David Bradley Online - Brighton Trolleybus Picture Gallery

Brighton Logo
Brighton Picture Gallery
Trolleybus services introduced on 1 May 1939 - Ceased on 30 June 1961
History

Sadly a considerable number of slides taken of this coastal trolleybus system have deteriorated so much over the forty years of storage that only a small selection of pictures are considered worthy of display. All of the remaining pictures have had some electronic restoration, with quite acceptable results being obtained from some, while others are all but 'lost' forever. Because of their historical interest they are presented here.

The logo presented above is from the near side of FUF 63 while at Old Steine and was supplied by Andrew Henbest. The picture is representative of the actual colour scheme used on trolleybuses but the true colours can only be appreciated from the original photograph. The computer version produced here has reproduced a slightly darker red background. Only Brighton Corporation trolleybuses carried the Borough coat of arms - the eleven Brighton, Hove and District trolleybuses just carried the logo.

Click on any thumbnail for a larger image but wait until all thumbnails have downloaded

Picture 362 Taken at the roundabout that used to exist in Stanford Avenue at the junction with Beaconsfield Villas and Beaconsfield Road. The latter two roads were served by trolleybus services 46/46A.	Picture 363 Taken in Carden Avenue on trolleybus service 46. This road was Brighton's final route extension to Hollingbury, opened on 12th August, 1951. The last three traction poles from the trolleybus era remained until the Spring of 2003 a little further up the road from where this photograph was taken
A question asked. Did the trolleybus in picture 363 above just pass another trolley before the photograph was taken? It seems as if there is a trolley boom about to be rewired in the background. If this is so, why did a trolleybus overtake here; it is not the terminus! My answer: It certainly looks like a dewired trolley boom in the background but it is extremely unlikely that an unusual photographic opportunity would have been ignored - just not in my nature. I have no memory of taking the picture but I was certainly there - my scoter can be seen in the [unpublished] untrimmed picture.
Picture 364 Taken in Carden Hill on trolleybus service 26.	Picture 365 Taken in Ditchling Road on services 26/26A just before descending the steep hill to the Open Market. The tram shelter, just visible in the right background, is still there [April, 2000], and has recently had a repaint and looks in good order. More Information.
Picture MPM1 FUF1 with last day headboard Memories of last trolleybus day.	Picture MPM2 Close up of last day headboard This row of pictures from Martin Nimmo
Picture GB33 Old Steine - 3/7/1960 © Geoff Bannister	Routes 26A & 46A were circular services from the Aquarium [Old Steine] to Preston Drove. Route 26A was used in both directions on the eastern half of the route on Ditchling Road, while 46A was used in both directions on the western half on London Road and Beaconsfield Villas - the numbers were changed at Preston Drove, so that a 26A became a 46A and vice versa.

Some pictures have been digitally enhanced by Alan D'Aiello Jr. [adaiello@etal.uri.edu].
For more information see the "Image Issues" page.

Picture 366 Brighton Corporation trolleybuses 1 and 23 [FUF 1 and FUF23] at the Aquarium, Old Steine Terminus. This was the terminus for most of Brighton trolleybus services. Memories of the trams in the early 1930s.	Picture A07 Taken at the former Aquarium Terminus at the height of the weekday evening rush hour in February 2002. More pictures of Brighton's public transport can be seen on the John King Guest Gallery page.
Picture 368 This shows a Brighton Corporation trolleybus in Old Steine crossing St James's Street on its way to the Aquarium Terminus about a hundred yards ahead. This vehicle is almost certainly 36 [FUF 36] which was Brighton's last public service trolleybus, arriving at the Lewes Road Garage ahead of 34 which was privately hired and 1 - the last trolleybus of all.	Picture 367 This shows a 1939 Brighton Corporation trolleybus approaching the Aquarium Terminus in Old Steine a few yards ahead. It is seen on the one-way terminal loop around the gardens which had three sets of parallel wiring from about this point.
From: "Imagine IT" <info@imagine-it.co.uk> I noticed that pictures 366, 367 and 368, had no restorations submitted so thought I'd have a go. These are just five minute tries but may make it possible for people to pick out more detail and add information for you. No.366 was too far gone for colour restoration so I have converted it to a black and white picture.

