(first posted 2/3/2014) Visiting the CC Cohort is like stepping into a transportation book store: so many enticing titles and covers vying for one’s attention. The problem is which one to pick up, and risk getting lost in. When I ran across these shots of trolleybuses in Chile shot by Eric Clem, it brought back a flood of memories, riding the red “O-Bus” (Oberleitungsbus; or overhead trolley bus, in German) in Innsbruck as a kid. So of course I had to do a bit of googling, and found some great shots of those too; hence the trans-hemispheric title of today’s post.
Initially, I wrote that I wasn’t going to even try to identify the actual manufacturers of these two Chilean trolleybuses, other than to say that the top one looks decidedly American, while the one below looks quite European. But then I popped over to wikipedia, to brush up on trolleybuses, and they have a diagram of a 1947 Pullman Standard that is still running in Valparaiso, Chile. The windows look a bit different, but otherwise, it looks just like that top one. So we’ll call it that, until someone proves otherwise, anyway.
This one? As I said, it looks European, but that’s as far as I can tell. Trolleybuses tend to have very long life spans, as their humming electric motors are a lot more durable than diesel engines and transmissions. Which is of course one of their big draws, along with the lack of noisy, stinky and smoky diesel engines.
For that matter, the trolleybus predates the diesel bus by a considerable margin. The first was this “Elecromote”, built in 1882 near Berlin by Dr. Ernst Werner von Siemens, founder of that eponymous firm. The little wheeled “Kontaktwagen” that ran on the overhead wires and transmitted the 550V DC current to the converted wagon is the origin of the English word “trolley” in “trolleybus”. Modern systems did away with that, and use spring-loaded trolley poles with two grooved contact shoes.
image courtesy stone-berlin.de
Innsbruck had three O-Bus lines when I lived there as a kid in the fifties, in addition to several street car lines and diesel bus routes. Of course, riding on the antique #1 Line street car was always my favorite (I’ll have to do a street car post one of these days), but the O-Bus was a fascinating “hybrid” of the two technologies. I distinctly remember the bus driver having to get out and reposition the trolley poles when they popped out occasionally at the somewhat tricky overhead line intersections. This one is a Graf und Stift, an Austrian brand, and this picture dates from 1975, shortly before Innsbruck eliminated its trolleybus lines, a disappointment when I came back to visit in 1980.
image courtesy stone-berlin.de
This is actually a diesel bus sitting under the trolley lines at the Meraner Platz, also in 1975. But it gives a good indication of the typical streetscape car–wise too, although Land Rovers were not exactly a very common sight. Actually, British cars became rather common in Austria after 1960, as a result of it joining the European Free Trade Association, as an alternative to the then-EEC, the precursor to the EU, which Austria didn’t join until the 1990s. That made British cars relatively cheaper than German cars, and in addition to the LR, there’s also a UK Ford Anglia parked on the left. There were a surprising number of SD-1 Rovers in Innsbruck when I was there in 1980, although almost all were sixes.
image courtesy stone-berlin.de
Here’s another O-Bus heading across the Inn River. “Innbruck” means “bridge on the Inn”, and the first one was built in the 12th century—along with a marketplace—which is what gave the actual city its start. Although the area has very ancient origins and Roman ruins, 900 year-old Innsbruck is relatively young in this part of the world.
image courtesy stone-berlin.de
Here’s that same O-bus heading up one of the old narrow streets on the north side of the river, pressed right up against the mountains. Right behind it are two of the most stereotypical cars of the era, a W114 Mercedes and a Beetle. I’m pretty sure the Mercedes is a taxi.
After dropping its original O-bus lines in 1971-1976, Innsbruck built two new trolley lines in 1986, but they were only in use for until 2007, as they were planned to be converted to actual street cars. Here’s a shot of Maria Theresea Strasse, Innsbruck’s “main street”, with both street cars and buses visible, probably from the 80s.
When I was last there a couple of years ago, that same street was totally torn up, in the process of being converted into a pedestrian zone. Today it looks like this. I somewhat miss the familiar street cars and buses, but these pedestrian zones in the hearts of older European cities have been successful, and create a lively atmosphere, probably not totally unlike before the street cars and buses came along in the first place. Of course, there were probably cows on the streets back then too; speaking of, I actually remember herds of cows being driven right through the heart of Innsbruck as a kid, from the pastures on the higher alms up on those mountains and back to their winter quarters on the other side of town. Just wait for that to be brought back too. Cows? Did I just digress there, or what?
