A MAJOR project is being launched to build a replica of a trolleybus which operated in Keighley a century ago.

The aim is to recreate the vehicle which conveyed passengers around the town in post-Edwardian years.

Now an appeal is being made for anyone with information, anecdotes or photos relating to the Cedes-Stoll trolleybus to come forward.

The man behind the initiative, Dave Chick, is visiting Keighley next month as part of his research.

"The vehicle we're looking to recreate had a chassis built in Vienna and a body constructed in London in 1911," he said.

"It was demonstrated in Keighley two years later and the Keighley corporation then purchased eight new vehicles as well as the demonstrator. And it later bought the only double-decker of this type, which had also been a demonstrator.

"There are very few known photos of this particular vehicle.

"And there are many unknowns. We don't even know for sure what colour it was – a book about Keighley Corporation Transport says it was 'said to have been blue and red', but we're unsure if that's correct and if it was, what the shades or proportion of red to blue were.

"We'd love to hear from anyone with photos which show Keighley's trolleybuses – especially if they are known to date from 1913-26, which is when the Cedes system was operating in Keighley – or if they have any information or anecdotes handed down from parents, grandparents etc."

The replica would operate on a specially-constructed line at the volunteer-run Trolleybus Museum, in Sandtoft, Doncaster.

Mr Chick, 64, the museum's project manager, said the exact cost of the scheme was difficult to determine until completion of research.

But he estimates the overall figure, including necessary infrastructure at the museum, could be about £250,000.

"As we are all volunteers and have to generate income ourselves this is a very big project for us," said Mr Chick.

"It will go ahead if I can demonstrate to the museum board that the replica will be as authentic as possible and that it can be funded.

"The vehicle will operate from overhead wires just as the originals did, although we also hope to include a battery so that we can demonstrate it away from the museum.

"I hope that if the project does go ahead, we will be able to bring the vehicle to Keighley to show people what their local public transport looked like 100 years ago."

Mr Chick can be contacted on dave.chick@talk21.com or by writing to 23 Pryor Close, Purley on Thames, Berkshire RG31 6UG.