Trolleybuses in Rotherham
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The Rotherham trolleybus system once served the town of Rotherham, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Opened on 3 October 1912 (1912-10-03),[1][2] it was the fourth trolleybus system to be established in the United Kingdom, after the systems in nearby Bradford and Leeds, which had opened simultaneously in 1911, and Dundee earlier in 1912. Between 1912 and 1949, the Rotherham system gradually replaced the Rotherham Tramway.
Rotherham trolleybus system | |
---|---|
Operation | |
Locale | Rotherham, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
Open | 3 October 1912 (1912-10-03) |
Close | 2 October 1965 (1965-10-02) |
Status | Closed |
Routes | 10 |
Operator(s) | Rotherham Corporation |
Infrastructure | |
Electrification | Nominal 600 V DC parallel overhead lines |
Stock | 59 (maximum) in 1950 |
Statistics | |
Route length | 21 mi (34 km) |
By the standards of the various now-defunct trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom, the Rotherham system was a medium-sized one, with a total of 10 routes, and a maximum fleet of 59 trolleybuses. It was closed on 2 October 1965 (1965-10-02).[1][2]
The first route to open ran for 4.75 miles (7.6 km) from the Broom Road tram terminus to Maltby. It was Britain's first rural trolleybus route, and most of it was constructed outside of the municipal boundary. It was ranked the fastest trolleybus route in the country in 1927. The next route to open was a joint working with Mexborough and Swinton and was the first joint working between a Corporation and a private company. When it closed, it was the last such joint venture in the country. Trolleybuses replaced the trams relatively slowly and, in two cases, the tramway overhead wiring was altered to allow trolleybuses to run along the same route, with the trams continuing to operate. The final trams were withdrawn, from the joint service with Sheffield, in 1949, and the trolleybuses might well have ceased soon afterwards, but twenty of the Daimler single-deck vehicles were rebuilt with double-deck bodywork, and the extra capacity made them profitable for another ten years. The final trolleybus ran on the day before the 53rd anniversary of the opening.
The Corporation ran an eclectic mix of single-deck vehicles, purchased from seven different manufacturers, and comprising two-axle and three-axle models. The workshops were able to carry out heavy maintenance, in several cases rebuilding rear or front entrance vehicles with a centre entrance, and in one case building a completely new body. Prior to the system closing, four vehicles were sold on to Darlington in 1937, and seventeen of the single-deck vehicles were sold for further use in Spain in the 1950s. Four of the former Rotherham trolleybuses are now preserved, two of the converted double-deck Daimlers at the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, Lincolnshire, a single-deck Sunbeam by the Rotherham Trolleybus Group at Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, and one of the single-deck Daimlers in northern Spain.