East Anglia Transport Museum

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.[1]

East Anglia Transport Museum
Preserved former London (first generation) tram and trolleybus at the East Anglia Transport Museum
East Anglia Transport Museum is located in Suffolk
East Anglia Transport Museum
Location within Suffolk
Established1965
LocationCarlton Colville, Lowestoft, Suffolk
Coordinates52°27′09″N 1°41′10″E
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 is the rear of former Solingen, Germany trolleybus No. 1.

History

The museum was founded on its present site at Carlton Colville in 1965, following the rescue in 1962 by four enthusiasts of the body of an old Lowestoft tram (number 14),[2] which had been used for a number of years as a summerhouse. The site was formerly a meadow, donated by the founder and first chairman of the Museum Society, Albert Bird. The first buildings on the site were constructed in 1966, and the museum opened to the public on 28 May 1972.[3] Full tram and trolleybus operations began in 1981, following the construction of a suitable roadway.

The Museum's narrow-gauge railway, known as the East Suffolk Light Railway, opened in 1973. It was some 300 yards (270 m) long, running along the northern edge of the site, and the 2 ft (610 mm)-gauge track was constructed from materials obtained from a sand quarry at Leziate, from Canvey Island, and from the Southwold Railway. Signals were obtained from several locations in the vicinity. The museum also owns a van body which once ran on the Southwold Railway.[4]

In 2016, the museum acquired some land adjacent to the main site. Waveney District Council granted planning permission for the museum to extend its site, as the museum was beneficial to the local economy. The plan was to lengthen the tramway, the trolleybus route and the narrow gauge railway, and to nearly double the site area, at an estimated cost of one million pounds. A new exhibition hall was to be built devoted to Eastern Coach Works, a major builder of bus and train bodywork in nearby Lowestoft until it closed in 1987.[5] A new tram depot and trolleybus depot were to be built. Twenty vehicles in store at Ellough near Beccles were to be moved to the Carlton Colville site where they could be viewed.[6]

The East Suffolk Light Railway, which originally terminated near the woodland tramway, was first extended, including construction of a flat crossing to allow the trains to pass over the tramway.[7] In April 2023 the tram depot opened, with space for six tramcars, three in each lane. It accommodated the top deck of Glasgow 488, Brush cars 625 and 627, Double-deck Streamliner 726 and a stamping point for the museum's stamp trail.

Exhibits

The museum has many exhibits ranging from a 1904 Lowestoft Corporation tram to a 1985 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.

A muddy field was tarmacadammed as the Back Road, and renamed as Herting Street, after the donor who supported these works. On 12 July 2008 a loop created along the Back Road, linking in with the existing overhead wiring near the museum's entrance, opened, Britain's first trolleybus extension for many decades.

Exhibits include No. 1521, the last trolleybus to operate under its own power in London, which had had the world's largest trolleybus network. It was one of a batch of 150 L3 class vehicles built on chassis made by Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Metro Cammell Weymann in 1939–40, and made its last journey in the evening of 8 May 1962.[8][9]

The following vehicles are displayed:[10]

Trams
Blackpool Standard No. 159 and Amsterdam single decker No. 474 trams in service at the museum in 2009

Undergoing restoration.

Not operational.

Trolleybuses

Motorbuses

Locomotives

There are four locomotives which operate on the 2 ft (610 mm) gauge East Suffolk Light Railway.[11] All of them have four-wheel chassis, with diesel engines and mechanical transmission. One was made by Ruston and Hornsby of Lincoln and three were made by Motor Rail of Bedford. The frames of a fourth Motor Rail locomotive were used to form the chassis of a brakevan.[12]

List of locomotives
Fleet numbersNameTypeManufacturerMakers No.Built
2Aldburgh4wDMMotor Rail59121934
4Leiston4wDMRuston & Hornsby1776041936
No.5Orfordness4wDMMotor Rail222111964
No.6Thorpness4wDMMotor Rail222091964

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

Bibliography
  • Butcher, Alan C, ed. (2009). Railways Restored. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-3370-2.
  • Chapman, Thomas (13 June 2018). "Transport museum given go-ahead for million pound expansion". Lowestoft Journal. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018.
  • Handbook (2012). Industrial Locomotives (16EL). Industrial Railway Society. ISBN 978-1-901556-78-0.
  • Joyce, J; King, J S; Newman, A G (1986). British Trolleybus Systems. London: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-1647-7.
  • Lockwood, Stephen (2011). Trackless to Trolleybus: Trolleybuses in Britain. Adam Gordon. ISBN 978-1-874422-86-0.
  • Major, Tim (12 June 2018). "Planning Application" (PDF). East Suffolk Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2020.
  • Prior, Gareth (17 April 2019). "Work gets underway on expansion of East Anglia Transport Museum". British Trams Online. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020.

References
  1. Museum leaflet (PDF), East Anglia Transport Museum, March 2023
  2. "East Anglia Transport Museum". European Route of Industrial Heritage. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  3. Major 2018, p. 10.
  4. Butcher 2009, p. 52.
  5. Chapman 2018.
  6. Major 2018, p. 12.
  7. Prior 2019.
  8. Lockwood 2011, p. 232.
  9. Joyce, King & Newman 1986, p. 93.
  10. "East Anglia Transport Museum Fleetlist" (PDF). East Anglia Transport Museum. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  11. James, Jonathan (May 2021). Narrow Gauge Railways London and South East England. Narrow Gauge Railway Society.
  12. Handbook 2012, p. 199.
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