Christchurch trolleybus turntable

Last updated

Christchurch trolleybus turntable
Bournemouth trolleybus on turntable - geograph.org.uk - 1307459.jpg
The turntable on 5 April 1969, shortly before its closure.
England location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within England
General information
TypeTurntable
Location Christchurch, Hampshire
(now Dorset)
CountryEngland
Coordinates 50°43′59.6994″N1°46′33.24″W / 50.733249833°N 1.7759000°W / 50.733249833; -1.7759000 Coordinates: 50°43′59.6994″N1°46′33.24″W / 50.733249833°N 1.7759000°W / 50.733249833; -1.7759000
Inaugurated19 June 1936 (1936-06-19)
Client Bournemouth Corporation Transport

The Christchurch trolleybus turntable formed part of the Bournemouth trolleybus system, which served the town of Bournemouth and its environs, on the south coast of England. It is still in existence, and is now a Grade II listed building. [1]

Contents

History

Opened on 19 June 1936, [2] the turntable was used to turn around all Bournemouth trolleybuses terminating at Church Street, Christchurch, a borough and town adjoining Bournemouth in the east.

Manually operated, the turntable remained in use until the closure of the Bournemouth trolleybus system on 20 April 1969. [2] Cables leading from the overhead wires (positive and negative) to a pole-mounted switchbox near the entrance to the yard in which the turntable was situated are evidence that at one time power operation of the turntable was contemplated but there is no record that this was ever done.

Significance

The Christchurch turntable is said to be one of only five trolleybus turntables ever to have been constructed worldwide. Three other such turntables are the similarly abandoned Longwood trolleybus turntable, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England (in operation 1939–1940; demolished late 1980s), one at the former Isleworth London Transport Trolleybus depot, also demolished but can be seen on YouTube, and the Unterburg trolleybus turntable in Solingen, Germany (still in use for heritage trolleybus services). A fifth known trolleybus turntable was one used on the Guadalajara trolleybus system in Mexico in the 1980s, in a since-closed trolleybus-only tunnel in the city centre, on a temporary basis in 1982–1983 and again from 1985 until early 1988 (when the tunnel closed for the start of work to convert it for use by Guadalajara's light rail system). [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Bournemouth Town in England

Bournemouth is a coastal resort town on the south coast of England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest in the administrative county of Dorset. With Poole to the west and Christchurch in the east, Bournemouth is part of the South East Dorset conurbation, which has a population of 465,000.

Christchurch, Dorset Town in England

Christchurch is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town covers an area of 19.5 square miles (51 km2) and had a population of 48,368 in 2013. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part of the historic county of Hampshire, Christchurch was a borough within the administrative county of Dorset from 1974 until 2019, when it became part of the new Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority.

Bournemouth railway station

Bournemouth railway station is the main railway station serving the beach-side town of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It was previously known as Bournemouth East and then Bournemouth Central. It has long been treated as an obligatory stop on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is 108 miles 2 chains (173.8 km) down the main line from Waterloo and is situated between Pokesdown and Branksome.

History of Bournemouth

The History of Bournemouth and human settlement in the surrounding area goes back for thousands of years.

Car turntable

A car turntable or driveway turntable is a rotating platform designed for use by a car; they can be motorized or manually rotated and are usually installed in a driveway or in a garage floor. They rotate a motor vehicle to facilitate its easier or safer egress. Sometimes a local zoning prohibition of vehicles backing onto busy roadways prompts the installation of car turntables.

Trolleybuses in Glasgow

The Glasgow trolleybus system operated in the City of Glasgow, Scotland, between 1949 and 1967, with the network reaching its largest extent in 1959. It was the only British system to open after World War II.

Mexicana de Autobuses, S.A., or MASA, was a major bus and coach manufacturer located in Mexico. Formed in 1959, it was owned by the Mexican government until being privatized in 1988. It was the country's second-largest bus manufacturer when it was acquired by Volvo, in 1998, and renamed Volvo Buses de México, S.A.

Trolleybuses in Portsmouth

The Portsmouth trolleybus system once served the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Opened on 4 August 1934, it gradually replaced the Portsmouth tramway network; the last trams ran on 10 November 1936.

Trolleybuses in Belfast

The Belfast trolleybus system served the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the only trolleybus system built in Ireland. Opened on 28 March 1938, it gradually replaced the city’s tramway network.

Trolleybuses in Reading

The Reading trolleybus system served the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire and was owned by Reading Corporation, who had operated an electric tramway since 1901. As there was a need for major refurbishment of the tramway in the 1930s, they decided to replace it with a trolleybus network. The first route was converted on 18 July 1936, and by mid 1939, trolleybuses were running over most of the tramway routes, with the last tram running on 20 May. By the standards of the various now-defunct trolleybus systems in the United Kingdom, the Reading system was a moderately sized one, with a total of four routes, and a maximum fleet of 63 trolleybuses, a size that lasted from 1 December 1950 to 27 March 1952.

The Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire trolleybus system once linked the city of Nottingham, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, with Ripley, in the neighbouring county of Derbyshire. Opened on 7 January 1932, it replaced the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire tramway, between the same termini.

Trolleybuses in Bournemouth

The Bournemouth trolleybus system once served the town of Bournemouth, then in Hampshire, but now in Dorset, England. Opened on 13 May 1933, it gradually replaced the Bournemouth tramway network.

Trolleybuses in South Shields

The South Shields trolleybus system once served the town of South Shields, then in County Durham, but now in Tyne and Wear, England. Opened on 12 October 1936, it gradually replaced the South Shields Corporation Tramways.

Longwood trolleybus turntable

The Longwood trolleybus turntable formed part of the Huddersfield trolleybus system, which served the market town of Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire, England.

Bournemouth Corporation Tramways

Bournemouth Corporation Tramways served the town of Bournemouth in Dorset from 23 July 1902 until 8 April 1936.

Trolleybuses in Oldham

The Oldham trolleybus system once served the town of Oldham, then in Lancashire, but now in Greater Manchester, England.

Trolleybuses in Hartlepool

The Hartlepool trolleybus system once served the town of West Hartlepool, and linked it with the town of Hartlepool, in County Durham, England. The two towns have since been fused.

Grade II* listed buildings in Christchurch

There are over 20,000 Grade II* listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the district of Christchurch in Dorset.

Unterburg trolleybus turntable

The Unterburg trolleybus turntable is a disused turntable for trolleybuses in the Solingen district Burg an der Wupper. The facility was regularly used by trolleybus line 683, operated by the Stadtwerke Solingen (SWS), until 15 November 2009.

References

Notes

  1. "Grade II and II* listed buildings in Christchurch". Dorset For You. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 Joyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). British Trolleybus Systems, pp. 28–32, 159. London: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN   0-7110-1647-X.
  3. Morgan, Steve (September–October 1990). "Mexico Review: Part 1". Trolleybus Magazine No. 173, p. 104. ISSN   0266-7452.

Further reading