to remain upright as you were buffeted around. It was a perfect example of how they worked. I had to lie on my back to get this shot. I could have easily remained in this spot for a long time just watching the sky drift by far overhead. From this position it looks like the view of planet Earth from space. Spot the light aircraft. There are plenty of uncovered drains and tanks to fall into which always keeps you on your toes. Numerous glimpses of rail appear here and there. These were for the coal drop area of Willington ‘A’. The next set of pics show the various loco’s that brought coal to the site. Continues below:

Continued from above: with a fence thrown in for good measure Their sheer size up close has to be experienced to be believed. Standing inside these giants is a once in a lifetime experience. This is one of the two that have been stripped out and the base filled in. It is amazing to think that the whole structure is held up by the ring of slender concrete pillars around the base. Sound makes the most wonderful echoes spiralling around and up to the sky It is an amazing place and ranks as one of my favourite explores Three towers are still complete internally. The concrete hot water inlet pipe. When in use this base would have been filled with water. As on a previous visit. It is a 10ft drop off that pipe. Continues below:

Continued from above: Coal for the boilers – a million tons a year, just for the ‘A’ Station – found its way into the railway sidings, through a specially constructed connection at Stenson Junction. This shows the sidings and the line which went between the two towers of Willington ‘A’ The 19,000 yards of sidings could store wagons containing 7,000 tons of coal. The Central Electricity Generating board, as the nationalised industry had become known, owned a pair of Drewry 0-6-0’s diesel shunters built in 1956, for moving the coal wagons from the yard into the coal tipplers. In there, a chain ‘beetle’ would drag the truck in, then back out after it had been tipped onto its side and its contents emptied onto a conveyor. Coal was either fed straight into the station bunkers or stacked on a large area of ground to the north of the site – almost over shadowing the nearby Findern primary school. A largely overlooked waste product of power station operation is ash from the boiler. In the case of Willington, the geography of the area was fortuitous in that gravel extraction from the alluvial flood plain of the Trent was (and still is, of course) widespread. Thus there was a readily supply of large holes in the ground in need of filling in. The trouble was that the majority of the gravel extraction of the time was taking place on the other side of Willington village, closer to Burton. The solution, rather than transport this ash by lorry through the village – with the attendant nuisance that would create – was to build a pipeline. This prominent feature was buried underground through the village, but otherwise snaked its way along the south side of the railway – with the need for ramps and ladders wherever public footpaths encountered it! Although a generally successful method of transporting the ash, it was not without its problems. Around the point the pipeline disappeared underground a house called Ivy Cottage stood. This was the first building on the left after passing under the railway bridge on Twyford Road. Despite significant efforts by the CEGB to cure it, this section of the pipeline was troubled by considerable vibrations – with consequent nuisance, and even damage, to the nearby house. The solution was that the CEGB bought the property and demolished it. The detached garage of Ivy Cottage survived until 2002 before being demolished to allow a new house to be built on the site. A twin 16" diameter ash disposal pipeline ran down the railway embankment and crossed under the Twyford Road on its way to fill the in the gravel pits off the Repton Road, with pulverised fuel ash from the power station. Ivy cottage, close to the bridge, had to be demolished as a result of this causing vibrations. Perhaps as a testament to the solid nature of the work the power station achieved, there were few notable events during its working life. The “big freeze” of 1962/63 was to place great strain on the system – with the link between the station and the National Grid freezing and tripping out – leaving the station “all revved up with nowhere to go” – an undesirable state of affairs. Even the coal in the railway wagons was frozen solid, so that when they were tipped upside down to empty them their contents remained fast! Sadly the wagons were designed by a committee and were an utter disaster in winter conditions. The original idea was to supply coal on an 'as needed' basis to the boiler hoppers and have no coal stocks put to ground. It worked fine in summer months, but due to the design of the door closing mechanism, the doors would not open when the contents of the loaded wagons froze solid in freezing winter conditions. Wagons would not empty and had to be put into sidings to thaw out and to keep the stations operational, vast stock-piles had to be put to ground. It was these very large stocks on the ground at each Power Station