The next group of pictures were taken by Terry Russell

Picture B1 Taken at the Aquarium, Old Steine terminus. FUF 27 and FUF 33 are two of the original AEC 661T Brighton Corporation trolleybuses dating from 1938-9. Services 26A and 46A were "inner circular" services to Preston Drove - the 26A served Ditchling Road whereas the 46A served London Road and Beaconsfield Villas.
Picture B2 Taken at the Aquarium, Old Steine terminus on the last evening of trolleybus operation in Brighton. FUF 1 is seen bearing "1939 Brighton Trolley Buses 1961" on its offside and its commemorative board at the front - see Picture MPM2 above. Note the Southdown Leyland PD3 about to overtake on the nearside.		Picture B9 Taken at the Aquarium, Old Steine terminus, FUF 43 awaits its departure time. This was the terminus for most of Brighton's trolleybus routes.
Picture B10 General view of the Aquarium [Old Steine] terminus - there was always plenty of trolleybus activity here. The Aquarium was about a hundred yards away nearer the Palace Pier; being originally a Corporation enterprise, the authority did not hesitate to advertise it by using the name on its destination blinds, as it had on the trams before. There were three lines of trolleybus wires going clockwise round the island, the 26 and 26A taking the innermost, then the 46 and 46A, and the 41, 42, 43A and 48 the outermost.
Picture B8 Preston Circus. Terry Russell has made an "about turn" from picture B3 to take this fine shot of 43 [FUF43] on Service 46 closely followed by 1 [FUF 1] on Service 46A. 43 is passing the brick-built Fire Station and 1 is approaching the Duke of York's cinema, both still part of the Brighton scene in 2003. The viaduct in the background which the trolleybuses have just passed under carries the railway from Brighton to Lewes, Newhaven, Seaford, Eastbourne and Hastings. Trolleybuses on Services 42 [Brighton Station, Seven Dials, Preston Circus, Elm Grove, Queen's Park Road, Old Steine, Brighton Station circular] and 44 [Seven Dials, Preston Circus, Elm Grove, Race Hill and Black Rock] crossed the 46 / 46A at Preston Circus until they were withdrawn after 24th. March, 1959 and the wiring removed. To the left of the picture is Beaconsfield Road/Villas which stretches in a straight line under the Viaduct to Preston Drove. The overhead for routes 42 and 44 crossing between New England Road [out of shot left] and Viaduct Road [right] seen to have been removed by this stage.			Picture B11 FUF 1 passes the Fire Station at Preston Circus on Service 46A on its way to the Aquarium, Old Steine terminus. The rose set into the Fire Station wall to carry the overhead wiring is still visible in 2003.
Picture B3 FUF 6 is seen heading north in London Road towards the Preston Circus roundabout. Note the semaphore indicator, backed up by the driver's hand signal to turn to the right here. By this stage the curve to New England Road had been removed [route 40A - rarely operated post-War].	Picture B7 FUF 17 is seen silently ascending the steep Braybon Avenue. This section from the Hollingbury terminus to Preston Drove was the final extension to the Brighton network, opening to trolleybuses on 12th. August, 1951. Today's buses [route 5B] make a lot of noise ascending this section! Then and Now.	Picture B5 Descending Braybon Avenue is FUF 38 on Service 46 to Hollingbury. Although still a good mile from the terminus, the conductor has changed the rear blind to show the inward journey on route 26.	Picture B13 Taken in Braybon Avenue on Service 46, #35 [FUF 35] speeds on to the Hollingbury terminus under bracket arm overhead suspension - a feature of this part of the route. The location is almost identical to that of pictures B5 and B7. Then and Now.
Pictures B4 and B6 Hollingbury [Carden Avenue] Terminus. Then and Now.		Picture B12 The depot in Lewes Road, the former Tram Depot and latterly one of the Bus depots. More Information.

Acknowledgements to "Peter Golds" <PSGolds@aol.com>, "Martin Snow" <martin@snowing.co.uk and
"Andrew Henbest" <andelin.mch@virgin.net> for caption and routing information.

A few Brighton trolleybus pictures can be found on Dewi's WEB site.
Click on his logo for a sample picture.

The Preserved Scene for Brighton Trolleybuses

Owner	Generally found at:	No.	Registration	Picture
Science Museum Information from the British Trolleybus Database site	The picture of this trolleybus was taken by Geoff Bannister at Clapham Museum on 7 May 1961 More Information and Memories	6340	CPM 61
London Trolleybus Preservation Society	Brighton trolleybus #52 survives, disguised as Maidstone #52.	52	LCD 52