The Last Nottingham Trolley Bus


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Trolleybuses disappeared between April 1965 and July 1966.

I remember Traveling to TB from Radford on the 43 Service.

A conductor collected my 3d fare.

Occasionally I would get the 44 by mistake. They ran Down Bath Street and terminated at Colwick crossings. This culminated in a dash from Bath Street to Lower Parliament Street to get the next 43, and pay another 3d!

I can remember being on the 43 going round canning circus island, when the poles would come off the wires. The Bank Window at the top of Alfreton Road ended up with a pole through the upstairs windows quite often. The conductor would pull a long pole with hook out from under the rear of the bus, put the poles back on the wires, and we and the traffic would soon be on our way again.

What do you remember about the Trolley Buses?

More info about NCT here A Brief History of Nottingham City Transport

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Another view of the last trolley bus in its last days.  On Parliament Street next to the Old Dog & Partridge, which is still there largely unchanged - as well as the Baptist Church further along.

Everybody was right.   Looking in old telephone directories, D & A Stationers were at 22 Lower Parliament St.   And that was between the garage and the church, before Sai

As 30th June marks the 50th anniversary of the last trolleybus service in Nottingham, perhaps NCT could repaint one of the Yellow Line double deckers into the green and cream livery used by the trolle

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Best part of a trolley ride was the disembarkment, whereby one grabbed the handrail whilst protruding ones posteria into the slipstream with one foot ready for the touchdown .. and when the speed of the trolley reached a certain speed the other foot would be engaged, and the handrail released .. result being the trolley disappearing off into the distance, and ones legs moving like bees wings along the road! .. this was the preferred form of dismount at the time! :)

The old trolley buses were an excellent form of transport in their day, no local pollution, and relatively quiet to boot, and you never had to wait very long for one to come along, there were always plenty around.

The trams were abandoned for this form of transport, strange, they're now busy re-inventing the tram again! .. and what when they get fed up with the tram ???

AL.

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Derbyshire, I can't find one of a Nottingham conductor sadly :(

The picture below does look like TB terminus. The clock was probably the same type.

I used to get of there, outside the toilets. I wonder if they are the same inside.

The had some wonderful fittings. :D

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Of course, it all depends on what you mean by "last trolleybus"! I know 506 did the official bit, but for most of us the REAL last trolleybus was the tour which followed the last service vehicle, the night before. I was on this and was able to stand in the middle of the road as the photographers took their pictures - something I would NEVER dream of doing now! I do remember that when we eventually got back to the depot, we "performed" for Radio Nottingham in the shape of a youthful Dennis McCarthy!

When 506 had dischaged its distinguished passengers, she was driven back to Parliament Street by the Chief Engineer, who managed to dewire (got the poles off the wires) right outside the depot and so held the distiction of filing the last ever Dewirement Report for the systeI used to ride the 43 from Forest Road to Broadmarsh when i was at junior school and always used to "drop off" the platform as the 'bus slowed for the frog (overhead "point") at the end of Broad Marsh - I only recall coming a cropper twice!

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Hello Brian & Welcome

Now that's really interesting, You being on the last ever (Vip) service.

When they were dewired was there a battery back up which allowed

moving the vehicle in the depot?

And what happened to all those busses and fittings from the dismantled

vehicles. Surely there must be a few vehicles left somewhere.

What about all the trophies, and bits which must have been screwed off

before the busses took their real last journey?

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  • 4 months later...
Were they all small Girls then? :o

My late Mother was, she worked on the "trackless's" as she used to call the trolley buses during the last years of the war.

She used to say when a pole came off the overhead lines that she would refuse to put it back.She had a bad experience being elevated several feet off the ground and had to have the driver help her back down :D

John

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  • 11 years later...

It certainly was until that stupid "the Big Wheel " fiasco.

In the '70s when it was one way as per the picture we sometimes struggled in the evenings to turn into George Street on service 44 / 71 due to cars illegally parked right down to Parliament Street junction.

Don't forget motor buses were much bigger than trolley buses too.

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The street with boots on the corner is Clare Street and was a dead end.

