Walsall CT 857, Lower Farm Estate, Walsall, 1970

            Nicknamed the 'Goldfish Bowls' by staff because of the cab window arrangement, these high-capacity, Willowbrook-bodied Sunbeam F4 trolleybuses saw service in Walsall from the mid-1950s, until the demise of the system in October 1970. These buses were revolutionary, being the first legally acceptable 30ft x 8ft wide buses on two axles.

The 'Goldfish-Bowls' (851-872) remained confined to Walsall and were not allowed to operate on the joint No29 trolleybus service with Wolverhampton Corporation. This was because their 70-seater capacity would have given them an unfair advantage over Wolverhampton Corporation, who only possessed 54-60 seater trolleybuses. Therefore, Walsall had to provide similar, and did so with their own Brush-bodied Sunbeam trolleybuses. These were bolstered in 1963, when a number of 56-seater Park Royal bodied Sunbeam trolleybuses were acquired from Ipswich Corporation. The joint service ceased in 1965.

In 1963, 'Goldfish Bowl' 869 was hired by enthusiasts to tour part of the Wolverhampton trolleybus system. This made it the only one of the type (that I am aware of) to officially make the journey from Walsall to Wolverhampton under power.

Under West Midland PTE ownership (since 1st October 1969), 857 is pictured on the Lower Farm Estate turning circle in June 1970. Although devoid of its Walsall Corporation identity following the PTE takeover, 857, like the rest of the trolleybus fleet, never carried WMPTE logos.

Today, two examples, 862 and 872, survive at museums in running order. Sister vehicle 864 did survive until recent years (an unrestored non-runner), but was broken up for spares a few years ago.

Taken on: January 26, 2023

Tags:

TDH907

Walsall

857

1955

1970

lower farm

lower farm estate

route

service

Willowbrook

Sunbeam

overhead

wires

june

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Sets appears in: • Britain in the 1970s • Trolleybuses more » • Walsall • Walsall's Trolleybuses « less

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Camera:	Plustek OpticFilm 7600i
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Pixelmator 3.5.1
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