Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum

Two of the foreign trolleybuses in the museum: double-decker from Lancia from Porto (left) and one - and -a-half-decker from the Aachen trolleybus (right)

The Trolleybus Museum Sandtoft ( English : The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft ) is a transport museum opened in 1971 , which specializes in the preservation of historic trolleybuses (trolleybuses). The museum has a line with a two-pole overhead contact line that enables driving. It is close to the town of Sandtoft not far from Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire .

history

The museum is largely located on the former site of the Sandtoft military airfield , which was an operational base for the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command during World War II . The site was abandoned by the army in 1958 and lay fallow for over ten years before it was acquired for the museum in November 1969. Since then, numerous volunteers have converted the barracks settlement into a transport museum with a workshop , vehicle hall and exhibition building. From the beginning it was planned to use the vehicles on site. The first event was the 1971 Sandtoft Gathering , which is still held annually to this day.

The museum

With over 60 examples, the museum has the largest collection of preserved historical trolleybuses in the world. Most of the vehicles on display are ready to drive, some are in their original condition, some have already been restored while others are still waiting to be reactivated. While the exhibits come primarily from the United Kingdom , the collection of vehicles from other countries is constantly growing. To this end, the museum has bought vehicles from around the world, while numerous trolleybus equipment has been donated or otherwise made available over the years. In addition to trolleybuses and other objects related to traffic, the museum has a collection of souvenirs from the 1950s and 1960s. There is also a specially designed street scene from the 1950s and 1960s with fully furnished shop windows and staff, while a bungalow that was previously used as a souvenir shop has now been converted into living space to showcase even more cultural exhibits from that period can.

A special offer of the museum is to be able to drive selected trolleybuses yourself on certain days of the year against registration and appropriate instruction. The museum is only open on selected days.