A REPLICA of a Keighley trolleybus which operated in the town a century ago will be formally unveiled this summer.

A major two-year project has culminated in the recreation of the Cedes-Stoll vehicle, which conveyed passengers around Keighley in post-Edwardian years.

Building work has been carried out in the Czech Republic, by a team which had already constructed a replica of a 1907 trolleybus which operated in Austria.

Behind the latest initiative is Dave Chick, project manager at the volunteer-run Trolleybus Museum, in Sandtoft, Doncaster.

“The Czech team offered to build a replica for the museum and it was decided that the most interesting trolleybus of the type was the 1911 vehicle which spent most of its life in Keighley – where it was known as ‘the Austrian car’ because its chassis was built in Vienna,” he said.

A specification was drawn-up and Mr Chick visited the works several times during the project to liaise with the team and view progress.

Last month, the completed trolleybus was officially handed over to the museum in a ceremony at the former railway works in České Velenice.

Mr Chick said he was delighted with the finished vehicle and paid tribute to those involved in the venture.

“The Czech team – led by Jirka Kovář, director of České Velenice’s local museum – has built a superb recreation of Keighley’s first trolleybus,” he said.

“Both the Czech and UK teams have worked very well together, each member bringing a different area of expertise to the design and creation of the vehicle and helping to bring alive scenes from early 20th-century transport history that we have only been able to witness in old photos.

“This is an important project because it helps our museum tell more of the story of the trolleybus in the way it does best – by letting people see and ride on the historic vehicles.”

In 1912, Cedes-Stoll teamed up with Brush to demonstrate one of their vehicles at a conference in West Ham, London.

It lead to heir system being adopted by Keighley in 1913, Aberdare in Wales in1914 and also in Hove, Sussex, in the same year.

Advocates of the Cedes-Stoll system argued that it had the advantage of using flexible cable, which allowed the bus to turn in virtually any direction, so long as it remained within reach of the overhead.

The trolleybus will be unveiled at the museum – in Belton Road, Sandtoft – on Sunday, June 30, when the construction team will be present to talk about the project.

The Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft has over 60 historic trolleybuses in its collection. Many are in working order and on open days visitors can ride on them. Most of our trolleybuses come from towns and cities around Britain, but there are also a few important examples from around Europe and from Canada and New Zealand.

For more details about the museum, visit sandtoft.org.