Nottingham Trolleybus Group


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Yes I presume they had some kind of thermal cutout gubbins in the starting resistances. I've read that the modern trams don't need starting resistances as they have some clever gubbins using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT's) that converts the 750 volts DC from the overhead power line into variable voltage/variable frequency AC, & use AC synchronous motors, so in theory can go at any speed indefinitely..

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I'm fairly certain this link has been posted before somewhere on here, but it's been recently updated with photos of preserved Nottingham buses - if you scroll down to the very end. And if you haven'

King Street & Queens Street 1933  

I'm bringing this one up as things were mentioned in the Railways thread and I'm interested to know whether anyone knows what happened to some of the individuals concerned. When we were youths in the

Yes I presume they had some kind of thermal cutout gubbins in the starting resistances. I've read that the modern trams don't need starting resistances as they have some clever gubbins using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT's) that converts the 750 volts DC from the overhead power line into variable voltage/variable frequency AC, & use AC synchronous motors, so in theory can go at any speed indefinitely..

415 VDC ?

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Think the modern Nottingham trams are 750 volts DC, same as Southern region third rail electrics. Read somewhere that trolleybuses used between 400 & 500 Volts DC. West & East coast mainlines use 25000 volts AC.

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If you live near a tram line you could get some electrical gubbins that runs on 750 volts DC & you could have free electric. Wire three 240 volt light bulbs up in series & there you go, each bulb would be over run by 10 volts so a bit brighter than normal & a bit shorter life, but eh it'd work. NET & Plod would get a bit upset though..

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  • 1 month later...

Just found this picture taken at Sandtoft approx 29 years ago. It appears to be a certain green and cream 6 wheeled thingy undergoing some restoration.

23m0701.jpg

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Did you hear the story of when electric trams were first introduced (I have a feeling this was not in Nottingham). An elderly lady approached the tram terminus with great trepidation. Standing some way from the new-fangled contraption, she called to the conductor, "Will I be electrocuted if I put my foot on the rail?" "No, lady" he replied, "That is, not unless you put your other foot on that wire overhead at the same time."

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I read somewhere that years ago when trolley buses used 550 volts DC, the council would string 5 110 volts streetlights in series & pay the bus company so much for the lecie. When a bulb conked the other 4 would go out as well, bit like the old fairy lights did.

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The old Humbler Pullman ambulance was mine and I used to drive our group 'The Pacifics' round in it. Its reg no. may have been NTV 197, or some such, I'll check for my old photos I may have of it, in when in better health. I had to get rid of a it, sadly, before I married my first wife (a bad trade!). I sold it to the group and drove it up to Plumtree, I guess, early 1967?

That's the morning I saw the steam powered Bedford toast rack. Several of these (petrol driven) were titled 'Penny All The Way(s)' and plied between the Clock Tower and Figure of 8 at Skeggy in the 40s and 50s; I've been trying to find a photo of this for years and years!

Does any one remember Rodney Bramley? He bought trolleybus - I think - 466, and kept it alongside his mother's house in Gunthorpe.

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The old Humbler Pullman ambulance was mine and I used to drive our group 'The Pacifics' round in it. Its reg no. may have been NTV 197, or some such, I'll check for my old photos I may have of it, in when in better health. I had to get rid of a it, sadly, before I married my first wife (a bad trade!). I sold it to the group and drove it up to Plumtree, I guess, early 1967?

That's the morning I saw the steam powered Bedford toast rack. Several of these (petrol driven) were titled 'Penny All The Way(s)' and plied between the Clock Tower and Figure of 8 at Skeggy in the 40s and 50s; I've been trying to find a photo of this for years and years!

Does any one remember Rodney Bramley? He bought trolleybus - I think - 466, and kept it alongside his mother's house in Gunthorpe.

Hi Mickyp, thanks for the PM. I don't recall the Humber ambulance arriving, better ask Bilbraborn that one. I just recall it sitting forlornly in the goods shed among the piles of overhead equipment with the Barton double decker parked in the entrance, you had to squeeze round it to get in there.

img074.jpg

Here's a picture I took in September 1966, not published on here before, taken on Ilford colour slide film with my brother's Hanimex. Karrier Utility trolleybus 466 is the one in the centre with the bright red wheel, I don't recall it being anywhere else, maybe it was taken off to Gunthorpe when Plumtree closed down, no doubt Bilbraborn and I knew Rodney Bramley, I just don't recall the name, 466 is now at Sandtoft by the way. The steam bus's back end can be seen behind trolleybus 578, it looks to have had a coat of fresh cream paint, nice to know a bit more about it's history. The Barton double decker is also in the line up along with the red Manchester and blue Ashton under Lyme trolleybuses, without looking it up, I assume that they are at Sandtoft these days.

