| |
Matt Cosgro photo, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
The working class resort town of Blackpool had Britain's first electric tramway in 1885, and today is the only classical British tramway still operating. The city's fall Festival of the Illuminations centers around a tramway parade of cars festooned with decorative lights. Blackpool Corporation No. 144 was built in 1925 at the tramway workshops. It is typical of double deck cars used from the early 1900s until the 1950s in many British municipalities. It is, of course, arranged for left hand street operation and equipped with electric instead of air brakes. The lower "saloon" section, referred to as "inside", is equipped with longitudinal seats, upholstered in plush, while the upper deck, or "outside", which has balconies at either end, has transverse wooden benches. Car 144 was given to the Museum in 1954 by the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of Blackpool, and came by sea aboard the S.S. American Press, with forwarding services donated by Lep Transport of London; it was the first double deck tram to be imported from Britain to the United States.
History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
Photos on this website are not to be used elsewhere without permission from the photographer or the Society.
Return to - International Streetcars - Collection Index
|
|
