Ed Walsh's profile

Crich Tramway Museum 2023

Sheffield Corporation Tram 74, originally built in 1900.  The lower deck was rescued from use as a garden shed and married up to an upper deck from a different tram.
Some of the trams have elaborately decorated windows above the large panels.
The volunteer conductor on this Glasgow Corporation tram dispenses both tickets and wisdom.
The museum includes a Cabmen's Shelter, dating from the 1870s in Bradford and beautifully restored.  They provided shelter for horse drawn cab drivers when not carrying passengers and were intended to discourage them from frequenting pubs instead.
The Sheffield tram passing an open top Blackpool single decker.  Most of the route is single track so trams travelling in opposite directions pass in loops ...
... and in order to travel on a section they need a pass.  This driver is hanging up the pass for the section his tram has just left.
Some of the trams have beautifully decorated (and restored) panels, this one on the inside of the upstairs roof.
The end of the line.  Passengers will shortly leave and the tram move forward to the space vacated by the Blackpool single decker so it can collect its next group of passengers.
The museum also includes buses.  This 1913 Leyland single decker looks beautiful, though the solid rubber tyres probably didn't endear it to either passengers or crew.
The Glasgow tram about to leave.
Trams passing in the 'main street' of the museum.
The Sheffield tram nearing the end of its run.  The driver is in characteristic pose with left hand on the power controller and right hand on the brake.  The driving position is great on a sunny day but possibly less desirable when raining.
The suspension on the Sheffield tram - the truck is not original to this unit and came from a Leeds tram via a tower unit, used to repair the power lines.
The driver of the Glasgow tram is about to collect the token for the next section of line, which the Blackpool open tram has just cleared.  The former is a mainstay of the operational fleet for the museum and has done more years of passenger service at Crich than at Glasgow.
The driver of the Blackpool unit, which dates from 1934.  It has three different braking systems fitted including air brakes.  The driver's left hand is on the power controller; to avoid anyone else trying to interfere with the tram when they leave the driving position they take the handle with them.
On board the Blackpool unit, designed to make the most of the tourist season.  At the end of the run the seat backs are moved across so that passengers always face forwards.
Crich Tramway Museum 2023
Published:

Crich Tramway Museum 2023

Published:

Creative Fields