Online Transport Archive

Online Transport Archive Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Online Transport Archive, Nonprofit Organization, Unit 7 Henry Close, Shrewsbury.

Online Transport Archive is a constantly growing archive of transport related still and video images, and works to make these available to publishers, authors, researchers and film producers.

The latest OTA fundraising volume has just been published by Pen and Sword. ‘London Underground Gallery (1954-2000)’ by ...
17/06/2026

The latest OTA fundraising volume has just been published by Pen and Sword. ‘London Underground Gallery (1954-2000)’ by Kevin McCormack features over 200 colour images. Most of these come from collections held by OTA, including esteemed photographers such as: Neil Davenport, Ray DeGroote, Marcus Eavis, Ron Copson, John Ryan, John Herting, Blake Paterson, Geoffrey Tribe and Charles Roberts. All contemporary rolling stock types in the period covered are depicted, in locations which are familiar and unusual.

The book is available from bookshops, and online from the publishers at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/London-Underground-Gallery-1954-2000-Hardback/p/58563

John Buckle from Kent has recently passed material into the care of the Archive. His colour slides are primarily tramway...
15/06/2026

John Buckle from Kent has recently passed material into the care of the Archive. His colour slides are primarily tramways, and those received so far have coverage of Continental Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand from the 1970s onwards.

An example is this October 1976 view taken at the Tovim terminus of route 7 of the Coimbra network in Rua Vitorino Nemésio. Road widening has changed this scene today. The building in the centre of the shot remains, now a pharmacy, with the pump restored but no sign of the British-style postbox. The classic Citroën would probably have been regarded as out of date even in 1976.

The Coimbra tram system closed on 9 January 1980, although route 7 had been abandoned on 19 February 1977. Car 10 was new in 1927 and withdrawn at abandonment. A high proportion of the fleet has been preserved, but not No 10, which was scrapped.

Also in John’s transferred material is a large collection of tramway prints assembled by the late Richard Elliott, which were are currently sorting through.

Another picture marking the centenary of Stevensons Bus Services of Uttoxeter. In the Carter view, 959AJO – a Park Royal...
12/06/2026

Another picture marking the centenary of Stevensons Bus Services of Uttoxeter. In the Carter view, 959AJO – a Park Royal-bodied AEC Regent V of 1957 – passes along Horninglow Street in Burton-on-Trent heading for the town centre, and then Uttoxeter. The bus was bought from City of Oxford in 1970 and disposed of for scrap in 1978.

The building on the left of the frame is the Grade II Listed former drill hall, which survives in residential use. The building also houses The Malthouse restaurant and bar.

12/06/2026

Announcement: We are temporarily having problems with the [email protected] email address. If you want to get in touch, please do so through Facebook Messenger.

** Update (11 June): From the comments and elsewhere, the steam loco is believed to be a Hunslet (HE 1705/37). The Manni...
10/06/2026

** Update (11 June): From the comments and elsewhere, the steam loco is believed to be a Hunslet (HE 1705/37). The Manning Wardle reference looks as if it's spurious. No leads on LOR rebuilt motor 14 at all. (The one in the Seaforth scrapyard was 7, now in Kent. No 3 went straight for preservation by the City.)

---------------------------

A double posting today. An OTA fundraising book marking the 70th anniversary of the Liverpool Overhead Railway (LOR) is in preparation. The author has asked us to see if anyone out there can answer these two questions:

When the LOR was demolished, contractors George Cohen are believed to have used two steam locomotives for hauling trains. ‘Lord Mayor’ (HC 402/1893) is well known – now preserved at the KWVR. The author has two grainy pictures which show a different 0-6-0ST, as shown left. It may have been a Manning Wardle. Someone remembers it was green and had the number ‘600’ on the tank, probably a reference to the 600 Group of companies, rather than a stock number.

