London Trolleybuses Abroad
There are three pages to read first before viewing the pictures: [ Introduction | Spanish Listing | Feed Back from Site Visitors ] |
Prior to the closure
of the London trolleybus system, a few trolleybuses were purchased by overseas buyers, either as
revenue earning vehicles or for exhibits in museums. The PSV Circle's London Trolleybuses Fleet History records that a
five trolleybuses were despatched, in 1959, to George Town, Penang, Malaya. These were 'C1' class vehicles
numbered 138, 142, 148, 175 and 183 and had been withdrawn from London service in 1956.
Later, a Paris Museum acquired 'H1' class vehicle #796, which can still be seen at
AMTUIR, association pour le
Musée des transports urbains, interurbains et ruraux located at 60 avenue Sainte-Marie 94160, SAINT-MANDE.
A 'K2' class #1348 was also shipped to the
National Transport Museum at Howth Castle
Demesne, Howth, Co. Dublin. [The vehicle is currently stored securely with other vehicles at Castle Rudderey in Ireland.
Its current condition is poor; complete, but with superficial vandalism. Restoration plans hinging on moving the vehicle
to Sandtoft through a 12 year loan agreement. Please support the appeal for funds].
With the phased withdrawal of trolleybus routes, surplus older vehicles were quickly scrapped, but others were retained
to facilitate the sale to Spain of 125 of the most modern vehicles then in use. This was effectively the
whole of the 'Q1' class. Two of this class were not included in the sale, #1768 [used to populate the LT Museum] and #1841
[scrapped because of the presence of non-standard automatic acceleration equipment. The electrical equipment was presented
to the Imperial College Museum but subsequently handed over to the British Trolleybus Society and is now stored
at The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft].
A representative selection of pictures of these ex-London Trolleybuses operating in each of the Spanish systems are
shown on this WEB site. All of the pictures were taken by
Hugh Taylor and are reproduced by
permission. Few have caption information but this will be added as information comes to hand. Use the email link below
to write to me if you would like to add any background information you may have.
When ready, use the green panel on the left to
select the Spanish town of interest, but don't forget to read the feed back comments also. These can be found using
the menu at the top of this page or by clicking on this red square:
Click on any thumbnail for a larger image but wait until all thumbnails have downloaded