Archive 2009

New for 2009: Life Membership

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft has introduced Life Membership. Benefits of membership include free admission to all of our events and you receive a copy of our quarterly in-house publication 'Sandtoft Scene'. For just £375 you can enjoy these benefits forevermore! Click here for more details.

Competition winners claim their prize

Towards the end of 2007, The Trolleybus Museum launched a competition to find a new logo. We received a selection of very good ideas and concepts and we thank all those who took part. The final concept was an amalgamation of three people's ideas. Therefore, congratualtions go out to Mr. D. Vickers of Chesterfield, Mr. C. Grabham of Luton and Mr. S. Baines of Doncaster. Two of the winners (Mr Grabham and Mr Baines) collected their prize, £40 worth of gift vouchers for the Museum souvenir shop, during the 40th Anniversary Extravaganza event in May 2009.

Along with the new logo is a new look website, which you are looking at now! Our previous website design had been in use for many years so we decided to freshen it up to coincide with our logo launch. We hope you like it. Please pass on any comments to

Logo Competition winners with their prize

Trolleybus Museum celebrates 40 years in style

On May 23 / 24 / 25 2009 The Trolleybus Museum celebrated 40 years since being founded.

The intention of the event had been to operate 15 different trolleybuses each day over the weekend to showcase the large collection of preserved trolleybuses housed at The Museum. In the end 16 different trolleybuses operated as part of a continuous service each day with many many different town's and cities represented. The colourful mix of trolleys consisted of:

Bradford 746 & 792; Glasgow TB78; Huddersfield 619 & 631; London 1812; Maidstone 56 & 72; Newcastle 501; Nottingham 493 & 506; Reading 113, 144 & 181; Rotherham 37 and South Shields 204. All of which can be seen on the photo to the right>>>

The 16 trolleybuses used on service during the Extravaganza Weekend.

During the weekend over 850 visitors passed through the doors and a total of 2814 passenger journeys were made on the 206 trolleybus services. The trolleybus service operated on a 5-6 minute frequency!

The Extravaganza will feature again on the 2010 calendar but it may be a while before we can top the celebrations of the 40th Anniversary Event in 2009.

Trolleybus Museum teams up with local hotel.

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is pleased to announce that it has teamed up with a Doncaster based hotel to bring discounts to our visitors.

Express by Holiday Inn Doncaster is offering Museum visitors a 10% discount on their stay.The hotel is fully air conditioned ,every room is equipped with all the facilities you need for a relaxing and comfortable stay, an invigorating power shower, satellite TV, in-room movies, broadband access, High Speed Internet Access and tea/coffee making facilities, plus FREE WIFI in lounge and bar. The hotel is located just off the M18 junction 3 and is only a 15 minute drive from The Museum via the M18 & M180 motorways. It is also ideally located for Doncaster town centre.

So you can now make a weekend out of your visit to The Trolleybus Museum.

To take advantage of a 10% discount on your stay in the hotel you can reserve your room by calling 0870 8909988. Please note that this offer cannot be redeemed when booking online.

For further details of the Express by Holiday Inn Doncaster please visit http://www.hiexpress.co.uk.

Trolleybus Museum goes global.

On Friday 24^th April the latest addition to The Trolleybus Museum’s collection of trolleybuses arrived on British soil.

Johannesburg 589 in the South African sun.

The vehicle “number 589” is from Johannesburg in South Africa and is an important addition to the ranks of preserved trolleybuses as it represents a trolleybus built in the UK for export. “Number 589” is one of a batch of 45 double-deck BUT 9641T trolleybuses built in 1948 to meet Johannesburg’s earlier pre-war order for trolleybuses, 18 of which were diverted, because of the war, to London Transport. The Johannesburg BUT trolleybuses were virtually identical to the SA3 class of trolleybus which operated in London.

“Number 589” was withdrawn from service in 1974 and was subsequently earmarked for preservation and repatriation, a plan that never materialised. Subsequently, “number 589” became an exhibit at Midmar National Park on Natal, South Africa and, more recently, at a transport museum in Durban. However, late in 2008 the Durban Transport Museum was not granted a renewal of their lease by local authorities and “number 589” looked destined for the scrap yard. British trolleybus preservationists became aware of this news and with support from The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft a rescue attempt was launched.

Before “number 589” is transferred to The Trolleybus Museum, it will undergo a major restoration costing circa £100,000 and likely to take upwards of 18 months. A fundraising campaign and dedicated website has been launched at www.johannesburg589.com.

Pictures and further news of “number 589” arriving in the UK will soon be online at www.johannesburg589.com.

Glasgow trolley meets Glasgow tram in rural Derbyshire

Over the weekend 27/28th June The National Tramway Museum at Crich in Derbyshire held a 1950's themed event. Glasgow trolleybus no. TB 78 attended as a special guest.

Trams and trolleys shared the streets of Glasgow between 1949 and 1962. This means it is about 47 years TB78 last encountered a tram from its home city. This photograph was taken moments after TB78 had arrived. By coincidence the next tram along the line was Glasgow 'standard' type tram no. 22.

Photo: M. Crabtree

Glasgow TB78 at The National Tramway Museum

Museum attains Quality Assurance recognition

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is pleased to announce that it has been awarded 'Quality Assured' status by Visit England.

This mark recognises the quality of attractions across England and The Trolleybus Museum is proud to amongst these attractions.

So you can assured a quality experience when you visit The Trolleybus Museum.

Another new addition to trolleybus collection

Earlier in 2009 The Trolleybus Museum repatriated a trolleybus all the way from South Africa. The Museum has now collected another new exhibit, this time from Edmonton in Canada.

General Motors is a well known car manufacturer and has also produced over 44,000 buses with the long sloped windows synonymous with North America. This body type, also known as the 'fishbowl' design was only built onto 100 trolleybuses. General Motors, however, did not wish to be associated with the trolleybus model so these vehicles became generally known as BBC's, after the company who supplied the electrical equipment.

All the way from Edmonton, Canada, no. 189 was new in 1981 and as well as being one of the rare 100 'fishbowl' trolleybuses it is also one of 40 trolleybuses which operated in Toronto on-loan from Edmonton between 1990 and 1993.

The trolleybus system in Edmonton closed suddenly on the 2nd May 2009 and The Trolleybus Museum began negotiations to preserve one straight away. No. 189 was selected as it was deemed to be in the most original and best condition of the remaining batch.

The journey to The Museum from Edmonton has taken almost a month, traveling by low-loader and cargo ship. Number 189 will be launched into public service at The Museum in April 2010.

Watch the journey from Liverpool docks to The Museum.