BusTalk

[traildriver]

I wasn't aware of the old "fourth rail" system used by the Underground...had to look it up for an explanation on wiki.

Reminds me of the need for trolleybuses to have a 'return' wire...

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

LT's trolleybuses (the final years)........

In 1952 (the same year that LT converted the last of its tram lines to buses) "The Executive" rostered a fleet of over 1800 double-deck trolleybuses, encompassing several classes.

In 1962. just a decade later, the last trolleybuses lines were converted; most were scrapped, but some were sold for further service overseas, including South Africa.

Very few of these majestic "Silent Giants" remain with us today; trolleybus service in London began in 1931............

"NYO"

["Q1"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Related links of interest........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_London

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trolleybus_Museum_at_Sandtoft (the ONLY museum in the world dedicated to the preservation of trolleybuses!)

[Cyberider]

That's quire a fleet to scrap in only 10 years. Waste seems to run rampant in the transit industry worldwide.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Historical LT trolleybus "lingo".

The poles used on the trolleybuses were ALWAYS referred to as "booms"; on the trams, however, they were simply referred to as "poles", just as they were here in the States,

Lineside poles were known as "traction poles".

Reversing loops were known as "turning loops"; however, some lines utilized man-powered turntables at the end of the line, to reverse the "Silent Giants"..........

"NYO"

["607 UXBRIDGE"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an interesting page on a topic seldom discussed: trolleybus turntables.........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_trolleybus_turntable

["352-DEPOT ONLY"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also of interest..........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Bournemouth

["301"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an OUTSTANDING site with numerous links (left side of page) which take you to links of excellent photo galleries dedicated to the various trolleybus lines which once operated in London.

You can see from these historic photos just how extensive (and fascinating!) London;'s trolleybus network once was!

You'll find this smashing site "a right rum go, guv'nor!"

www.trolleybus.net

["655 HANWELL"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Tpday proudly restored, residing at the awe-inspiring LT Museum in London, these two historic trolleybuses are indeed relics of another age.

The interesting vehicle at left is the 1931 "Diddler", the first of the London trolleybuses (1931)

The stately "Silent Giant" on the right represents the type that dominated the trolleybus fleet until 1962.........

https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?23637

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

["TrolleybuS"]

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's an interesting photo page on the few (VERY fortunate!) surviving London trolleybuses (the 1962 photos showing the "Silent Giants" being scrapped are indeed quite sobering; the trolleybus fleet was scrapped at the same location where the last trams met their demise, back in 1952}.......

www.trolleybus.net/g7.htm

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

(on left side of page, click on link "LAST DAY RUN" for a gallery of photos showing the trolleybuses on the last day of service in 1962)......

www.trolleybus.net

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also:

In the last days of trolleybus service in London, "funeral processions" through the streets were becoming increasingly common.

Stripped of their roller curtains ("blinds" in British terminology) and devoid of their conductors, the doomed "Silent Giants" moved with silent dignity in long lines through the streets, heading to the scrapper's, where they would be destroyed.

Ironically, the last London trams were scrapped a decade earlier at that same location (Penhall Road)

Many older trolleybus drivers simply retired from LT; they had no desire whatsoever to learn how to dribe a "bloody bus", in particularly the "ROUTEMASTER", which they loated, seeing as most were purchased to help convert the last trolleybus lines.

One veteran trolleybus driver spouted to a news reporter:

"....I hate the sight of the blinkin' things....got no use for these bloody bangers......"

Just as here in the States, many veteran streetcar motormen retired sooner than learn how to drive a bus (which they, of course, regarded as the enemy), so it was with the soon-to-be-redundant trolleybus drivers in London.

Indeed, a long and colorful era was ending..........

"NYO"

["699 WEST HAM-DOCKS"]

[Cyberider]

Sad for the buses as well as the drivers and how ironic when in the not-too-distant future, electric vehicles would be considered "green and clean."

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]