that kept the Electricity supplies going during the Miner's Strike. The CEGB built a huge freezer unit at High Marnham Power Station to try and find ways of discharging HAA wagons frozen solid in said freezer! It had to be done in the summer months, because the situation was so dire in the winter on these stations. The discharge problem arose because the NCB modernised their coal extraction methods and instead of the mined coal being in small lumps, it was much more of a fine powder - what would have been called 'Slack' when the coal man dumped 5 cwt of powdery rubbish down the cellar grate! The NCB added to the problem because they washed the mined coal to remove dust - they did try adding antifreeze to the washing water and even coating the wagon interiors with non-stick coatings! So in actual fact the continual 'shuttle service' of HAA wagons never did work in the way it was intended - coal face to boiler hopper direct. There was always a 'heap on the ground' as well. In 1973 the ‘A’ Station won a CEGB award for its exceptionally high availability during the winter – 98.56 per cent. The 1980s was to prove a significant decade. In 1981 British Rail introduced a new system for handling the coal delivered to power stations. The practice of bringing wagons of coal to the power station for the CEGB to empty them into their tipplers at their leisure was inefficient – as was the reverse procedure at the collieries. The solution was the “Merry Go Round” system where a fixed formation of coal hoppers would shuttle back and forth between colliery and power station being loaded and unloaded via ‘drive through’ bunkers in a heavily automated process. At a stroke, therefore, Willington’s eleven through sidings used to store coal wagons until they were needed became redundant – as were the two Drewry shunting locomotives. Whilst most of the sidings were soon torn up and taken away, the shunters remained on site – apparently seeing little or no use in the later days. Happily, at least one lives on in preservation — albeit under an assumed identity! The miner’s strike of 1984 saw railway deliveries of coal suspended for the duration. A token picket line of Welsh miners under the railway bridge at Findern (referred to as the ‘picnicker’s at the time, such was the laid back nature of their presence!) was sufficient to prevent the railway unions from delivering. Lorry drivers had no such compunction and coal stocks were maintained by a procession of 30 tonne tipper lorries. Given this was before the A50, it pushed the capacity of the A5132 to its limit. Several open days were held at the power station during the 1980s and were always immensely popular with locals. and not-so locals alike. Also during this decade, visitors from far and wide – including tv crews and press photographers – were attracted to the cooling towers. All to crane their necks and peer through binoculars at a pair of nesting peregrine falcons. Apparently, to a falcon, a small ledge high up on the side of a cooling tower is a more than adequate substitute for a remote cliff face. Arguably, the beginning-of-the-end arrived at Willington on 16th August 1989 when privatisation saw the power station become part of National Power PLC. Ironically, this event was heralded with bands and fireworks. Without getting too political, the crux of privatisation is that there is no stone left unturned in the pursuit of a profit. If an asset is weak it will be cast aside with thought only for its scrap value. 27th January 1993 saw Unit 3 of Station ‘A’, having the highest hours at 179,579, shut down, followed a few months later by Unit 4 with 174,343 hours. At this time, the station was operating on short term contracts selling its electricity to National Grid PLC at fixed prices – but this was only a short-term expediency until National Grid could upgrade their installation at Willington to allow it to operate without input from the adjacent generating station. With the expiry of the last of the short term contracts, Willington Station ‘A’ was finally “de-synchronised” from the National Grid with due ceremony at 1830hrs on 30th September 1994, the Unit concerned being the oldest – No.1 – having operated for 173,464 hours. Closure was a formality and took place on 31st May 1995. Meanwhile the ‘B’ Station was still going strong. Local rumour had it at the time that the policy of National Power was to run it into the ground – in other words to run it at full capacity with minimal maintenance until something broke. This certainly seemed to be borne out by the amount of coal the station was receiving at this time – as much as any other period in its history according to observers on the railway. Another clue to this policy is available in a report from the Office of Electricity Regulation (“Ofgem”) – the Government’s means of keeping some control over the once Nationalised industry. This wordy document, in a nutshell, illustrates that as a condition of its licence, a private electricity generator must justify why it wants to close a generating Unit – more specifically, why a competing company can’t take it over; such are the priorities of privatisation. Thus, in September 1997, National Power notified Ofgem