National Transport Trust facts for kids
The National Transport Trust is a special charity in Britain. It started in 1965 as the Transport Trust. Its main job is to help save and look after old vehicles, trains, boats, and planes. It connects people who love transport history, gives advice, and helps find places to keep these amazing old machines.
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What the Trust Does
The National Transport Trust is a registered charity. This means it's a group that helps people or causes. The Trust supports projects that fix up old transport items. It also gives advice to the UK Government and other groups that work to save history.
The Trust gives out awards each year for the best restoration projects. A big goal for them is to get young people involved in saving transport history. Anne, Princess Royal is the Patron of the Trust, which means she supports their work.
Why Saving Old Transport Matters
The Heritage Lottery Fund asked the Transport Trust to study how well old transport items were being saved. They wanted to know what problems people faced and where these items were kept. This helped them decide where to give money for projects.
A report called "Transport Heritage: An Assessment of Needs & Potential" was created. It showed how healthy the transport preservation movement is in Britain. More than 15 million people each year enjoy or take part in transport history activities. This makes it one of Britain's most popular hobbies. Britain has a very rich history of transport, which has helped many people get involved.
Many old transport items are in public museums. But private collectors and groups have done the most to save and share these items. A great example is the Avro Vulcan XH558 plane. It was fixed up to fly again. This was one of the hardest restoration projects ever done. People donated money to make it happen. Dr. Robert Pleming, who led this project, even won an award from the Transport Trust. He is now a Trustee of the National Transport Trust.
Saving Old Aircraft
Saving old aircraft in the UK really started in the 1960s. This was when many old military planes became available. A group called the British Aviation Preservation Council (BAPC) was formed in 1967. It aimed to help organize these efforts.
More than 2,500 aircraft still exist and could be saved. But there isn't a clear plan for how to save them all. Many valuable planes are kept outside, which can damage them. Not enough attention has been given to saving old airfield buildings either. However, Duxford Aerodrome became a special "Conservation Area" in 2007. This will help protect this important site. It was a Royal Flying Corps base in 1916 and an RAF base until 1961. This airfield was important during the Battle of Britain. It is now home to the Imperial War Museum Duxford. It has the largest collection of American aircraft outside the US.
To help save aircraft, we need to:
- Decide which planes are most important to save.
- Move medium-grade planes into hangars (covered storage).
- Pay more attention to saving old passenger planes.
- Train more people in aircraft conservation skills.
Saving Old Buses and Coaches
About 4,000 old buses and coaches have been saved. Around 45% of these are in museums or special collections. However, less than 30% of all saved vehicles have been fully fixed up. Most buses in museums are from the 1950s and 1960s. Only 10% are from before 1940.
Over 80% of these old buses are owned by private people. These individuals have done most of the work to save buses, often with little help. There isn't a clear plan for saving these buses, which are spread out across the country.
To help save buses and coaches, we need to:
- Create a list of all saved buses. This will help create a system to rank their importance.
- Find covered places to store the most important vehicles. Right now, half of all saved buses are stored outside.
- Fix up the most important vehicles.
- Make it easier for people to see these buses and learn about them.
- Save old papers, tickets, and small items related to buses.
Saving Old Railways
Britain has over 400 miles of heritage railway tracks. There are nearly 600 old stations and about 150 railway locations. These heritage railways and museum items are a big investment. They bring in over £30 million each year and carry about 9 million passengers. They are a big part of Britain's fun activities.
Amazingly, over 1,000 steam engines still exist. But less than 20% can run at any time. This is because it costs a lot to fix them up. Also, over 700 diesel locomotives and about 150 passenger units have been saved. There are also a few electric units. More than 3,000 passenger carriages and 2,500 freight vehicles are also being saved.
The Heritage Railway Association helps and advises heritage railway lines. The busiest heritage line is the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. It runs over 100 days a year. Most of its 24-mile track was built by George Stephenson and opened in 1836.
To help save railways, we need to:
- Create a system to rank vehicles and lines. This will help focus money on the most important ones.
- Allow people to safely visit workshops and sheds. This will make visits more interesting.
- Find covered places for restoration work and storing carriages.
- Work hard to save electric trains.
- Support private projects that fix up trains. This will help more trains get saved.
- Store old railway records to prevent them from being lost.
Saving Old Boats
This group of old transport items is very varied and spread out. It relies a lot on private people. Only canal and inland waterway boats have some organization. This is because they are linked to the waterways. Other boats, like fishing boats, lifeboats, and traditional river boats, are found all over the UK. Most boats are privately owned, and most can still sail.
In museums, smaller boats are often less noticed than bigger ones. Steam-powered boats are very popular. About 500 small boats are considered very important historically and are meant to be saved. Many groups help manage their interests. The National Maritime Museum is trying to bring these groups together.
The National Small Boat Register lists over 1,200 small boats (under 12 meters or 40 feet). These boats are rare or have important history and culture. The Advisory Committee for National Historic Ships lists larger historic boats (over 10.1 meters or 33 feet) that have strong links to the UK.
To help save boats, we need to:
- Create a common system to rank all boats. This will help decide which ones to focus on saving.
- Improve the saving of the 500 important small boats. This can be done with small amounts of money.
- Offer more training in traditional boat-building skills.
- Find safe storage places for boats that are at risk, while they wait to be fixed up.
General Conclusions
Britain has many different types of old transport. But there are also many things they have in common. Strong leadership and a clear vision are very important. Groups that bring people together can play a big role.
Having covered storage is also very important for old items. These items have lasted much longer than they were meant to. Finally, transport is best enjoyed when it's used. Many irreplaceable old items are wearing out. Sometimes, new working copies should be made to replace them.
Red Wheel Programme
The Trust has a program that creates and places special Red Wheel plaques. These plaques are put at very important and unique transport heritage sites. Over 115 Red Wheel Heritage Site plaques have been put up. The Trust welcomes ideas for new Red Wheel plaques. They want to highlight sites that might otherwise be forgotten or not fully appreciated by people.
