Seen at snowy Craven Park on 2 January 1962, the last day of trolleybus operation in North-West London, Colindale depot’s N1 class trolleybus No.1564 heads for Hammersmith on route 666. Some of the heavy snow that had fallen on New Year’s Eve, which was a Sunday, is still on this trolleybus. The N1s had been new to Bow depot in the summer of 1940, and migrated to the north west when that depot converted to motor bus operation in August 1959. They had BRCW bodywork and AEC chassis.
Living as I did in the heart of North London's huge trolleybus network, with route 611 actually passing my home, I had ample opportunity to travel on them and my memories of doing so are still vivid, even though that local route perished almost fifty-five years ago.
In common with most families in my area in the 1950s and very early 1960s, my parents never owned a car (as to this day I also have not, and have never wanted to!), therefore we always travelled by public transport. There were five ‘country’ destinations we used to visit on summer Sundays, all of which involved riding by trolleybus! The first was either Walthamstow or Hackney Marshes, and the second the Woodford area of Epping Forest. Although bus routes 38 and 38A would take us to all of these places from nearby Essex Road, I always insisted on riding on the 581 trolleybus, which paralleled the 38A all the way from Bloomsbury to Woodford, Napier Arms and, in fact, when withdrawn in April 1959 was replaced by an increase in frequency on that bus route. The third was a trip to Hadley Wood, where we would have a picnic by the Great Northern main line while I feverishly noted the numbers of all the passing steam engines. This entailed a long ride on route 609, travelling all the way up the Great North Road from Highbury Corner to High Barnet. The fourth was an even longer ride by trolleybus, to the point furthest north from central London that they reached, Waltham Cross, for a ramble along the nearby River Lea or a visit to historic Waltham Abbey. The 679 from Highbury Corner was our mode of transport for those outings. The fifth outing, and the one we did most often, involved travelling on our very own 611 to Highgate Village for a ramble over Hampstead Heath, often visiting the fairgrounds at Easter, Whitsun or August Bank Holiday weekends.
Other long rides we took by trolleybus were to visit relatives who lived in Barking, which entailed catching the 611 from outside our home to Old Street, and then the 665 all the way out to the east along the Commercial, West India Dock, East India Dock and Barking Roads to its terminus in Barking town centre. I well remember when that route was replaced by new Routemaster buses on route 5 in November 1959. Travelling on the new type of bus for the first time actually made me feel sick – so we came home by Underground instead! I subsequently discovered that some of these buses had an experimental form of suspension, so possibly that was the culprit. However, no matter how successful London's Routemaster buses became in later years, in my view they could never match the smooth, silent and fast running of a trolleybus!
During the last three or four years of London trolleybus operation, I visited most trolleybus depots courtesy of London Transport's ‘Red Rover’ tickets, which naturally involved riding on the vehicles themselves. I well remember attempting a trip to all surviving trolleybus depots, travelling only by trolleybus, on such an occasion on Saturday, 10 December 1960. Starting on a 609 from Highbury Corner, I first visited my local Highgate (previously and now again named Holloway) depot, which much to my outrage, had already lost the 611 to new bus route 271 the previously July. From there, I doubled back on a 517 to Nag's Head junction – then still fully intact – and then caught a 653 to Stamford Hill depot. Running through the heart of North London's ultra-orthodox Jewish community, this route was nicknamed ‘The Yiddisher Flyer’ by both crews and passengers alike, as its successor, bus route 253, still is today. From Stamford Hill, a 649 took me up the long, straight original A10 Tottenham High Road and Hertford Road to Edmonton depot, located at the end of a cul-de-sac named Tramway Avenue. From there I doubled back again, this time on a 659, to Bruce Grove station, changing to a 543 to take me to Wood Green depot. That depot was a familiar place to me, since I had relatives living