On Sunday I was at Crich, the home of the National Tramway Museum (and Tramway Museum Society collection), which includes extensive depots, a mile of tramway and a street through which the trams run before taking to a rural section of line. There are a number of relocated buildings which serve as refreshment rooms and an archive/library (of national if not international importance). The largest of the depot buildings is now the ‘Great Exhibition Hall’ having recently been refurbished to better tell the story of the tram in the UK. There is also an ongoing and soon to be completed project to create further interpretation space in one of the original buildings on site, dating back to the era of George Stephenson who engineered an metre gauge railway from the quarry and down to blast furnaces near Ambergate.

The event this weekend was a combination of a public theme (the Seaside) and an enthusiast day on the Sunday only.

Below: Inside the Great Exhibition Hall is the other Sheffield 264 – for which our 264 was renumbered 342 at Sheffield in order to accommodate it in the series. This view also shows a sample of the interpretation material that serves to provide information on the tram as well as context as to the period it was built and operated in.

Below: Outside Gateshead 5 and Grimsby & Immingham 14 were parked together. Gateshead 5 had been one of the trams sold to British Railways for use on the G&I in 1951, and this year marks 50 years since the closure of the G&I system in March 1961. Our own Gateshead 10 was similarly purchased – see earlier blog posting for it in BR green livery as withdrawn (index to the right of this page). Note that is therefore 60 years since the closure of Gateshead…

Below: Gateshead 5 is shunted by the Blackpool electric locomotive following display alongside G&I 14.

Below: Edinburgh 35, now owned by the TMS, catches the light and shows off the superb looks of these trams, built as the Edinburgh ‘Standard’.

Below: A chance to see two Leeds cars together, with 399 nearest the camera (standing on the traverser) and Leeds 180, a ‘Horsfield’ car, beyond.

Below: Blackpool 167 – the Pullman car. This tram is booked to visit Beamish for our September 1 – 4 event this year.

Below: Leeds Horsfield 180, my favorite class of tramcar for its clean lines and modern but traditional appearance (is that a contradiction?!). Recently recipient of further restoration, this car is a stunning restoration and a pleasure to ride on.

Below: Another recent returnee to traffic is Blackpool 166, the toastrack tram. Here followed by another toastrack, Blackpool & Fleetwood ‘Rack’ 2.

Below: Cardiff 131 (which visited Beamish last year) and London Transport E1 car 1622 stand outside the reconstructed Red Lion public house.

Below: Identical to our own Sheffield 513, this is sister ‘Roberts’ car 510, about to enter the workshops for some attention.

Below: Johannesburg 60 is seen joining the queue of trams unloading outside the main complex of buildings near Town End at Crich, the Red Lion being visible to the left of 60’s dash panel.

Below: This line up of traditional trams included Chesterfield 7, Glasgow 812 and Sheffield 74.

Below: Inside the workshop, LUT159 is nearing completion following reconstruction/restoration/replication from remaining parts, while Leeds 345 receives attention to the right, its truck having been removed for work.

Below: A contrast in city styles as Liverpool 869 squeezes alongside Sheffield 510.

The National Tramway Museum must rank as the finest dedicated tramway museum in the World, for sheer variety of tramcars and the quality of the restoration work carried out there. Well worth a visit and in a location with plenty of other attractions to appeal to transport enthusiasts.