Lovely to see the old trolley buses again, living in Bournemouth I remember going to school on them and catching that Hants & Dorset lodekka seen in the shot.
Best bit of kit to run on our roads..such a shame they are not with us anymore. The one thing about trolleybuses was that they were so comfortable? Nothing today comes near im afraid. Thanks for posting..brings back memories of better times!!
A very interesting video. Especially the film of DTD 649 which was built the wrong way round as an experiment. Everyone says they were very fast and able to keep up with traffic. It’s like the modern Tesla, constant Torque from electric motors and no gears to worry about!
Just before and after the 3 minute mark is West Croydon at the junction of Tamworth Road and North End. I can just remember as a young boy being on trolleybuses here on route to Earlsfield with my mum on visits to an aunt. At the exact spot now run the modern trams of the Croydon Tramlink system.
No. I believe it was a legal requirement solely due to the length of the trolleybus. As you can see in the film, shorter trolleybuses - probably 27'6" long - had 2 axles - e.g. Wolvergampton and the 1935-built Bournemouth open-top trolleybus. London's earliest trolleybuses were two - axle but later deliveries were built to the newly-authorised length of 30ft and required 3 axles.
Amazingly nobody here has spotted what the commentary missed out on; that the trolleybus from 2.11 to 2.47 was the unique experimental one built with two front steering axles and one rear axle. Apparently it was a success but was never taken up. Rare footage there indeed.
+MadAndyBeckman No, they would never have done that with real passengers - maybe it was an excursion, and everybody wanted to see the sights from above? New models were tested before type-approval by London Transport at a special facility with a test track (sandbagging to full load on the upper deck) and a tilt-platform on which the bus would be tilted to a specified angle and must not fall over. I'm a building surveyor, but the statics are similar: centre of gravity, max. specified speed, corner radius, calculate the lateral moment - all possible at the drawing board without the need for physical tests. But fleet managers like to sleep with a good conscience.
Yeah I came to find out about that I've seen single deck coaches with it, but never a trolley bus. It's also referred to as Chinese as quite a few Chinese trucks had that layout and some still do. Very strange indeed.
Did anyone notice the man in the white shirt jumping on the trolley bus as it turned a corner around the 2min 10sec mark? Always handy to be able to jump on and off an open platform bus between stops though not always the safest thing to do!
Amazing , passenger gets off to see what’s happening,the conductor virtually guides him back on ,it’s around 4.11 can you imagine that today ,litigation,affray ,Hilarious.
Lovely to see the old trolley buses again, living in Bournemouth I remember going to school on them and catching that Hants & Dorset lodekka seen in the shot.
Best bit of kit to run on our roads..such a shame they are not with us anymore. The one thing about trolleybuses was that they were so comfortable? Nothing today comes near im afraid. Thanks for posting..brings back memories of better times!!
A very interesting video. Especially the film of DTD 649 which was built the wrong way round as an experiment. Everyone says they were very fast and able to keep up with traffic. It’s like the modern Tesla, constant Torque from electric motors and no gears to worry about!
Lovely - thank you very much!
Just before and after the 3 minute mark is West Croydon at the junction of Tamworth Road and North End. I can just remember as a young boy being on trolleybuses here on route to Earlsfield with my mum on visits to an aunt. At the exact spot now run the modern trams of the Croydon Tramlink system.
Why did they need 3 axles? Were they heavier than diesel buses?
No. I believe it was a legal requirement solely due to the length of the trolleybus. As you can see in the film, shorter trolleybuses - probably 27'6" long - had 2 axles - e.g. Wolvergampton and the 1935-built Bournemouth open-top trolleybus. London's earliest trolleybuses were two - axle but later deliveries were built to the newly-authorised length of 30ft and required 3 axles.
It was a big mistake to get rid of trolly buses!
They had the Leyland twin steer chartered and not a word is mentioned about it...
I am afraid that we do not have any information about the theme MUSIC for this production as it was made by another company.
Travelled in one around mitcham in the 1950s
Amazingly nobody here has spotted what the commentary missed out on; that the trolleybus from 2.11 to 2.47 was the unique experimental one built with two front steering axles and one rear axle. Apparently it was a success but was never taken up. Rare footage there indeed.
+MadAndyBeckman Buses with this axle sequence were for some reason tagged as having a "Chinese" layout.
+Marcomanseckisax I also noticed that upstairs was full and downstairs empty. Clearly they were testing it out on bends and corners etc.
+MadAndyBeckman No, they would never have done that with real passengers - maybe it was an excursion, and everybody wanted to see the sights from above? New models were tested before type-approval by London Transport at a special facility with a test track (sandbagging to full load on the upper deck) and a tilt-platform on which the bus would be tilted to a specified angle and must not fall over.
I'm a building surveyor, but the statics are similar: centre of gravity, max. specified speed, corner radius, calculate the lateral moment - all possible at the drawing board without the need for physical tests. But fleet managers like to sleep with a good conscience.
Yeah I came to find out about that I've seen single deck coaches with it, but never a trolley bus. It's also referred to as Chinese as quite a few Chinese trucks had that layout and some still do. Very strange indeed.
Did anyone notice the man in the white shirt jumping on the trolley bus as it turned a corner around the 2min 10sec mark?
Always handy to be able to jump on and off an open platform bus between stops though not always the safest thing to do!
Trolleybus Archive preview
Are you referring to the preview or have you bought the DVD?
Amazing , passenger gets off to see what’s happening,the conductor virtually guides him back on ,it’s around 4.11 can you imagine that today ,litigation,affray ,Hilarious.
Nice Job can you other Vol of trolley buses DVD
The question is, are you going to, or have you already bought the DVD? It gives you 2 hours of trolleys.
London 1, 260, 758, 1201, 1248, 1342, 1521, 1768 and 1812 still exist in england plus 3 Q1s in spain.
Just got a copy from Videoscene for 10 pounds