in a turning directly opposite it off Jolly Butchers Hill. From there, a 621 took me on to North Finchley, Tally Ho! Corner, for the nearby Finchley trolleybus depot. My next ride was on a 645 to Colindale depot, behind which was the ‘Golgotha’ of London's trolleybuses – George Cohen's scrapyard – where the majority of the fleet perished. I remember being especially saddened to see many of my ‘special’ trolleybuses from route 611 awaiting their fate there, of which more later. From Colindale, doubling back as far as Cricklewood Broadway, a 666 took me to my next port of call – Stonebridge Park depot, or rather Craven Park – where I had to change to a 662 for a couple of stops up the Harrow Road to the depot. Back from there I went to Craven Park, catching a 660 to Acton Vale – where disaster struck! I had intended catching a 607 from there to Hanwell depot, then a 655 down to Brentford to connect with the 657 and 667 to reach Isleworth and Fulwell depots. But when I reached Acton Vale, I was horrified to see gleaming new Routemasters running on route 207, which unbeknownst to me had converted to them from the old 607 a month before! Just as well I had visited Hanwell depot, and travelled on both the 607 and 655, the previous May. Thus I stayed on my 660 to Starch Green where I changed to a 657. That, one of the newest London trolleybuses of the Q1 class, took me all the way to Isleworth trolleybus depot near Hounslow. Then I doubled back to Busch Corner to catch a 667 down to Fulwell depot. Ironically, as things turned out, Isleworth and Fulwell would be the last London depots to operate trolleybuses just under eighteen months later. The 667 was also a Q1, and I had no idea then that just a few weeks later, these smart vehicles, some only eight years old, would start to be replaced by older trolleybuses displaced from my local area and shipped off to Spain. A 667 back to Hammersmith, then a 660 to Finchley and a 609 to Highbury Corner was my intended route homewards, but when on that cold, dark December night I spotted an RTL bus on route 73 at the traffic lights in Twickenham town centre heading for Stoke Newington, and thus passing along Essex Road near my home, I jumped off my Q1 trolleybus to catch it and thereby ‘cheated’ by riding on a motor bus that day after all! Still, it was no mean feat to have travelled all the way from Highbury Corner to Fulwell, via Holloway, Stamford Hill, Edmonton, Wood Green, North Finchley, Colindale and Acton, all the way by trolleybus, especially when the trolleybus to motor bus conversion programme in London was already over half completed!
I would now like to describe in detail what it was like to ride on a trolleybus some fifty-five to sixty years ago, and will choose ‘my’ route, the 611 and our outings ‘over the (Hampstead) Heath’ to do so. Owing to the steep Highgate Hill which this route traversed between Highgate (Archway) station and its terminus at Highgate Village, trolleybuses on this route were fitted with special ‘run back and coast’ braking, meant to safeguard against trolleybuses running backwards out of control when going up hill in the event of a power failure. Although the 611, which ran from Moorgate to Highgate Village via Hoxton and Canonbury, had a normal requirement of sixteen trolleybuses, there were actually forty of them so equipped. This was because it had been intended to run other trolleybus routes up Highgate Hill and through Highgate Village onwards to East Finchley, but the snooty residents, whose thoroughfares they and their overhead equipment would defile, successfully objected to these proposals. The special trolleybuses were the 25-strong J3 class, No.1030-1054 (EXV30-54) which were AECs with BRCW bodywork, and the 15-strong L1 class, No.1355-1369 (EXV355-369), chassisless vehicles with AEC running units and MCCW bodies. Other trolleybuses were forbidden to operate the 611, though of course the forty vehicles did work on all of the other trolleybus routes based at Highgate (Holloway) depot – for the record, the 513, 517, 609 (Sundays), 613, 615, 617, 627, 639 and 653. From as young an age as 4, I knew the trolleybuses on the 611 by heart by their registrations: EXV30-54 and EXV355-1369. There was one, however, that I never saw: EXV365 (No.1365). This unfortunate L1 was destroyed during the war when quite new, not apparently by direct enemy action, but by an electrical fire during the blackout!