of their intent to close Unit 5 at Willington, leaving just Unit 6. It was reported that Units 5 and 6 had operated for 162,000 and 161,000 hours, each being due for a major overhaul in 1998 and 1999, respectively. National Power’s case was strengthened by the fact that Unit 5 had “suffered extensive damage to the HP/IP turbine which has adversely impacted on both capability and thermal efficiency and hence economic viability of the unit ” (NP 30 September 1997). Ofgem appointed a company of independent assessors to investigate National Power’s plans – and it is this report which is publicly available. The assessor performed a series of complex calculations based on a cost/benefit ratio and concluded that the closure criterion was generally satisfied for Unit 5. The closure of the power station was not proposed by National Power. They appeared to be resisting closure of the full station in favour of closure of the unit that requires imminent overhaul. National Power’s case for the closure of only one unit appears to be based mainly on the availability of constraint payments for the remaining unit. However it was believed that these payments were unlikely to materialise. The reluctance to propose full closure of Willington Power Station may relate to a strategy to retain ownership and operation of the site, and thereby to deny the site to other users and, in particular, a competing generator. It was also revealed in this report that National Power had recently bid for and acquired a 72 per cent shareholding in Hazelwood Power Station in Australia. The Hazelwood generators were reportedly in poor condition compared to those at Willington and a part of the success of the bid to run the Australian power station was the identification of the use of the Willington Unit 5 AEI Generator. They therefore intended to ship the generator stator and rotor from Unit 5 to Australia to provide spares to cover Hazelwood’s needs. Consequently the end for Willington Power Station was in sight. Unit 5 was allowed to close as proposed on 31st March 1998, leaving just the sixth and last unit to struggle on. By now down-rated to 188Mw, Unit 6 took its turn to be de-synchronised a year later on 31st March 1999 — thus ending the 41 years, 3 months & 14 days history of electricity generation at Willington. Demolition commenced in November 1999 with a specialist company called Abel Ltd winning the contract for the work. By then the site was the property of Innogy Holdings PLC as, by amalgamation or takeover, this is what National Power had become. The demolition of the majority of the site left the most distinctive features standing - the cooling towers. These remain for the new owners of the site (whoever that may be) to deal with. An update from 2011 stated: As has been widely reported, a new gas-fired power station is to be built on the site of Willington ‘A’ & ‘B‘ Power Station — logically, to be known as Willington ‘C’. In August 2016 a planning application was submitted to South Derbyshire District Council resulting in permission to demolish the five cooling towers of Willington ‘A’ & ‘B’ stations being granted. The notice indicated that the demolition would take place between January and June 2017. In mid-November 2016 contractors moved onto the site and replaced the perimeter fence and restored the access from the A5132 for heavy machinery. Preparatory work on Willington ‘C’ seemed to be beginning. Then again... Nothing at all substantive happened. Apparently, the owning company was bidding in an energy supply auction... but didn't win. That meant it wasn't economically viable for them to advance any further with Willington ‘C’ at that time. The diggers and workers disappeared. Presumably there will be another auction in the future? Whatever the holding company that owns the site happens to be called by then will (probably?) bid again and (maybe?) they will be successful. Then again, maybe they won't? (Many thanks to Dave Harris for the above info) There they stand to this day, five sisters, 300 feet high, 145’ diameter at their brim, 122’ around the neck, 218’ at the base and weighing 6.500 tons. Each tower had an effective cooling surface of 858,000 square feet, together handling up to 6.9 million gallons every hour. One company that used to make regular trips to the power station was the Blue Bus Service. Anyone who has moved to Willington within the last 25 years may be forgiven for having never heard of The Blue Bus Service. Those who lived in the Derby & Burton area in the 1980s may remember the name being used on the City Transport coaches, but not know the connection with Willington. However,The Blue Bus was integral to daily life in Willington for much of the middle part of the 20th Century. During the pioneering days of rural motor omnibus services in the 1920s a fledgling service began between Burton and Derby. The route passed through Newton Solney, Repton, Willington and Findern and saw fierce competition with the already established Trent Motor Traction service. The vehicles in use then appear somewhat primitive to the modern eye. Reputedly, on at least one occasion, the combination of poor weather and the climb up the valley side between Burton & Newton Solney required the passengers to get out and push. The regular driver, a chap named Jack Dean was apparently quite a character - beginning a tradition of friendliness with which The Blue Bus was to remain synonymous. This early start gradually grew, via a series of partnerships; Jack Dean and Arthur Allen, then Jack Dean and Percy Jowett Tailby, followed by Jack Dean, Percy Tailby & Harold George, and finally, in 1927, Tailby & George. The service these men provided had become known as The Blue Bus Service and in about 1930, the company moved their operation to premises on Repton Road at Willington. The company had expanded their operation to include a second route between Derby and Burton, this time via Etwall, Egginton and Stretton. On 9th October 1939, the company became Tailby & George Ltd. and entered a period of steady, reliable and, above all, committed service, continuing under the branding of Blue Bus Services. Passenger numbers were such that during the Second World War, the company began operating double-deck vehicles requiring special low height vehicles due to the 13’6” headroom of the railway bridge in Willington. Despite the odd scrape (and one quite heavy thump on the Twyford Road railway bridge in 1968) the double-deckers were very successful. The seriousness with which the Blue Bus company regarded its duty to its passengers was not lost on the local population and the company was a much loved part of Willington village life. Staff were urged to bear in mind they were providing a service and without the customers there would be no job. Politeness was the watch-word with passengers each receiving an individual thank you as they alighted. The company outgrew the original garage which was on the east side of Repton Road and new premises were built on the opposite side of the road, opening in June 1956. The low stone wall on either side of the entrance to this garage can still be seen just on the village side of Saxon Grove. Throughout much of their history, the company were loyal to Daimler as suppliers of vehicles, which was rewarded by Tailby & George being heavily involved in the trial of a prototype vehicle during the 1960s and receiving two of the first vehicles off the resultant production line. Since the untimely deaths of their spouses in 1955 & 1957 respectively, the company had been run by Mr Tailby & Mrs. George. Percy Jowett Tailby died in 1957 leaving Bunty Marshall (the daughter of the Tailby’s) and Katherine George as partners until Katherine's death in 1965. The remaining shares in Tailby & George Ltd. were then acquired by Douglas (a Spitfire pilot in WWII) & Bunty Marshall. By the 1970s public transport was in a state of serious decline. The railways had been decimated by Beeching, and the majority of the bus industry was either nationalised (i.e. Trent) or in the hands of the local council, as in Derby and Burton. Small independent companies like Tailby & George faced fierce competition from the bigger companies. On 1st December 1973, the then proprietors of the company, Mr. & Mrs Marshall made the decision to retire. After much speculation the operation of the Blue Bus Service passed from Tailby & George Ltd to the Derby Corporation. The transaction cost Derby Corporation £212,039, for which they gained a fleet of 23 vehicles and a tremendous amount of Goodwill. The passing was mourned by locals and bus enthusiasts alike. Careful and skilled maintenance of the fleet had meant that as well as a steady programme of new vehicles, older examples were still available for duty, leading to a certain nostalgic charm whilst maintaining a more than functional day-to-day service. Transition to Derby Corporation (Derby Borough Transport from 1974) was slow but steady. A gradual integration of the fleet, livery and, notably, working practices took place such that by early 1976 the future of Willington as a bus depot was questionable. At best the garage was likely to retain the ever growing private hire business with the Burton & Derby service buses moving completely to Derby. Thus the writing was already on the wall for Blue Bus Services to become Derby Borough Transport's private hire brand when fate leant a helping hand. The last vehicle into the garage had been parked up and the garage locked at 23:05hrs on the night of Monday, 5th January 1976. For many it had been the first day back at work after the long New Year holiday and, as was normal practice, the entire fleet had been fuelled on returning to the garage ready for the next day’s work. In all 19 buses and a van were in the garage when, at 23:25hrs smoke was reported issuing from the building. By the time the fire service arrived the entire garage area was engulfed and the fleet was wiped out The premises were destroyed along with a number of unique and historic vehicles as well as the spirit of Blue Bus Services. Derby Borough Transport hastily acquired replacement coaches to maintain its services and private hire commitments but all operations were now centred on Ascot Drive garage in Derby. Two former Blue Buses which were at Ascot Drive awaiting disposal were reinstated after the fire, but were subsequently scrapped when the unexpected need for them