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1919 - the first Trolley-buses

The system opened in November 1919
These, amongst the first Trolley Buses to be built anywhere, were built by the Cleveland Car Company of Darlington, to a design of the Leeds based Railless Compny.
They had English Electric running components and of course had solid tyres until replaced by pneumatics in 1928

Three of the original vehicles line up in 1919

A Petrol-Electric hybrid

The Petrol Electric

The section of the route, from Normanby Road to Eston was opened in 1924 – hybrid petrol electric was initially used for the service.

This vehicle was built by Straker-Clough and remained a unique vehicle as far s the United Kingdom was concerned. It had a petrol driven dynamo which drove the traction motors when power was not available from the overhead wiring.

The troilley pole is offered up to the wires ready for deprture on the electrified section at Normanby, 1924

The second batch, 1920's

Traffic soon built up resulting in a shortage of buses.
Six second hand vehicles were purchased from Rhonda Tramways Co. but the need ws felt for more new trolleys and so six were purchased from Straker-Clough in 1922. They had 36 seat, front entrance, single deck bodies

AJ8610 was No. 21 in the numbering sequence. They were good vehicles and lasted fourteen years till 1936

The 1930's New Ransomes

New single deck vehicles were purchased in 1932 to replace the original Cleveland Car Co. vehicles
These were manufactured by Ransoms, Simms and Jeffries who built the whole vehicle including the bodies The layout was quite unlike contemporary motor buses, in that they had an open rear platform withtwo steps up into the saloon.Most lasted till replaced at the end of the war

VN3753 was No. 3 in the T.R.T.B. fleet and was disposed of in 1950. It finished it's days as a mobile site office with the Gas Board
The livery was dark grean with a silver roof and a single, wide, cream band; they were handsome vehicles

1940's austerity was necessary

The 1940's was a period of austerity because of shortages of men and meterials, during the Second World War.

Many factories turned over to military vehicle and equipment manufacturing and the Government licenced very few vehicle manufacturers to build chassis and bodies in a controlled program. Only one single deck vehicle was obtained in 1942 and in 1944, sanction was given for the supply of five double deck vehicles, the first Trolley Buses of the type in the fleet.

Sunbeam were the suppliers and the original bodies were built by either Weymans or Chas. Roe. They were constructed in the simplest manner, roof domes were straight cut and external ribbing could be seen on the roofs. Seating was very basic.

CPY310 (Fleet No.12) was one of the batch with a high-bridge 56 seater Roe body. It was rebuilt in in 1959 and eventually scrapped by Teesside Municipal Transport in 1969

The1950s East Lancs bodied GAJ series

Seven new double-deck vehicles were purchased in 1950
They had Bridlington built East Lancs 56 bodies and lasted quite a long time, being eventually re-bodied by Chas Roe in the early 1960s. They lasted until T.M.T. days and were finally withdrawn in 1970.

GAJ11, No. 7, is seen when new in the early 50s with its original body

The 1960s re-building of the Sunbeams

The Bridlington built East Lancss bodies of No. 1-7 were replaced in the mid sixties
By 1963, trouble was being experienced with the bodies of Sunbeams GAJ 11-17(No. 1-7). A decision was taken to rebody them and Chas. Roe of Leeds were given the contract, the result was a much more modern looking vehicle

GAJ12 is seen here travelling along Cargo Fleet Lane, probably in 1965. It is approaching the Depot, the overhead wires of the junction to the depot are seen in detail.

South Bank Depot

The maintenance depot was at South Bank
It was a four bay shed which doubled as a maintenance depot and storage facility. There was an extensive yard outside with one lane for Trolleys and hard standing for the numerous motor-buses that were operated.
The trolleys arrived at the depot and turned on the circle, facing Southbank, they were then reversed into the relevant bay and the poles disconected from the power scource

Stabled warm and dry, CPY310 waits for it's duty

More Trolley pictures

There are more images of Teesside Railless Traction Board scenes on the 'Remembering Southbank' site

Click the link below to view but don't forget to come back to The 500 Group site

The South Bank Nostalgia Society

The early motor buses

In 1926 and 1927, T.R.T.B. introduced motor buses
The second bus to be purchased was this A.D.C. PY7266, it was a single deck bus fitted with a Roe twenty six seat, front entrance body. It was numer 24 in the fleet

Seen in company with Daimler PY5573, the A.D.C. waits for its passengers in Middlesbrough

A 1930 single decker - VN1962

BVN1962 was new in 1930 and at the time was the highest capacity bus that the Board had purchased to date. It was numbered 25 and was a Leyland LT2.
The body was also built by Leyland and was a thirty five seater. It lasted in service until 1945 and was then converted to a tower wagon for maintaining the overhead wiring, finally being withdrawn in 1958

The first double deck buses - 1940

The first double deck buses were obtained in 1940
There was a need for higher capacity buses in the early days of the second world war and so a pair of Leyland TD7,s were obtained, they had Roe H31/25R bodies and gave good service until being scrapped locally in 1958.
They were registered BVN233/234 and bore fleet numbers 26 and 27

A wartime double deck bus

CAJ805 was fleet number 29 and was a wartime Daimler CWA6
Buses were allocated by the Ministry of Supply during this period and only four chassis manufacturers were allowed to produce and only a handful of body builders built relatively simple and economic designs. The angular lines were typical of buses supplied under these rules, it was by Brush and was 56 seater Lowbridge type

45 DVNs

more buses

49 FAJs

dds

1957 - Single Deck Coaches

Teesside Railless Traction Board ventured into coach operations in 1957. They purchased two Leyland Tiger Cubs, they had two speed rear axles. The pair were fitted with rather attractive Roe Dalesman bodies. They were 41 seaters with central entrances and were finished in a very attractive colour scheme of cream and green.

PVN50 (Fleet No. 50)is seen in the South Bank depot yard.

58 SVN

more deckers

61 Yajs

The 1965 Leyland L1s

T.R.T.B. bought four single deck buses for the services to the new estates to the south of Normandy and Eston in 1965
They were very good looking buses with forty-five seat Roe bodies mounted on Leyland L1 chassis. They were allocated fleet No. 32-35 and Registration Numbers CAJ432-435C They suited the T.R.T.B. green livery well and lasted until Transit days, with the exception of No. 34 which was written off in an accident in 1975
CAJ435C works a service to Normanby through Eston in 1966

Mid 50's and 60's Leyland PD2's

T.R.T.B. had standardized on the Leyland PD2’s throughout the 1950’s and 60’s and bought thirty-two of them over the two decades.
The 1966 batch were numbered 36-39 (FVN36-39D) and their Roe bodies were distinguishable by having a "St Helen's front" grill covering the radiator and having Cave-Brown-Cave heating fitted. They were Highbridge 61 seaters
FVN38D was one of the last buses to be delivered in the old T.R.T.B. green. The next batch were delivered in Teesside Turquise with Teesside Transport Fleetnames

The final batch of T.R.T.B. double deckers - 1968

The final double deck buses that were purchased by T.R.T.B. before their assimilation into Teesside Municipal Transport were a batch of six Leyland Atlanteans delivered in February and March 1968.
They were numbered 44-49 (MVN44-49F) and seventy-five seat Roe bodies with front entrance and panoramic windows. They arrived without fleet names and were painted in T.M.T. turquoise with a single cream band.
N. 46 shows off its new colours in the South Bank yard in 1968.

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