Wolverhampton CT 410, Wednesfield, 1961
A well composed photograph of Wolverhampton Corporation trolleybus 410 passing St Thomas's Church on Wednesfield High Street in 1961. With probably less than a mile to go, the trolleybus is bound for its terminal point on the Lichfield Road opposite 'The Albion' Inn. The Albion pub has since been renamed 'The Lancaster'. This was in memory of the seven service men who lost their lives when the Lancaster bomber they were flying crashed into fields nearby, the tragedy occurring just a few days after WW2 had ended.
The other trolleybus in the picture is 469 (FJW469), which is also working the 59 service. 469 is on the inward bound journey to Wolverhampton, and looks particular clean having been recently repainted in the May of 1961.
The 59 trolleybus service
The 59 trolleybus route ran between Thornley Street in Wolverhampton to the borough boundary on the A4124 Lichfield Road A4124. En route, the 59 served Heath Town, Wednesfield (High Street) and Woodend. The daytime service was frequent with a trolleybus scheduled for every 4-minutes during peak periods (1959 timetable). The route was served by trolleybuses until Sunday 03rd November 1963, when trolleybus operations on this route ended. The following day, the trolleybuses were replaced with high-capacity 72-seater Guy Arab motor buses. The new motor buses were operated on a lesser frequency with a bus every 6-minutes at peak times. This meant that fewer buses were required to run the service, with the associated savings in bus crews and operating costs.
410 - DJW940
Trolleybus 410 was a 1945 built Sunbeam W, part of a batch of a buses of delivered between 1944 and 1945. Numbered 402 to 418, all carried Park Royal 56-seat bodywork built to strict wartime specification. While the Sunbeam chassis was rugged and well engineered, the austerity bus bodies fitted to them were constructed from substandard materials and were not durable in the longer term. In 1951, the decision was taken to replace the bodies on these wartime buses with new Park Royal 54-seater bus bodies. Between August 1951 and May 1952, 402 to 417 were taken out of service a few at a time and re-bodied; 410 re-entered service with its new body in April 1952. For reasons I do not know, trolleybus 418 was not re-bodied until 1959, and was instead fitted with a Charles H Roe built bus body, along with trolleybuses 419-455.
In late June 1964, 410 became a 'driving trainer' bus and by that time was based at Cleveland Road Depot, where it remained in use until late July 1965. Its demise likely came as a result of the coming abandonment of the Wolverhampton - Bilston - Darlaston, and Wolverhampton to Walsall trolleybus services, and the reduction in training new trolleybus drivers.
Surplus to requirements, 410 along with other redundant trolleybuses were stored until sold for scrap in November 1965. Most of these trolleybuses were sold to scrap dealer W. Gammell of Dudley Fields, but 410 was disposed of to Ferromet (scrap metal merchants) on the Bilston Road for breaking.
Wolverhampton CT 410, Wednesfield, 1961
A well composed photograph of Wolverhampton Corporation trolleybus 410 passing St Thomas's Church on Wednesfield High Street in 1961. With probably less than a mile to go, the trolleybus is bound for its terminal point on the Lichfield Road opposite 'The Albion' Inn. The Albion pub has since been renamed 'The Lancaster'. This was in memory of the seven service men who lost their lives when the Lancaster bomber they were flying crashed into fields nearby, the tragedy occurring just a few days after WW2 had ended.
The other trolleybus in the picture is 469 (FJW469), which is also working the 59 service. 469 is on the inward bound journey to Wolverhampton, and looks particular clean having been recently repainted in the May of 1961.
The 59 trolleybus service
The 59 trolleybus route ran between Thornley Street in Wolverhampton to the borough boundary on the A4124 Lichfield Road A4124. En route, the 59 served Heath Town, Wednesfield (High Street) and Woodend. The daytime service was frequent with a trolleybus scheduled for every 4-minutes during peak periods (1959 timetable). The route was served by trolleybuses until Sunday 03rd November 1963, when trolleybus operations on this route ended. The following day, the trolleybuses were replaced with high-capacity 72-seater Guy Arab motor buses. The new motor buses were operated on a lesser frequency with a bus every 6-minutes at peak times. This meant that fewer buses were required to run the service, with the associated savings in bus crews and operating costs.
410 - DJW940
Trolleybus 410 was a 1945 built Sunbeam W, part of a batch of a buses of delivered between 1944 and 1945. Numbered 402 to 418, all carried Park Royal 56-seat bodywork built to strict wartime specification. While the Sunbeam chassis was rugged and well engineered, the austerity bus bodies fitted to them were constructed from substandard materials and were not durable in the longer term. In 1951, the decision was taken to replace the bodies on these wartime buses with new Park Royal 54-seater bus bodies. Between August 1951 and May 1952, 402 to 417 were taken out of service a few at a time and re-bodied; 410 re-entered service with its new body in April 1952. For reasons I do not know, trolleybus 418 was not re-bodied until 1959, and was instead fitted with a Charles H Roe built bus body, along with trolleybuses 419-455.
In late June 1964, 410 became a 'driving trainer' bus and by that time was based at Cleveland Road Depot, where it remained in use until late July 1965. Its demise likely came as a result of the coming abandonment of the Wolverhampton - Bilston - Darlaston, and Wolverhampton to Walsall trolleybus services, and the reduction in training new trolleybus drivers.
Surplus to requirements, 410 along with other redundant trolleybuses were stored until sold for scrap in November 1965. Most of these trolleybuses were sold to scrap dealer W. Gammell of Dudley Fields, but 410 was disposed of to Ferromet (scrap metal merchants) on the Bilston Road for breaking.