Welcome home! With the power on and Graeme Belworthy behind the wheel, Dunedin 79 trundles back towards the trolleybus shed at Ferrymead Heritage Park in Christchurch on Saturday, 4 May 2019 (after more than a year away for repainting), under the watchful eye of Alan Roi.
PHOTO: Dave Hinman and sourced from the May 2019 edition of Ferrymead Tram Tracts.
TROLLEYBUS 79 RETURNS TO THE TROLLEYBUS SHED
After more than a year (doesn’t time fly?) at the tram barns for its body repairs and repaint, Dunedin 79 finally returned to the trolleybus shed on Saturday, 4 May.
As reported in April Tracts it had earlier been moved from the paint shop in Tram Barn 3, to the pit road in Tram Barn 2 where it was serviced and made ready for the journey home. During its time at Bridle Path Road it had resided in all three tram barns, even spending a short period outside and it must have felt quite comfortable among the trams as it really didn’t want to leave! There appeared to be an electrical fault every time it was livened up and the low voltage relays were not activating the power pedal, so movements around the sheds involved pushing or pulling with trams, members 4WDs and sometimes people power! Finally on moving day after trying out various booster battery options, the (uncharged) built in battery set was removed from the circuit and away we went! Overhead power got the bus on to the traverser, then Dave Hinman’s trusty Disco vehicle towed it along the Road 1 outside access track with power again being used to negotiate turning into the adjacent car park.
Then following a lunch break during which time the trolleybus line power to the shed was turned on, 79 was towed as far as the overhead outside the Ferrymead Heritage Park main entrance in Ferrymead Park Drive, where the poles went up and for the first time in quite a while there was a “test trundle” along the road, around the shed loop and into the trolleybus shed.
Alan Roi, Graeme Belworthy and Dave had created space for it earlier in the week by manoeuvring New Plymouth 3 back into its resting position clear of the running road, with driver Graeme’s muscles well tested by the lack of modern power steering and one front tyre not fully pumped up! Graeme, Alan and Dave all had a turn at driving 79 on its journey home, perhaps a fitting reward for the efforts put into successfully completing the move!
While 79 is back in its shed, its restoration is still not complete, with lights, mirrors, front bumper (awaiting re-chroming) and other parts still to be refitted.
…AND SOME TROLLEYBUS POLES TOO!
As part of the planned refurbishment of our trolleybus circuit – the last currently operable trolleybus line in New Zealand – we recently took delivery of nine poles on 30 April. As the original order had been for just six poles, the extra three were a welcome surprise. Unfortunately the weather was atrocious and made it difficult for Alan Roi to photograph the unloading, but the poles are now safely stored near the trolleybus shed.
REPAIRS TO TROLLEYBUS BARN
The exterior of the trolleybus barn has quite a bit of work that needs to be done to tidy it up and sort out a number of weather tightness issues, including:
– Repairs to windows on south side.
– Fix the from door that was recently vandalised.
– Fix several broken windows.
– Fix at least one known leak in the roof and some general roof tidy up and weather proofing issues plus, interior tidy-up and sorting of bus and trolleybus spares to increase interior “workshop” space.
Dunedin No. 79 history:
www.businfo.nz/index.php?R=3783
Dunedin trolleybus No. 79 at Ferrymead Heritage Park, 23 March 2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/51227209@N03/47631308352/
