Created 8-Jan-22
Modified 8-Mar-24
Additional traffic, in combination with a desire to replace the English Electric double-deck trolleybuses, led Bradford to seek to buy additional trolleybuses early in the war. They were a little surprised to be allocated a batch of ten Sunbeam MF2s with BTH electrical equipment (incorporating regenerative braking). The utility bodies were a contrast to what had been received before, as was the livery as these were the first buses to carry the new light blue, no doubt at least partly influenced by some Southend AEC trolleybuses that had been on hire (Southend had a light blue livery).
The batch became 693-702 (DKW 993-999, DKY 2-4) and had been destined for Johannesburg but it had proved impossible to ship them due to the war. Their distinctive feature was that they were 8'-0" wide instead of the normal 7'-6" which was the maximum legal width at the time. They required special dispensation to run and were allocated to Saltaire depot for the Crossflatts route where there were no narrow roads and few places where they had to mix with the remaining trams.
The braking system was modified as early as 1944 and several other minor improvements took places after the war as restrictions eased. Bradford were quick to move to 8'-0" wide vehicles as they became legal after the war and the operating restrictions on these vehicles, always referred to as "Jo'burgs" gradually eased. However, the biggest change came in January 1956 when the whole batch re-entered service with new East Lancs H35/28R bodies which were one foot longer than the originals. Although the body design allowed rear doors to be fitted, only 701 actually had them. They were sliding doors and, presumably as a consequence, the nearside destination blind had to be positioned above the centre window, making that bus readily distinguishable. The others had the destination blind over the rear nearside lower deck window.
The chronology of every vehicle in this batch was very similar, unlike most Bradford trolleybuses, as they all entered service within a couple of months, were returned to service after rebodying within a couple of days and withdrawn within a couple of months of each other in early 1967, apart from 694 which was withdrawn in August the previous year.
© David Beilby
