Greetings from Staten Island, NYC, USA. You have a really FANTASTIC museum there. I am a member of the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Ct. I love the sound of the straight gear motors. Also can't get over the double decker trolleys of trams. It was a large mistake for the governments on both sides of the pond to abandoned this fine mode of transportation. Stay Healthy!
At least on the American side of the pond it was not really a government move but the car industry actively bought the tramway companies and closed them down to make people buy cars. On the European side the situation was more of a lack of vision into the future and only few cities on the continent kept their tramways. In the UK it was much worse though where probably only 1-2 tramways were left before the environment got into focus ...
@@rjmun580 thanks for the tip. I have been a passenger on 3/4 meter and 1/2 meter lines in Switzerland and have used trains in British 42", meter gauge, and US 36" and 24" and of course, monorails.
Given that one of the major attractions is sheer nostalgia I shall never understand why they chose to remodel the Seaton terminus on the lines of an airport terminal complete with those hateful movable pillars/tapes to make queues snake up and down imported from an airline check-in. Last time I was there (pre-covid) there were just six of us waiting for the tram but they still bustled out and rearranged them so that we could line up in an orderly fashion. I would like Prince Charles's views on its architectural merits. Shame really because everything else about this railway is well done and in keeping with its heritage so please don't let me put you off.
I am not certian if when Aubrey ? started it he intended it as nostalgia as such, Yes trams as a ride and interesting but the need to be commercial was always part of the package offering.
But it has lost photographic opportunities. I think it allows expansion of storage of trams , freeing up workshop space. Personally I miss the old Devon General Bus Garage in Seaton.
