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Details: London Transport bought 4 AEC Mercury pole carrying lorries in 1958 and numbered them as 1078Q to 1081Q. These were the last generation of pole carriers used, and much of their work was related to the dismantling of trolleybus overhead wiring infrastructure as the network was gradually withdrawn. Two of the lorries were sold in 1967, while the other pair remained until 1975/1976. It is not clear what they were used for during their last decade, though they were both allocated to the Electrical Engineer at Hammersmith. For some reason I have always listed 1080Q as being preserved, though it is actually 1081Q that survived. It was sold in June 1976 to the London Trolleybus Preservation Society and was displayed at the Chiswick Works open day in July 1983. It then 'disappeared', with just a couple of reports of it being in Sussex and/or Kent, until it was photographed at an event at the EATM (East Anglian Transport Museum) in 2012. Some restoration had been undertaken but it looked like there was still a fair bit to do. Helping fill the gaps in the history is this new photo, taken at Carlton Colville (the EATM location) in September 1988. 1081Q seems to be parked in a field, along with parts of several other vehicles, and was looking rather decrepit. The missing front bumper changes the appearance considerably. Hopefully we will one day see this lorry fully restored with London Transport lettering. As an aside, I reckon that 1081Q may have been the last London Transport service vehicle to carry green livery, apart from Tree Lopper 1245F which was not sold until 1977 but which (oddly) had started life in grey. And before anyone mentions it, there was also the Thames Trader box truck 1282F which was red while active but repainted green to act as a 'heritage' vehicle in 1984.

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Posted By	Comments	Date/Time
Clive G	Shortly after the trolleybuses were withdrawn I remember seeing one of these pulling cables out of the pavement from an underground conduit. As a result of that I assumed the retention of two at Acton, together with a cable carrying trailer, were for the same purpose. There were obviously many underground cables linking substations with power stations and various sections of the tram and trolleybus system, and I believe the redundant conduits are now used privately for telecommunications.	Mon 13/12/2021, 18:12