Re: 50 years of Trolley Buses in Wellington NZ

[chris@icos.net.nz ("chris 'fufas' grace")]

Pete Humble wrote in message <3714b1d2.19745674@news.dircon.co.uk>...
>Quoth klabstep@my-dejanews.com  in misc.transport.urban-transit:
>
>>In article <36FC946F.522@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz>,
>>  David McLoughlin <davemcl@REMOVEiprolink.co.nz> wrote:
>>Shouldn't the trolley buses last alot longer?  I thought one of the
advantages
>>of the trolley bus is that is last longer than a diesel.   I assume that
the
>>fleet of Volvo-BBC are new and not rebodied.
>>>
>>> Operated by a fleet of 68 Volvo-BBC trolleys put into service from 1981
>>> to 1986 and now well overdue for replacement.
>>>
>I understood that the electrical equipment could be expected to last about
>30 years without major problems.  Two obvious ways forward present
>themselves here:
>1. Rebody the trolleybuses, but then they will still be high-floor.
>2. Build new low-floor vehicles, but using the traction equipment from the
>current fleet.


..Which is the reverse of what Doncaster (UK) did. They used their
trolleybus
bodies (which were, from memory, MCW Orions) and mounted them on new chassis
(Which were, also from memory, Daimlers). The bodies were only 5 years or so
old at the time.