was ended by replacement vehicles. The Blue Bus garage was pulled down and the site lay empty for a number of years. In the 1990s Saxon Grove and the appropriately named Tailby Drive were built on the site. Even the name Blue Bus Services has vanished from commercial use. Derby Borough Transport became Derby City Transport and subsequently privatised. Quaint names with local historical significance don't fit into the corporate world of 21st Century transport. A number of vehicles from the Blue Bus fleet did survive, having been preserved before the 1976 fire. Now that their connection with Willington has been severed, who knows if they'll ever visit the village again? (With thanks to David Stanier for info in this article) Let’s make our way in and have a look around. This site is guarded by killer attack security sheep who inform the locals of any incursion. The route in means negotiating mud and water-filled dykes and stinging nettle infested undergrowth Continues below:

Continued from above: The ‘A’ Station comprised four generating Units, each of 100 megawatt capacity. To service these, a pair of 425 foot chimneys (each reportedly amounting to 5,000 tons!) were provided, along with just two cooling towers. Hailed as a revolution of the time, the design of the ‘A’ Station was of four “semi-outdoor” boiler units, only the burners and steam drum of which were enclosed, arranged in a square formation. The outdoor part of the design was indicative of the austerity of the period; by restricting the cladding around the boiler areas to a minimum, significant cost savings were achieved. The design, however, was not popular with the staff who had to brave the elements all year round. Even as the ‘A’ Station was taking shape in early 1957, the Central Electricity Authority were exercising their statutory powers by applying to the Minister of Power to extend the Willington Generating Station with a second section to be known as Willington ‘B’. The ‘B’ station was to be only two Units, albeit each of 200MW capacity – equalling the output of the ‘A’ Station with half the hardware. Only one 425 foot chimney was required for the ‘B’ Station, but three cooling towers were provided. Of course the cooling towers are the largest and therefore most distinctive features of any power station. The three structures provided for the ‘B’ station were set at right-angles to the north of the pair for the ‘A’ Station. The towers are 300 feet high and have 145’ diameter at their tops, 122’ at their “throat” and 218’ at the base. Each tower had an effective cooling surface of 858,000 square feet. By the end of 1957 the ‘A’ Station was nearing completion. The construction had not been without its cost – three workers lost their lives in falls, a hazard faced daily by the transient population of builders who moved from site to site on this work during the 1950s and 60s. The first Unit of the ‘A’ Station was commissioned on 17th December 1957 with Unit 4 bringing the station up to full operational capacity on 10th July 1959. An official opening ceremony was performed on 2nd October 1959 by the 11th Duke of Devonshire. Such was the demand for electricity (calculated to be doubling every ten years at that time) the capacity of the four Units of the ‘A’ Station were up-rated to 104 megawatts. The net effect of this was to significantly reduce the spare capacity of the station – meaning the plant had to be driven hard almost all the time. Once Units 5 & 6 in the ‘B’ Station came on line a few years later, the whole site settled into its work-a-day job of providing electricity to the adjacent National Grid sub-station. The water for the cooling towers being sucked out of the Trent to cool the steam prior to its return to the river (the same water probably went through the process half a dozen times before it reached the Humber!) meant that the Trent in the area had a somewhat higher temperature than it would naturally, thus making for excellent fishing. Ken Lucas, a former employee shared his memories: “I served my time as an electrical fitter at Willington from 1965 to 1969 and remember that the exciter on one of the B station units, No.6 I think (the one on the left as you looked out of the workshop window towards the coal plant) had burnt out and was going to be away for repair for many months. Don Eddison came up with the idea of using a diesel loco to supply the excitation for the unit. The links from the loco generator to the shunt drive motor were removed and cables were run to the alternator excitation terminals. A set of loco controls were installed in the plant control room to allow raising and lowering of the speed of the diesel and thus the excitation. The loco was actually moved two inches per day back and forth to prevent brunelling of the wheel bearings. I seem to remember someone calculated by the amount of fuel used and the average revs of the diesel that the loco would have travelled twice around the world had the loco been in normal service. The loco was called THE ROYAL PIONEER CORPS. I think it was a D class loco. I had my picture taken on the footplate which later appeared in the company newspaper that used to be called the Power News.” This appears to be the press clipping that Ken is referring to. D54 “Royal Pioneer Corps” (later Class 45, No. 45 023) was built at Derby in 1962 and received its name at St. Pancras on 14th November 1963. It was withdrawn by British Rail in 1984 and cut up in Leicester two years later. Continues below:

