Derby Trolley Bus footage from the late 1960s

[Razzaq406]

My god how they go real fast?

[slotter127]

I remember riding on these in the early sixties particularly on what was known as Cemetery Hill, Nottingham Rd heading towards Chaddesden, in icy conditions they struggled to gain traction. The experience inside was almost silence apart from the clicking as the speed was increased, in the event of a decoupling from the power lines a long bamboo pole was stored in a tube at the back of the bus for the crew to reconnect to the lines.

[JeanWinchester]

I'm astonished at the bad driving! Tail-gating, speeding and cutting dangerously in. And I thought that was only something which happened nowadays! Good film. Thanks. I want to know how much a bus weighed. Anybody know?

[Isochest]

This electric system is a good system and should be used for all city buses in my view

[Arabary]

Andy your videos are fantastic thank you for your time and effort

[prideparkheroes]

my old house is on here,brilliant!!!

[shellyfen]

Well i say how many white folks did i see in normanton bring back those days lol

[MrTonyozzie]

I remember them from when I was a kid. We used to get the 88 I think to Sinfin and the adult fare was 10d (that's less than 5p in todays money.

We used to catch it at the Market Place in the town centre.

[lillabethsmum]

Thanks for posting, was great fun spotting the streets!

[Mr5forfighting]

My dad remembers them, he is 80 and now lives in Spondon after living in the States for almost 40 years. He used to live in the West End as a young man on Lodge Lane. We emigrated to the States as a family when I was young, have been back to visit many times, great video!!!

[23929500]

Unfortunately, ours last ran in 1958 !

[Georgiahulse]

It's also unbelievable how many Ford Anglia 123Es there were in Derby at the time! Noticeable of course, by the sloping back window.

[burooo]

great video.i'm an ex-pat living in vancouver canada and drive trolleys,a little different from these but the principal is the same.

[ChrisCooper312]

Definitly recognised the Mackworth Estate. Was up there a few weeks ago sampling the new Optare Solos (for the benefit of a friend, give me something decent any day) running on what must be the same route as the Trolleybuses.

[Aydosh1991]

at 4.36 this looks like London Road in Alvaston.

I can remember taking the 41 to "Town" as a young boy and enjoying the quaint trolley bus ride. It was a sad day when the trolley busses were scrapped. But can you guess my surprise when I came across trolley busses in Ankara Turkey in the early 1980's, they were single-decker versions and very delapidated at the time, they too have now been scrapped.

[Rentaghost76]

Why on earth were these scrapped?! Less noise, pollution and yet somehow quite quirky! Typically British, one might say...

Bring 'em back!

[TheCase4Utube]

bring them back - less noise and pollution in cities.

[twocky61]

Thanks for this footage! Though not from Derby myself I found it similar to the trolley buses in Bournemouth!

[Haydz01]

how do these buses work? if the driver turns too far away from the over head cables wll the panto dettach then they have to re attach it? im not sure how this works.. if its how i say the driver needs skill..

[comedyhunter]

Yes, basically your power is from the overhead cables so you MUST drive under them so that you keep moving. I think you have a quite a bit of room for moving as you can see by the length of the pickups. these used to become detached from the overhead cables sometime and had to be reconnected with long poles.

[Haydz01]

yeah my grandmother was trying to explain it to me she was a ticket person on buses in thr 50s when still in england and said how there were these electric ones or they were getting these electric ones. very interesting thanks

[chefbeefy]

im also fom Derby and can clearly recognise the mackworth estate, great footage...

[dee08877]

Im from Derby :D am glad you uploaded this..but i cant recognise any of the places!

[gjrmorris]

Great footage but awful music.

[comedyhunter]

Yes, the music is as-is from the recording.

[MikeyManchester]

Yeah I bet they were much better than the poor excuse we have these days known as Arriva Derby

[v6200man]

great to see the Derby trolleys come alive again. I rode on them all morning on the last day, Sat. 9 Sept. 1967 and took photos all afternoon! Happy Days, Tony

[chandlerbingbong]

the streets certainly looked a lot cleaner back then.

[CULAVE]

Merry Christmas to the people of Derby. Thankyou for the video.

[JamesMorganLondon]

This is one of the best videos I've seen on YouTube. I also loved the 1960s cars in the background; I remember them from my childhood. I saw a Derby trolleybus last weekend at Sandtoft Museum and have uploaded a video of it which you can watch if you are interested.

[Deho0]

I have to say , when i was looking for trollys dressed up as busses smashing into each other , but got a surprise , im not to fond of "buses"

[nickladey]

hi love the vido i love trolley buses we had them in hull until 19-64 i was 8 years old but remember them with fondness have put some photose of hull trolley buses on you tube thanks for puting it on dont know if youve been to trolley museam at sandtoft wellworth a visit and relive those bygone days yours nicholas cox hull

[supertedworth]

00:34 is the A52 going from Mackworth direction towards the Marketon round-a-bout.

[mazmik]

Great to see how my home town used to look. i have heard many stories of the old trolly buses but i couldn't visualise them properly untill seeing your film ... thankyou for posting it.

p.s. what was this footage shot on, super 8 cine film perhaps?

[nickladey]

i think it was taken on standerd 8 cine film i still use cine allthough i have camcorda cine films are 3 minits oor 50ft yours nick cox hull

[PeoplesPalace]

Great stuff. 01.25 is somewhere around the top of Normanton Road where it joins Mill Hill Lane and then Burton Road - I recognise the church.

[Monklady]

Excellent. I'm sure many of us remember the bus stopping, the man leaping out and probing in the air to reinstate the connections.

I recall as a child seeing the last bus in Derby market place. It was covered in balloons and a boy sat on his Dads knee in the drivers seat. Years later, I met that boy - he bought the bus and still owns it 30 years later!

[trolleyboy278]

I recognised Dave Spencer's voice ( PMP video ) great commentary detailing the growth of the Derby tram and trolleybus system ( s )

[StephenHP62]

What a superb compilation of old films of Derby buses. If anyone has similar footage of Liverpool buses, please post it!

[davemahenus]

absolutly brilliant thanks for posting.

[felixcatfever]

The good old Green and cream buses. Do you remember the signs that said "No Spitting" on every bus?

[ewartchain]

This video is great and I recognize many of the locations. Any thoughts about having a second version with the voice over describing the location in each scene?

I am sure this would interest many people.

Ken Tipping

[dicivi]

Thank you for sharing this Andy, it was fun travelling along the Wardwick again. Do you remember the wooden seats that were installed during the war? Darwin, Canada

[oldagetraveller]

Thanks for posting this video. I was an apprentice at Rolls-Royce and living in Derby in the years it was made and it brought back some good memories.