The Teesside trolleybus system once served the

conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

, in the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Opened on , it was unusual in being a completely new system that was not replacing any previously operating

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

way network. By the standards of the various now defunct

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

systems in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, the Teesside system was a small one, with a total of three routes, and a maximum fleet of only 21 trolleybuses. However, it was unusually long-lasting, as it did not close until , and was therefore the penultimate system in the UK to do so. Three of the former Teesside system trolleybuses are now preserved, one of them at

Black Country Living Museum The Black Country Living Museum (formerly the Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is located in the centre of the Black Country, west of Birming ...

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

, West Midlands, one at the Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum, and the third one near

the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft is a transport museum which specialises in the preservation of trolleybuses. It is located by the village of Sandtoft, near Belton on the Isle of Axholme in the English county of Lincolnshire. Description Th ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

History

From 1912

Bolckow Vaughan Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd was an English steelmaking, ironmaking and mining company founded in 1864, based on the partnership since 1840 of its two founders, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan (ironmaster), John Vaughan. The firm drove the dramat ...

was the main mover behind the North Ormesby, South Bank, Normanby and Grangetown Railless Traction Co., which built a depot at Cargo Fleet, took power (until 1955) from the Bolckow Vaughan's (later

Dorman Long Dorman Long & Co was a UK steel producer, later diversifying into bridge building. The company was once listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long when they acquired '' ...

)

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...

steel works, erected the first pole at Normanby in July 1915 and had the entire system ready 8 months later, but not the buses, which were held up by wartime shortages. In December 1918, the company was sold, one-third to Middlesbrough Corporation and two-thirds to Eston Urban District Council. They formed the Tees-side Railless Traction Board. The first trial run was on 19 September 1919. Official opening was at 11am on Saturday 8 November 1919, with chairman of the board, Cllr. W. G. Grace, driving the first bus. On 1 April 1968, the board merged with Middlesbrough and Stockton to form Teesside Municipal Transport and trolley buses were replaced with diesel buses three years later.Tees-side Railless Traction Board 1919-1968: Peter Gould
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Services

The original routes were Smeaton Street –

North Ormesby North Ormesby is a part of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. The area has gained the common nickname of Doggy, it is of unknown origin. Population of the now former "North Ormesby and Brambles Farm" ward was 6,268, at the 2011 census, ...

– Cargo Fleet –

– Normanby, or Grangetown Market Square. In 1924 the route was extended to its originally intended point in

Eston Eston is a former industrial town in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary area of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of Greater Eston, which includes the outlying settlements of Grangetown, North Yorkshire, Grangetown, Normanby, Redcar and Clevel ...

Sq. with a version of a

Tilling-Stevens Tilling-Stevens was a British manufacturer of buses and other commercial vehicles, based in Maidstone, Kent. Originally established in 1897, it became a specialist in petrol-electric vehicles. It continued as an independent manufacturer until ...

petrol-electric bus patented by the General Manager of the Board (Mr. J. B. Parker), using a trolley to Normanby and then running on petrol to Eston. Grangetown – Kingsley Road was added in 1951 and further extended to Fabian Road,

in 1964 to serve new housing. In 1966 the Eston and Normanby routes were to be linked, but

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

objected, so the circle was not opened until 31 March 1968; the last UK trolleybus extension. The circle was operated by 10 buses. Changes to the roads in 1970 saw the West Terrace turning circle closed. Its replacement required buses to be reversed into Hampden Street and pulled into Smeaton Street. That, change of ownership and problems of servicing and finding spares, led to closure, with only 8 buses in use at closure on 4 April 1971.Buses: Ian Allan June 1971 R A Farman pages 211-3

Trolleybus fleet

The first bus was built at the Cargo Fleet depot with a Cleveland Car Co. (Darlington) chassis,

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

electrical equipment and Dick, Kerr & Co. body. *4 RET Construction Co. of Leeds single deck 1917 *6

Railless Railless is the generic name for three companies which made trolleybuses in Britain between 1906 and 1926. Railless Electric Traction Co Ltd was established in 1908, and were at the forefront of the introduction of trolleybuses to Britain. Financia ...

single deck 1918 *6

Brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped during u ...

single deck 1920 (built in 1914 for Rhondda Tramways Company, but used for only 3 months before withdrawal due to poor roads) *5 Clough, Smith single deck 1921-1922, using Straker Squire bus chassis *1

single deck 1924, hybrid petrol trolleybus *8

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a lightbeam, beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of light scatter ...

W 1944-45 rebodied by Roe 1960–62, 4 scrapped 1969 *7 Sunbeam F4 1950 rebodied by Roe 1962-65 *5 Sunbeam F4A Burlingham bodied front entrance bought from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

in 1969 Livery was dark or a pale/mid green, initially with cream above. From 1932 some buses had silver roofs, later painted white. In the 1940s and 50s there were 3 cream bands, later reduced to 2. Some wartime buses were utility grey. The Roman capitals fleetname with shading was replaced in 1932 by a block logo.The 500 Group – Tees-side Railless Traction Board 1919 – 1968: Ken Hoggett
/ref>

References

Notes

External links

The 500 Group
- Teesside bus preservation society.

* ttp://sites.google.com/site/waggonways/teesside-trolleybus Teesside trolleybus route mapbr>SCT'61 website
- photos and descriptions of Teesside trolleybuses and early motorbuses.
photos and route mapyoutube 7 minute video1961 Hansard discussion of need for legislation to extend trolleybus routes
{{Historic UK Trolleybuses Transport in Middlesbrough