Image description
The image shows a large vehicle, viewed from side, sectioned, pointed to the left, used for public transport, called a trolleybus.
The exterior skeleton of the car, also called the body car, is not present here, so you can see within.
The two pairs of wheels at the bottom, the pair at the front and the rear one, are highlighted by embossed circles.
In the front of the car, on the right, is the driver’s cab, together with the seat and steering wheel, marked embossed.
On the trolleybus floor, two rows of chairs are placed, separated by a long and narrow corridor and highlighted by a small and thick vertical line, attached to an horizontal one.
Most of the chairs are located above the floor, on rectangular pedestals rendered full in relief.
Hanging on the long and horizontal bar, from the ceiling of the car, the oval straps are designed to offer balance to the passengers that are standing up, being represented by small circles.
The roof of the trolleybus as well as the outside back shell are marked embossed.
Above the roof is mounted the pantograph, meaning the overhead contact lines, which provide electric power to the engine, when they are drawn on the electric cables.
These lines are long sticks, raised in an oblique position, located on the roof of the car.
In the back of the trolleybus, in the right side, is a man standing, thus positioned to facilitate the comparison of the dimensions of the vehicle to the height of an adult.
General data
The trolleybus is an electric public transport vehicle. This vehicle uses, in most cases, the same chassis (with some modifications) and a body similar to that of a bus; however, the trolleybus is not powered by a thermal engine, but by one or more electric motors. The electric current required for engine operation is provided by two overhead contact lines. The trolleybuses are thus linked to the route of the contact lines. The first trolleybus networks appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. Currently, there are approximately 310 trolleybus networks in 47 states [bibliography 1]. Most are found in Central and Eastern Europe (former socialist states), CIS states (former Soviet Union states), China, North Korea, Italy and Switzerland. The trolleybus dates from April 29, 1882, when Dr. Ernst Werner Siemens put into practice his project called “Elektromote” – in a suburb of Berlin, although more isolated experiments were happening simultaneously in the US [bibliography 2]
The trolleybus has similar transport capabilities as buses,while being less polluting. At the place of operation (in cities) the pollution is zero, but the electric current is often produced in the thermal power plants by polluting processes. If only coal or fuel oil is used for generating electric current, then the pollution as a whole, is similar to a diesel engine bus. The trolley bus is quieter than a bus, which increases the quality of the area through which it passes (but only if, on the same artery, buses do not circulate). On the other hand, a silent vehicle is more difficult to detect by cyclists and pedestrians. Due to the ecological aspects and the quieter engines, it is expected that more citizens will give up their personal car in favor of public transport in case of trolley bus travel, as compared to the bus usage.
There are also cities where the trolleybus has become an object of cultural heritage. In Chile, the trolleybuses in Valparaíso (the only network in this country) have been declared as part of the cultural heritage of the country. [bibliography 3]. Until 1997, there were also floor-mounted trolleybuses, most of them found on the streets of London and, sporadically, on the streets of Hamburg, Moscow or Barcelona. [bibliography 4]
Bibliography
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trolleybus_systems
- Ashley Bruce, Lombard-Gerin and Inventing the Trolleybus (Trolleybooks, 2017, ISBN 978-0-904235-25-8), p. 88 et seq.
- https://www.trolleymotion.eu/
- Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. ISBN 0-904235-18-1.
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