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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
We’re currently utilising Ripley Library’s community display case to showcase a selection of items from our collection. It’s a great opportunity to get objects out on display outside the museum to provide interest, whilst hopefully also encouraging people to visit....
June 2nd 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the first public operation of a horse-drawn tram service at Crich Tramway Village. On this day in 1963, the Tramway Museum at Crich operated its first ever tram service when passengers were able to ride on Sheffield...
Crich Tramway Village is a brand name for the National Tramway Museum (Accredited with Arts Council England), solely owned and operated by The Tramway Museum Society, incorporated in England with liability by guarantee (no. 744229). Registered charity number 313615. Our ICO number is Z6700136.