Trams And Trolley Buses

[Bayleaf]

I watched the programme on trams the other night, and some old questions stirred in my mind.

Sheffield kept its trams longer than most places, but did it ever have trolley buses, or even try them out?

Were trams and trolley buses used alongside each other anywhere, and if so did they use the same power lines?

I understand trolley buses were more manouverable than trams, but was their main advantage that they didn't need tracks laying?

And one that I've wondered about for years, from when I rode on trams as a child, where tram routes diverged, who set the points and how, or didn't it work like that?

[madannie77]

I watched the programme on trams the other night, and some old questions stirred in my mind.

Sheffield kept its trams longer than most places, but did it ever have trolley buses, or even try them out?

We have discussed this one before. There was a trial way back in the midsts of time but there is no official record of them running in later years

Were trams and trolley buses used alongside each other anywhere, and if so did they use the same power lines?

In general, trolleybuses replaced trams, but there was usually some overlap, and in some places the two ran alongside each other for some time. Glasgow comes to mind straight away, as trams & trolleybuses ran together there for 13 years (1949 to 1962).

A tram collects current from the overhead wire and the return is through the rail. WIth a rubber-tyred trolleybus, a second overhead line is used as the return. A tram can run on trolleybus overhead as long as it uses the correct wire.

I understand trolley buses were more manouverable than trams, but was their main advantage that they didn't need tracks laying?

I think that the lack of track laying (and repairing, and replacing) was the major advantage of trolleybuses, with maneouverability a close second. Many towns and cities replaced trams with trolleybuses because it removed the need to relay worn out track and meant that the electrical installations could still be used with the modifications needed for a return wire: rather cheaper than the cost of tram track maintenance and replacement.

And one that I've wondered about for years, from when I rode on trams as a child, where tram routes diverged, who set the points and how, or didn't it work like that?

Generally it was done by means of an automatic point changer such as this Collins one, although the junction at the top of Hounsfield Road always had a pointsman.

[THYLACINE]

I remember riding the trolleybus in Mexborough when I was very young but they called it a Trackless. They were much smoother and quieter than the trams, you didn't get the juddering and clanking. Did they have the overload switch under the stairs which had to be re-set by the conductor when it tripped out? And (just thought of this) could those particular trams with the switch under the stairs have operated without a conductor?

[dunsbyowl1867]

I watched the programme on trams the other night, and some old questions stirred in my mind.

Sheffield kept its trams longer than most places, but did it ever have trolley buses, or even try them out?

Were trams and trolley buses used alongside each other anywhere, and if so did they use the same power lines?

I understand trolley buses were more manouverable than trams, but was their main advantage that they didn't need tracks laying?

And one that I've wondered about for years, from when I rode on trams as a child, where tram routes diverged, who set the points and how, or didn't it work like that?

Have you been her Peter? Worth a trip on a special day and not very far from Sheffield.

http://www.sandtoft.org.uk/

[hilldweller]

I remember riding the trolleybus in Mexborough when I was very young but they called it a Trackless. They were much smoother and quieter than the trams, you didn't get the juddering and clanking. Did they have the overload switch under the stairs which had to be re-set by the conductor when it tripped out? And (just thought of this) could those particular trams with the switch under the stairs have operated without a conductor?

From memory I think that there was only a main circuit breaker at one end of the tram and if the driver was using that cab then I think he could have re-set the thing himself. There would be no point in having two in series as either or both would trip on an overload. Perhaps there were two and only one closed at a time to set the driving end.

Normally the breaker would only trip if he was a bit too quick swinging the controller handle across the notches.

The old DC overhead cranes I worked on, which used similar electrics, just had a big re-wireable fuse which was blown so often it nearly didn't need any fusewire, there was so much copper splashed in it.

I would think that in a trolley bus the main circuit breaker would be located in the drivers cab.

HD

[Bayleaf]

Thanks Madannie, succinct and bang-on as usual!