Photography by David Page
Trolley bus 784 on the 45 Wibsey route
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WIBSEY LOCAL HISTORY GROUP Mon 8th March 2010 2pm, the Conservative Club, North Road Donald Brown — Members Remember

Continued from last month's article ...
From 1955 thousands of Wibsey residents regularly used the trolley buses: to work, to school, to shopping, to leisure pursuits. Fewer people then had cars, and the trolley bus service was quiet, speedy, and generally efficient; only occasionally did the trolleys leave the wires, usually caused by excessive speed. Older readers may remember the loud bang from the cab if the driver blew the contact breaker by trying to accelerate too quickly; or the mild electric shock from the rear platform handrail in slushy or snowy conditions; or the hum of the compressor under the floor when the trolley bus was standing at a stop; or the conductor alighting to pull the kerbside pole to operate the overhead points. Colin Wright (from whose notes these extracts are taken) remembered several lunchtime descents of St Enoch's Road without stopping, when the speed gave cause for concern. Yes, it was exhilarating — but would the trolley bus be able to stop at Southfield Road! It always did, of course, but....

On 30th January 1958, in icy conditions on St Enoch's Road at Beechwood Avenue, trolley bus number 691 skidded and overturned. One man suffered fatal injuries and many others required hospital treatment. The following day, outside St Luke's hospital and in thick fog, trolley bus number 623 was in a head-on collision with a Dewsbury bound bus. Thankfully there was no fatality, but many personal injuries were sustained. On another occasion a trolley bus ended up on the front lawn of a house!
In view of the recent hard winter weather, it may be salutary to remember the considerably harder and longer winters we used to have. Again, many older readers may recall walking to and from work in the city centre because of heavy snow or thick fog — and the strange phenomena of the sudden disappearance of the fog at the steps down to Carrbottom. This was due, apparently, to the particular contour level at that point, but it was certainly a relief to continue the uphill walk in clear air!