Blackpool Transport Services No. 645

The result was a very roomy tramcar – at 8’ they were the widest in the Blackpool fleet – capable of accommodating more passengers than their predecessors: 54 seated and up to 16 standing passengers.  The fact that the trams entered service in 1985, which was also the centenary of Blackpool’s tramway, accounts for the name that was given to the class.

In addition to the seven ‘regular’ centenary cars, which were numbered 641-7, an experimental car – 651 – also entered service in 1985 with the same body style as the centenary trams but using GEC motors and Marley and Taunton bogies that came from a withdrawn Coronation tramcar.  After a five-year trial period this tram was equipped with the same motors, trucks and suspension as the other Centenary cars in 1990 and renumbered as 648.

Once in service, however, the entire class began to suffer from reliability problems, which may have been partly due to the intensive use and high mileage that they experienced, given that two additional trams had originally been deemed necessary to operate the winter service.  During the late 1980s a programme of overhauls commenced, which also altered their appearance somewhat.

645 before its overhaul, photographed by Blackpool Tower with Jubilee car 762 behind. Photograph by David Beardsell, 20th July, 1997.

Number 645’s overhaul was a protracted affair, commencing in 2003 but not completed until November 2005.  During this time, the truck was overhauled, the tramcar rewired and the cab ends remodelled.  This involved the replacement of the original (and expensive) curved glass windscreens with flat bonded windscreens, fibreglass front valance, new doors and more angular side windows.  The roof and side body were also reconfigured to include larger destination boxes, giving it a much more angular appearance.

645 following its lengthy overhaul and facelift. Photographed by David Beardsell, 25th September, 2010.

By the end of the refurbishment programme, only no. 648 retained the original front ends, double headlamp clusters and radiator grills, though it did receive new front-end skirts and its interior was refurbished in line with the other centenary cars.  This tram ultimately joined the Blackpool heritage tram fleet following the upgrading of the tramway and the introduction of sixteen modern Bombardier Flexity 2 trams in 2012.

645 sporting a new pale blue all over advertisement for Palm Beach Hotel, which it carried between November 2005 and March 2009. Photograph taken on 7 June 2008 by Smiley.toerist and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons licence. © Copyright Smiley.toerist

Initially the centenary cars appeared in the then-standard 1980s green and cream livery.  Starting in the mid-1990s, however, they began sporting a variety of overall advertisements, including a red all-over advert for Jet2.com in the case of 645.  In this guise, they continued operating until the withdrawal of the old tramcar fleet on 6^th November 2011.  Indeed, no. 645 was the final tram to pick up passengers at the Lytham Road tram stop before failing later in the day and having to be towed back to the depot.

Together with sister car 643, it was then sold to Windy Harbour Caravan Parks for use as cafés.  While there, 645 was repainted by the café in an inauthentic graffiti livery.  After spending five years in this role, it was then pronounced surplus to requirements and rejoined the Blackpool heritage fleet in July 2017 in the expectation that it would ultimately be used as a source of spare parts.

645 in the workshop at Crich where its suitability for conversion to a second Access Tramcar and One-Person-Operated tram will be assessed. Photo: Jim Dignan, 29th July 2023.

In July 2023, however, a potential new role for the tramcar beckoned when it was generously donated to the museum by Blackpool Transport Services (with financial support from a member of the TMS) for assessment as a possible second Access Tram and One-Person-Operated Tram.  It arrived at the museum on 19^th July.