The Summerlee Transport Group

 The Summerlee Transport Group (STG) was formed in 1988, in order to support the maintenance and operation of the tramway at what was to become Summerlee Museum in Coatbridge, operated by the then Monklands District Council.

Prior to being “passed” to operate the cars, STG members receive the appropriate training in the Motorschool. Training of motormen was initially carried out by Bob Connor and testing by John Wright of the Glasgow Subway. Subsequently, John retired and, in writing, named Brian Longworth as qualified to carry out all examinations. In more recent times, Robert Sutherland has been given the bulk of the training programme and last year George Murray was nominated as Examiner.

Since 13th May 1992 (& "backdated"), the Group has been granted Charity status (Reg.no.  SC020158), enabling application for certain Grants such as that for the modifications to Dusseldorf 392. The Group has raised thousands of pounds over the years, all of which have been spent on the museum and its tramway.

The STG has established a regular Thursday evening working group at the museum – this can involve anything from tram cleaning, track clearing and tidying-up to heavy engineering on the trams. The restoration of Lanarkshire 53 and Glasgow 1017 would not have been possible without the time and dedication of STG volunteers.

These Thursday meetings would not continue without the assistance of the museum’s Tramway Technician David Sloan, to whom many thanks are due. Despite the museum being currently closed to the public for major refurbishment (intended to last from 23rd October 2006 for 18 months), the Group’s Thursday night workgroups continue, preparing the trams for their role in transporting visitors round the new improved Summerlee.

All new volunteers are most welcome to attend!