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>Blue Tram (tramvia blau) no. 9 near upper terminus of Tibidabo route, near Tibidabo funicular, Barcelona
Tram 9 is kill. But it was reincarnated into open tram 129. The story is this:
Tram 129 and trailer were bought by an english or german company (reports differ) for tourist tours. As the tram system was closed it eventually ended up at a depot in the early 70's. By some coincidences someone thought of putting it to use on the Blue Tram (tram 129 may have been preserved because it was still in private ownership, and eventually given or sold to the Blue Tram line), but since the Blue Tram runs up a hill with around 8% grade, it was decided to gut car 9 which had its woodwork in bad shape and rebuild car 129 with the motors and undercarriage of car 9 (both of these cars were from very similar series, so it all fit together quite well). Some people say this was a cheap way out, and that tram 9 could have been restored and that car 129 actually could run up the hill in its original state. What's the truth? Who knows. But the important thing is that tram 129 was preserved and is still in operating condition, awaiting modernization before it's allowed to do regular service again ("safety reasons" and all that bullshit). Tram 129 is the only car from the municipal tram system that's somehow in operating condition, even though mechanically it's actually Blue Tram car 9.
That's all Folks!
