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Trolleybus operators had to use a variety of mechanisms to ensure that the trolley poles of their buses took the correct wires where routes diverged. These were: - |
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Changing the poles |
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Changing the poles from one set of wires to another was by using the ‘trolleyboom’, (a long stick kept on the side of the bus). (Surprisingly, it was used in Hindley Street to turn Eastern Suburbs buses back towards Rundle Street.) |
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1. CHANGING THE POLES
The operator changes the poles from the Hindley Street wires to the separate Light Square loop wires.
P Lambert |
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2. AROUND THE LOOP
The bus goes around the loop. Note that the wires (foreground) do not connect with Hindley Street.
P Lambert |
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3. COASTING BACK UNDER THE WIRES
With poles down, the bus coasts back into Hindley Street. The Conductor watches for other traffic.
P Lambert
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Pulling the frog |
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Having the conductor get off the bus, going to a nearby pole and pulling a wire connected to a set of points (a ‘frog’) in the overhead. This could be a bit hazardous for the conductor in heavy traffic, as he had to run after the bus to catch it after it had passed through the frog. It also meant trolleybuses could not be one-person operated. (Manual frogs were common in Adelaide.) |
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Manual frogs were fitted to all turnouts at Kent Town circus. All ‘Adelaide’ buses from Port Adelaide terminated here. There is a frog box on the pole at the rear of bus 414 (left). |
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Using an automatic frog |
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An ‘automatic frog’ changed the track of the trolley poles when power was drawn through offset contacts in the trolleywires as the bus rounded a corner. Correct alignment was important. Operators were nervous using these, as they could ‘lose their poles’ with misjudgment. (Used at a few special locations such as Glenside roundabout and Hackney depot). |
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Automatic frog just ahead of trolleypoles, Glenside roundabout.
M Church |
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Trolleybuses were despatched from Hackney depot amid the motorbuses.
N Reed |
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Leyland ‘Cantons’ |
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After the start of the Second World War, it became impossible to deliver 70 trolleybus chasses ordered for Canton (now Guangzhou), China. These ‘Cantons’ were sent to Adelaide (26), Perth (18), Hobart (20) and Pontevedra, Spain (6). Some controls were in Chinese. |
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ADELAIDE
Nos 471-496 Leyland TB5
chassis with MTT bodywork. |
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Conversation at the Terminus: -
“Is this Birkenhead?” said the man.
“No Sir, it’s Semaphore”, said the conductor.
“But I wanted to go Birkenhead!” said the man. “Sorry but we don’t go their by trolleybus”, said the conductor.
“You are misleading – you have a board on the front saying ‘Birkenhead’ “, said the man.
“You can’t go by that – we have a sign on the back saying ‘Nestles Milk’, but we don’t go to Switzerland” replied the conductor.
(Birkenhead motor buses connected with the trolleybuses at Port Adelaide)
Among Ourselves |
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PERTH
Nos 23-40 Leyland
TB5 chassis with W.A
Government Tramways
bodywork. |
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HOBART
Nos 72-91 Leyland TB5
chassis with Hobart
Municipal Tramways
bodywork.
Sketches by David Jones |
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Sunbeams |
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Thirty new single-deck Sunbeam trolleybuses were delivered from 1952, bringing the total number of trolleybuses to 91. |
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Epilogue: The meal bus |
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From 1959 to 1967, four years after all other trolleybuses stopped, AEC 417, fitted with a hot water system upstairs, served at Kent Town as a meal bus for bus crews.
John Radcliffe |
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AEC 417 (in the Museum) was one of the first Trolleybuses built in 1937. Seen in Rundle Road after passing the Stag Hotel (left). It ran over 1,000,000 miles.
H D Ellerton |
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