OUR PATCH SEPTEMBER 2016
LOOKING
BACK
Trolleybuses at the end of
Hammersmith Grove in 1935,
in what is now Lyric Square.
That’s the Hop Poles
pub in the background
THE TROLLEYBUS
T
HAMMERSMITH & SHEPHERDS BUSH
rams had been a staple
of the London transport
system ever since the
horse-drawn vehicles of the
1860s. The electrification of
the tramways began in the
early 1900s, and Shepherds Bush and
Hammersmith had the first electrified
routes in the capital.
While popular, the trams had the
disadvantage of running on tracks.
These were costly to lay and maintain
and, running in the centre of streets,
contributed to traffic congestion.
In the early 1930s, the London
18/19
Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) began
to convert the tramways to trolleybuses,
using the same electrical supply
equipment and overhead wires.
As it did not use tracks, the trolleybus
had the ability to pull out to pass a
vehicle and to draw into the kerb to
pick up and drop off passengers.
Although trolleybuses could not
reverse and had to use a turning circle,
they gave a comfortable, smooth ride,
with silent running and no exhaust
fumes. The double-decker versions
provided luxurious upholstered seats for
70 passengers. Tram routes through the
borough continued to be converted to
trolleybus, with tramlines in Goldhawk
Road being pulled up in 1938.
The war halted these operations, and
in 1946 the LPTB announced that the
remaining trams would be replaced
by diesel buses. It saw more than 100
vehicles were reconditioned by Wood
Lane firm George Cohen Sons & Co Ltd
and sent to Spain where they operated
well into the 1970s.
Perhaps this article will bring back
childhood memories of travelling on
Route 607 along Uxbridge Road or
crossing Putney Bridge on Route 626?