I chose Saturday 13th September as the day to visit the Manchester Museum of Transport for two reasons. Firstly, it had only recently become a place of interest when I learned that it houses the prototype Metrolink unit and I wanted to cross it off before I forgot about it. And secondly, we were visiting family in South Yorkshire that day, and living as we do in North Lancashire, the museum is a mere ten minutes out of our way. Roughly half the population of Manchester however, chose Saturday 13th September to visit the Manchester Museum of Transport because it was free entry. We are not the same.

The plan was to get up early, have Breakfast at Truck Haven and get to the museum in time for the doors opening at 10am. We achieved this, more or less, arriving only thirty minutes late [Insert Avanti West Coast joke here].

Not gonna lie. Parking was a problem. There is no visitor parking. And as mentioned above, it was free entry, so that may have attracted a lot of extra visitors. There is however a retail park just around the corner so it all worked out in the end.

None of that has anything to do with the main event. The Metrolink unit that I wanted to see.

When it opened, the Metrolink network was the first new tram system since the Dearne District in 1933, and it was very exciting at the time. A revolution.

Unfortunately, Manchester Museum of Transport suffers the same space issue as Crich and many others. They don’t have the space to show off all of their excellent exhibits to the full, and the presentation of the Metrolink unit suffers because of it.

The Metrolink unit was set up parked in a mock tram stop and you could board it, explore, sit in the seats etc.

There is only half a unit though, these are two car units. A large mirror inside cleverly provided the illusion of the second half.

The cab is accessible, but it’s stripped of all equipment.

And that’s pretty much that. Space limitations prevent getting a good look at it. Being situated next to a wall, the undercarriage is concealed by the platform, and access to the other side is prevented by barriers and other exhibits.

It would have been nice to have a proper look at the thing. Had it been a whole unit, with a proper cab, and to walk round it, inspect the bogies and under floor equipment. But it is what it is.

The rest of the museum is worth the visit, and they operate vintage buses to connect with other museums in the area. There is also a proper tea room where they serve proper tea in a proper mug.