Bloemfontein trolleybus
The Bloemfontein trolleybus was the trolleybus system of the city of Bloemfontein in South Africa , which existed from 1915 to 1937. The responsible transport company was the Bloemfontein Municipal Tramways Department .
history
prehistory
In 1912 a public meeting of taxpayers was called to discuss building a trolleybus system. The subject of the meeting was a permit, requested by the city council, to issue a loan of £ 80,000 to cover the cost of the twelve mile system. Initially only £ 31,000 was to be raised, which would have been used to build a four-mile line to Tempe. The remainder of the bond would not be subscribed until the city council decided to build the remaining lines. Because the greater part of the city would not have benefited from the trolleybus with this approach, the mayor took the floor and pleaded for the construction of the entire system from the start. After heated discussions, the assembly passed 131 to 18 votes to build the entire system.
Start of operations
The trolleybus system was opened on December 16, 1915, and regular operations began in January 1916. Initially nine cars, according to other information ten cars, operated by Railless Electric Traction Company , which were supplemented by three more cars in 1922 and 1928.
vehicles
The first delivery were single-story two-axle vehicles with 28 seats, which soon began to have cracks in the structure due to the poor roads.
The second delivery includes three cars with 29 seats each. The chassis was built by Shorts Brothers on behalf of Railless Ltd. built. The vehicles had two 20 hp traction motors that drove the rear axle via cardan shafts. The structure with a lantern roof came from Charles H. Roe and consisted of a termite- resistant teak frame that was planked with plywood . Before the cars were delivered to South Africa, they took a test drive in Leeds .
The third delivery comprised three cars with 35 seats from Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies from Ipswich , the body of which was painted with nitrocellulose paint.
| Years of construction | Manufacturer chassis | Manufacturer body | number |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | RET Construction Co. | RET Construction Co. | 9 or 10 |
| 1922 | Shorts Brothers on behalf of Railless Ltd. | Charles H. Roe | 3 |
| 1928 | Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies | 3 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Railless traction — the "trolley bus" . In: Examiner . Launceston, Tas. October 19, 1912, p. 9 ( online [accessed November 22, 2015]).
- ↑ a b c d The latest in trolley-buses. In: The Commercial Motor Archive. January 24, 1922, accessed November 21, 2015 .
- ↑ a b miscellanea - Trackless Electric Tram Cars for Bloemfontein . In: The Engineer . February 3, 1928, p. 129 ( online ).
- ^ Wheels of industry. In: The Commercial Motor Archive. October 25, 1927, accessed November 22, 2015 .