** Can anyone give its identity, and what its eventual fate was.

Books on the LOR say that three coaches were sold rather than being broken up. The fates of two are well known – motor 3 is restored at the Museum of Liverpool, trailer 7 is awaiting restoration in Kent after being used as a site office and then stored in Southport and later Coventry. The other reported ‘survivor’ was rebuilt motor 14.

** Who was it sold to, and what was its eventual fate?

As with all of our postings, we genuinely don’t know the answer to these questions and are hoping that you, our supporters can help us.

From an elevated vantage point on the Forth Bridge itself, Geoff Todd photographed a northbound freight heading towards ...
08/06/2026

From an elevated vantage point on the Forth Bridge itself, Geoff Todd photographed a northbound freight heading towards the Kingdom of Fife.

The picture dates from when the ferry was the only pedestrian and road transport at this point and two of the vessels in operation can be seen. Latterly, four ships were in service –Sir William Wallace, Robert The Bruce, Queen Margaret and Mary Queen of Scots – but the resolution of the image does not allow us to make a positive identification here.

The ferry ceased operation in February 1964 when the Road Bridge opened.

[Additional info and clarification in comments below.]Under threatening Bergen skies – not unexpected given the city’s c...
05/06/2026

[Additional info and clarification in comments below.]

Under threatening Bergen skies – not unexpected given the city’s claim to experience rain on well over 200 days a year – tramcar 58 heads for the southern suburb of Minde on route 1.

Bergen’s original tram system ceased operation on 31 December 1964. A modern light rail line was opened in 2010 and has been extended several times. Bergen also has a single trolleybus route, the only one in Scandinavia.

Car 58 was one of a batch of ten bogie trams delivered in 1947, built in Norway by Strømmen. The Bergens Tekniske Museum operates a short heritage tramway with cars from the pre-1965 system.

A while since we’ve featured a picture by John Hayward. Putting that right, here’s one taken in the picturesque village ...
01/06/2026

A while since we’ve featured a picture by John Hayward. Putting that right, here’s one taken in the picturesque village of Swanland in the late 1960s. East Yorkshire AEC Renown 779 (CKH779C) heads from Hull to Ferriby on route 52. The present day route 53 operates the Hull-Swanland section, still by East Yorkshire, one of relatively few operators from 60 years ago to retain a discrete identity today. Sadly, the traditional dark blue livery has long since been superseded (several times over!).

779 lasted with East Yorkshire until 1977 and, after a couple of years with a St Albans independent, was scrapped in 1979. At least one (possibly two) of the same batch are preserved, whilst a third reportedly survives near Lisbon, Portugal as a restaurant, with the lower saloon acting as a wine cellar!

With a platform which is totally out of proportion for a single-car unit, 153318 arrives at Newquay with a service from ...
29/05/2026

With a platform which is totally out of proportion for a single-car unit, 153318 arrives at Newquay with a service from Par. The picture was taken by long-time OTA supporter B J ‘Curly’ Cross on 16 May 1998.

The service today is generally in the hands of Class 150s and 175s, with longer-distance services from Bristol or Paddington in the hands of 5-car bi-mode Class 800 and 802s. Either way, they still come nowhere near to filling the platform, unlike the station’s heyday when three long platforms and a series of carriage sidings were required to deal with holiday traffic.

Withdrawal of these units is well-advanced but their elimination from the network – mainly in Wales – is not imminent.

As noted in comments: "Built 1987-1988 as 155301 - 155335 and coverted class 153 from 1991."

To the fore in this image are cars of Peugeot, Datsun, Nissan and Morris manufacture, photographed by Bernard Boreham in...
25/05/2026

To the fore in this image are cars of Peugeot, Datsun, Nissan and Morris manufacture, photographed by Bernard Boreham in about 1984/85.

No prizes for spotting the Concorde in the background, specifically G-BOAE. This was the fifth of the seven production series delivered to British Airways and flew from 1980 to 2003. It is now preserved at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados.

Address

Unit 7 Henry Close
Shrewsbury
SY13TJ

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Online Transport Archive posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category