Leaving our home, a block of flats called Canonbury Avenue just off Canonbury Road next door to Canonbury School, we would catch the 611 from its stop just before Canonbury Road joined St. Paul's Road at Highbury Corner. Here, until the roundabout was built there in 1958, all was one massive bomb site as a result of a ‘doodlebug’ V1 flying bomb landing there on 27 June 1944. As all youngsters used to do in those days, I invariably would insist on travelling upstairs, if possible, in the front seats. To do so was an unforgettable experience! Sitting above the full-width driver's cab, the sound of the trolleybus could clearly be heard – the whine of its electric motor, and the clicking of its gears. As it reached the railway bridge carrying the Great Northern main line across Holloway Road, its booms would have to be lowered to take it beneath the bridge, which would cause a loud rumbling sound. A similar rumbling would take place as it felt its way through the intricate junction of trolleybus overhead a short distance further on, at the Nag's Head. I well remember when, as a small boy, I used to think it was the rumbling of an approaching thunderstorm and would become really upset, thinking our ramble over the Heath would be ruined! Similar rumblings would occur as we passed beneath the junction for the spur into Pemberton Gardens where the trolleybuses reached their depot, just off Holloway Road north of Upper Holloway station, and then again at Archway station where routes 517, 609 and 617 parted company with the 611 to go up Archway Road towards Finchley. Then would come the steep climb up Highgate Hill, which was quite a feat for the trolleybuses, especially on Bank Holidays when they would be full of people heading for the Hampstead Heath fairgrounds. They were so busy, in fact, that extra trolleybuses would run – which actually carried the word ‘EXTRA’ instead of their route number in the front blind box. Then, finally, we would reach the terminus, a turning circle off Highgate High Street in South Grove, which just had space for two trolleybuses to stand alongside one another. That terminus is still used today by bus route 271, which replaced the 611 outright in July 1960, and the original trolleybus shelter erected when the 611 was introduced in December 1939 is still in use! The journey homewards was equally exciting, when our trolleybus would sweep down Highgate Hill, revealing in the distance a panoramic view of the City of London with St. Paul's Cathedral as its centrepiece, before horrible modern tower blocks ruined the view!
Of course, travelling by trolleybus was not without its mishaps. Once, we had barely started our journey to Highgate on the 611 when, before the first stop along Holloway Road, there was a loud bang, and our trolleybus shuddered to a halt. It had become dewired and one of the collector shoes that gripped the overhead wires at the end of its booms had fallen off and landed on the pavement! If it had landed on someone's head they would surely have been seriously injured, if not killed. As it was, the crew were unable to fix it, so we had to wait to be transferred to the one following a few minutes behind. Though it was not the case on this occasion, trees coming into leaf in the spring and early summer were a menace to trolleybuses. There were a couple of large chestnut trees in the playground of my junior school, Canonbury, which was next door to our block of flats. These always seemed to foul the overhead for southbound trolleybuses on route 611, which on many occasions were dewired there. For some reason, one of the J3s (No.1045, EXV45) always seemed to be the victim. Once, it dewired so violently that it actually brought the wires down, including those bringing the electric current to them from a nearby feeder pillar. It happened in the evening rush hour, bringing complete chaos to busy Canonbury Road and causing the trolleybuses to have to run at snail's pace on their batteries from Canonbury Square to Highbury Corner. If only I had had a camera to record the scene, especially as it was possible to look down on them from the roof of our block of flats! London Transport had a fleet of tower wagons to attend to such problems with the overhead, as well as some converted pre-war STL buses used as tree loppers. Such dewirements were the most common problem with trolleybuses. The most spectacular dewirement I ever saw also involved a 611. In 1958, the new roundabout was built at Highbury Corner where the bomb site had been, involving re-routing the trolleybus overhead. As a result, 609s and 679s heading south, bound for Upper Street and the Angel had a parallel set of wires to those of the southbound 611, taking them along the first sections of St. Paul's Road and Canonbury Road on the eastern side of the roundabout, before going around it and crossing the 611’s northbound wires and turning left into Upper Street. One morning, just a few days before the 611 was withdrawn on 20 July 1960, I was approaching this junction on my way to school in Highbury Grove. Here I witnessed the rare spectacle of one trolleybus overtaking another, which of course was possible with these two sets of parallel wires, with a 611 on the outside wires overtaking a 609 on the inner wires. The driver of the 611 was obviously having a last fling before the route’s withdrawal, but took the sharp corner outside the Hen & Chickens pub too fast, and was thereby dewired. The 611’s flailing booms both came off the wires, also knocking those of the 609 (which was neck and neck with it) off the wires, so violently that the 609’s nearside boom was broken! Once again, if only I had had a camera with me! Trolleybuses were also renowned for their fast acceleration, and I once nearly came to grief as a result of this. I had just visited Tottenham Bus Garage early in 1961, when I spotted a southbound 679 – my trolleybus home – on the other side of the High Road. I managed to jump aboard as it pulled away from its stop, but its acceleration was so fast that I ended up being wrapped around the grab-pole in the centre of its platform and almost became strangled by the chord of the duffel bag on my shoulder! I managed to hang on until it stopped at Ward’s Corner, when I clambered inside and found a seat, but I shall never forget that experience!
