50th anniversary - end of NCT trolleybuses


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I’m utterly fed up with hearing about all these ridiculous and mostly historical claims from the sad ‘me too’ brigade of middle-aged/old women who no doubt lapped it up at the time of the ‘offence’.  

Well, now the PM's father is being accused of 'nappropriate' touching.   If I made a list of all the occasions when that has happened to me, I'd be sitting here for a very long time. Since I

Caught that 39 a few times,i was in love with a girl who lived at the Carlton end,.........mind you could say that about the 6,17,18,28,43 and 44 as well.....lol.

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Ayup Mick,

And the last Tram was twenty years earlier in 1946.

(just thought I'd bump this one cause it's worth it) Trolly buses were part of my growing up

Rog

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  • 8 months later...
Nottingham's last trolleybus has been preserved and you can see it at the Trolley Bus Museum, Sandtoft (near Doncaster).

They are holding an East Midlands themed weekend this coming August so there's every chance 506 will be running.

http://www.sandtoft.org.uk/opendays/index.html

Hey you lot, i remember getting on the number 40 lightening bus as us kids called it from the Meadowso go to the fountain which was Woolies then near to Broad Marsh, every thing was sixepennce. my mum used to give the inspectors on the bus a Nuttalls Minto sweet and got away without paying her fare. I remember the cringing i felt as a young girl thinking Oh Mum dont show me up, but being a Meadowian it always went down without contempt

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Hey you lot, i remember getting on the number 40 lightening bus as us kids called it from the Meadowso go to the fountain which was Woolies then near to Broad Marsh, every thing was sixepennce. my mum used to give the inspectors on the bus a Nuttalls Minto sweet and got away without paying her fare. I remember the cringing i felt as a young girl thinking Oh Mum dont show me up, but being a Meadowian it always went down without contempt

And I suppose you have carried on with your mums tradition of giving sweeties to men you would like a free ride from.

Diezel told me to write this, he was upset when I read what you said about him.

Bip.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My late Mum was a conductress on trolleybuses towards the end of WW2, she called them the "trackless's" a leftover from when the trams went out and they took over.

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  • 4 months later...

[someone I know's Dad was last driver of that bus, a Mr Farnsworth, I think it was a no.36) (King/Queen St to and from Nottingham Road/Valley Road junction where it turned around an island that used to be there, in earlier years it crossed Valley Rd and turned just before junction with Vernon Road,

Anyone remember "the low bridge buses"? I think route no. 40, and a trolley bus swop when a I think Glasgow single decker worked the 36 route, it was bright orange and white I recall

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  • 4 months later...

Someone I know's Dad was last driver of that bus, a Mr Farnsworth, I think it was a no.36)

You're dead right about the number but the name is most certainly wrong. The driver was Heinz Seifert and the conductress was Pauline Corbett. The last ride got into Parliament street bus depot at about twenty past midnight and although we hadn't been allowed to ride together with mum, my brother and I were still up when she got home. I'd never waited up for her finishing lates and was lucky if I got to see her when she finished splits so I remember the event for that reason as well.

Soon afterwards, they had a special run for the Mayor and other corporation officials. Could it be that Mr Farnsworth drove that one?

Cheers all.

Robert

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I thought you might be interested in this:-

trol3.jpg

These are the autographs of the last driver and conducter of the last trolleybus in public service, they don't appear to tally with the names given by Robert.

This is the special ticket that they signed:-

trol2.jpg

The City Council put out a special commemerative ticket, it's yellow with green writing, I got them to sign it also, I remember that the conductress was in tears.

We hired our own trolleybus to follow the last service vehicle, leaving Parliament Street Depot, we linked up with the last service at King Street and followed it to the terminus at Basford. We then followed it back to Parliament Street Depot, losing the poles at the junction of Mansfield Road and Parliament Street, I recall that we were followed by a convoy of tooting cars.

On arrival at the depot amongst hoards of people, everyone sang Old Lang Syne, and that was the end, apart from the special trip the next day for the overpaid council officials, who had no right to be on there.

No, the conductress and driver that signed that ticket weren't the ones from our hired trolley, they were the ones off the actual public service bus, I have colour slides that I took of them.

As Sidney Hill was my mates grandad, we tried to use his influence to get us on the last ever trolley, but he couldn't, even he complained that most of the civic party had never travelled on one and didn't deserve to be on it, besides, our headmaster was an evil moron and wouldn't give us time out to see it, despite our honesty in going to see him and discuss it, he wasn't interested and threatened us with being expelled if we did, arsehole.

I have a folder somewhere with newspaper cuttings, tickets, memorabilia and my original pictures of that last public day, but can I bloody find it, no way, oh, and I have the original starting handle off of 506, the last trolley, pity it lost it's crudely and hastily applied Last Trolley transfers when it went to Sandtoft, sad that.

This picture was taken by me on one of the last nights of the 36 service, I reckon it was the night before the end, this is one of the last 36's at King Street, I'll endeavour to find my other stuff and publish it.

trol1.jpg

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These are the autographs of the last driver and conducter of the last trolleybus in public service, they don't appear to tally with the names given by Robert.

This is the special ticket that they signed:-

Wow. You had me in tears there.

You have more mum-related stuff than I do! I had a whole wad of those tickets and not one survives.

I should have remembered conductress (Pauline Marion) PM Bertins 4377 (you need only check my email address to get it) - I said Corbett because that was Mum's maiden name and she was divorced at the time. About the driver ... Heinz was her regular mate, could be that he was not around any longer at that time; it's a long time ago and I don't honestly remember. I don't recognize the name on the commemorative ticket.