Clare Street originally ran up to Charlotte Street until the Victoria Station was built in the late 1890s

You could not at any time access the station from Clare Street, just a few yards further up Parliament Street the was access to a railway yard bur not the station

Up to 1960 there was a pedestrian access off of Parliament Street.

NTGM008427.jpg

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Ian as you were born in 1961 (according to your profile) & the Parliament Street entrance was closed in 1960 & demolished soon afterwards with Fine Fare supermarket appearing there soon afterwards It of cause will not be in your memory banks ;):)

I can just remember(vaguely born 1949) that entrance being open

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Here's a wider view of that stretch of Parliament Street. The entrance in Bubblewrap's photo is between the white posters. That stretch of road is now the big Boots store. The buses are coming out of Milton Street.

parliament_1.jpg

Clare Street, which started this off, is just out of shot on the right.

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As 30th June marks the 50th anniversary of the last trolleybus service in Nottingham, perhaps NCT could repaint one of the Yellow Line double deckers into the green and cream livery used by the trolleybuses. With a bit of luck they might then realise how silly the multitude or coloured route brandings lookand decide that the whole fleet would look better in green and cream with red wheels. One can but dream.

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Haven't seen this topic before, it was obviously started before my time. I too was on the last trolleybus tour with Brian D who at the time was the secretary of the Nottingham Trolleybus Group, of which myself and Bilbraborn were members, I've probably got some photos of him standing in the middle of the road. There are a few pictures of that night that I took, I haven't time to publish them now as I have to get ready for work, I also took a photo of a B1 at the end of the platform at Vic when the Fine Fare store was being built behind it.

As for not 'unscrewing' souvenirs, how could that not happen when Bilbraborn and myself were about!! Whoever owns 506 now, I hate to tell them that it isn't fitted with it's original starting handle, the one now in place is a 'Swapsie'..........

I have the day off tomorrow, I'll look up some pictures to put on here.

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Hey Catfan,How come you still have yours? They made me give mine back when I left.Still have my P.S.V. and conductors Badges though. They still operate Single deck and articulated trolleys in Vancouver,but a far cry from the

1948-1954 Brill trolleys I drove when I first came here that were still being used into the late `70`s.

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#29. Just been looking for mine but I cant find it. It was EE66458. How come I cant forget that number?

I was actually one of the last people in the country to take my PSV in March 1991 before the law change the following month. From April onwards you had to have a provisional licence to drive a bus on L plates and also the bus had to be capable of maintaining speeds in excess of 40MPH. I did my test in a Leyland PD2 ex Salford City Transport that struggeled to get more than 40MPH! Also gone with the law change was the seperate 'A' licences for people only qualified to drive automatics.

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Better late than never. I still have my drivers and conductors badges. I was taught to drive in 1964, on a AEC mk3 preselect double decker. The instructor took the bus from parliament street down to Trent embankment, (43 terminus). Then after a brief instruction, I spent the rest of the day driving up and down Trent embankment to Wilford road  traffic island, (47 terminus). After four weeks instruction I took my test on a double decker with crash box gears, ( the reversing test was at the back of Trent bridge depot). I remember the examiner was watching me while my instructor was on the platform guiding me back and I flattened a ' no parking' sandwich board, put out by NCT to keep the area clear for tests. The examiner said it wasn't my fault as the man on the back should have noticed it. He gave me a pass certificate and I was then transferred to bilborough depot as a driver. Barrie.

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I have to admit, your face looks familiar, Beekay. If you worked on the Alfreton Road route, into town, then I've probably travelled on your bus many times. My family lived on Bobbers Mill Road. Also the route to Beechdale Road in Bilborough where we visited relatives.

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15 hours ago, denshaw said:

Barrie, what year did you finish at NCT ?

Hi Den, in answer to your question, I was at bilborough depot as a conductor from 1961-1964, then as a driver 1964-1966. They were the best working years I ever had, although probably didn't think so at the time, especially when 10 journeys on the 62 route, (strelly) without a break on Saturday. Mind you the 55 route, bilborough to bulwell could be a bit airy on a Saturday night when the Broxtowe drinkers were going home ! ( no disrespect intended). Only left due to family problems. Hope this helps Den. Regards, Barrie.

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