Trolley pole

Trolley Wheel on TCRT 1300

A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a railway electrification system is said to be the 1880 invention of Frank J. Sprague.^[1]

Trolley Pole Media

Trolley pole on a Toronto streetcar, tipped with a trolley shoe
A trolleybus with a pair of trolley poles on the roof
Machining spare trolley pole wheels
Modern trolley poles as installed on Vancouver's low-floor trolley buses
Trolley retrievers on the back of a 1949 trolleybus
Pantograph(left) and trolley pole in use on Queens Quay West, Toronto
Overhead over a switch in Toronto: Two runners for pantographs flank the trolley pole frog.
Classic PCC streetcars with trolley poles are still used in Boston

↑ Dr. Romin Koebel (2005). "Boston Transit Milestones". MIT Open Courseware. Archived from the original on 2006-09-20. Retrieved 2006-10-24.

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