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...
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...
On May 25th 1973, the first section of tramline was inspected and commissioned for use at the recently established Beamish Museum, which was the country’s first Scandinavian-style open air living museum. The aim of Beamish was to depict the development of industry and...
At precisely 3:30pm on 15th May 1903, the start of electric tramcar operations on London County Council’s tramway was celebrated in style. Following an elaborate banquet for 2,334 people, a specially decorated tramcar – number 86 – conveyed the Prince and Princess of...
On this day 63 years ago, the tramways in Leeds finally closed. Some routes had stopped operating earlier, so to mark this occasion we’d like to highlight this painting which was donated to the museum in 2021. The painting was produced by J. E. Castelow and shows the...
60 years ago today, the people of Glasgow started to bid farewell to the city’s tramway, the origins of which could be traced back a further 90 years since the first horse trams began to operate on the streets on 19th August 1872. For the first 22 years the tramcars...
150 years ago today, on 19th August 1872, Glasgow’s first horse-drawn tramway began to operate. Its first line ran from St. George’s Cross to Eglinton Toll, via New City Road and Jamaica Bridge. The tramway was operated by the Glasgow Tramway and Omnibus Company and...
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.