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Huddersfield 541 re-enters public service
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New to Huddersfield Corporation in 1947 as trolleybus number 541, it saw service in the West Yorkshire town until 1966 when it then entered into preservation. Restoration first began in 1993 and a full rewire has also been completed during the 17 year of work. On Sunday 29 August 2010 at 1400 a ceremony was held to reintroduce this bus back into passenger carrying service at The Trolleybus Museum. The vehicle is owned by the National Trolleybus Association and the restoration has been funded by donations from members. There were a record number of visitors for an August Bank Holiday weekend and it was the busiest of the 2010 bank holiday weekends.
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London 1348 joins collection
Following agreement between the Transport Museum Society of Ireland and The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, London K2 class trolleybus no 1348 returned to the UK on the evening of 1st July, arriving by ferry at Liverpool from Dublin. 1348 reached its new home at Sandtoft the following day. The Gathering event at the end of July will be the first occasion the vehicle has been seen in public since it was withdrawn from service in 1961. Much work needs to be done if it is to run again 50 years after the closure of the world's largest trolleybus system on 8th May 1962. Built by Leyland in 1939 it is an all metal construction with standard Metro-Vic electric's. A full assessment of the work that will be needed to completely restore this vehicle has yet to be completed but some cost such as new panels, window rubbers, glazing, upholstery, tyres will be unavoidable. The Trolleybus Museum has opened a fund for the restoration. Donations can be made online or by sending a cheque made payable to "The Trolleybus Museum" to 1348 Restoration Fund, 8 Woods Terrace, Gainsborough, DN21 2RP |
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Cardiff no. 203 re-enters public service
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The city of Cardiff began running trolleybuses on 1st March 1942, replacing trams on the route between Wood Street and Clarence Road. On Sunday 30th May 2010, at 1403h (i.e. 2.03pm), one of these original Cardiff trolleybuses (no. 203) returned to passenger carrying service at The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, following a long period of restoration. |
Edmonton Trolleybus enters service
In November 2009 The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, already home to the world’s largest collection of preserved trolleybuses, added a Canadian trolleybus to its collection. All the way from Edmonton, no. 189 was new in 1981 and, as well as being one of the rare 100 'fishbowl' trolleybuses, it is also one of 40 trolleybuses which operated in Toronto on-loan from Edmonton between 1990 and 1993. No. 189 was built by General Motors but the type became generally known as “BBC’s” after the company who supplied the electrical equipment.
After some minor electrical and bodywork repairs no. 189 became the first North American trolleybus to carry passengers in the UK when it was launched into service on Saturday 17 April 2010. After an initial run with invited guests, made up of those who had donated towards the preservation and transportation of the bus, the first public run carried a full load of passengers. No. 189 went on to operate for the rest of the weekend, proving popular with visitors, many of whom recognised the distinct North American bodywork style. This body type, also known as the 'fishbowl' design, has sloped windows synonymous with North America buses.
The trolleybus system in Edmonton closed suddenly on the 2nd May 2009 and The Trolleybus Museum began negotiations to preserve one straight away. No. 189 was selected as it was deemed to be in the most original and best condition of the remaining batch. The journey to The Museum from Edmonton took almost a month, traveling by low-loader and cargo ship. Read more about the journey, and see video here.
No. 189 will feature at more of The Museum’s opendays this year, including the Worldwide Weekend on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 October.
Click here to see a photograph.
Entry now open for annual Gathering event.
Every year The Museum holds its annual ‘Gathering’ event on the last Sunday in July. This is always the biggest event in the Museum calendar and will be held this year on July 25th. As well as the usually attractions there will be a historic vehicle rally, transport flea market, real ale beer tent, face painting, live entertainment and craft stalls.
Owners of historic vehicles get free admission and a rally plaque if their vehicle is entered in advance. Furthermore, if entered before May 31st 2010 you get a money-off voucher to spend in the Museum cafe. To be eligible to enter the rally and get these great benefits, vehicles must be at over 20 years old or a bus of any age.
>> Find out more about The Gathering here.
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Download an entry form here.
Stall holders are also able to enter this event be part of the transport flea market. Stall holders must enter online by clicking here.
2010 events now online
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The events listing for 2010 is now online. Click here to see. The 2010 season sees the introduction of International Weekend, as a replacement to the popular European themed weekends held in previous years. With an ever growing collection of preserved trolleybuses from around the world The Museum has will be dedicating a weekend to showing them all off. This will be on the weekend of 2nd and 3rd October. 2010 will also see the re-launch of 2 trolleybuses back into public service. One will be Cardiff 203, which was displayed at this years Gathering event with a taster of what the completed restoration will look like. The other will be Huddersfield 541. Originally due for relaunch in 2007, a number of set backs has put the launch on hold until 2010. Final dates for each launch have yet to be confirmed but both are anticipated to feature at The Gathering 2010, which will be Sunday July 25th. We look forward to seeing you at The Trolleybus Museum.
Picture (right) shows Cardiff Trolleybus number 203 roughly as it will look when restoration is complete. |
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