| The evolution of British trolleybase design |
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| date |
maker/supplier |
design |
springs |
spring type |
notes |
last |
first example |
last example |
supplied |
| 1909 |
Railless Electric Traction Co |
Single pivot, in-line |
horizontal, forward |
compression |
based on Max Schieman double under-running system |
1909 |
MET |
(same) |
1 |
| 1911 |
Railless Electric Traction Co |
Single pivot, side by side |
horizontal, forward |
compression |
improved version. TR&T states "standard tramway type" trolley bases |
1912 |
Leeds 501 |
Rotherham 38 |
11 |
| 1912 |
Cedes Electric Traction Co |
Cedes Stoll |
na |
na |
imported design, 4 wheel trolley ran on top of wires, flexible unpluggable connection to trolleybus |
1915 |
West Ham |
Keighley 8 |
18 |
| 1913 |
Brush Electrical Engineering (?) |
Lloyd Kohler |
na |
na |
imported design, 2 wheel trolley ran on top of upper negative wire, positive bow collector below |
1913 |
Stockport 1 |
(same) |
3 |
| 1913 |
RET Construction Co (BN&R) |
Munro patent cam operated |
vertical |
compression |
allowed greater deviation, 17' with 20' poles (Munro in ER&T July 1922). B/1 tram type |
1926 |
Rotherham 41 |
Birmingham 14 |
51 |
| 1913 |
CH. Spencer |
Bradford pattern, 'flat' type |
vertical |
extension |
designed by CJ Spencer after operating experience with original Railess cars [***note1] |
[1939] |
Bradford 503 |
Rotherham 70 |
119 |
| 1914 |
Estler Bros Ltd |
superimposed |
horizontal, forward |
compression |
apparently to avoid patent infringement, but gave 360 degree turning. [***note2] |
1935 |
Rhondda 53 |
Darlington 41 |
177 |
| 1920 |
Tramway Supplies Ltd |
Bradford pattern |
horzontal rear |
extension |
designed by RH Wilkinson, manager, to avoid excessive height on double deckers (***note3) |
[1933] |
Bradford 521 |
Bradford 522 |
2 |
| 1921 |
Leeds City Tramways |
Leeds tramway pattern |
inclined, front |
compression |
standard tramway pattern, limited deviation. Possibly made by Tramway Supplies Ltd |
1923 |
Leeds 510 |
Leeds 513 |
4 |
| 1923 |
Railless Ltd |
Munro patent cam operated |
horizontal, rear |
extension |
avoided need for vertical 'channel supports' (Railless brochure, October 1923) |
1925 |
Ipswich 1 |
W Hartlepool 6 |
21 |
| 1923 |
Brecknell, Munro & Rogers |
Bradford' type or Low type |
horizontal, rear |
extension |
Brecknell version of Bradford type. Designed by MD Gilroy-Stuart |
1933 |
Wolverhampton 1 |
Wolverhampton 210 |
530 |
| 1924 |
Richard Garrett and Sons |
superimposed |
horizontal, forward |
compression |
Garrett version of Estler design. Difficulty with strength of Salters springs during 1927-8[***note4] |
1930 |
Bradford 536 |
Mexborough 61 |
47 |
| 1925 |
Estler Bros Ltd |
concentric |
inclined, top |
extension |
4 spring experimental design, stated as Estler in ER&T, October 1925 [***note5] |
1925 |
Southend 103 |
(same) |
1 |
| 1928 |
Richard Garrett and Sons |
side by side |
horizontal, forward |
compression |
Garrett revision of Estler design, placed side by side to avoid excessive height on double deckers |
1928 |
Doncaster 1-4 |
(same) |
4 |
| 1933 |
Brecknell, Willis Co Ltd |
Lightweight type |
inclined, top |
extension |
Standard' type, universally used after 1939. improvements included 'snubbers' and hydraulic dampers |
1962 |
LUT 61 |
Bounemouth 303 |
5056 |
| 1935 |
G.D.Peters & Co Ltd |
articulated |
inclined, top |
extension |
drawings exist for a boom system articulated about a knukle joint, purpose unkown, none built |
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| 1937 |
Nottingham Corporation |
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experiments with single boom design, grid frame trolleyhead |
1937 |
Nottingham 50 |
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| 1952 |
Glasgow Corporation |
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experiments with single boom design, split end to lightweight trolleyheads |
1952 |
Glasgow TG1 |
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| 1985 |
Insul-8 Limited |
top spring |
inclined, top |
extension |
used on Doncaster Dennis demonstrator |
1985 |
South Yorkshire |
(same) |
1 |
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note 1 |
Bradford flat type designed by manager CJ Spencer, order placed with CH Spencer, |
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total |
6046 |
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his brother, as the lowest tenderer. (S.King. "Bradford Trolleybuses) |
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Described by Edgar Outibridge as 'the most successful trolley springs ever made' |
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Also quoted as ordered from Tramway Supplies Ltd, ("Leeds Transport" vol.2 J.Soper) |
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Charles C Hall states that Bradford Corporation was paid for bases in 1921 |
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note 2 |
Reconstructed example, Ipswich Transport Museum, 1996, for use on Ipswich 1 using Garrett drawings |
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note 3 |
Circumstantial evidence only of being supplied by Tramway Supplies Ltd. May have been built in Bradford Corporation workshops |
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note 4 |
WH.(Bill) Deanes, Chief Engineer, Garretts electric vehicle department, states in his notebooks - |
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27/11/27 Order 30 compression springs for Ipswich Trolleybuses, no charge |
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5/1/28 We have already had instances of breakages on these springs. Although Salters agreed that |
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they could provide us with springs capable of standing 150,000lbs, we must conclude that they are not. |
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13/4/28 Our mechanic reports " The new springs, 1494Z-9 are not as strong as the old ones, 1494Z-7 |
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I have had to compress them more than the old ones to get the required pressure on the trolleys. |
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After they had been running an hour, more compression had to be put on to maintain pressure on the trolley wire |
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Garrett "S" type trolleybase order states - |
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From Peckham Truck and Engineering Co Ltd |
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1 set of collectors, comprising - |
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2x Railless trolley standards to blueprint No.603/303c |
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2x Taped and insulated trolley booms, 20' long |
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2x Brecknell, Munro and Rogers standard trolleyheads, Item no.45, Catalogue sheet H1 |
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as per quote T.2020TM/DN of 22/12/23 |
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note 5 |
Although quoted as an Estler trolleybase in in Electric Railway and Tramway journal, the base was |
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unique and fitted to AEC's experimental "XU87" chassis. Perhaps it was made by AEC as the bus |
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was used extensively as a demonstrator. It ended up in Southend where it retained the base till the end. |
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trlybase.xls |
22/06/99 |
Trolleybase history