Trolleybus Preservation
Museums
Museums that operate trolleybuses in the UK are: the Black Country Living Museum at Dudley, East Anglia Transport Museum, at Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft and The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, near Doncaster.
It is also possible to operate trolleybuses at The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish. However, this museum is designed to depict an earlier era than that of the trolleybus; the usual sole trolleybus at this location, Newcastle 501, is not normally seen in operation by the public. The situation should change in the next couple of years as a 1950s village is under construction. On completion, trolleybus overhead will be erected and a route around this village will be inaugurated, possibly in 2024. It is intended that Newcastle 501 will be joined by Teesside 11 (ex Reading 186) to operate this route.
Several vehicles are preserved overseas. News of overseas museums is always welcome for the Museum and Preservation column, please email museumnews@britishtrolley.org.uk.
A number of other transport museums around the country house trolleybuses as static exhibits. Many others are owned by individuals or small groups and are kept at locations which are generally not open to the public. There is some fluidity in the situation as vehicles are moved around from time to time; either for renovation at a specific location or for operation at an event at one of the working museums. The three museums mentioned previously all hold special events at various times and welcome participation of visiting vehicles.
Table of Preserved British Trolleybuses in the British Isles
Correct as at 30 November 2024 from existing information.
If you have any updates or corrections, please email librarian@britishtrolley.org.uk
| Location | No. | Fleet list |
|---|---|---|
| Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, Belton Road, Sandtoft, Nr. Doncaster, North Lincolnshire DN8 5SX | 44 | Bournemouth 99; 297 & 301 Bradford 562; 7062; 7431; 746; 792; 834; 8446: 8461 Cardiff 203 Cleethorpes 54; 59 Derby 172 1752 Doncaster 375 Glasgow TB78 Hastings 46 Huddersfield 541; 619 & 631 London 1348; 1812 Maidstone 56 & 72 Manchester 1344 Mexborough & Swinton 34 Newcastle 5015 Nottingham 367; 4662; 493 & 506 Notts & Derby 3532 Reading 113; 144; 174; 181 & 193 Rotherham 37 & 44 1 South Shields 204 St. Helens 3874 S. Yorkshire PTE 2450 Walsall 3421 & 872 1stored at Thorpe-In-Balne 2 stored or undergoing restoration at Selby 4 St. Helens 387 currently displayed at the North West Museum of Road Transport in St. Helens. 5 Newcastle 501 on loan from Beamish Open Air Museum until 2026 6 On loan from Keighley Bus Museum |
| East Anglia Transport Museum, Chapel Road, Carlton Colville, Nr. Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 8BL 7 | 15 | Ashton Under Lyne 87 Belfast 246 Bournemouth 202 & 286 Derby 237 Hastings 34 Ipswich 105 (On loan from Ipswich Transport Museum) London 260; 796; 1201; 1521 Maidstone 52 Newcastle 628 Nottingham 578 Notts & Derby 357 Portsmouth 313 |
| Black Country Living Museum, Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands. | 4 | Bradford 735 (Now in Walsall Corporation livery) Walsall 862 Wolverhampton 78 & 433 |
| Ipswich Transport Museum, Cobham Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 9JD | 7 | Ipswich 2; 91; 262; 44; 46; 1053& 126 1 Stored in a secure site elsewhere in Ipswich. 2 Under restoration at Long Shop Museum, Leiston 3 On loan to East Anglian Transport Museum, Carlton Colville. |
| Keighley Bus Museum Trust | 8 | Bradford 704, 713, 758; 8441, 845 and 847 Keighley 5 Teesside 2 1 On Loan to Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft |
| West Of England Transport Collection Winkleigh, Devon | 1 | Bradford 703 (Privately Owned) |
| Private Ownership Boughton, Notts. | 3 | Derby 224 Nottingham 502 Notts & Derby 307 |
| Cardiff & S. Wales Trolleybus Project, Barry, South Wales. | 2 | Cardiff 243 & 262 |
| London Transport Museum, Acton & Covent Garden London | 3 | London 1 & 1768 (Acton) London 1253 (Covent Garden) |
| Hastings Trolleybus Restoration Group Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex | 1 | Hastings 3 Hastings No. 3 was fitted with a Commer TS3 diesel engine in 1960 but retains both trolleybus chassis and bodywork. |
| Featherstone, South Staffordshire | 1 | Derby 215 (Private) |
| Greater Manchester Transport Museum, Boyle Street, Cheetham, Manchester | 2 | Ashton under Lyne 80 Manchester 1250 |
| Science Museum, Wroughton, Nr. Swindon, Wilts. | 1 | Brighton & Hove 6340 |
| Private Ownerhip (England) | 1 | Bournemouth 299 |
| Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra, Holywood, Co. Down, N.I. | 2 | Belfast 112 |
| NTA Raunds, Northants | 1 | Hastings 45 |
| B&MMOT, Wythall, N. Warwickshire | 1 | Wolverhampton 616 |
| Ellough (NTA Site) | 2 | Belfast 168 (NTA) Wolverhampton 654 |
| Bradford Industrial Museum, West Yorkshire | 2 | Bradford 515 (body only) and 737 |
| Glasgow Museum of Transport | 1 | Glasgow TBS 13 |
| Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum | 1 | Teesside 5 |
| Hampshire County Council Store, Porchester | 1 | Portsmouth 201 |
| NMGW, Nantgarw | 1 | Cardiff 215 |
| North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, Co. Durham | 3 | Keighley 12 Newcastle 501 (On loan to Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft to 2026) Teesside 11 |
| Tyne Tees Heritage Transport Museum, Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland | 1 | Bradford 835 |
| Rotherham Trolleybus Group, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire | 1 | Rotherham 73 |
| Private Ownership | 2 | Bournemouth 212 (was 246) Bradford 712, Belfast 98 |
| Totals: Locations 31 | 112 | Operators 30 |