Graham Donaldson (JRGS 1962-69) reports on Sixties transport in Croydon...
The continuing in-home quarantine - no going out apart from food shopping (if you can find any left) - has given me the opportunity to have a grand tidy up, which has unearthed a few gems. I include here extracts from leaflets produced by London Transport for the conversion of Croydon's two trolleybus routes - 654 and 630 to motorbus operation; these documents must be quite rare now. Click on any thumbnail to view a larger image.
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Front cover of March 1959 leaflet |
Page 2 of March 1959 leaflet |
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Front cover of July 1960 leaflet |
Page 2 of July 1960 leaflet |
As recounted in my
Croydon Routemaster book,
Route 64 was unusual in
that it featured in both trolleybus conversions. The first extension,
via Norwood Junction to Elmers End Garage (peak journeys to Eden Park),
was probably unnecessary and only lasted three months. I suspect
(although I have no proof) that it only happened because the bus planners
thought the trolleybuses were the usual 70-seaters, whereas they only
seated 60 because of safety concerns regarding longer and heavier
vehicles on Anerley Hill. Surplus RTs were used in
this conversion because Routemaster/RM production had yet to get under way.
Route 64 was extended a second time to supplement the new
Route 220 across
Mitcham Common, initially to Wimbledon Stadium (which trolleybus blinds
always described as summerstown).
But, again this did not last long and
the route was cut back to Tooting Broadway. The additional buses needed
were Routemasters allocated to Elmers End garage, but Croydon continued
with RTs for some years to come.
Although as a child I frequently encountered the 654 - we initially
lived with my paternal grandparents who had quite a big house in South
Norwood - I can only recall one ride on a 630 to Mitcham Fair. But I
often saw them turning at
West Croydon, it was not unusual for a dewirement to occur because the circle was fairly tight. Drivers had to
be very careful to describe an arc wider than that of the wiring -
otherwise the tension would cause one or both poles to fly off! Then, a
long bamboo pole would be retrieved from under the vehicle to hook them
back on again. I tried it once at Sandtoft working trolleybus museum,
near Doncaster, and it's not easy.
I guess the current Social Distancing will also mean no Ruskin
Centenary Event in June after all. Worrying times.
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Graham Donaldson, South Croydon, Surrey; March 2020 Email
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