Its been over three years since trolleybuses ran at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley but now with funding having been secured they are set to return to action. Whilst not directly linked to trams this will be a positive move for heritage transport at the museum, and it is hoped that it will pave the way for the trams to return at some point in the future.
The Black Country Living Museum have secured £272,000 of funding from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund which will go towards the restoration, and extension, of the trolleybus route.
Three locally built trolleybuses will be returned to service (the identity of which have not been revealed) and they will run through the 1940s-60s High Street which will help to celebrate the region’s role in early electric transport.
The project to return the trolleybuses is to be known as “Restoring the Electric Age: Reviving the Trolleybus Experience at Black Country Living Museum”. It will not only see the three trolleybuses returned to operation, but the operating route will also be extended into the museum’s recreated street. Once complete this will allow the museum to become the only place in the UK where visitors can experience historic trolleybuses running through an authentic mid-century streetscape.
The project will also:
- Improve accessibility across the Museum’s 29-acre site
- Reduce reliance on diesel vehicles
- Support more sustainable visitor travel
- Enhance the overall visitor experience
Although this funding secures the core of the project, the Black Country Living Museum are looking for donations which will support interpretation, accessibility improvements and enhancements to the visitor experience. Donations are welcome at https://shop.bclm.com/book/make-a-donation/product/bclm-donation-trolleybuses/15393
The news of the planned return of the trolleybuses comes just as Dudley is about to be connected to the wider West Midlands Metro, with the Black Country extension due to open as far as Flood Street, Dudley later this year. This will include a tramstop at the Black Country Living Museum giving perfect access.
And what of the tram line at the museum? There aren’t currently any plans for it to be worked on but in a response to a query on their Facebook page the museum stated: “Our trolleybuses and trams use much of the same infrastructure, so the investment in this project will put us in a good position to work on our trams in the future while we’re prioritising the trolleybuses for this project we promise we haven’t forgotten about our trams!”
I visited the museum last summer. Wolverhampton tram 49 was on static display in the open, along with a trolleybus, at the ‘top’ end of the line, by the visitor entrance, just outside a shed where these vehicles are presumably shunted when not on display.
It was good to see 49, but no other trams were visible anywhere and, at the far end of the line, the terminal track had been tarmacked over, and the track leading into the main tram depot had been lifted. I was told this had been done to prevent construction lorries damaging the rails.
It would be great to see both the trams and trolleybuses back in use. The tramway is valuable as the only 3ft 6in museum line in the UK.
One point to note: the entrance arrangements to the museum have been changed in recent years, with a new ticket office in a different location, so the original ‘top’ terminus for bus/tram/trolleybus is now outside the pay gates. On the buses, passengers have to board/alight lower down the hill, and the buses continue to the terminus out of service to turn, passing through an automatic gate. Presumably the trolleybuses will do the same. If passengers were allowed to board at the top and ride into the museum, they would bypass the ticket office! I imagine any reinstated tram service would terminate within the paid area too, therefore giving a shorter ride than it used to be.
This situation does, however, mean that you can see the tram/trolleybus on static display at the top without paying to enter the museum, though you’ll still need to pay for parking.
Perhap you can answer? Has the Black Country totally abandoned the idea of operating the tramway? Last time I visited, it looked to be in a state of disrepair, and the cars were securely locked away out of site. Very disappointing!
Frankly, I doubt I will visit again if this remains the situation.
They were asked at the time the Trolleybus news was announced and they said that as the infrastructure is shared, they will look at the Trams once the trolleybuses are running. However no timeframe was stated. I’m sure they have done some trackwork while they have been closed. I read that the upper terminus is now outside the museum boundary and the trolleybuses will have to turn ’empty’ from a new stop, I’m guessing this would shorten the tramway even more!
Geoff, I agree, it was very dispiriting to see the state of the tramway: it looks permanently abandoned. The main tram depot was simply a locked shed with no sign of what might be inside, the track looked derelict (and badly twisted where the points have been removed outside the depot), and there was no information about a tramway existing, or any trams being on site.
Actually, information is one weakness of the BCLM in general: it’s a world-class heritage attraction in some ways but there are hardly any information displays telling you what you’re looking at, or about the museum in general, not even any maps.
On the other hand, Wolverhampton 49 and the two trolleybuses looked superficially in reasonable condition, and the announcement of the trolleybuses returning to service is very welcome.
I have no further information on the future of the tramway apart from what Gareth quoted, in which the museum says it hasn’t forgotten the trams and hopes to do something about them one day. Though I note that “work on our trams in the future” is very vague; it doesn’t promise we’ll ever be able to ride on them!
Thanks. My last visit was indeed very disappointing. I doubt that I will bother to go again.