Continued from above: Both the Smith girls were in attendance. Jessica having raced there on a few occasions, whilst Rebecca was making her track debut. The top prize for this evening was the Roy Goodman Perpetual Challenge Trophy. After a remarkable and outstandingly successful racing career that spanned more than 50 years from 1954 to 2004, Roy finally hung up his helmet but with a wish to instigate the trophy as a lasting legacy to the sport that had been his life. Heat 1: From the yellow grade it wasn’t long before Jessica Smith (390) passed early leader Mike Cocks (762). She stayed there until the closing laps when Neil Hooper (676) took advantage of traffic to nudge her wide, with Matt Stoneman (127) doing likewise on the next corner. Hooper stayed just far enough ahead of the 127 car to take the win. Result: 676, 127, 390, 315, 667, 302, 988, 762, 835 & 881. Heat 2: Two complete re-starts were required after some dramatic opening laps which saw almost half the field lost to the early clashes. They included Luke Trewin (529) and Paul Rice (890) walloping the Honiton bend wall, Archie Farrell (970) spinning and getting collected by Charlie Fisher (35), and Josh Weare (736), Jamie Jones (915), Ben Goddard (895), Lauren Stack (928) and Ian England (398) all ending up in a heap – and that was just the first attempt! Luke Trewin doesn't have much luck at Smeatharpe! The second period of red flags were required when Ryan Sheahan (325) and Matt Hatch (320) collided on the home straight before the 325 car was collected at high speed by Jon Palmer (24). On the third start Rebecca Smith (931) and Jack Bunter (128) both had spells in front before Charlie Fisher moved ahead to take a comfortable win. Result: 35, 418, 184, 736, 931, 398, 128, 903, 572 and 194. Consolation: Richard Andrews (605) led until Ryan Sheahan took over and went on to win from Rice and Palmer, all three having been caught up in the action in the previous race. Result: 325, 890, 24, 320, 605, 232, 895, 114, 446 and 915. Final: Jamie Ward-Scott (881) was the early leader before Ben Spence (903) moved ahead, but Spence’s fellow ‘B’ grader Weare was setting a strong pace and moved past both into the lead. Spence initially stayed with him and had Jessica Smith following close behind, as Stoneman led the star grade challenge. Stoneman passed Smith and finally pushed Spence wide on the Honiton bend to take second with a lap to run. Cheddar driver Weare was sufficiently far enough ahead in his ex-Luke Wrench (560) car to take his maiden Final win from Stoneman and Spence, with Jessica holding onto fourth ahead of Palmer. Result: 736, 127, 903, 390, 24, 320, 325, 881, 35 and 184. GN: This race for the Ash Sampson Memorial Trophy was led out by Ash’s grandfather Roy Goodman, and Mick Whittle in his latest magnificent recreation from yesteryear. Spence’s start in the race was deemed too good, and he was shown the black cross, but it helped propel him into the lead early on and from there he never looked back as he went on to take the flag first. Behind him, Vaight, Tommy Farrell (667), Stoneman and Palmer enjoyed a great scrap as they fought through the field. They finished in that order in positions two to five, but Vaight inherited the win when Spence was docked two places. Result: 184, 667, 903, 127, 24, 931, 605, 33, 988 and 302. A heavy World Championship weekend at Mildenhall for the Saloons no doubt contributed to a lack of visitors but whilst the 13 car entry was unspectacular the action on track was far from it with a trio of entertaining and hard hitting races. Heat 1: Sole white top Marc Chenery (281) broke away at the front as the six yellow graded drivers battled, while Jack Grandon(277) and Junior Buster (902) traded blows with Warren Darby(677) at the rear of the field. Yellow flags were required after Bryn Finch (314) went head on into the Honiton bend wall, which brought Phil Powell (199) onto Chenery’s tail. Powell used the bumper to take the lead and drove to a comfortable win as Junior Buster worked his way into second, and Ian Govier (28) shifted Chenery for third on the last bend. Result: 199, 302, 28, 281, 677, 489, 276, 799, 444 and 672. Heat 2: This race began in similar fashion but ended spectacularly for Powell when a tangle and spin on the home straight left him open to being collected very heavily by Darby. The 199 car was left with significant rear end damage which ended Powell’s night, but he was able to extricate himself from the wreckage. Govier had pushed Chenery wide to take the lead before the stoppage and went on to win. Junior Buster had worked his way into second but was docked two places for a jumped restart, putting Chenery back into second and Grandon third. Result: 28, 281, 277, 902, 677, 799, 489, 444, 33 and 672. Final: Just 10 cars had survived for the Final in which Chenery was able to build a huge gap, which this time couldn’t be closed down as he went on to