Here a picture of a more recent articulated O-Bus in Innsbruck, from 1994. This one was also built by Graf & Stift; not exactly a household word. The Vienesse firm was taken over by MAN back in 1971, but continued to make trolley buses under its name until 2001.
Needless to say, trolleybuses are still favored in many cities, especially in Europe and in other cities, often where electricity is generated via hydro making it particularly low-cost and abundant, like Vancouver, Seattle, and San Francisco (and Innsbruck). The long-time disadvantages that trolley buses have had such as temporary re-routings due to accidents or such are increasingly easy to overcome with additional battery packs and/or small accessory power units (gen-set). Some are even true hybrids, able to operate both from the overhead lines and without them, by diesel engine. After 122 years, the trolley bus still has a future.
These electric trolley buses fascinate me. However, I suspect that reliable, inexpensive internal combustion buses were probably quite a lot less expensive to run given the high overhead of those fixed overhead wires.
As much as I love the idea, I could see how there would be complaints about the ugly wires in a beautiful city area, and also the expense of adding or dropping routes (or, as you say, temporary detours).
On a heavy service urban route then can work. Even with a proven powertrain like a Cummins ISL-G & Allison 6sp stuff does wear out.
Right now in North America where we are awash in cheap natural gas it would be a tough case. If you were doing the the analysis in 1979 or 2008 when fuel prices were going bonkers and the projections are $4/gal + for diesel it starts to look attractive, especially if you have access to cheap hydro power.
I remember these in Cambridge MA some time ago…………. 50’s, 60’s?
Yes…. I’m Paul’s age.
Me too, in the 1970s. I often saw them stopped with the driver out resetting the pole.
I believe the T still has some trolley bus lines in use.
I remember the last London trolley buses in 1962.They were often used to replace trams in the UK when the rails were due for repair and it was deemed too expensive.Trolley buses were in use in Doncaster til 1972,I never saw it but there was one on test in Blackpool in 1983.Dad saw one on test before the war in Blackpool but they were never used
Innsbruck looks a lot like Sarajevo (at least the Austro-Hungarian part). Incidentally, it was the first city in the world to have a tram (obviously not the same as a streetcar). Installed by the Austrians after annexing Bosnia, it served as a test of the system planned for Vienna.
That brought back some memories. Hamilton had electric trolley busses too, but I guess they got rid of them in the early 90’s while I was living elsewhere. Some are at this museum, which I visited with my son when he was in his Thomas the Tank Engine phase:
http://www.hcry.org/
Looking at those great shots of Innsbruck, it must have been quite a shock to land in the midwest but you eventually found a more traditionally Niedermeyer-esque landscape to look at.
Philly too IIRC
Dayton, OH still has a trolley bus route as well.
I never knew trolley busses as a boy and have seen few of them in my life.
I do remember them in Brno, Czech Republic. There was a line outside our hotel. I was fascinated with them and saw a driver have to re-connect the bus when one of the two poles reaching the wires became somehow free. He did it with his own pole/tool and it was a quick job that must be one that is done by the drivers frequently.
Dayton has been using trolley buses since about 1933 and hasn’t stopped. You can check them out at:
http://www.daytontrolleys.net/
The only city in my country that still has them is Arnhem. (from the WW2 battle)
Here’s an articulated trolley bus with four wheel steering. (Photo: SP Smiler)
Nice catch. Interesting to see rear steer axles on a bus.
A vintage trolley bus from Arnhem, a 1949 BUT (AEC & Leyland) with a Verheul body. Still alive and kicking, obviously not used as a “daily driver”. (Photo: Charles Voogd)
Trolley buseswre in use in Auckland until the late 70s when they were replaced with Mercedes diesel units now Trams and trolleys are making a comeback. Our capital Wellington has a trolleybus system and on the Kapiti coast is a yard full of old ones I must stop and shoot them one day.
Interesting to see, a trolley bus U-turn in the south of Arnhem.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Those bring back memories of my childhood in Johnstown, PA. Up until 1960 or so, the city still used electric powered streetcars.
Then starting around 1960, the city converted over to electric powered “trackless trollies” as they were called at the time. Still used the overhead wires, but like the first picture in the article, they were essentially electric powered buses. That lasted for about ten years, or at least long enough to completely rip out the old trolley tracks. After which, they were replaced by the usual ICE buses. (Both of these pictures come from the Facebook page “You know you’re from Johnstown when . . .”
