TROLLEYBUS 698 Woolwich-Bexleyheath London 1959

So much has changed since 1959 in the places the 698 route passed through that this old film is a record of the street scenes as much as of a form of transport long vanished from the London area.
Being unfamiliar with the area I resorted to Google Earth’s Street View facility to try to identify locations seen, but especially in Erith and Bexleyheath it’s mostly impossible.
Trams in North London were almost entirely replaced by trolleybuses during the 1930s. So also were routes formerly operated by Bexley, Dartford and Erith Councils. The 698 was one of these. When tram replacement resumed after the Second World War it was to diesel, not electric, buses. All London’s trolleybuses would be replaced by diesel ones by May 1962 but the iconic red buses of London still prevail.
Although there are no more operational trolleybus systems in the UK (outside of museums) they flourish in many other countries, especially Russia and in Eastern Europe; but the double-decker trolleybus seems extinct outside preservation.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus
698 Woolwich - Erith - Abbey Wood - Bexleyheath
696 Woolwich - Dartford
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bexleyh...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartford
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