Book review:
Every once in a while a very different book about Blackpool’s trams is published and Fantastic Trams in Blackpool by Fumio Goto is just that.
The author is from Japan and he visited Blackpool in 1978, 1979, then 2013, 2014 and 2015. This book is a photographic journey of each visit.
Clearly a lot has happened between 1979 and 2013 – an awful lot – and we go from OMO cars in the snow in January 1978 right up to stunning images of the current Heritage service and Flexity2 trams.
The book is not in chronological order as it starts with visits from 2013 so perhaps initially you’re thinking this is a modern image book. From page 89 we go back to 1978 with a few black and white images and the some truly stunning material from the 1978-1979 period. In a sea of green and cream, the Balloon cars are well represented with many images containing more than one tram.
Throughout the book the use of a zoom lens has been done to maximum effect with stunning images from the Tower top and Big Wheel. Almost every image is a winner and it must be commented on the high quality of production.
The text within the book is written mostly in Japanese but for each photo caption the location and date is printed in English. To be fair, this is not a problem as stunning images of trams like 227 or 700 sell themselves and anybody interested enough in Blackpool’s trams should know that 227 is a Boat car and 700 a Balloon. There is a full fleet list in English at the back.
Coming in at 168 pages this book will appeal to the masses. If you’re following the current scene, this book covers it well. If you’re interested in the old fleet, then you’ll be impressed by the 1970s images. All in all this is an excellent book.
With more than 200 images, mostly in colour this book is recommended to all Blackpool Tram enthusiasts. Add it to your collection!
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