Never rode on them. We were from the rich suburbs which were beyond the end of the Johnstown Traction Company lines. Besides, my mother would have been mortified to be caught riding on public transportation, “with all the poor people.” God knows what kind of diseases or mugging potential you had riding on a city bus.
Dad, being a car dealer, made sure we had new cars every year. As it was supposed to be in my parent’s eyes. (Of course, this conveniently overlooked that until the end of WWII, my parents lived in the city and used public transportation like everyone else.)
Which is the exact opposite of my Grandparents. They always has a couple of cars but never really used them(except for church and trips to Kutztown and Tamaqua Pa) preferring to take the bus into “town” (what my grandfather used to refer to Reading PA) and other spots locally from their home in Shillington Pa.
Same here. I’ve got a car (two, in fact) but I’m very content letting people think I’m poor/guilty of DWI by riding the bus home/walking every day.
We still have a few routes in Philly and they are called trackless trolleys here as well.
These are the ones I remember as a child in Los Angeles. The few trolley routes were “motorized” in 1963.
This picture and the lead Chilean bus look an awful lot like the buses made by ACF/CCF Brill in the 1950’s. Anyone can confirm?
It is the ACF Brill
Bus. Vancouver has 2 restored gas buses and 2 restored trolley buses that still run today. Edmonton has one Brill trolley that runs today and the other trolley bus is sitting in the museum in Thunder Bay Ontario.
nikita, your Los Angeles trolley looks like a Brill.
Let me suggest http://www.trolleybuses.net/brm/brm.htm. These pages are specific to Birmingham, AL which had a fleet of Pullman Standard trolley buses. It includes information pertaining to the sell-off of the fleet to Vancouver and Mexico City. Some of the coaches were only a couple of years old when they were dumped in favor of an all motor bus fleet.
Yes, its a 1948 ACF Brill T-46 (46 passenger) with a 140hp GE motor.
Seattle had a fleet of Brill trolleys well into the 1970s. They seem to have been an earlier model than the one in your pic, with a sloping rear kind of like an early travel trailer. My guess would be 1930s vintage. Under braking, the interior lights would get brighter.
Here is one painted in the final MTA green livery just before retirement.
Note all the CC beauties in the background Chevrolet “ok” used car lot.
A bit of trivia, the yellow on black California license plate on the bus was a new issue in 1963. Note that the Buick has a black on yellow one (1956-1962).
Chicago was once known as the world capital for streetcars and trolley buses. Up until 1950 the streetcar was one of the most popular ways to get around the city. In May 1950 during a rainy day that flooded a lot of the area caused an accident involving a Green Hornet(the latest sleekest most modern streetcar made up until that point) and a tanker truck carrying hundreds of gallons of gas in which the truck exploded and caused the deaths of 34 people on the streetcar, burned down 8 buildings, melted a crater in the road and wiped out several cars. The explosion was said to have been heard miles away. After that less and less folks commuted in the streetcars and the streetcar lines were shut down in 1958.
The last Chicago trolley bus ran back in 1973 and CTA discontinued service of them as both the bus, car and the Chicago L system made the trolley buses redundant.
Wow, I knew gasoline killed the trolleys in those days (link), but I never heard of an actual firefight!
While it was big news in 1950 and made papers around the world and was considered Chicago’s worst transportation disaster at the time, it is largely forgotten.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-24/site/ct-per-flash-greenhornet-0624-20120624_1_trolley-car-accidents-flames
We have CTA trolleys to thank for one of the distinctive sounds of Chicago blues, a harmonica played through a driver’s microphone pulled from one of the trolleys. The peaky response curve made the harmonica sound completely different and the “cab mikes” aka “bullet mikes” became sought by harmonica players seeking that sound. When the original supply of cab mikes ran low, pro audio manufacturers started making reproductions engineered for the same response curve.
My only experience seeing a trolleybus in action has been in Russia in the early 1990s, where they imprinted in my mind the idea the idea of the trolleybus as a decrepit living fossil. Clearly I was wrong.
