trackless

The Trolley bus was introduced to Rotherham as an addition to the existing tram system, The top left photo is of the first Trolley bus to operate in the area. It traversed from Herringthorpe to Maltby. Thrybergh was not to see the Trolley bus until 1931, when the Thrybergh to Kimberworth route was taken over by the Trackless. A service to Silverwood became established that same year.

The Thrybergh to Kimberworth route was to be the last remaining route the Trackless would serve in Rotherham.. In 1965 the trackless was sadly removed as the expense became to high to maintain.

The Trackless still remains as a fond memory of those day's , so much nicer to ride upon than its petrol or diesel engine relation. The only pollution exuded from a trackless was the cigarette smoke from its passenger's. Smoking back then on single deckers was allowed , but on double deckers only allowed upstairs. Them old Park Drives and Woodbines untipped weren't too annoying, but the old pipe smokers made you cough. No claims for passive smoking in them days.

Often the power poles would pop of the overhead cable, and the driver would jump off the bus, go to the rear end and withdraw a long wooden pole which he used to relocate the power poles to the cable. This at times brought forth applause from the passengers, and depending on the weather it sometimes brought forth curses from the driver.

It really is a small World, when I arrived in Australia I went down to the local tobacconist here in Seven Hills and was served by a very nice Irish lady. As I left the shop I couldn't help but think I had seen her somewhere before and tried to remember where. Several weeks later I told her that I seemed to recall seeing her before, and she asked where I used to live. When I said Rotherham, she smiled and said " I was a conductress for Rotherham Corporation for many years" It also turned out that she was related to my next door neighbour when I lived on St. Leonard's Ave. and of course knew my family very well. We had quite a conversation recalling some of the characters from back in the 1950's and 60's.

Late last year I was showing my niece around the Blue Mountains near Sydney and there running round the city of Katoomba was a small Trackless, a little bit like the one above on the right. it was running off a battery but still had the power poles on top.

The photo below taken in the square at Rotherham shows three styles of bus used back in 1955 and 1965. The liquid fuel bus had more character but look how sleek and modern the trackless on the left looked. For you young uns this photo was taken before the construction of the bus station. and buses were caught both in the square and on the streets surrounding the square.
It has to be mentioned that in its day Rotherham Borough Council had one of the finest bus services in the World.

Hattons of Liverpool company logo courtesy of Hattons The photo and information below are from http://www.hattons.co.uk/pic_corgi.htm and is just a small example of what this site offers.

Corgi is a name most of us " boys" around the 50 years plus remember well from our childhood. The models here are much more than toys though, they are great items of memorabilia, an historic mini reminder of days gone by. When I returned to England in 1994 , I bought two models one being the London double decker Bus and the other the Austin Taxi both of which stand proudly on display in my front room. What I also liked about this site is the information about each replica. I couldn't believe that they actually had a model with information of the bus we used to ride on from Thrybergh to Rotherham. The route displayed on the model below is Kimberworth 6.

Photo courtesy and copyright of Hattons Photo courtesy and copyright Hattons

Photos courtesy and copyright Hattons
Rotherham" 3 axle trolleybus

'Trackless' 37 was one of 20 Daimler CTE6's rebodied by Roe in 1956/57. Originally one of 44 vehicles, delivered in 1949-51, all were E. Lancs bodied single deckers with centre entrances, a standard Rotherham specification perpetuated from the pre war days of Tom Sykes, likely the town's most famous manager! By the mid 50's the saloons where hopelessly uneconomical, hence some being re-bodied as double deckers.
The model is represented on the busy cross town route 6, Thrybergh to Kimberworth, where the prototype worked until the closure of the system on October 1965. Happily 'trackless' 37 is preserved at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft.

George Johnson of Maltby kindly sent in this Photo of the very last Trolleybus in Rotherham, 1965 the end of an era, rather sad to see.

I would like to thank Graeme Hogg of Hattons Model Railways for use of the photos and information above on this site. www.ehattons.com www.hattons.co.uk
If you would like to see further photos try these two links kindly sent in by Peter Smith
http://www.sandtoft.org.uk/picviewer.shtml?rotherham37b.jpg
http://www.sct61.org.uk/ixorrth.htm

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