Located in the Castlecroft Goods Warehouse opposite the entrance to Bury Bolton Street station of the East Lancashire Railway, Bury Transport Museum is a real gem. The museum has plenty to offer and a great place to learn about the history of transport in the industrial north west of England. 

Inside the museum, there are a number of interesting vehicle exhibits, including steam traction engines, buses, a tram and a small industrial tank engine. There are also interactive displays to engage the younger generations. The venue itself is very smart, clean and tidy, making for an all-round very pleasant experience for the visitor.

The admission price is included in the ticket price of a rover or full return on the East Lancashire Railway. I have to confess that despite this, when planning my visit, the museum was not high on my priority list, simply because given the choice between live traction or static exhibits, I’ll always go for the former. However, on the day the trains were running late, which led to us having time to kill at Bury. How glad I was! I wa very impressed by the museum and would advise that it’s well worth allocating some time to explore it.

 

I won’t go into too much detail about the exhibits, as most are not within my area of expertise. However, from a railway enthusiasts point of view, highlights include 1927 built Andrew Barclay 0-4-0st number 1, a large model railway and a number of large scale live steam models.

All in all, I rate this musuem very highly! To read more articles from the visit to the East Lancashire Railway’s Small Engines weekend, click here.