Jul 14, 2024 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
14th July 2024 marks 100 years since the opening of the last of Britain’s first-generation tramways to begin operating – the Dearne District Light Railway in South Yorkshire. This system had the briefest duration of any of Britain’s electric tramways, lasting...
Jul 5, 2024 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
Sunday 5th July 1964 marked the day that the Tramway Museum Society finally achieved its primary aim of building and demonstrating an electrically powered tramway for fare-paying members of the public. The fact that this took place just over a year after the...
May 29, 2024 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
On 29th May 1884, the Highgate Hill Cable Tramway became the first cable tramway to be built in Europe. The short line of just under ¾ mile provided a connection between a busy horse tram terminus at the Archway Tavern and Highgate Village, which was at the top of the...
Apr 13, 2024 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the formal opening of Glasgow’s first Transport Museum on 14 April 1964. At that time, the Tramway Museum Society had been established for almost a decade. Having acquired the premises at Crich in 1959, the TMS operated its first...
Dec 12, 2023 | Curator's Choice
Here at The National Tramway Museum, we have a significant collection of archival material relating to the history of tramways. Unfortunately, when it comes to staff records we have very little material, so we’re always pleased when we can collect personal stories...
Nov 24, 2023 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
2023 marks the 150th anniversary of the first public demonstration of Britain’s earliest commercially operated steam tram, which took place in London on the night of 25th/ 26th November 1873. The tram was designed by John Grantham (1808-1874), an English engineer who...
Oct 27, 2023 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
On 22nd October 1883, the Gateshead and District Tramway Company began to operate a 6.22-mile-long standard gauge steam tramway. Unlike neighbouring Newcastle, many of Gateshead’s streets were too steep for horse trams to be practical, so some form of mechanisation...
Sep 12, 2023 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
The National Tramway Museum’s oldest tramcar, Oporto 9, celebrates its 150th anniversary this year! The tramcar was built in 1873 by the Starbuck Car and Wagon Company Ltd. of Birkenhead, which was the first tramcar manufacturer to be established outside the United...
Sep 1, 2023 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
The first successful cable operated tramway in the world – the San Francisco-based Clay Street Hill Railway – began to offer a regular service on 1st September 1873. The system involved a steam-driven continuously moving cable that was capable of hauling a fleet...
Jul 14, 2023 | Curator's Choice, Tramway Anniversaries
This year marks the 125th anniversary since the construction of Blackpool and Fleetwood ‘Rack’ 2, which was built by G.F. Milnes & Co. in 1898. Number 2 was one of ten crossbench rack trams that were delivered for the opening of the Blackpool and Fleetwood...