Return to service this year for Blackpool No. 279
FYLDE Transport Trust hopes that its Blackpool English Electric Railcoach No. 279 will re-enter service later this year. Restoration work is entering its final phases – and once returned to operation, No. 279, which dates from 1935, will be the first of its type to be seen in Blackpool in its original condition since 1974. The restoration team turned its attention to the permanent fitting of the windscreens at the end of January and, following some final electrical work, the tram will return from Brinwell Road (where it has been since 2018) to Rigby Road depot, the home of the town’s heritage tram fleet. Despite encountering delays to its full restoration during the Covid-19 pandemic, work has continued at a steady rate over the past two years to return it to its original streamlined condition.
Having been converted for trailer towing (when it was renumbered 679), the process has been a complex one involving the construction of new cab underframes and steel framework for the cab ends to their original profile.
Tasks have included complete rewiring to modern specifications, the fabrication of new roof domes and the manufacturing of the new windscreens using templates from the National Tramway Museum.
The tram is currently on temporary trucks which will be swapped once it is back at Rigby Road. Other work to complete includes the installation of the trolley tower, a full repaint and static electrical testing.