In the early 1930s the tramcar in Blackpool was at a crossroads; the system needed investment in both new track and new trams whilst there was a serious threat that the ‘town’ routes
as elsewhere in Britain as operators faced the same challenges
might have been converted to bus operation. The appointment of Walter Luff as the new general manager was, however, to prove a turning point. Working closely with English Electric, based in nearby Preston, Luff developed a series of streamlined trams
both single-deck and double-deck
that were to revolutionise the town’s tramway. By the end of 1930s, the corporation had acquired more than 100 new trams
the majority built by English Electric but with 20 coming from Brush
that ensured the survival not only of the key route along the Promenade to Fleetwood but also of the bulk of the ‘town’ routes. Over the next 70 years these trams were to form the cornerstone of the Blackpool system. Almost from the start, when a number were modified to cater for the changed requirements during the Second World War, many of the trams were rebuilt
into the power cars that worked with the trailers, for example, or the one-man operated cars of the early 1970s
that extended their lives and saw them outlast more modern designs. It was only with the modernisation of the Blackpool system in the first decade of the 20th century that, finally, they became largely obsolete but still, as part of the heritage fleet, they remain very much part of the contemporary Blackpool scene. This book examines the history of Blackpool’s streamlined trams of the 1930s from development through to preservation. AUTHOR: Brought up in Bradford, PETER WALLER grew up as the city’s trolleybus network gradually declined. In 1986, he commenced in a career in publishing, working for a number of years as Ian Allan Ltd’s Publisher (Books), where he oversaw the commissioning and publication of a wide range of books. The first book that he wrote was British and Irish Tramway Systems since 1945 in 1992. Since then he has written a number of books on transport subjects. Moving to Shropshire in 2007, he is now a full-time author and editor. He is also a director and secretaryof the Online Transport Archive, a director of Shrewsbury Dial-a-Ride, chairman of the West Shropshire Talking Newspaper, a committee member of the National Railway Heritage Awards and a past president of the Rotary Club of Shrewsbury. 200 colour illustrations and diagrams