For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[Rugd1022]

 

 

 

 

[Johann Marsbar]

As today seems to be their last day of operation, this photo of one of the MBTA trolleybuses used on the two routes in Cambridge, Massachusetts, seems appopriate .....

 

 

The articulated, dual-mode ones used on the Silverline route out to Logan Airport remain in use for another few months, from what I have been able to determine.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

As today seems to be their last day of operation, this photo of one of the MBTA trolleybuses used on the two routes in Cambridge, Massachusetts, seems appopriate .....

 

 

The articulated, dual-mode ones used on the Silverline route out to Logan Airport remain in use for another few months, from what I have been able to determine.

Whats replacing them? Not diesel buses I hope. 

[Johann Marsbar]

34 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Whats replacing them? Not diesel buses I hope. 

Yes, in the short term.

They are eventually being replaced by battery-electric buses - the early closure of the two trolleybus routes being mentioned as enabling a full conversion of North Cambridge Carhouse for the battery ones to be made by closing down all operations from there until charging infrastucture is fully installed. Needless to say, they will need 25% more battery buses to operate the services than they did with trolleybuses!

[PhilJ W]

It will probably work out cheaper in the long run. The biggest expense of trolleybus operation is the overhead and with batteries becoming lighter and more efficient it means that trolleybuses are no longer the best option. 

[Adam88]

 

 

 

My first ever visit to the USA was to Boston and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were operating trolleybuses.  It wasn't until April 2011 that I was able to revisit and take a ride to Harvard one evening.

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by Adam88
return lost photo

[Johann Marsbar]

First time I went there in 1987 it was all Flyer E800 trolleybuses in use, but by the time this one was taken in August 2004, the current Skoda/Neoplan vehicles were running most of the services...

 

 

Some of the Flyer vehicles were subsequently preserved - Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, had at least one and I think the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Branford, CT, had one as well

[PhilJ W]

I presume that somewhere on the system there is/are central unloading bays hence the offside exit doors.

[Johann Marsbar]

38 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I presume that somewhere on the system there is/are central unloading bays hence the offside exit doors.

Yes, the underground bus station at Harvard Square Subway Station.

[J. S. Bach]

 

On 12/03/2022 at 08:36, Johann Marsbar said:

 ...snip... Some of the Flyer vehicles were subsequently preserved - Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, had at least one and I think the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Branford, CT, had one as well

 

Yes, they do:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To replace the photos

[J. S. Bach]

More here due to file size limits:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To replace the photos

[J. S. Bach]

And two more:

 

The Brill from Philadelphia:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To replace the photos

[J. S. Bach]

6 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I presume that somewhere on the system there is/are central unloading bays hence the offside exit doors.

So they can be used in London??

[PhilJ W]

10 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

So they can be used in London??

It will very shortly be fifty years since trolleybuses ran on UK streets. However there are several museums with operating trolleybuses. The main one operating trolleybuses is Sandtoft that has many vehicles from Europe and beyond (including North America) that are built for running on the right. My thinking was if one of these could be obtained it would be ideal as passengers would not have to enter from the middle of the road.

Edited March 12, 2022 by PhilJ W

[J. S. Bach]

Speaking of trackless trolleys, here are a couple of photos that I took in Philadelphia a few years ago:

 

 

 

 

And Dayton, Ohio:

 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by J. S. Bach
To replace the photos

[PhilJ W]

We are used to small coaches and buses based on light van chassis but this is one I have never seen before based on a VW T1.

The body is coach built from the waist up.

[RANGERS]

On 12/03/2022 at 23:09, PhilJ W said:

We are used to small coaches and buses based on light van chassis but this is one I have never seen before based on a VW T1.

The body is coach built from the waist up.

Now that is one cool MPV

[phil_sutters]

 

On Sunday 3.4.2022 a mixture of preserved and current buses participated in a Bus Running Day in aid of Ukrainian charities. Based at Lewes Bus Station there were runs to Uckfield and Seaford and some other feeder routes were provided. Over £2,300 was raised, if I remember correctly. I think I snapped most of the participants. They can be seen at http://www.ipernity.com/doc/philsutters/album/1320128.

Edited April 18, 2022 by phil_sutters

[Gwiwer]

Some of the action at and around Dorking Station during the Amersham & District Motorbus Society’s running day on 27th March.  
 

Green RF600 loads for a short trip up to town while a red classmate prepares to work a circular trip via Newdigate and Brockham using an emergency blind made from printed paper

 

Green Line coach RMC1507 was a late substitute for long coach RCL2260. The RCL type ran the lengthy 414 between Horsham, Reigate and West Croydon during the 1970s. RMC1507 pauses at South Holmwood on a Horsham - Reigate trip 

 

Prior to the RCL takeover the 414 had geen an RT route. RT3491 represents this era on the stand at Reigate, Red Cross, awaiting a short trip back to Dorking

 

Ewhurst was the rural terminus of just a handful of trips on the 449 which spent most of its time linking two housing estates across Dorking. Not one but two Guy “Special” Vixens wait to return to Dorking covering a route where passengers were a rarity. 

 

RT604 wears NBC leaf green as it did for its final years in service and is caught here waiting to turn onto the A24 at the top of Spook Hill, North Holmwood. Seen from the top deck of RMC1507 which was making the opposing turn. The 414 usually double-ran within Dorking to serve the main railway station hence the ultimate display with a via point. Journeys which didn’t serve the station showed plain “Horsham”. 

 

[Johann Marsbar]

Ipswich Corporation Transport Ransomes single deck trolleybus N'44 - built in 1930 - makes an appearance in the daylight for the first time in about 30 years this morning at the Science Museum storage facility at the former Wroughton Airfield near Swindon.....

 

 

...and duly loaded on a low-loader trailer departs through Wroughton village en route to its new permanent home at the Ipswich Transport Museum.....

 

 

...where it is reversed down Wright Road for unloading in the back yard of the museum this evening......

 

 

The vehicle is still in as withdrawn condition (1954) and will now be surveyed in detail prior to a restoration programme that will hopefully return it to operational condition.

 

One of the many other interesting vehicles still stored at Wroughton and not usually seen in public is this Moulton Safety Coach.......(count the wheels...)

 

[DIW]

I just googled that coach to see when it was made. Perhaps its bodywork was inspired by Thunderbirds?

Edited April 22, 2022 by DIW
Added link

[phil_sutters]

Is the Ransomes related to Happy Harold? There seem to be substantial design similarities. 

I am not sure why, when his trip to the Hastings area ended with him dying with an arrow in his eye, he is commemorated as Happy Harold.

Edited April 23, 2022 by phil_sutters

[PhilJ W]

21 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

Is the Ransomes related to Happy Harold? There seem to be substantial design similarities.

They were made at the same time (late 20's) and are typical of the styles of that period but that's where the similarity ends. 

[Johann Marsbar]

Not a bus, but as well as that Moulton coach, the Glasgow tram that used to be in the Science Museum is also being stored in the same hangar....

 

 

...and there was also a former BEA 1.5 deck AEC coach in there as well, though I didn't take a photo of that as it was fairly obscured by other items.

[PhilJ W]

Be interesting to know what else is stored there.

Edited April 23, 2022 by PhilJ W