The electric trolleybus was first demonstrated in Berlin in the spring of 1882 by Dr Ernst Werner von Siemens. A second experimental system was shown in Paris about 1900. In London the Railless Electric Traction Company ran trials in several locations between 1908 and 1914. Trolleybus systems grew all over Europe and in many towns across the UK and paralleling motorbus developement the trolleybus became a comfortable, pnumatic-tyred, all enclosed double decker. London United Tramways ran expermental vehicles from 1922 before finaly taking the plunge and converting its tram routes in Kingston to trolleybus operation on 16th May 1931 to give London its first commercial trolleybus service.
When the London Passenger Transprt Board was set up in July 1933 to integrate London's public transport infrastructure much of the stock it inherited was in need of replacement, especialy the track systems of smaller tramway operators.
To qoute a contemporary 1930s book - "How It Works & How It's Done" - The cost to London Transport of maintaining pavings and foundations for tramway tracks amounts on average to £102 per tram per year. This charge ceases when trolleybuses are used. However, the licence duty on a tram is 15/- per year while that for a trolleybus is £103.
On the surface this seems to imply a loss of 5/- (25 pence) per trolleybus compared to trams. However while the largest operator of trams in London, the London County Council (LCC) being also the highway authority could easily fund the commitment to trams, many small operators had under invested for years leaving their tracks in such a condition that it would be cheaper to rip them up and convert to trollybuses. With no rails routes could be extended or diverted as required as long as the council could be persuaded to provide suitable lamp-posts to double as trolley-wire carriers.
The former London United Tramways Shepherd's Bush to Uxbridge route 7 was converted into trolleybus route 607 on 15th November 1936. The "Feltham" tramcars were still in good condition and saw further service in Brixton and Streatham before being sold on to Leeds. At Hanwell the old tram shed was demolished and replaced with a new depot to house the new fleet of trolleybuses.
From its inauguration the 607 was worked by jointly by Acton and Hanwell depots until 9th March 1937 when Hanwell provided the entire vehicle allocation for the remainder of the trolleybus years. Acton ran trolleybuses on other routes, but was closed as an operational depot on 12th September 1937 not to re-open until 26th May 1990. The intervening years spent as a stores, initially for the LPTB High Tension Mains Department and a convenient landmark for bus destination blinds.
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| Looking west from the scene of the 1901 tramway opening the structure of Southall Broadway is well established by 1960 | Undated photo of Shepherd's Bush. The infrastructure is unchanged but it takes careful observation to relate to the modern view | Also in 1960 colour photgraphy has come to Uxbridge and the Routemaster is not far behind |
©Ealing Public Libraries |
©N.Rayfield in aid of LCC Tramways Trust |
©London Transport Museum |
Hanwell and the 607 route became the mainly associated with the "F1" class of 100 Leyland chassis trolleybuses bodied by Metro Cammell between March and December 1937. Take a look at this selection of photographs taken by Geoff Bannister on 5th November 1960 featuring Hanwell's F1s. Some the last ever trolleybuses made for London Transport, the "Q1" class of British United Traction (BUT) chassis with 8ft Wide Metro Cammell bodies built between 1948 & 1952 saw service on 607. The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft have in their collection Q1 No. 1812 - HYM 812, which was the last 607 to run. Repatriated from her service in Spain she has been extensively restored and is running at the site on open days. Contact Sandtoft Transport Centre for full details.
A proposed depot at Uxbridge to house trolleybuses and Greenline coaches was unfortunately never built. Just imagine the chaos in later years, running red and green buses from the same garage !
The coming of Routemasters under the Trolleybus Replacement Programme is described in the next chapter.