Chesterfield tramway

Chesterfield Corporation was nearly an early pioneer in the use of trolleybuses, in that the Chesterfield Corporation Railless Traction Act of 1913 allowed them to build five routes, which would have acted as extensions to the tramway. The routes radiated out from the town centre, and would have served Newbold to the north-west, Unstone to the north, Brimington to the north-east, Temple Normanton to the south-east and Clay Cross to the south. However, they did not proceed with the scheme, and it was not until the 1920s, when the tramway tracks needed serious maintenance, that consideration was again given to a trolleybus system. In 1926 an order for 14 vehicles was placed with Straker-Squire, whose products were marketed as Straker-Clough trolley omnibuses, and the bodywork was built by Reeve and Kenning, who were based in the nearby village of Pilsley. The first trolleybus arrived in Chesterfield on 21 April 1927, allowing trials to be carried out. Conversion of the overhead wiring on the Brampton section was completed on 23 May 1927, and trolleybuses began running in the evening. Conversion of the northern route to Whittington Moor then began, and was completed to allow the full service to begin on 27 September 1927, following an opening ceremony.[15] The trolleybus route followed the tram route, with the exception of a short section in the town centre, where a one-way system was introduced.[16]

A new depot was built at Thornfield, Stonegavels, consisting of a steel frame with corrugated iron cladding. It was 295 feet (90 m) by 150 feet (46 m), with a floor area of 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²). It could stable 100 vehicles, and was used by motorbuses as well as the trolleybuses. In order to access the building, trolleybuses travelled along Hardwick Street and entered from the back, allowing them to leave from the front when starting service.[17]

Within a month of the new service starting, the Corporation decided to extend the northern route from Whittington Moor to New Whittington, a distance of just over 2 miles (3.2 km). Trolleybuses began running to New Whittington on 29 July 1929. Two lowheight double deck trolleybuses were purchased in 1931, from Ransomes of Ipswich. The final expansion of the fleet took place in 1936, when three Karrier-Clough model E4 trolleybuses were bought second-hand from York, where the York trolleybus system had closed on 5 January 1935. They did not last long at Chesterfield, as the decision to replace the trolleybuses with motor buses was made in 1937. Reasons for the closure included the need for renewal of the overhead wiring, the cost of electricity, and the fact that extensions to the system were hampered by a number of low railway bridges. The system closed on 24 March 1938, when the final journey consisted of two single deck vehicles filled with councillors.[18] The unwanted vehicles were stored in a field at the side of the depot, where they remained until the summer, with no attempts being made to sell them. They were eventually sold to a scrapyard for £80.50.[19]

Cars 1 and 2 were fitted with Eade's trucks. These resulted in a lighter-weight tram, as they only required a staircase to reach the upper deck at the back end of the car. When the tram reached a terminus, the horses would move sideways, swinging the whole body around through 180 degrees on a central pivot, while the wheels remained stationary on the track.[20] The seats on the lower deck were arranged across the body of the tram, so that passengers faced forwards, but on the upper deck there was a central knifeboard seat, with passengers facing the sides of the vehicle.[21]

Tramcar No. 8 was sold when the system was electrified, and was used as a summer house until 1934. It was then obtained by the chairman of Chesterfield Corporation's transport sub-committee, and moved to the bus garage at Thornfield, where the Corporation Transport Department restored it. After a period in storage, it was given to the Science Museum, who displayed it between 1962 and 1970, before it spent another 15 years mostly in storage. In 1985, it was placed on loan to the National Tramway Museum by the Science Museum, and in 2016 ownership passed to the National Tramway Museum. It operated for a total of 10 seasons, covering a distance of 120 miles (190 km), but has been on display as a static exhibit at Crich since the end of the 1993 season.[22]

The first 12 trams bought for the opening of the system were built by Brush Electrical Engineering Company at Loughborough. They had seating for 22 passengers in the lower saloon and 34 on the top deck. Five additional trams and a water car had been acquired by 1914, but a fire broke out at the depot in the early morning on 20 October 1916, and many of the cars were damaged. Car 8 and one of the three cars bought in 1914 were sufficiently damaged that they were scrapped, but the rest were repaired. There is some evidence that two replacement vehicles were purchased in 1920, but few details survive. At around the same time, seven of the open-topped tramcars were fitted with top covers, converting them into balcony cars.[12] No. 17 was completely rebuilt after the fire, and No. 7 had a top cover fitted at that time. Dates for the rest are less certain, but by 1919 cars 6, 8, 11 and 12 had all been roofed with top covers.[10] The water car was a single deck vehicle, with the central section occupied by a 2,000-imperial-gallon (9,100 L) cylindrical water tank. This was used to spray the roads and tracks.[23]

Tramcar No. 7 was among the vehicles sold when the system closed in 1927, and became a holiday cottage at Two Dales in Derbyshire. By 1973 the cottage was semi-derelict, but was offered for sale, and was bought by the Tramway Museum Society, who transferred the remains to Crich for conservation. The car was restored between 1993 and 1996 at a cost of £120,000. It has operated on the line at Crich Tramway Village since 1997, covering a distance of 18,520 miles (29,810 km) by the end of the 2018 season. Because only the bodywork was sold, the tramcar currently has different electrical equipment to that originally fitted. It now runs on a Peckham P22 truck, rather than the original Brush, Lycett & Conaty radial truck, and is powered by two BTH 40 hp (30 kW) RGE20 motors, which are controlled by a Westinghouse T2C controller.[24]

Vehicles 18 to 20 had been built in 1931 for the York trolleybus system, and carried the numbers 30 to 32 before moving to Chesterfield.[25] In addition to its own fleet, the Chesterfield system played host to a number of visiting trolleybuses. The first was an English Electric single deck vehicle, registration number CK 3898, which covered 179 miles (288 km) in June 1928, before its delivery to Maidstone.[26] From August to October 1931, the prototype Leyland TDB1 double deck trolleybus was tested out in Chesterfield, covering nearly 5,000 miles (8,000 km). It looked like a motorbus, with a half cab and dummy radiator. Its registration number was OV 1175,[27] and it subsequently worked in Birmingham.[28] It was then fitted with a petrol engine, was re-registered as SV 6107, and was shipped to Jersey in 1934. At the end of its commercial service, it was preserved, and appears at rallies.[27] The next visitor was the prototype Leyland TBS1, registration number TJ 2822, a single deck vehicle which covered nearly 9,000 miles (14,000 km) between September and December 1933.[29] In December 1935, a Leyland TB10 demonstrator covered some 1,300 miles (2,100 km) on the system. It was a three-axle double deck vehicle, with front and rear entrances, a seating capacity of 63, and carried the registration number ATD 747.[30]