Apparently even in Russia I was wrong. According to the city of Moscow website (http://www.moscow.ru/en/guide/trip_planning/inner_transport/transport/trolleybus/), they are still expanding the trolleybus system and take a great deal of pride in it. The Saturday cruise sounds like an interesting transportation experience, akin to riding the San Francisco cable car, although on a system that is still very much an important part of the city transportation system:
“Moscow trolleybus network today is the most branched one in the world. A trolleybus is very economical and ecological mode of transport. In the conditions of huge megalopolis overloaded by transport its advantages are evident.
A trolleybus has particular Moscow charm. Like tram a trolleybus that appeared in Moscow in 1933 was not just transport or part of history. He had become a literary character, a poetical image and a hero of cinematograph. Moscow “Blue” trolleybus is some kind of a symbol of the city. By the way, even nowadays the “Blue Trolleybus” cruises in Moscow every Saturday where you can listen to bard songs and, of course, a well-known song about a trolleybus written by famous poet and bard Bulat Okudzhava.
Construction of trackless lines has also begun in Moscow region since 1990. In the long term it is planned to connect it with Moscow network.”
They’re still there, quite possibly still the same ones you saw 20 years ago. So are the incidents with the poles popping out of the lines Paul mentioned, if the driver took a bend a bit too enthusiastically.
Those photos of Innsbruck are incredible. I’ve never been anywhere near a trolleybus, but I’ve always thought they were really cool. Wish we had them here, and since it seems like most newer buses are (or have available) hybrid drivetrains, they seem like the perfect solution. Installing overhead is a pain in the ass in areas that are already high density (and people bitch about it), but that’s not really that big of a deal. I’ve always thought a similar system would work for long distance EV travel – a pick up wire running into a trough under the car, actually, in a dedicated HOV-type lane.
Trolley buses are a regular part of life here in Vancouver, British Columbia, Soviet Canuckistan, I couldn’t imagine the city without them. I just returned from a walk with my wife and dog at Broadway and Cambie, were a large, articulated trolley bus was rushing to make the traffic signal for the City Hall train station. Crossing the intersection caused two huge sparks to fall to the street. It looked cool for sure!
Vancouver has made a large investment in new trolley buses and I am very happy their use will be continued.
In Perth we had trolley buses from the 30’s until 1968. I remember riding on them as a kid and noticing how quiet they were compared to a diesel bus. As an aside, Graf und Stift made the car that the Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in in 1914, sparking World War 1.
Atlanta, 1963. Just look at the price of gasoline!! I also remember the hideous overhead grid of electrical lines, and how sparks would fly as the power poles rode over junctions at the intersections! 🙂
Here is an example of our newest trolley buses, taken a short distance from my home.
San Francisco has those MUNI trolleybuses on some routes that have steep grades. I rode one toward Cole Valley along the Twin Peaks and was very impressed with its strong and hill-climbing abilities. They were also quieter and quicker than diesel buses.
When MUNI called for the bid to replace these ancient trolleybuses, some bus manufacturers offered the new diesel buses instead. MUNI demanded those buses be filled with maxinium number of passengers and be driven on those routes. None of them could made to the top at all. Back to the drawing board, I must say.
San Francisco’s former 55-Sacramento line, a diesel bus route with several blocks of legendary San Francisco steep hillclimb through Chinatown, would often have diesels stall out under heavy loads between Grant Ave. and Stockton St., particularly when rush hour evening crowds from the Financial District at the bottom of the hill would jam into the buses on their way to their stylish abodes on Nob Hill and in Pacific Heights. When that happened, it was “everybody off” except the driver and the handicapped/elderly. The near-empty diesel would climb to the next bus stop and the passengers would scale the hill on foot, to reboard. Sometimes this would happen on the next block, too. SF Muni’s GM New Looks with 8-cylinder Detroit Diesels in their later years were the most common at this “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…I can’t” routine.
Fast forward a few years. The 55-Sacramento diesel route is now the 1-California electric trolley bus line. The electrics make quick work of the hills. Never does one see them stalling; they climb the hills effortlessly.
Near my boyhood home ran the 41-Union electric trolley bus line. Muni assigned Marmon-Herrington trolley buses to the line, though sometimes a Fageol Twin Coach, a smoother-riding and more stylish bus, even delivered with heavy-duty dark green leather seats (take THAT, poseurs of the luxury car world today!) normally seen on the 30-Stockton, would sneak in. I can not recall ever seeing one of the St. Louis Car buses on the 41 line, though they were common on Van Ness Ave. and on Mission Street.
At one point, street construction downtown that blocked the 41’s electric route forced Muni to operate diesel buses. This was before the delivery of the GM New Looks; Muni leased a fleet of a few hundred Mack diesel buses, with a very few White gasoline buses kept for traffic surges. Macks were assigned to the 41-Union as temporary replacements for the electrics. They had troubles with the Union Street hill, too…not the longer, several-block westbound climb, but the shorter but steeper two blocks eastbound. The steepest was between Polk and Larkin Streets. My brother and I would stand at the bottom of that hill and when the poor Macks would start up from the bus stop, away we’d go, running up the hill. He was always faster than I, but both of us could beat those Macks as they struggled up the hill. We were totally winded from the one-block uphill sprint, and couldn’t have stayed with the diesel bus for another block, but at least for that distance, we had our fun; and so did the bus passengers, from the looks on their faces.
There was no way we could EVER have thought to challenge one of the electric trolley buses.
Today, San Francisco Muni still runs a large fleet of electric trolley buses on many high-density routes, a subway/surface light rail transit system and a surface streetcar line that links many of the city’s most popular attractions. Together the comprise the “Zero Emissions” fleet, something that San Francisco can claim because all of the electric power comes from City-owned hydroelectric generation. Some other cities like Philadelphia which also run extensive electric transit cannot claim this because their electricity is fossil-fuel generated. The emissions may not be out the tailpipe and in aggregate they may be less than from diesel power, but they are still not ZERO.
Gotta love that flat torque curve with the electrics.
Great stuff – Salzbiurg is actually my favouirite city in Europe but its too long since I was there, so seeing the phots of the Alps from the town square and trolley buses is a great!
Here are some trolleybuses from a town where I grew up in Ukraine, before moving to Canada: http://passtrans.mashke.org/artemovsk/20060911/at_pva_20060911.htm
I remember riding in this very trolleybus in the mid ’90s. It’s ZIU-682. Sign on the side proclaims 435 years since the town was founded. Looking at the date on the photo, it was running in 2006, maybe even still in service. My town is the oldest in the region and is famous for it’s salt mines and sparkling wine that is made by traditional champagne technology. Some of it is sold in Toronto area in LCBO and some is sold in the US. Look for Krimsekt.
Photo credit Vadim Pudovkin.
And this one is one of the tug/tow-trolleybuses KTG-1. It could run as a trolley bus but also could run on batteries.
Photo credit Vadim Pudovkin.
And my town used to have an articulated trolleybuses as well. I remember seeing 4 of them, however, they were discontinued due to serviceability issues. UMZ-T1.
Photo credit Vadim Pudovkin.
Wow, glad I finally found this. Wonderful shots and a great story.
Wasn’t Graft und Stift the brand of car Archduke Ferdinand and his wife were riding in when they were assassinated in Sarajevo? I actually saw that car, unrestored, at an amazing 50th anniversary of WWII exhibit in Brussels. It opened the exhibit, to emphasize how much WWI led to the later war.
The picture of the O-Bus threading its way up a narrow street was oddly familiar – in Pittsburgh, you saw the same thing, except with streetcars.
I’m surprised none of the commenters who remember trolley buses from their youth, have mentioned that kids (usually boys 11-14) would jump up on the back bumper at red lights and yank the trolley off the overhead wires. Not sure if the driver would get indication of loss of power on the dash, or if he only noticed the lack of power when the light turned green. But with a loud grumble, he (almost always a male driver) would get off the bus and re-attach the wires. This was in San Francisco, where I rode the Muni daily from 1969-1973; usually streetcars or diesel buses, less frequently on a trolley line. I was a good kid and never did this, and I’m sure Paul never did in Innsbrück either.
I rode on various trolley buses in San Francisco for years up to the mid-90’s and never saw kids pulling a pole off. But I was in a bus or saw it happen on its own what must be hundreds of times. The zapping and sparking is pretty obvious from outside. I’m guessing that drivers tried to figure out the best way to get through each intersection and curve without a pole coming off. I don’t know if they have backup batteries now but obviously that would be a huge improvement.
I wonder if it has occurred to anyone to power the ropes pulling the poles down with remote control at the driver’s seat instead of having them work with a manual ratchet mechanism like window shades. With that plus batteries a bus could continue on to a better place than an intersection to reattach.
Great post and pics – glad to see it again. Jim.
