For our latest trip down memory lane, British Trams Online goes back almost two decades to the mid-nineties, and a visit to the short-lived ‘Transperience’ attraction sited near Bradford. This multi-million pound museum featured a number of working vehicle exhibits, including Budapest twin set 2576+2577, and that is the subject of this historic image.
Transperience had its origins as the West Yorkshire Transport Museum; a static collection of various vehicles, but mostly buses. However this was later closed in favour of a high-tech visitor attraction with operating trams, trolleybuses and buses at a location on the outskirts of Bradford. Unfortunately, several trams which had been collected over the years were not seen as worthy of inclusion at the new attraction and were duly disposed of, including Blackpool Coronation car 663 which was sold into private ownership (although it has since been reclaimed by Blackpool Transport for their own heritage tram collection), Brussels snow broom 96 which went to Crich, and the unrestored remains of some other, more local trams. In fact, during the lifespan of Transperience, the tram service was operated solely by the Buadpest twin set – although visitors could also ride on other vehicles, including a trolleybus from overseas which was hastily acquired after it was realised that due to clearance issues, double deck trolleybuses were too tall to run there!
Sadly Transperience closed after just a few years, its apparent attempts to make vintage vehicles more trendy and appealing to a mainstream audience having failed miserably to attract enough paying guests. 2576+2577 ended up in the hands of the North Eastern Electrical Traction Trust for a few years before being returned to Budapest in 2013, where it is hoped that they will enjoy a more prosperous future than they did here in Britain!
Between Transperience and NEET they were kept in store in the Weardale area in conjunction with a proposed tramway at the Eastgate Quarry development.
They were also stored in Slaithwaite (near Huddersfield) for a while along with the other ex Transperience trams Graz 210 , Rotterdam 109 and another Rotterdam car.
If I recall 109 was returned to Holland and the other Rotterdam car scrapped around the same time the rest were moved to the Weardale Railway, and last I heard 210 (now in the ownership of NEETT) was still at Weardale.
I remember visiting in the summer of 1997. There were examples of buses from West Yorkshire, including a Halifax Leyland/Roe Titan PD2 from 1958, and 1966/1967 built Leyland Atlanteans (I think) from Huddersfield and Leeds. There was a single decker from Halifax also and both this and the PD2 were in the Halifax livery of green, cream and orange.
I well remember this livery as Oldham Corporation hired a Halifax PD3 for trials in 1962, later culminating (in 1964) in a delivery of ten similar vehicles.
Bradford Corporation was represented also. I took photos of these buses at the time, not realising that the place would close down within twelve months. There were inter-active features such as a tram driving simulator; there also was a cafe. I seem to remember that the four of us were the only ones there upon our arrival – and this on a summer Saturday. I never saw the Coronation as I don’t think that it ever went to the Transperience site.
The date was 5/1996 I went with the missus and 3 children (2,4,6 at the time) they all enjoyed the various rides
Thanks Steve. I think that was around the time of my first – and as it turned out, only – visit to Transperience. What a coincidence!
Found the pictures of
Bradford bus 309 LAK309G
Halifax 232 PJX232 & 119 GJX331