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East Anglia Transport Museum

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East Anglia Transport Museum
Preserved former London (first generation) tram and trolleybus at the East Anglia Transport Museum
Map
Established1965
LocationCarlton Colville, Lowestoft, Suffolk
Coordinates52°27′09″N 1°41′10″E / 52.4524°N 1.6861°E / 52.4524; 1.6861
TypeHeritage centre
Websiteeatransportmuseum.co.uk
Former Bournemouth Corporation open-top trolleybus No. 202. Seen at the East Anglia Transport Museum, summer 2006. In the background can be seen the rear of former Solingen trolleybus No. 1 from Germany.

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 Standard 159 and Amsterdam single decker 474 in service at the museum in 2009

Trolleybuses

Motorbuses

See also

  • K1 Telephone Box, Lowestoft Transport Museum
    K1 Telephone Box, Lowestoft Transport Museum
  • RAC roadside Telephonebox
    RAC roadside Telephonebox
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