RE: Fwd: 207 Friday Afternoon Pictures 29 June 2012 - New Zealand, part 7
  William Jackson

Mick

Concur wholeheartedly, especially the Speights, on tap and always ordering “A Handle”. (Mick’ll know what this means)

From:TramsDownUnder@... [mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, 18 March 2017 11:07 PM
To:TramsDownUnder@...
Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] Fwd: 207 Friday Afternoon Pictures 29 June 2012 - New Zealand, part 7

Gday Richard

Bob Wilsons pics of Welly TBs are great.

Thanks Bob and Richard for posting them

I loved Welly when I was in NZ, EE Sparks,
ex BR carrages also the TBs

The Beer is ok also, esp Speights Old Dark

Cheers, Mick

On 18/03/2017 9:58 AM, Richard Youltressteleg@... mailto:tressteleg@yahoo.com.au [TramsDownUnder] wrote:

Another great offering from Bob Wilson.

Regards,

This is the last part in my series of photographs that I took on a recent holiday in the North Island of New Zealand. Today I feature the trolley buses of Wellington. Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and is situated in the south of the North Island. Parts of the surrounding suburbs are situated in hilly terrain as you will see and it is partly in these areas that the trolleybuses operate, as well as through the city.

I found information about the Wellington trolleybuses a little difficult to readily obtain but I understand that the network comprises 9 routes over a distance of 50 kilometres, using a fleet of 90 modern vehicles. Some of the routes operate during peak times only and no trolleybuses run at weekends. I managed to ride five of the 9 routes, the train to Waikanae and back and walk quite a few kilometres before finishing at about 6.30 pm. A very productive day.

The routes from Wellington Railway Station are –

1 Island Bay, 2 Miramar, 5 Hataitai (trolleybus use on this route ceased in Sept 2015), 6 Lyall Bay, 7 Kingston, 9 Aro Street, 10 Newtown Park Zoo, 11 Seatoun plus route 3 from Karori Park to Lyall Bay.

They are included in the map below. Sorry for the lack of clarity but I am trying to keep the file size down.

I believe that some of the routes are in jeopardy if proposed route changes are implemented, (It is proposed to cease trolleybus operations after 31 July 2017) so I spent much of my transport day in Wellington riding and photographing the trolley buses as I had not done so on my previous two visits. Weatherwise I was extremely lucky. The day before had been cold and miserable with typically strong Wellington winds and little sunshine. The following day was a total contrast and most welcome.

I started my day in the city at 7 am in the morning peak, walking some distance and taking photos as I went. Buses of both types end up beside Wellington railway station at a major interchange and layover point. At times, the parade of vehicles near the station seemed similar in number to that of trams in Swanston Street Melbourne.

A disadvantage of starting early in a city of tall buildings is that the sun is low and that can set a few challenges for photography of moving objects. Nevertheless, I believe I achieved my objective and obtained some reasonable photos of trolley buses in action.

Three vehicles are seen outbound in Manners Street, Wellington. 30 April 2012.

Decorated bus in Manners Street promoting Public Transport’s greenest commuters.

At the end of the morning peak many buses were heading back to depots, until the process was repeated in reverse that afternoon.

Buses arrive at the city terminal beside the railway station to a set down only stop. The vehicles can then go to one of the layup bays as shown below, turn around to go empty back to a depot or make their way to one of the pick up bays. Many people coming off trains board a bus to take them downtown to their final destination.

..

At the Wellington City Bus Terminal. Vehicles returning in service undertake a wide U turn to reach the pick up bays.

Later in the day bus 302 has made the large sweep around to pick up passengers for its next trip.

Some typical trolley bus overhead.

My first trip was on route 7 from the station out to Kingston. I chose well as this route gave me a delightful introduction to a typically hilly part of suburbia. I enjoyed seeing the different styles of housing and just the general environment. I rode to the terminus, then came back a short distance to commence a walk of several kilometres photographing whatever interested me.

Kingston bound trolley bus 362 at Brooklyn.

The same vehicle on its way back to town. Note the hilly terrain in the background.

Part of the Kingston route involves a steep sweeping curve through parkland.. Perhaps this is similar to part of the former Sydney tramway network .

A citybound trolley bus descending the sweeping curve along the Kingston route.

Trolley buses pass through two tunnels in Wellington. One is a former tramway tunnel and is for the exclusive use of diesel and electric buses.

Trolley bus 351 is about to enter the former tram tunnel on route 2 under Mount Victoria.

Bus movements through the single lane tunnel were frequent even at off peak times.

Trolleybus 359 on route 2 from Miramar approaching the Mount Victoria Tunnel.

Late in the afternoon I came upon bus 371 broken down at a critical point in Manners Street.

Soon after, I passed the recovery vehicle on its way to the rescue of 371. A similar sight to that seen in Melbourne from time to time when the recovery vehicle is on its way to

rescue a tram in distress!

Inbound buses in Pirie Street, Mount Victoria.

At the other end of the tunnel under Mt Victoria.

Trolley buses 355 & 364 at the route 11 terminus at Seatoun.

Aboard a route 11 trolley bus passing through another tunnel under Mt Victoria.

That concludes my New Zealand series.

I thank all the public transport people who gave me their help and friendship during our all too short holiday. It was appreciated very much.

Bob Wilson

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