The Trains
The museum features trains from several eras of the Pier Railway.
From 1890 when the first electric tram to the modern battery driven train, the railway has been an important method of getting to the end of the Pier.
Free Entry
Currently closed
until Easter
The Toastrack
The first electric tram (‘toastrack’) to run on the Pier ran on Friday August 2nd 1890. On August Bank Holiday, 5th August, it ran continuously from 10am to 7 pm and carried 3000 people without a breakdown. It was built by Brush Engineering of Loughborough, with an electric motor fitted by Cromptons of Chelmsford, and a 500V live rail to supply the power to the tram. By the time of the First World War, there were 28 toastracks running on the Pier railway.
Electric Tram
The toastracks had run for nearly 60 years, through two world wars and carried 65 million passengers. When they were retired, AC Cars were commissioned to build modern replacements as slightly smaller versions of London Underground trains. They were the first to appear in the familiar green and cream livery.
The Diesel Train
After the Pier was reopened during the 1980s, the 1986 trains were ordered to replace the previous trains, which had mostly been scrapped. They are powered by a 75HP diesel engine, and were originally painted red, acquiring their blue livery in 2006. The driving cab of one of the 1986 trains (Sir John Betjeman) can be seen in the Museum – come and drive it to the end of the Pier and back.
Battery driven train
The latest trains are powered by lithium batteries, which need nightly recharging. On the day that Southend became a city (1st March 2022), the Prince of Wales visited Southend to name one of the trains Sir David Amess, in honour of our former MP murdered in a local church.