If you have anything I can download for my scrapbook, anything that concerns my poor old Mum, I'd be grateful.

Cheers!

Robert

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I'm afraid that I haven't had time to look for all the last night stuff, some of it is in colour and some in black and white, it's sods law that they aren't all together.

I reckon that I took these on the last but one evening of operation, chasing about the route on bikes.

This one is in Parliament Street depot, they used to paint the fleet numbers out when they were withdrawn.

trol10.jpg

These are various scenes on the route from King Street to Basford, perhaps you would like to identify where they were taken, the last one is not a repeat from the other day, I was experimenting with a tripod and time exposure for the big night.

trol11.jpg

trol12.jpg

trol13.jpg

trol14.jpg

I know that I have a colour picture of 506 in it's last trolleybus colours, taken at Parliament Street, you could smell the fresh paintwork inside and out, thats probably when I swapped the brass starting handle over from a withdrawn example, naughty me.

Why this last trolley was never put straight into the industrial museum at Wollaton Park was always a mystery to me, what were the council thinking of, all they had to do was tow it down the road, it's scrap value must have been insignificant.

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On a similar note, this should be in a museum in the Nottingham area too.

Still in it's original colours, an NCT Regal 111 single decker.

ltv702.jpg

This picture was taken last year at the West of England Transport Museum at Winkleigh in Devon.

It's undercover and probably safe, but looking somewhat neglected, it should be running about at Ruddington, old NCT buses are very rare things.

I wonder how many people know of it's existance.

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I'm afraid that I haven't had time to look for all the last night stuff, some of it is in colour and some in black and white, it's sods law that they aren't all together.

Gosh Firbek!

I don't get much time to come into the forum but today I made a point of coming to see what you had in store for me and bu99er me you certainly didn't let us down.

Eight photographs and three letters are all I have left in terms of physical mementos of my mother so you would understand how happy I am to find things like this, particularly her 'professional' autograph. Despite the letters being just thre i n number, I know mum's handwriting well enough to recognize it. Thanks.

I realise I'm a bit off-topic heading down my own memory lane; I'll shuffle on and see what else the forum has to tell me this evening. I'll catch up later.

Thanks once again, take care everyone.

Robert

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Robert

You've had me in tears this morning, glad to help.

I don't think I'm going to have the time to go rooting for these other photo's and momentoes for a few days, I'll try, but it could be a major search and I have quite a few problems to deal with myself this weekend.

I have done a bit of sniffing about on the net and discovered the whereabouts and website of the former secretary of the Nottingham Trolleybus Group, I know he took a load of photos as well on the last trolley night so he might have some good one's of your mum, I'm pretty sure that some members of the group also took colour cine film that night. Despite not being in contact with them for over 40 years, I recall their names and know that some are involved up at Sandtoft Trolleybus Museum, and even have original NCT and Notts and Derbys trolleys lurking about in the Nottingham area, it's a pity that these aren't on public view.

Starting with the old secretary, I'll see if any pics or film are available, I'll let you know.

Here's a picture of 506 restored to all it's glory at Sandtoft.

21stJune2008ykNRM_231_1_.jpg

I came across this picture, taken during the big freeze, 62/63, under the wires with not a trolley in sight, just a Midland General Lodekka, can anyone recognise the location.

rad1.jpg

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yes, I don't think that's the original bridge that's in place today? you can see some structure at side of it, Seems I was wrong re last trolley bus driver? (grandson a fibber) do recall another mate whose dad and mum were driver and clippie on same bus, surname of Jablonski, don't know what they did in Poland? probably lawyers or doctors? as their son Frank an absolute genius who got free scholarship to Nottingham High School unlike rest of us thicko's who failed the 11plus

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us thicko's who failed the 11plus

Not Guilty............

I reckon that there's been some confusion with Ted Farnsworth who was the chairman of the Nottingham Trolley Bus Group at the time, he definately didn't drive it.

You could be right about the bridge, though I can't remember it being completely rebuilt. I reckon they must have probably carried out major work to it when they demolished the station buildings, they no doubt formed part of the main structure. I remember the works carried out to the bridge at Trowell were pretty drastic when they removed evidence of that station a few years ago. I promised to go up and see my son soon, perhaps I will take a comparable picture on the same spot.

Heres a question, are there any of the old poles left that used to carry the trolleybus wires. I recall the really ornate one at King Street hung around for a while till it was removed, hopefully for preservation, didn't it go to Crich.

I don't know whether they are still there, but the last time I drove through Ipswich not long ago the poles were still along some of the roads supporting lights, complete with short bits of cable dangling off them where they had cut the overhead power lines.

Which reminds me, not long after I moved down to Essex, I was having a pleasant country drive near Needham Market in Suffolk and found a stunning Ipswich double deck trolleybus in use as a shed on an allotment, an amazing sight as it was more or less complete and still in its original colours.

When I went back not long after to take some pictures, vandals had reduced it to a pile of flattened scrap metal, nice one kids.

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I know that bridge was widened or possibly moved to one side, the original Crown pub (it's replacement giving the island that name) stood other side of the road from the station entrance near the white horse and I think demolished when the bridge altered in 1930's . Re Poles (not Mr & Mrs Jablonski) theres one at bottom of Sherwood Rise funnily enough near "The Polish Church" opp the garage before the church corner of Gregory Blvd and another just after the "swan bends" on Alpine Street Old Basford, must be more?

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