Museum of Transport Greater Manchester
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Museum of Transport Greater Manchester
@motgm.uk
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We'll take you back! Open Wednesdays, weekends and bank holidays 10 am to 4.30 pm. Adult admission £7.50, student/jobseeker £6, disabled/children free. https://motgm.uk
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Museum of Transport Greater Manchester @motgm.uk · Nov 15
Hi! We're the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, an award-winning museum celebrating the 200-year long history of our region's buses. We're open 3 days a week and yes, we let you go on some of the buses. Sometimes we even give rides. In honour of being here, here are some of our blue buses...
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What a lovely street scene! But as it's this week's #MysteryMonday photo, we're not saying where it was taken. If you think you know, tell us and we'll confirm the answer later.
A black and white photo shows a Manchester trolleybus heading towards us along a crowded street. On the left there are classic cars, and on thh right the pavement is full of pedestrians in vintage clothing. The street is lined with commercial buildings, and we see a television shop; John Collier, the tailor; and a Yates's Wine Lodge.
November 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Just a reminder, on Sunday next week (16th) we're 'launching' our latest acquisition, Stagecoach Manchester 19001. Come along if you want to watch the proceedings and have a ride!
Stagecoach Manchester 19001, a Dennis Enviro four hundred, travels through Manchester when it was new.
November 9, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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We bring our #SaturdayShowoff to you, to highlight items from our collection and maybe tempt you to visit. This week it's the Salford Corporation war memorial that commemorates those who went to fight in the First World War but didn't come back.

Want to see it? Visiting details at motgm.uk
A varnished wooden war memorial is inscribed with a hundred names, showing men who worked for Salford Corporation Transport who died in the First World War.
November 8, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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On Sun 16 November, we're having a ceremony to hand over Stagecoach Manchester 19001, which has been returned to its original livery by our friends at Stagecoach. We'd love you to come along, so we're putting on free heritage buses between us and Corporation St, stop NU [not serving Shudehill].
Three photos show, from left, Stagecoach 19001 when it was new; the same bus when under restoration earlier this year; and a silhouette of a bus with a question mark on it.
November 7, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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We thought we'd have a rail-themed #ThrowbackThursday this week. This is Broadfield station near Heywood - the line closed to passengers just after the photo was taken, but today the line is part of the East Lancs Railway which is well worth a visit.
A black and white photograph shows a bare railway station, just two platforms and a bus shelter. At the platform we can see a British Rail diesel multiple unit train, with a few people getting on or off. In the distance we can see a few mill towers and chimneys, and beyond them the distant hills of the Pennines.
November 6, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Here's our list of planned 2026 events - have we got some treats lined up for you!

From February to December, we have a mouth-watering line-up of fun and interesting days out - and all of them feature free heritage bus rides on lovely classic buses.
We see one side of the leaflet from the Museum of Transport promoting its 2026 events. This side of the leaflet shows the timetables for the museum's free heritage services, plus an attractive photo of the museum's Stagecoach Manchester 612 on a bus service at Shudehill Interchange. We see one side of the leaflet from the Museum of Transport promoting its 2026 events. This side of the leaflet shows the dates of the events. The key dates are the 22nd of February, for a Morris Minor show; a Transport for All event on the 25th and 26th of April; an event celebrating Queens Road garage on the 6th and 7th of June; a Lancashire United Transport weekend on the 25th and 26th of July; Heritage Open Days on the first two weekends in September; a classic car show on the 11th of October; A Halloween event on the 31st of October; a twilight running event on the 14th of November; and a Christmas weekend on the 12th and 13th of December.
November 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
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Now, we think today's #MysteryMonday location puzzle is hard - unless for you it's easy! Our clue is that the building on the left still stands today. Do you have a clue? If so, tell us and we'll confirm the answer later.
A 1980s view shows a bus on the right, heading away from us. On the left there are a few cars parked on some waste ground and beyond that, a large building that's long and low. It's made from brick with a sloping slate roof.
November 3, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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How it started How it's going
Two views of the same bus show it in its 'before' and 'after' states. On the left, bus 3496 is shown in grey and beige colours, looking very tatty and run down. On the right, the same bus is seen again as it is now, in smart Manchester red livery.
November 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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We bring our #SaturdayShowoff to you to highlight our collection and maybe tempt you to visit. This week it's London RM1414 - it was tried in Manchester when it was new, in 1963.

Want to see it? Visiting details at motgm.uk
A traditional red double deck London bus stands on the forecourt outside the Museum of Transport. Its destination display reads 161 Exchange.
November 1, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Here's a #Halloween story for you...

In 1951, #Stockport Corporation 321 arrived brand new from the Crossley factory just up the road. When it was still quite new, it knocked down and killed a little boy - we have this in our archives records.

