Blackpool, Lancashire - Illuminated Paddle Steamer tram - postcard 1970s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Blackpool - Illuminated Tram (Paddles Steamer)
• Publisher:  Fisa Great Britain, printed in Spain
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition:  slighthly larger card

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

UK (incl. IOM, CI & BFPO): 99p

Europe: £1.60

Rest of world (inc. USA etc): £2.75

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England, and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom.^[1] The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by Blackpool Transport (BTS). As well as the first-generation trams, as of 2012, the network also uses a fleet of 'supertrams'. The tramway runs for 11 miles (18 km) and carries 6,500,000 passengers each year. It is also one of only a few public service tramways in the world that operate using double-deck tram systems, others including the Hong Kong Tramways system and Alexandria Tram in Egypt.

The first part of the tramway opened on 29 September 1885, a conduit line running from Cocker Street to Dean Street on Blackpool Promenade.^[2] It was one of the first practical electric tramways in the world, just six years after Werner von Siemens first demonstrated electric traction. The inauguration was presided over by Holroyd Smith, the inventor of the system, and Alderman Harwood, the Mayor of Manchester.^{[citation needed]}

The line was operated by the Blackpool Electric Tramway Company until 1892 when its lease expired and Blackpool Corporation took over the line. A further line was added in 1895 from Manchester Square along Lytham Road to South Shore. The tracks were extended to South Pier and a line on Station Road connecting Lytham Road to the promenade in 1897.^[2]

Conduit operation, in which trams took electricity from a conduit situated below and between the tracks, though very successful in other locations, such as town or city centres, proved to be very problematic when operated on a line so close to the coast. During bad weather, sea water would wash over the track and into the conduit where it would short circuit the traction supply and operate the circuit breakers in the power station. Even when sea water was not being washed over the tracks, sand from the beaches would be wind blown across the tracks and fill up the conduits. It was necessary to constantly remove this sand, as the addition of sea water would leave the conduits filled with wet sand which would short circuit the supply until it was removed. Another problem was that electrical resistance was greater than anticipated and the voltage in portions of the conduit was far less than that generated at Blundell Street — 230V dropped to 210V at the junction with the main line on the Promenade, 185V at Cocker Street and 168V at South Pier (then Victoria Pier).

In 1899 550V overhead wiring was installed and the conduit removed. In 1900 the line was extended north to Gynn Square where it linked up with the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad. In 1901 The Marton loop was opened, connecting Talbot Square and Central Station along Church Street, Devonshire Square, Whitegate Drive, Waterloo Road and Central Drive. A new depot was built on Whitegate Drive in Marton. A line was added from Talbot Square along Talbot Road to Layton in 1902. By 1903 the promenade line had reached the Pleasure Beach.^[2]

In 1920 Blackpool Corporation took over the Blackpool and Fleetwood Tramroad Company gaining eight miles (13 km) of track and three depots, two in Fleetwood and one in Bispham. The small Bold Street Depot in Fleetwood was closed and a loop constructed at Fleetwood Ferry.^[2]

The original Blundell Street Depot was replaced by a larger depot on Rigby Road in 1920. Along the line to Fleetwood, between Rossall and Broadwater a more direct line was built in 1925. The final tramway extension was in 1926, along the promenade to Clifton Drive at Starr Gate where a connection was with Lytham St. Annes Corporation Tramways tracks.^[2]

type=printed postcards

theme=topographical: british

sub-theme=england

county/ country=lancashire

number of items=single

period=1945 - present

postage condition=unposted