Remembering the "Trolleys"

Now for something different

Whilst I enjoy modelling trains, cars, buses and trams you can always get tempted to model something different if it comes your way. This was the case a couple of years ago when I was at the Sydney Model Railway Exhibition at Liverpool in October 2016. At the Peter Boorman Workshop Stand there were a couple resin models of Sydney Trolley buses for sale and I had never seen them before. 

Above: Finished and ready for service - Trolley buses meet at Trafalgar St and Crystal St on the Wardell Layout assuming that Trolley buses could operate alongside trams. 

Above: Photo of both models purchased: Left is the Q Type double decker whilst on the right is the AEC 66T

Historical Context 

Sydney had two trolleybus lines. A line from Town Hall Sydney to Potts Point which ran from 1934 to 1948 and a Kogarah Service Line that replaced the steam tramway that ran from Kogarah railway station to San Souci and Sandringham. This service ran from 1937 to 19591. 

The period location location of Wardell being in the Inner West of Sydney never operated Trolleybuses so I will use my modelling licence to place them in an appropriate position on my layout. 

The build commences
The resin models were vary basic with no underframe, wheels and the bodies were not hollowed out.
It required a lot more work than anticipated and overall it took a couple of weeks.
The Steps can be seen in the photos below:

Above: Hollowing out windows and doors. 

Above: Building the seat interior of both upper and lower decks by modifying interior passenger car seats so these can fit. 

Above: Building the chassis and choosing wheels using a Kibri truck spare parts kit which I purchased from the bring and buy stalls at one of the Model Railway shows. 

Above: These Corgi British Trolleybuses are the donors for the Trolleywires I hope to offload these minus the trolleywires. 

Above: Prototype painting using the paints I had for my Sydney Tram and bus fleet.
Driver, front chassis and lower interior being tested. 

Finished Product
The Trolleybuses look the part next to the other PTC fleet. I am happy with the result after the models had been left untouched with only part of the models being hollowed out.

1. Jones, D, (2000), Australian Trolley Buses, City Tramway Publications