Tees-Side Railless Traction Board

Tees-side Railless Traction Board

1919 - 1968

Information desk

History tour

	No. 3, one of the 1919 trolley buses
	No.20, A Straker-Clough of 1922
	The unique 1924 Tilling Stevens, petrol electric, used where there were no wires
	The first single deck motor bus was a Daimler, of 1923
	This 1930 Leyland Lion was No. 25
	They are putting this 1945 Sunbeam back on the wires
	1950 Sunbeam/East Lancs, No. 3
	This 1940 Leyland Tower Waggon was used to repair the overhead
	A 1950s Leyland
	This1965 Leyland was a handsome bus
	No. 50, a Leyland, Roe Dalesman coach
	No. 38 was one of the last batch of Leyland front engined buses

From the very first years of the 20th Century, there were several plans to create a tramway system from North Ormesby to Grangetown via South Bank. Imperial Tramways was made one such proposal, but this, together with others, came to nothing until 1911 when a local syndicate of businessmen made a proposal for a railless system under the title of the North Ormesby, South Bank, Normanby and Grangetown Railless Traction Company. Parliamentary consent was obtained on 17th August 1912 This was to run buses on solid rubber tyres taking power from two wires overhead.

Work commenced, the first pole to support the overhead feed wires was erected at Normandy in July 1915 and the entire system was ready 8 months later. There was much delay in obtaining the rolling stock. The preferred vehicle builder had financial difficulties and new arrangements had to be made to acquire the "trackless" vehicles. The 550-volt power for the two overhead supply wires for the driving motors was generated at a local steel works owned by Bolckow Vaughan and Co. Ltd.

The main route ran from Smeaton Street, North Ormesby via Cargo Fleet and South Bank to the Market Square in Grangetown. There was a spur from South Bank to Normanby; this was not completed to Eston Square, which had been its intended terminus.

Middlesbrough, Thornaby and Stockton Corporations took powers in 191p, to take over the services of the Imperial Tramways Company and at the same time, Middlesbrough, jointly with Eston Urban District Council, took powers to acquire the "Trackless". A joint Board was formed with the title "Tees-side Railless Traction Board", Middlesbrough owning two thirds of the equity and Eston the other third.

The first car to run experimentally over the entire system did so on 19th September 1919. this being a chassis supplied by the Cleveland Car Company of Darlington with a body supplied by the English Eelectric Company and electrical equipment by Dick Kerr and Co. The vehicle was completed at the Cargo Fleet depot.

The official opening of the system took place on Saturday the 8th November 1919 at 11 a.m., the first car being driven by Coun. W.G.Grace, Chairman of the Board. Eventually in 1824 the Board recognized the need to extend the route to its originally intended point in Eston Square and a unique hybrid petrol-electric vehicle Tilling Stevens vehicle was obtained. This operated as an electric vehicle to Normanby and continued, powered by its petrol engine, to Eston.

In 1928 motor buses were acquired to augment the trolley service, and also to eventually operate a route from Middlesbrough to Eston which was designated "T".

The wartime industrial effort required the use of larger vehicles and double-deck buses were obtained in 1941, shortly followed by double deck trolley buses. Special arrangements had to be made to allow the trackless vehicles to pass under Grangetown railway bridge, the trolley poles passing down the nearside of the upper deck to a lower level in order to give adequate clearance.

I.C.I. was expanding its Wilton site and twelve more double deck motorbuses were obtained in 1949. Further double deck trolleybuses camein 1950, replacing single deckers.

The wires were extended from Grangetown to Kingsley Road in 1950 and again, with the new housing developments, to Fabian Road in 1964. After a long delay, and a legal struggle against United Automobile Services, the route was again extended to Eston Square, so making circular services possible via Normanby. This extension opened on 31st March 1968, just as Teesside Municipal Transport was coming into being.

The trolley bus system finally closed in 1971; it was in fact, the penultimate closure of trackless systems in the United Kingdom.

Ken Hoggett

Both the trolleybuses and motor buses were always painted in dark green. Initially the upper halves of the trolleys were cream. From 1932 small numbers of trolleys had silver roofs but then this was changed to white. In the 1940s and 50s there were three cream bands on all double deck vehicles but eventually this was reduced to two. Some of the wartime vehicles came in utility grey.

Initially the fleetname was in Roman capitals with some shading but in 1932 the well known Tees-Side Railless Traction Board logo was introduced and retained till the T.M.T. days