Johannesburg, South Africa Trolleybus Scenes - 1979

[@andrevanstraaten3570]

This brings back memories. I used to travel on the number 67 Melville trolleybus in the 1970s and 1980s. To school, Parktown boys high school, and to work in Braamfontein. And to school Damelin college in Jo'burg.

[@tassiebaz]

Hi Andre, Thanks for watching and for taking the time to comment. I hope the memories were good ones. Cheers, tassiebaz.😄

[@frankjonathan8043]

Very nice to see these trolleybuses. I always wondered how the poles know where to go when at a junction.

[@tassiebaz]

Hi Frank, Here's a simplified answer to your question. In the USA way back when, there were two types of switches. One was power on or off, where the driver controlled which way the poles went by use (or non-use) of the power pedal. The other type was directional (or selectric) where there was a set of contacts, one each wire. They were normally staggered, and it both were contacted at the same time, the switch changed to the alternate route. Ohio Brass overhead was used at most placed, and these had mechanical resets to set the switch back to the default setting (normally the prevailing route). Westinghouse also had overhead that worked similarly, but with electrical resets instead of mechanical. Nowadays, things are done a bit differently and the driver had more positive control over what happens. Regardsd, tassiebaz.

[@frankjonathan8043]

@@tassiebaz Thank you for that information. I understand it better now.