take a second consecutive Final at the track. Behind there was action all around with spins and shunts galore to conclude an evening’s racing which promised little and delivered a whole lot more than the car numbers would suggest. Result: 281, 33, 902, 276, 444, 799, 28, 672 and 489. Pics from both meetings in the gallery. It’s date time! Welcome to Derbyshire, and the abandoned Five Sisters of Willington: Maybe not what you were expecting, but still a magnificent scene. This place is unlike anything else. There are few sites you can see five or so miles before you get to them. The five cooling towers completely dominate the area. You don’t really get the scale of them until you get up close and their size sinks in. Three of the five have still got the inner cooling systems fitted, while the two nearest the main road have been cleared and are just shells. It gives a surreal feeling to this fantastic place with its titans to power generation. Here is a very brief summary on how a cooling tower works: Natural draft cooling towers provide air circulation. The towers are usually very tall in order to induce adequate air flow, they are also expensive to construct and are only used for applications where a large constant cooling requirement over many years is required. Cooling water is pumped from the cooling tower basin to the power plant. The cooling water is heated by the process and its temperature increases. The warm cooling water is now pumped back to the cooling tower to be cooled. The incoming warm water is distributed through spray nozzles inside the tower. The spray nozzles spray the warm water evenly over a set of cooling fins. Water passes downwards through the fins whilst air passes upwards. As the water travels downwards through the fins, some of it evaporates which causes the remaining water to be cooled (evaporative cooling). As air travels through the fins, its temperature increases and it rises to the top of the cooling tower due to the stack effect (hot air is less dense than cool air and thus rises above it). The air exiting the top of the tower draws in more air at the base creating a natural air flow from bottom to top; this is the stack effect and it is continuous providing cooling water is constantly circulated. Natural draft cooling towers have a very unique shape for several reasons. The first reason is that the shape reduces the amount of construction material required when building such a large tower. The second reason is that the paraboloid shape of the tower accelerates the air flow through the tower, which increases the tower’s cooling capacity. Natural draft cooling towers are sometimes referred to as hyperbolic towers although the correct term is hyperboloid. A history of Willington Power Station: The Power Station once dominated the village and was the landmark by which Willington is most often characterised. For many locals when travelling by road the sight of these said clearly that they were approaching home! Willington Power Station was comprised of two almost entirely independent generating stations situated on the same site. With separate management and staff, the few facilities they shared amounted to the coal and water supply. The two stations were formally known as Willington ‘A’ and Willington ‘B’, with the ‘A’ Station closest to the main road. (The A5132 was then known as the B5009). Post-war Britain saw a sea change in the way electricity was produced. The National Grid, which had been devised in the 1920s, allowed the removal of the small generating stations located in urban areas, to be replaced with large, purpose built, “Power Stations” linked together to deliver electricity wherever it was required. While the location of the customer was no longer a high priority in siting a power station, ready access to raw materials of fuel and water certainly were. The Trent valley, with its obvious water supply and proximity to the Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire coal fields – which were then thought to be inexhaustible – was an ideal choice. An extensive, although already clogged, railway system was also on hand to move the coal from pithead to power station. Small, previously unheard of villages and hamlets became well known landmarks; High Marnham, Staythorpe, Ratcliffe & Drakelow to name a few, followed by Willington. The beginning of 1954 saw the bulldozers move onto a 286 acre area of pasture land, a small covert and boggy, unused scrub between the B5009 and the Derby – Birmingham railway. No buildings were at peril – at least not yet – but Marples, Ridgeway & Partners Ltd, the company responsible for site clearance, foundations and the railway works, had a long job ahead of them preparing the site – especially the boggy land which was to form the railway marshalling yard. Thousands of tons of sand were tipped to build up the ground away from the water table. The consulting engineers Ewbank and Partners were responsible for the design, engineering, construction & commissioning of the ‘A’ station with a legion of sub-contractors being tasked with the multitude of disciplines required in building such a station. Continues below:

Continued from above: The man himself Continues below: