Trolley Bus Driver

A Memory of Doncaster.

I can recall many happy times as a trolley bus driver in Doncaster , I started work with DCT as a conductor in the mid 1950s and passed a trolley bus driving test on the Wheatley Hills route by the late 1950s; in those days the bus service was the main form of transport. The first trolley bus left the depot at Grayfriars just after 4:35am to start service at 4:45am on the Balby route, others came onto the service. At peak rush hour the service ran three and four minutes, with full capacity the norm. I made many good friends at work and remember our boss as a Superintendent Scholey a tall chap and very much a no nonsense man. Some of the buses where very old but fantasic to drive, the six wheelers quite a handful when full. But late at night on the last trip from Balby, the sides would shake up and down, the floor back and forward, and the conductors platform side to side, you had to see it to believe it! The DCT bought a number of secondhand buses from Darlington, a wonderful bus to drive very sooth and quiet as all trolley buses are. Passing through Baxter Gate in the build up to Xmas you almost had push your way through, with a hand on the horn beep beeping all the way, but as far as I recall no one was knocked over or injured... great days, wonderful memories.