James Hall Museum of Transport is a

transport museum A transport museum is a museum that holds collections of transport items, which are often limited to land transport (road and rail)—including old cars, motorcycles, trucks, trains, trams/streetcars, buses, trolleybuses and Coach (vehicle), coach ...

that aims to preserve and promote the history of over 400 years of transport in South Africa in particular, and Africa in general. It is the largest transport museum in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. It is located at Pioneers' Park beside the

Wemmer Pan Wemmer Pan is a lake and recreational area in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located to the south of the city centre, in the suburb of La Rochelle. History "Pan" is an Afrikaans and South African English word for a shallow lake. The Wemmer P ...

in La Rochelle, Johannesburg,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was established in 1964 by Jimmie Hall and the

City of Johannesburg The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

Exhibits

Carts (1870-1910)

The museum exhibits carriages from the period 1870 to 1910. These include Cape carts, two-wheeled carriages that were specially adapted for use on the South African roads; also

rickshaws Rickshaw originally denoted a pulled rickshaw, which is a two- or three-wheeled cart generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also known as pedicabs or tri ...

, hearses,

mail coaches The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

and ox wagons. Levis motorcycle-001

Bicycles and Motorbikes (1886-1960)

Some of the two-wheeled vehicles housed within the museum are penny-farthings, tandems, tricycles, and vintage and classic motorcycles.

Buses and Coaches

This collection includes several double decker buses formerly used in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. There are vehicles from Daimler, Leyland, AEC and Guy. A 1952 RT double-decker London bus has been preserved, in working order, and is used for sightseeing tours. It also has a 1958 Guy double-decker diesel bus, one of 30 ever produced.

Fire Engines and Equipment (1877-1960)

The exhibit has a range of fire engines and

firefighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

equipment, from a 1913 Merryweather Steam Pump to a 1947

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is some ...

with an 8-cylinder

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

engine. Others include the 1936 Magirus Deutz with a 45-metre extension ladder and a Ford Thames fire engine from the Randburg Fire Department. Firefighting artefacts included in the exhibit are extinguishers, fire buckets,

fire alarms A fire alarm system is a building system designed to detect, alert occupants, and alert emergency forces of the presence of fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, or other fire-related emergencies. Fire alarm systems are required in most commercial buil ...

, hand pumps, and hoses, and the original alarm board and switch box mechanism from the Berea Fire Station. Other fire engines include: * 1928 Morris Magirus Tower Ladder fire engine from the Johannesburg Fire Department * 1935 Leyland Tower Ladder fire engine from the East London Fire Department * 1939 Magrius Tower Ladder fire engine from the Johannesburg Fire Department James Hall Drehleiter

Motor Vehicles (1900-1980)

The museum has variety of motor vehicles with the oldest being a 1900 Clément-Panhard. The Clément-Panhard took part in the 1928 Emancipation Run and finished with an average speed of 22 kph. It has a 1959 Mayoral Rolls-Royce.

Steam-driven vehicles

The museum has a number of steam powered vehicles on display. From "Texas Jack", a famous

steam tractor A steam tractor is a tractor powered by a steam engine which is used for pulling. In North America, the term ''steam tractor'' usually refers to a type of agriculture, agricultural tractor powered by a steam engine, used extensively in the l ...

used in the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand (, ; ; locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, w ...

mines. A

Sentinel Sentinel may refer to: Places Mountains * Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana * Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica * Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring granit ...

steam wagon A steam wagon (or steam lorry, steam waggon or steamtruck) is a Steam power, steam-powered truck for carrying freight. It was the earliest form of lorry (truck) and came in two basic forms: ''overtype'' and ''undertype'', the distinction being t ...

served to transport coal and haul away scrap at the mines. Other vehicles include: * 1933 Sentinel

steam bus A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too. H ...

from Pilgram's Rest * 1939 John Fowler B7 "Lion"

Jib crane A crane is a machine used to move materials both vertically and horizontally, utilizing a system of a boom, hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves for lifting and relocating heavy objects within the swing of its boom. The device uses one ...

Trams and Trolley Buses (1896-1986)

The museum houses the first

horse-drawn tram A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is a tram or streetcar pulled by a horse. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, which developed ou ...

which was in use in Johannesburg from 1891 to 1902. It had maximum speed of , drawn by two horses on a track laid in the middle of the road. The museum also has the last tram ever ran from 1906 to 18 March 1961, and double-decker electric trams on display. Other trams and

trolleybuses A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

include: *

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

electric tram that ran in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

from 1913 to 1939 * BUT AEC trolleybus that ran in Johannesburg from 1948 to 1974 * Daimler trolleybus No. 177 that was run by

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

City Transport from 1949 to 1972

Gallery

File:Merryweather-Fire engine-001.jpg, Merryweather fire engine File:James Hall Transport Museum, Johannesburg.jpg, Entrance File:Bristol 20 Crawler Tractor.jpg, Bristol 20

crawler tractor Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the we ...

File:Ford Torpedo 1912.jpg, Ford Torpedo from 1912 File:Renault AX-001.jpg, 1908

Renault AX The Renault AX is an automobile manufactured by Renault from 1908 to 1914. It was mostly used by cab drivers. The AX had a 2-cylinders straight engine with a engine displacement, displacement of 1,060 cc and a power of 8 Watt, kW. Its maxi ...

Roadster File:Traveling library-TJ9956-001.jpg, A travelling library used in Johannesburg, between 1955 and 1965. File:Protea car-001.jpg, The South African manufactured Protea sports car. File:Eskom-Enfield8000-001.jpg,

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...

Enfield 8000 electric powered car

References

External links

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South Africa Museums

Beautiful Photos - photos taken at the James Hall Museum of Transport
{{Authority control Transport museums in South Africa Museums in Johannesburg