East Anglia Transport Museum
 Preserved former London (first generation) tram and trolleybus at the East Anglia Transport Museum | |
| Established | 1965 |
|---|---|
| Location | Carlton Colville, Lowestoft, Suffolk |
| Coordinates | 52°27′09″N 1°41′10″E / 52.4524°N 1.6861°E |
| Type | Heritage centre |
| Website |
eatransportmuseum |
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 buses, trams and trolleybuses, as 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 C5. 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.
Exhibits
Trams
- Blackpool Corporation VAMBAC enclosed single-decker No. 11 built in 1939. Operational.
- Lowestoft Corporation Tramways open topper No. 14 built in 1904. Undergoing restoration.
- Blackpool Corporation Standard Class enclosed double decker No. 159 built in 1927. Operational.
- Amsterdam Tramways enclosed single decker No. 474 built in 1929. Awaiting repair.
- Glasgow Corporation Tramways enclosed double decker No. 488 built in 1903. Undergoing restoration at the Ffestiniog Railway.
- Sheffield corporation enclosed double decker No. 513 built in 1950. Operational, on loan from Beamish Museum
- London Transport enclosed double decker No. 1858 built in 1930. Operational.
Trolleybuses
- 1 Privately owned German Trolleybus
- 5 Garrett 1926 Copenhagen
- 34 Sunbeam 1947 Hastings Corporation
- 52 BUT 1953 Maidstone Corporation Transport
- 87 BUT 1956 Ashton-Under-Lyne Corporation
- 202 Sunbeam 1935 Bournemouth Corporation
- 224 Sunbeam 1953 Derby Corporation (away from museum undergoing restoration)
- 237 Sunbeam 1960 Derby Corporation (Privately Owned)
- 246 Sunbeam 1958 Belfast Corporation
- 260 AEC 1936 London Transport
- 286 Sunbeam 1959 Bournemouth Corporation
- 313 BUT 1951 Portsmouth Corporation
- 628 BUT 1950 Newcastle Corporation
- 1201 Leyland 1938 London Transport
- 1521 Chassisless Construction by Metro Cammell using AEC components 1940 London Transport
Motorbuses
- 21 AEC Regent II 1947 Lowestoft Corporation
- LL408 Bristol 1948 Eastern Counties
- RTL 1050 Leyland Titan 1950 London Transport
- LFL57 Bristol Lodekka 1962 Eastern Counties
- 4 AEC Swift 1969 Lowestoft corporation
- 85 AEC Reliance 1964 Great Yarmouth
- 4 AEC Swift 1969 Lowestoft corporation
- VR385 Bristol VR 1972 Eastern Counties
- 13 Mercedes 1987 Lincolnshire Road Car
- 66 Leyland PD2/1 1949 Gt. Yarmouth Corporation
- 62 Dennis Dart 1995 Gt. Yarmouth Transport
See also
- List of transport museums
- List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom
- The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft
- Black Country Living Museum - also with trolleybuses and trams
Gallery
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K1 Telephone Box, Lowestoft Transport Museum
-
RAC roadside Telephonebox
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