From observation, driving these requires a throttle technique that I suspect is not the same as driving a Tesla. To get them going off the line the driver would floor the Go pedal, resulting in just normal acceleration not a burnout, and then as the bus started moving along immediately feather the pedal almost to the off position and then make various moves to keep the speed where they wanted.
Maybe they have regenerative braking like subway cars now? They could have one-pedal operation. But I haven’t been on one in a few decades since leaving San Francisco.
Anyway before we were even thinking about global warming the environmental plus of these was obvious. A lot of wires above the streets is the downside, but I’m sure people living along bus routes would rather have to hear electric buses whining by than diesel noise.
I don’t know for an absolute fact but I suspect that the “throttle” was controlled on these via some sort of hand controller and not a foot pedal. To my mind anyway it would be a lot easier for the driver to make fine adjustments with a hand controller as opposed to using his foot. I grew up in a small town and any street cars that might have been used were long since retired by the time I was using public transportation. This public transportation consisted of four bus routes that converged in the middle of town where one could transfer to another route if you needed to. I can remember being allowed to ride the bus downtown to the public library at the age of 10 or so. The bus line was operated by the town and the buses were basically school buses, painted red and white instead of yellow but retaining the “wear like iron” seat coverings and the hose it out when dirty floor mats. Needless to say we stopped using the bus once we got old enough to drive a car, riding the bus once you turned 16 was considered extremely uncool.
Interesting feature and comments on the piece above. Trolley buses have been gone from Edmonton, Alberta for many years and now electric buses are becoming a thing in Edmonton and nearby St. Albert.
As time goes on, trolley buses will disappear from many more cities. Overhead power lines for the trolleys are expensive to maintain and that was a major reason Edmonton decided to eliminate their buses.
I first saw Trolleys in the San Francisco area when I was 9–10–11. The sparks on the wires reminded me of amusement-park “bumper cars”, where each car was powered from a “ceiling” of electrified metal gridwork.
Thousands of years later, I was employed at The Bus Company; building City Buses for cities all over the USA and Canada. In 1993, we build a batch of articulated trolleys for…San Mateo? It was San Francisco-ish, at any rate. My usual job was to prepare the diesel powertrain for installation into the back of the bus; clearly I had to learn something new for this contract of buses. At first, I worked underneath. My job was to connect heavy, 600-volt cables together by bolting the sections through the eyes of the cable ends. Of course, we had to slide layers of insulation onto the cables before they were bolted together, and then the layers of insulation were finalized around the splices we’d just bolted together.
That was the first time I’d ever seen “cold-shrink tubing” insulation. It worked on the same general order as heat-shrink tubing; but it was MUCH thicker and heavier. It had an inner core like a roll of paper towels has the cardboard core; but the core on the cold-shrink tubing was a helically-scored nylon tube. You’d slide the tube-and-insulation over the bolted joint; then working from the far end, pull the scored end of the core lengthwise through the assembly, and out the near end. As the inner core unwound and came out, the insulation that was no longer supported by the nylon core would shrink around the splice. Problem was, it was really hard to pull the scored tubing apart, and sometimes the nylon would break. It was a hateful job to install; and screwing it up meant the “cold-shrink” insulation had to be cut, the inner layer of insulation (self-vulcanizing “rubber” tape) had to be cut off, the cables un-bolted, and fresh insulation put on the cables before bolting them together again.
I was thrilled to be moved from under the bus to the roof, where we’d measure and drill through the fiberglass bodywork into the steel structure beneath. Then we’d bolt “red mushrooms”, the ceramic insulators that held the roof rack that carried the poles. I don’t ever remember installing the roof rack or the poles, though. Perhaps that was done in California by the folks who bought the buses. Or maybe I just don’t remember like I should.
There were no overhead lines to power the buses where they were final-assembled. We test-drove these buses by towing a trailer with a diesel generator that supplied the 600-volt power.
There was a huge electrical panel that went where the diesel engine normally would fit. This was, among other things, the “computer” that limited acceleration. We were told that without intentional limits on acceleration, any “standees” would be “thrown to the floor” when the driver stabbed the go-pedal. Thus is the torque of electric traction motors.
We at the assembly plant heard a rumor that those trolleys were all sitting in the yard having never been used for months if not years after delivery; the company that supplied the electrical panels that regulate the big electric motors had gone out of business without fixing the design defects. To this day, I don’t know how true that was. There’s YouTube videos of “my” buses operating, so clearly they worked out even if they had “teething” problems.