Saturday 22 July 2023

East Anglia Transport Museum

When I was a small child we used to pass through Carlton Colville on the way home from visiting grandparents in Oulton Broad. I would see the buses at the museum and ask whether we could stop to visit. The answer was always that we "didn't have time". Well after over half a century I decided that I certainly did have time so paid a visit on my way home from Happisburgh to the now much bigger East Anglia Transport Museum.

Trams, 474 1929 Amsterdam tramways & 159 1927 Blackpool Corp. , East Anglia Transport Museum

The site is now like a little village with a tram track and a circular trolleybus route plus a railway and various sheds and buildings with displays of vehicles etc. There is also a myriad of street furniture in place around the site road system. Your entry fee includes unlimited travel on whichever trams, trolleybuses, and trains are running that day (or indeed the next 12 months).

GPO K1 Public Telephone Kiosk, East Anglia Transport Museum

I particularly enjoyed the 1959 Bournemouth Corporation Sunbeam trolleybus, much more civilized than the rattly trams. So I rode it twice. 

1959 Bournemouth Corporation Sunbeam trolleybus, East Anglia Transport Museum

There's a lot to see here and I spent over two hours - including a stop for tea and cake in the cafe. They have obtained a large plot of adjacent land into which they will be expanding so there will be even more in the future.

Tram 11, Maley & Taunton/English Electric, 1939 Blackpool Corporation, East Anglia Transport Museum

There are sheds full of trams, trolleybuses, and buses in various states of repair and/or restoration.

Standard Vanguard, East Anglia Transport Museum

The East Anglia Transport Museum web site is here.

My Flickr Album is here.

And here's a short (3m 26s) video about the trams and trolleybuses.

And although unusually you can get in and out without going through the gift shop I took the opportunity to replace the mug that hit the kitchen floor terminally the previous week for just a fiver.

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