East Anglia Transport Museum
Encyclopedia
The East Anglia Transport Museum is an open air transport museum, with numerous historic public transport vehicles (including many in full working order). It is located in Carlton Colville
a suburb of Lowestoft
, Suffolk
. It is the only museum in the country where visitors can ride on bus
es, tram
s and trolleybus
es, as a well as a narrow gauge railway.
. Tram rides are available on a route passing the museum's trolleybus depot and up to a terminus at Woodside. Originally, the trolleybus route extended as far as the trolleybus depot where passengers could change for a ride on the museum's 2 ft gauge railway to Chapel Road (the other end of the tram route), or they could stay on the trolleybus whilst it performed a 3-point turn and returned to the museum entrance via the same route.
12 July 2008 marked Britain's first trolleybus extension for many decades through the creation of a loop along the Back Road, linking in with the existing overhead wiring near to the museum's entrance. This follows the tarmacadaming of the Back Road, which previously had been a muddy field, and the renaming of this to Herting Street - in honour of the gentleman whose generous donation made these works possible.
The museum has the last trolleybus to operate under its own power in London, No. 1521.
The Museum's narrow gauge railway (the "East Suffolk Light Railway") opened in 1973.
Carlton Colville
Carlton Colville is an area in the suburbs of Lowestoft in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk, located south-west of the centre of the town. Significant residential development has occurred in the area since the 1960s, including more than 1,000 homes built in Carlton Park...
a suburb of Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. It is the only museum in the country where visitors can ride on bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es, tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s and trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es, as a well as a narrow gauge railway.
What the Museum offers
The museum has many exhibits ranging from a 1904 Lowestoft Corporation tram to a 1983 Sinclair C5Sinclair C5
The Sinclair Research C5 is a battery electric vehicle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair and launched by Sinclair Research in the United Kingdom on 10 January 1985. The vehicle is a battery-assisted tricycle steered by a handlebar beneath the driver's knees. Powered operation is possible making it...
. Tram rides are available on a route passing the museum's trolleybus depot and up to a terminus at Woodside. Originally, the trolleybus route extended as far as the trolleybus depot where passengers could change for a ride on the museum's 2 ft gauge railway to Chapel Road (the other end of the tram route), or they could stay on the trolleybus whilst it performed a 3-point turn and returned to the museum entrance via the same route.
12 July 2008 marked Britain's first trolleybus extension for many decades through the creation of a loop along the Back Road, linking in with the existing overhead wiring near to the museum's entrance. This follows the tarmacadaming of the Back Road, which previously had been a muddy field, and the renaming of this to Herting Street - in honour of the gentleman whose generous donation made these works possible.
The museum has the last trolleybus to operate under its own power in London, No. 1521.
Origins
The museum was founded on its present site in 1965, following the rescue of the body of an old Lowestoft tram (number 14) which had been used for a number of years as a summerhouse. The site at Carlton Colville was formerly a meadow, donated by the founder and first chairman of the Museum Society. The first buildings on the site were constructed in 1966, but it was not until 1981 that full tram and trolleybus operations could commence following the construction of a suitable roadway.The Museum's narrow gauge railway (the "East Suffolk Light Railway") opened in 1973.
Trams
- 11 English ElectricEnglish ElectricEnglish Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...
1939 Blackpool Corporation (recently restored) - 14 Milnes (Tram builder) 1904 Lowestoft Corporation TramwaysLowestoft Corporation TramwaysLowestoft Corporation Tramways was the operator of the electric tramway system that served Lowestoft from 22 July 1903 until 8 May 1931.-History:...
(undergoing on site restoration) - 159 English Electric 1927 Blackpool Corporation
- 474 Beijnes 1929 Amsterdam Tramways
- 1858 English Electric 1930 London TransportLondon Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
- 513 english electric 1950 Sheffield corporationSheffield TramwaySheffield Tramway was an extensive tramway network serving the English city of Sheffield and its suburbs.The first tramway line, horse-drawn, opened in 1873 between Lady's Bridge and Attercliffe, subsequently extended to Brightside and Tinsley...
(on loan) (currently undergoing repairs)
Trolleybuses
- 1 Privately owned German Trolleybus
- 5 GarrettRichard Garrett & SonsRichard Garrett & Sons was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, steam engines and trolleybuses. Their factory was Leiston Works, in Leiston, Suffolk, United Kingdom.The company was active under its original ownership between 1778 and 1932....
1926 CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
- 34 Sunbeam 1947 Hastings Corporation
- 52 BUT 1953 Maidstone Corporation TransportMaidstone Corporation TransportMaidstone Corporation Transport was the operator of trams, trolleybuses and motorbuses in Maidstone, Kent from 1904 to 1974. The operations of Maidstone Corporation passed to Maidstone Borough Council Transport in reorganisation of local government in 1974, expanding the Borough...
- 87 BUT 1956 Ashton-Under-Lyne Corporation
- 202 Sunbeam 1935 Bournemouth Corporation
- 224 Sunbeam 1953 Derby CorporationTrolleybuses in DerbyThe Derby trolleybus system once served Derby, the county town of Derbyshire in central England. The trolleybus service started in 1932 and ran until 1967.-History:The Derby trolleybus system opened on , and it gradually replaced the Derby tramway network...
(away from museum undergoing restoration)
- 237 Privately owned Trolleybus
- 246 Sunbeam 1958 Belfast Corporation
- 260 AEC 1936 London TransportLondon Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
- 286 Sunbeam 1959 Bournemouth Corporation
- 313 BUT 1951 Portsmouth Corporation
- 628 BUT 1950 Newcastle Corporation
- 1201 Leyland 1938 London TransportLondon Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
- 1521 Chassisless Construction by Metro CammellMetro CammellThe Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons, based in Saltley and subsequently Washwood Heath....
using AEC components 1940 London TransportLondon Passenger Transport BoardThe London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
Motorbuses
- 4 AEC 1969 Lowestoft corporation
- 13 Mercedes 1987 Lincolnshire Road Car
- 21 AEC 1947 Lowestoft Corporation
- 57 BristolBristol Commercial VehiclesBristol Commercial Vehicles was a vehicle manufacturer of in Bristol, England. Most production was of buses but trucks and railbus chassis were also built....
1962 Eastern Counties
- 85 AEC 1964 Great Yarmouth
- VR385 Bristol 1972 Eastern Counties
- LL408 Bristol 1948 Eastern Counties
- RTL 1050 Leyland 1950 London TransportLondon Transport ExecutiveThe London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in the Greater London area, UK, between 1948-1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.-Creation:On 1...
See also
- List of transport museums
- List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom
- The Trolleybus Museum at SandtoftThe Trolleybus Museum at SandtoftThe Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a transport museum which specialises in the preservation of trolleybuses. It is located by the village of Sandtoft, near Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire.-Description:...
- Black Country Living MuseumBlack Country Living MuseumThe Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings, located in Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The museum occupies a urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle in the centre of the Black Country conurbation...
- also with trolleybuses and trams