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I am old enough to recall trolley busses here in Nottingham. Does anyone have any thoughts on why trolley busses fell out of favour and why there are none today. I assume that diesels were easier and cheaper.

The cost and disruption of the tram infrastructure is huge yet a trolley bus only needs a overhead power line system, double not single like the tram. No minor requirement but no tracks/rails. Surely with pollution being a major concern there is case for considering trolley's again. I heard nottingham is going to get some electric (battery) busses again but is battery technology realistically ready.

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Electric buses have a limited range due to quite poor battery technology.

All the electric power to run trams, trolley buses & recharge battery powered buses has to come from somewhere. Is battery power & electricical powered vehicles of any kind better for the enviroment than fossil fuel anyway ?

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I think it was always said that the trolleybuses were abandoned in Nottingham because all the road alterations that were about to take place in the late 1960s would have meant too much disruption and cost involved in diverting the routes - as an example think of the Broad Marsh Centre being plonked squarely across the route to Trent Bridge, plus the ending of Arkwright Street as a through route for traffic. There would also have been temporary diversions while the alterations were being made which trolleybuses couldn't have coped with.

 

Generally speaking, I understand motor buses increased in cost efficiency through the 1950s, including the fact that they were gradually allowed to become bigger from the post-war period when the usual capacity was 56 seats compared with the 70 seats of the six-wheeler trolleybuses. In Nottingham, the early (1963) Daimler Fleetlines could carry 77 seated.

 

Also, with the increasing street congestion caused by more and more private cars trolleybuses were perhaps seen as getting in the way of these, not least with the occasional de-wiring causing traffic hold-ups while the pole was put back on the wire.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Merthyr Imp said:

Also, with the increasing street congestion caused by more and more private cars trolleybuses were perhaps seen as getting in the way of these, not least with the occasional de-wiring causing traffic hold-ups while the pole was put back on the wire.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. However a trolley bus can move around an obstruction unlike a tram.  I am sure that they could still make an environmentally sound proposition today. Googling around it seems they are still used in some parts of the world.

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2 hours ago, catfan said:

Electric buses have a limited range due to quite poor battery technology.

All the electric power to run trams, trolley buses & recharge battery powered buses has to come from somewhere. Is battery power & electricical powered vehicles of any kind better for the enviroment than fossil fuel anyway ?

Agreed but the power supplied from a power station can be better filtered and controlled from a polluting point of view. Standing on Parliament Street or several other locations in the City you choke with deisel fumes. It's quite shocking.

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The buses nowadays don't pollute the atmosphere like they used to though.  Until a few years ago I would get an immediate headache if I was following a bus, the fumes were deadly. 

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My Grannie always called them "Trackless's" probably because she grew up when there was only trams around,hence the track,no track but overhead wires equals trolley bus,a tram without a track

 

Rog

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1 hour ago, letsavagoo said:

Thanks for your thoughts on this. However a trolley bus can move around an obstruction unlike a tram.  

 Yes, but not if it would mean moving out of reach of the overhead wires.

 

But you're right, along with trams, trolleybuses continued to be used in other parts of the world when both were being abandoned in this country.

 

With regards to the use of fossil fuels, two thoughts. First, electricity can be generated from other sources, and second, fossil fuel is going to run out one day.  Not in our lifetimes, but I do wonder what changes my son will be seeing in 50 years time.

 

 

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Never heard them called that Roger but as you say they were "rail less" I was a regular on them in the 50's/mid 60's from the Meadows (Trent bridge) to Bulwell (Highbury Vale) each week visiting my Bulwell Grandmother

 

Rog

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When I was young the General Manager of NCT was Ben England, I believe he was pro trolley buses, his successor less so.

 

My Grandmother also called them the trackless, and sometimes "the silent death".

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When talking about trackless's/trolley buses I always remember upstairs the backs of the seats they were covered in rubber,a kind of corrugated effect and at the top of the back of the seat was a "cigarette stubber" a kind of stippled metal plate about 2 inches square,the motor buses probably had them as well when you were allowed to smoke upstairs, thats all,

 

Rog

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On 29/12/2016 at 5:01 PM, letsavagoo said:

Rog mentioning 'trackless' bought back memories of my grandmother who always referred to Trolley buses as trackless. I'd forgotten that. 

The Mexborough and Swindon trolleybus network was always referred to as 'The Trackless' to distinguish it from the trams that were also run by the same operator.

 

 

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Interestingly, battery powered trams are being introduced to Birmingham shortly. New battery technology makes this possible due to the power requirements for hills. The brief for battery powered trams in Birmingham could almost apply to Nottingham.

I was amazed to read that a battery powered tram was invented in 1888. 

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I was fascinated with the trolley buses when I was in Russia, they seemed to be everywhere over there, all single deckers of course. I never got to go on one though as I only had a tour visa so had to stay with our group, & we swanned about in diesel buses all the time..

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A photo in the Middleton Press book "Nottingham Trolleybuses" shows that the term "Railless" was officially used on the stop outside the Bell Inn, It shows route 42 to Bulwell Hall Esatate and route 43 to Bulwell Market.

 

As a child I remember that the 42 ran Old Market Square to Bulwell Market, 43 Trent Bridge to Bulwell Market and 44 Colwick Road to Bulwell Hall Estate. The 42 was then cut back to the Northern Baths.

 

I remember that Trolleybus stops were green and motor bus stops red, sometimes both on the same pole. Some were bus stops but most were request stops.

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