Routes 660 and 666 ran together all the way from Cricklewood Broadway to Hammersmith, starting at North Finchley and Edgware respectively. However, trolleybus No.1529 has been curtailed at Craven Park on the 660; its driver converses with the point inspector seen on the left. This location was also the crew-change point for trolleybuses working these routes from nearby Stonebridge Park depot. No.1529 was the last of the 150-strong L3 class delivered in 1939/40, which were chassisless vehicles having AEC units and MCCW bodywork. Many of these entered service at Poplar depot in the summer of 1940, and moved to north and North-West London when Routemaster buses replaced them in November 1959. This particular one was unusual in that it had sliding windows rather than the usual half-drop opening ones. Although some of this class displaced on this occasion survived to run for another few months at Fulwell, No.1529 was withdrawn. The two other trolleybuses seen in this view are N1s. Of note above them are the thicker trolleybus overhead wires, which are ‘feeder’ wires taking current to the running wires.
Around the corner in Harrow Road, N1 class trolleybus No.1621 is for some reason out of service with its booms down, as No.1651 overtakes it on route 662 bound for Paddington Green. This is one of the small class of N2 type trolleybuses delivered in 1940. Only 25 strong, these were AECs with Park Royal bodywork, constructed just a short distance away from where these two were based at Stonebridge Park depot. The thicker rainstrips above their front upper-deck windows immediately identified them. Both the N1 and N2 classes became extinct upon this conversion.
Another Stonebridge Park trolleybus, N1 No.1619, heads for Hammersmith beneath the ‘frog’ where route 662 parted company with the 660 and 666 at Craven Park. The building on the extreme right of this picture was the London Transport staff canteen for crews changing over on trolleybuses from this depot at this point.
At the same point, with the LT canteen on the left, N1 class trolleybus No.1558 works Stonebridge duty SE1 on route 660, bound for North Finchley. The 70-seater is surprisingly empty on this Tuesday afternoon, perhaps because of the freezing weather? Note the sticker in the second from rear window on its lower deck – this is the notice saying that tomorrow the trolleybuses will be replaced by new bus routes 245 (for the 645), 260 (for the 660), 266 (for the 666) and an extension of the existing 18 for the 662. The notices were nicknamed ‘yellow perils’ as they were printed on bright yellow paper and also affixed to the trolleybus traction standards. Today, all of these bus routes still exist, albeit in shortened forms.
It is the last day of London's trolleybuses, Tuesday, 8 May 1962, and I have ‘bunked’ school for the afternoon to travel across from my home in Canonbury to Hammersmith to photograph them. I can do this in one hit, by RTL bus on route 73! Here, in Hammersmith Grove, L3 class chassisless MCCW-bodied AEC trolleybus No.1413 from Fulwell Depot awaits departure on route 667 to Hampton Court as its clippie chats to the driver. The Routemaster bus behind is on either route 260 or 266 which replaced the trolleybuses seen above in January. I rode on No.1413 to Fulwell depot, and by chance it was also the trolleybus I rode homewards on, thus having the dubious distinction of being the last London trolleybus I ever rode on in service. This was quite appropriate, since it had previously been based at my local Highgate depot, but had been transferred across to Fulwell early in 1961 to replace the newer Q1 class trolleybuses based there. These were built only between 1948 and 1953 and had originally been meant to survive until about 1970, but buyers were found for them in Spain as we shall see later.
I was also fortunate to have been able to ride on trolleybuses outside London; notably on the runs from Manchester Piccadilly to Ashton-Under-Lyne and Stalybridge and back, and from Cardiff Corporation's Newport Road trolleybus depot in to the city centre, as well as from the town and city centres of the other fleets, illustrated in this book, that I visited out to their depots. It was also relatively easy to find where their depots were if you were a stranger in town, as their overhead wires inevitably led to them! I well recall as a lad of just thirteen and a half travelling down to Brighton and walking all the way from Old Steine, following the overhead all the way out to the Corporation's depot on Lewes Road. How sad I never had a camera, but I was lucky to have seen those trolleybuses at all, since the system was abandoned shortly afterwards at the end of June 1961. I also, most unfortunately, visited Ipswich and Portsmouth just too late to see their trolleybuses in action, just a few days after these systems were abandoned in the summers of 1963. Indeed, the withdrawn vehicles were still in their depots.
All these years later, it seems a different world when many of our towns and cities were served by trolleybuses – as indeed it was!