It's said that after that, some crews didn't like 321.
Stockport 321, the bus that's said in the post to be haunted, rests at night in the Museum of Transport. It's a red and white old fashioned double deck bus, but it's night so it's dark. The interior lights are on, glowing and lighting up the interior.
October 31, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Our #ThrowbackThursday scene isn't that long ago, but it's changed for ever - a GM Buses service on Cannon Street, central Manchester. Almost nothing that you can see in this photo remains today.
An orange bus runs along a central Manchester street, in about 1990. To the left there's a large office building - this is Longridge House that was damaged beyond repair in the 1996 IRA bombing. We see two dark-coloured cars on the left, and a yellow traffic bollard on the right.
October 30, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Electric buses in Manchester aren't new! Trolleybuses operated here until 1966. But as it's #MysteryMonday, we're not saying where this photo was taken. Do you know? Tell us if you think you know, and we'll confirm the answer later.
A blue trolleybus, running under twin wires above the road, is on the left of the photo: while on the right we see a red trolleybus heading away from the camera.
October 27, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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#OnThisDay in 1986, bus deregulation came to most of the UK including Greater Manchester. This GM Buses advert said 'pick you up tomorrow as usual'...
October 26, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Our #SaturdayShowoff this week is EX30, the first production Leyland National - and it's a night time view because *today*, EX30 and its friends will run FREE bus services to and from the museum until after dark.

Buses to Shudehill: buff.ly/ZrOQn9z
Buses to Central Park Metrolink: buff.ly/fjdQ1Ry
A night view shows the museum's Leyland National bus, number EX30, inside the Museum of Transport. It's an oranage and white single decker, with Piccadilly 94 on its destination display.
October 25, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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This Saturday we'll run bus services after dark at our Buses By Twilight event. Free services between our museum and Shudehill Interchange (Stand H), and between our Museum and Central Park Metrolink stop.

Event details & Central Pk timetable: buff.ly/fjdQ1Ry
Shudehill timetable: buff.ly/ZrOQn9z
The photo shows a night time scene, with two of the Museum's buses parked on the turning circle outside the Museum. They have their lights on, and it's a very nostalgic scene.
October 24, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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December 1985, and this view in Manchester's Albert Square is this week's #ThrowbackThursday. And the fact that it's a night view reminds us that it's our annual Buses By Twilight event this Saturday - for details see buff.ly/fjdQ1Ry
A night time view shows an orange Greater Manchester Transport bus in Albert Square, Manchester. The bus destination reads 166 Moston, and we can see a string of fairy lights hung between the lamp posts.
October 23, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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This is a handsome Bolton Corporation bus - but we're not saying where it was, as it's this week's #MysteryMonday pic. Do you know? If you think so, tell us and we'll confirm the answer later.
A black and white photo shows a double deck Bolton Corporation bus parked next to a 'no waiting' sign. To the right and behind the bus we see a soot-stained church, and to the left behind the bus we can see bus shelters and beyond them, some modest Victorian buildings and part of another bus.
October 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
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We're holding a classic cashow at our museum today, AND we're running free heritage buses between our museum and Shudehill Interchange every 30 minutes. Come along and take a ride back in time! Free bus timetable: buff.ly/4QewEIe
Two men stand with their backs to the camera, admiring a classic car parked inside the Museum of Transport. A blue Jaguar car is parked next to it, and in the background we see more cars and some of the museum's buses.
October 19, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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Our #SaturdayShowoff this week is our 1986 GM Express bus, 5208 - and that reminds us, next Saturday (25 October) we're holding our Twilight Running Day so you can take an evening bus ride and get some amazing nightphotos. Event details: buff.ly/fjdQ1Ry
October 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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On Sunday we're having some lovely classic cars come to visit us for the day. If cars from your youth give you the nostalgia shivers, some down and take a trip back in time - especially as we'll also put on a free heritage bus service to and from Manchester (Shudehill Interchange).
A group of classic cars stands inside the Museum of Transport, with visitors looking at them admiringly.
October 17, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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This week's #ThrowbackThursday view is a cracker! The closed Manchester Central station looks derelict in this mid 1970s scene, but it was rejuvenated a few years later as the Manchester Central convention and exhibition centre.
An orange and white Greater Manchester Transport bus is at a bus stop as passengers alight. A prominent sign to the right says Manchester Central but the gate below it leading to the old Central station is closed and locked. In the left background, we can glimpse the painted wooden canopies of the old shelters over the closed station platforms.
October 16, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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It's Monday - so to get your brain cells working, here's our #MysteryMonday pic. Do you know where this is? Tell us if you think you know, and we'll confirm the answer later.
An old-fashioned red double-decker bus approaches the camera along a suburban road, with tall Victorian houses on either side. The destination reads 52 Docks.
October 13, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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A week today (Sunday 19 October) we're having a classic car show at our museum during the day - classic chrome and Moggie Minors galore! Come along to see the pride and joy of many an owner.
A group of shiny classic cars stands inside the Museum of Transport. From left to right we see cars in blue, maroon, powder blue and black; with a group of the museum's buses in the background.
October 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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Our #SaturdayShowoff highlights our collection and maybe tempts you to visit. This week it's one of our most unusual exhibits, a 'Lacre' road sweeper that once kept Manchester's streets clean

Want to see it for real? Visiting details at motgm.uk
A very odd-looking street sweeper stands inside the Museum of Transport. It's in a apple green colour scheme, and it has three wheels: two at the front and one at the back. The cab is tiny, big enough for just one person, and it has a big water tank between the cab and the bonnet.
October 11, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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If you're starting to give thought to what you can buy for a transport-mad friend or relative, check out our online shop at motgmshop.uk - books, collectables and stuff to keep them amused (and at keen prices, too).
October 10, 2025 at 8:15 AM