Blackpool Tram 144, Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport 1956
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In 1954, the New England Electrical Tramway Historical Society—operators of the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine—wrote to Blackpool Corporation with an ambitious request. The Society was building a collection to preserve historic streetcars from around the world, and they hoped to acquire a retired Blackpool tram to help tell the story of Britain’s famous seaside electric transport.
Blackpool Council agreed, donating Tramcar No. 144, a 30-year-old Standard car built in 1925 that was nearing the end of its service life. Rather than being scrapped, it was given the chance of a new future overseas. The Society covered the transport costs—estimated at £500, a significant sum for a volunteer-run museum in the 1950s.
No. 144 departed the United Kingdom in 1955, shipped across the Atlantic aboard the S.S. American Press. After thousands of miles at sea and a careful unloading process, the tram became one of the earliest British vehicles to join an American preservation collection.
The photograph above, taken the following year, captures No. 144 in its first period of restoration in Maine—far from the Promenade, piers, and holiday crowds of Blackpool, yet still proudly showing its British seaside character.
Today, Blackpool Tram No. 144 remains at Seashore Trolley Museum, where it continues to be cared for as a rare survivor of the town’s early electric fleet. Its journey across the ocean stands as a remarkable example of mid-century preservation efforts—saving not just a vehicle, but a piece of Britain’s transport heritage for future generations to enjoy.
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