The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft facts for kids
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| Established | 1969 |
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| Location | Sandtoft, Lincolnshire, England |
| Type | Transport museum |
The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a special place that keeps old trolleybuses safe. It's a transport museum located near the village of Sandtoft in English county of Lincolnshire.
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Discover the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft
This museum is built on part of what used to be RAF Sandtoft. This was an airfield for bombers during the Second World War. The Royal Air Force (RAF) stopped using it in 1958. The museum bought the land in November 1969.
Since then, amazing volunteers have turned an empty field into a lively museum. They built workshops, a place to store vehicles, and an exhibition hall. The very first event, called the Sandtoft Gathering, happened in 1971. This event is still held every year!
Europe's Largest Trolleybus Collection
The museum is famous for having the biggest collection of old trolleybuses in Europe. It might even be the largest in the whole world! There are over 60 trolleybuses here. Most of them are from the UK. However, the museum is also collecting more and more international trolleybuses.
Besides trolleybuses, the museum has many cool items from the 1950s and 1960s. You can see a street scene from that time, with shop windows full of displays. There's even a special house, called a prefab bungalow, set up to look like a home from that era. It shows even more old items from the past.
In 2011, the museum had about 50 vehicles. About half of these could be driven to give rides to visitors. They run on an oval track. By 2019, the number of vehicles grew to over 60. The museum is open on certain days, so check their website before you visit!
History of the Museum
How the Idea Started
The story of the museum began in 1961. A group of 14 people wanted to save one of Reading's old AEC trolleybuses. It was going to be taken out of service soon. They formed the Reading Transport Society in April.
In September, they got Reading No.113. This was the first trolleybus ever saved by private people in Britain! It started a whole movement to save these vehicles. At first, they thought it would be a small local group. But people from all over Britain joined. By 1964, they had saved three more trolleybuses.
They needed a better place to keep the vehicles. They wanted somewhere with covered space. They also hoped to find a place where they could actually run the trolleybuses.
Finding a Home for Trolleybuses
After looking in the south of England without luck, Mike Dare, one of the founders, found a possible spot. It was an old chapel in Belton. He thought it could hold three vehicles at first. With some changes, it could hold eight. There was also a classroom for smaller displays. He even thought they could buy the field next door later.
Mike bought the chapel himself. He changed it so trolleybuses could drive inside. This place became known as the Westgate Trolleybus Museum. The first vehicle, Derby No.172, arrived on July 27, 1967. The second was Manchester No.1344. It was towed from Oldham overnight. During this trip, two of the crew noticed that part of Sandtoft airfield was for sale. The third vehicle was Glasgow No.TB78. It was towed to Westgate in October 1967.
In 1968, Mike Dare visited the Sandtoft airfield site many times. It was for sale for £6,000. It looked like they could get permission to build a depot and overhead wires there. The Reading Transport Society agreed to try and get this land. After the Reading trolleybus system closed, the Society got Reading No.144. This was towed to Westgate in November 1968. Glasgow No.TB78 moved to a nearby yard in Belton. The Society also got many parts for overhead wiring from the Reading system.
Making the Museum Happen
People then focused on how to raise money for the Sandtoft site. Mike Dare offered £3,000 for it. By February 1969, they had permission for the wiring and buildings. Mike suggested he buy the site and rent space to the Society. Since they wanted to build space for 20 vehicles, he offered spots to other groups who were saving trolleybuses.
By March, Mike's offer of £3,000 for the site was accepted. The buildings were estimated to cost about £5,800. Mike's mother, Dorothy Dare, offered to lend £4,500 to help pay for the buildings. She did this after a short delay due to some legal issues.
The Museum Opens and Grows
Mike Dare officially owned the site on August 25, 1969. By this time, the planned depot was smaller, designed for eight vehicles. Building the depot was delayed but started on October 6, 1969. To get ready, several trolleybuses were towed to a yard in Belton.
Other transport groups wanted to join the project. The West Riding Transport Society wanted space for two of their vehicles. The Doncaster Omnibus and Light Railway Society also wanted space for their Doncaster No.375. The first building work finished in late October. On November 1, 1969, Reading No.193 became the first trolleybus to arrive at the new site.
