Depot takes shape at Beamish
Construction of a replica 1930s Northern General bus depot at the Beamish Museum in Co. Durham is on target for completion in the autumn as part of the £18million Remaking Beamish development centred on the creation of a 1950s town.
Incorporating a maintenance workshop at one end, the new facility will greatly improve operation of the museum’s intensive internal bus and tram services, both modes currently having to share the cramped tram shed premises.
Until the long-term loan of Rotherham Corporation 1954 Weymann-bodied Daimler CVG6 220 in May 2015, the Beamish bus service relied heavily on replicas of early style vehicles, visually appropriate to serve the immediate pre-World War 1 town.
With an additional visitor transport requirement to serve the new attraction, the operation of newer buses, including trolleybuses, will be historically in keeping, especially as they will bypass the 1913 town as they circulate the museum site by a slightly shorter route.
The imminent availability of the new depot means that expansion of the bus fleet to cover the extra duties can now be considered and to this end the museum has recently purchased another Daimler double-decker, 1964 Darlin…
