logo Reading Tour
8 October 1967
The vehicle used was London Trolleybus #260,
now preserved at the East Anglia Transport Museum

red line

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

R26
Picture R26
This is at Norcot Junction. 260 is facing east towards Reading town centre. There was an eastbound overtaking loop here [just ahead of 260] which was the only one on the system. A trolleybuses could overtake another without lowering the booms, should they become out of time sequence. Routes 17 [Tilehurst to Wokingham Road] and 18 [Armour Hill to Liverpool Road] joined at this point.
R30
Picture R30
260 pauses for photographs by Reading West Station rail bridge. It is heading east towards the town centre.

Frustratingly, none of the pictures taken that day of 260 includes a picture of a Reading trolleybus as well, just a bus in the background of this picture.
More Information
R31
Picture R31
This is Cemetery Junction, east Reading. This was a short turning point. Routes 17 [Tilehurst to Wokingham Road] and 18 [Armour Hill to Liverpool Road] diverged here. 260 is turning back to head west toward the town centre, as the frog handle is being pulled.
R32
Picture R32
260 is leaving Greyfriars Road, crossing Friar Street to enter West Street, in the town centre, heading south. Southbound overhead wiring was resited from Caversham Road [just out of the photo, to the left] to Greyfriars Road [pictured], when a new one way system was introduced.
R33
Picture R33
Unfortunately this picture is out of focus but is included here because of its historical interest. The special tour is returning from Tilehurst and was next to traverse the route to Armour Hill.

With no regular direct route between these two locations, and therefore no overhead wiring for a left turn at this junction, 260 is coasting around the corner with booms lowered. Picture R35 shows the re-establishment of power following this exceptional manoeuvre.
R35
Picture R35
This, again, is Norcot junction [as photograph R26] but 260 is facing the opposite direction. Route 17 to Tilehurst was up the hill [where the queue of cars await for the 260s trolley booms to be raised] and route 18 to Armour Hill is in the direction that 260 is facing.

Locations that had one-way wiring was the area between Reading Stations and West Street [see Picture R31] and at the terminus of the Liverpool Road service. As there was no suitable area for a turning circle, the trolleybuses turned round by a left turn from London Road and then three right turns, in narrow side roads [one being Liverpool Road] to bring the vehicle back to London Road, facing the opposite direction.

All of the areas shown in the photographs, apart from the Reading West rail bridge, would be completely unrecognisable today. Even at the Greyfriars Road/Friar Street junction, the traffic now flows in completely the opposite direction!

Acknowledgements to "David Bryant" <biker@bryant58.freeserve.co.uk>,
"Stephen Taylor" <stephen@merton33.freeserve.co.uk> and "davehall1" <wiltshireman@aol.com>
for caption information on this page.