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Does 578 survive? If it is a 6 wheeler then it is not at Sandtoft (so far as I am aware). The 6 wheeler that is there is either 504 or 506 - I can't remember which without looking at a pictrure.

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Does 578 survive? If it is a 6 wheeler then it is not at Sandtoft (so far as I am aware). The 6 wheeler that is there is either 504 or 506 - I can't remember which without looking at a pictrure.

504, 506, & 578 were all 6-wheelers. The 6-wheelers were numbered 500-601 (KTV 500 to KTV601), 500-524 were 8'0" wide and were usually found on routes 39 & others, while 525-601 were 7'6" wide and used on routes 43 & 44 & others.

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Thanks guys. One or two points - when I delivered my old ambulance to Plumtree, I don't recall there being anything like this number of trolleybuses there. I did visit briefly subsequently and the driver's door had, it seems, been forcibly torn off and the old girl looked very forlorn.

Rodney Bramley had 466 straight from Nottm Corporation Transport - it was with him ahead of going to Plumtree. I seem to recall that the platform was damaged and he took delivery of it in this state; I can only imagine he got a cheap deal because it was behind economical repair.

The eight foot wide buses had white steering wheels and a different mudguard design over the double rear axle.

The Lincs Road Car toastracks were much older than the standard Bedford OBs shown in the photos above, but thanks for posting, nevertheless. No, the steamer was just as they ran, what I can only think, were custom built for Skeg, they were totally open on both sides but had a roll-up canvas which would obviously protect the pax from whichever happened to be the windward side.

Someone, early in the discussion, challenged whether there were overheads on Market Street up to the Theatre Royal. There were but redundant for passenger routes - as were the overheads on Station Street. I went on several Sunday Trolleybus Society Tours of the Nottm system in the 60s and we would be purposely taken along both of these routes as the spitting, sparking and arcing from the verdigree on the conductors was quite something to behold - especially the electrical load it took to climb Market Street.

Finally, the Chairman of the Group lived, I think

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502, 578, Derby 225 and Notts and Derby 307 are all stored at a former military depot at Boughton near Ollerton. These are former Nottingham Trolleybus Museum examples and are owned by two former members. I don't know what the condition of them is like or whether any serious restoration work has been carried out on them. I've never tracked down any photos of them or have any idea what the plans are for their future, their owners are presumably getting on a bit now, I'd like to know what they intend to do with these historical gems.

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Is this military depot the one that is now an industrial estate? Off the A6075. I am not particularly interested in the Derby bus but the rest are, especially the Notts and Derby as I have never seen one in the flesh.

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Ah - found it. Prior to the Bedfords at Skegness it was Vulcans that were used:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/116071498@N08/16695696709/

Note the accompanying text:

'L.R.C.C kept the Vulcans until 1958,but by then they had been rebuilt with Bedford OB style bonnets and radiators and presumably Bedford engines. The 25 seat bodies were built by Eaton.'

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Thanks Merthyr Imp. Yes, that ties in with my memory of the re-engined, re-bonneted, erstwhile Vulcans; latterly Bedford OB fronts.

It explains it all - mystery solved. I wonder how many such vehicles there were?

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Firbeck, you mentioned a Ted Farnsworth, Chairman of the Group, earlier.

Was it he who lived in a terraced house in Basford? I'm pretty sure it was him I was referring to who's house I attended one or two meetings at. A very pleasant guy who would sometimes wear a flat cap, which was somewhat unusual - or unfashionable - at the time, for someone so young

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Any more gen or pictures of the Skeggy steam Bedford toastrack from anyone would be so very much appreciated, please. This absolutely fascinated me and I never thought I'd see anything of it again.

Any photos of any of these Vulcan/Bedfords operating the 'Penny All the Way' shuttle service in Skeg would be most welcome. Not the later OB coaches with their sides tin-openered by Lincs Road car, thanks all the same.

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