Later that day, Huddersfield Nos.619 and 631 arrived. Glasgow No.TB78 also came. Soon after, Bradford No.RT410, Bournemouth 212, Reading 181, and Doncaster 375 arrived. This filled the depot with its first set of vehicles. Huddersfield No.541 also arrived but had to be stored outside.
In December 1969, four transport groups met and became official partners. They were the Doncaster Omnibus and Light Railway Society, the Notts & Derby Transport Society, the Reading Transport Society, and the West Riding Transport Society. The Reading Society asked for a loan of £5,000. This money would help build a second depot for 14 more vehicles and buy more overhead wiring parts.
A special Trust was set up to manage the museum's items. It was called the Sandtoft Transport Centre Association. They would rent the site to the partner groups. This helped make the museum financially stable. Graham Rhodes was put in charge of the site. After the Walsall trolleybus system closed, the Reading Society bought two trolleybuses. They also bought about 1 mile (1.6 km) of overhead wiring and forty poles. Since their main focus was now at Sandtoft, they changed their name. From April 29, 1971, they became the British Trolleybus Society. This was exactly ten years after the original society started.
How the Museum Grew
The museum grew quite quickly. More trolleybuses and even some diesel buses arrived from many places. A second building for 14 vehicles was built in 1972. Another building for 22 more vehicles was added in 1973. Later, covered space for ten more vehicles was built.
Other buildings were added too. These included a workshop, toilets, a souvenir shop, storage areas, and a theatre. The toilets were improved, and a new exhibition hall was built in 1995–1996. These projects were paid for by grants. The new hall, called the Axholme Stores, now has a cafe.
To make the trolleybuses run, overhead wiring started to be put up in 1971. The first trolleybus drove under the wires on September 3, 1972. Power came from a diesel generator on the back of a lorry. Later, a diesel bus engine powered a trolleybus motor that acted as a generator, also on a lorry. In the 1990s, the museum finally got power from the main electricity supply.
The vehicles in the collection have changed over time. Some have moved to other collections. Some left to be fixed up elsewhere. A few came back after being away. A small number of privately owned ones were taken apart.
The way the museum is run has also changed. The Doncaster Omnibus and Light Railway Society and the British Trolleybus Society are still active. The West Riding Transport Society closed down, and its items went to the British Trolleybus Society. The Notts & Derby Transport Society also stopped in the mid-1970s. However, when Bradford's trolleybus system closed, the Bradford Trolleybus Association was formed. They have since become an active part of the museum.
The Sandtoft Transport Centre Association became the Sandtoft Transport Centre Limited in 1982. This is a charity registered with the Charities Commission. Most of the museum's growth has been paid for by private donations. The quality of the work and how the museum is run was recognized in 2003. That's when the museum became a Registered Museum. In 2010, it received Accreditation status. This was from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, which is now part of Arts Council England.
The Museum's Collection
The museum has a wide variety of trolleybuses. In 2019, there were 59 listed on its website. The Sandtoft Trust owned 28 of them. The British Trolleybus Society owned 13. Other groups like the Bradford Trolleybus Association and the Doncaster Omnibus and Light Railway Society owned one each. Fourteen were owned by private individuals.
These trolleybuses originally ran on 31 different systems. Eight of these were in other countries. Twenty-one were in England, one in Scotland, and one in Wales. Ten of them were single-deck vehicles. Forty-seven were double-deck. Two were just chassis (the frame without the body). The oldest trolleybus was from Mexborough and Swinton, built in 1928. The newest was part of an experiment and was built in 1985.
There's also a unique vehicle. It's a copy of a single-deck trolleybus from 1911. This replica was built for the museum in the Czech Republic and arrived in 2019.
Besides trolleybuses, the museum has 14 diesel buses. Some of these are used to give tours around the local area on open days. The collection also includes special service vehicles. These include four tower wagons, which were used to fix the overhead wiring. The oldest tower wagon is from 1903 and was pulled by horses! Other vehicles include a pole crane, a Smith Electric Vehicles parcel van, three tractors, and the bottom parts of two trams.
Gallery
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Former Maidstone trolleybus No.72, made by Sunbeam in 1947.
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London trolleybus No.1812, made by BUT in 1948.
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K6 telephone box and GR post box.
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GR post box.
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A restored stamp machine.
See also
- Black Country Living Museum - with trolleybuses
- East Anglia Transport Museum - with trolleybuses
- National Tramway Museum
- Summerlee Heritage Park
- List of trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom
