Created 8-Jan-22
Modified 8-Mar-24
One of the ways Bradford managed to become the last trolleybus operator was by the astute purchase of secondhand vehicles, not just for refurbishment and operation, but also as a source of spare parts. This latter became more important in later years as the industry that supported trolleybuses lost interest in the market making obsolescence a major issue. The purchases were astute because these secondhand purchases also brought in fully-functional major components at a fraction of the price of new ones from the manufacturer.
The first purchase was unusual, as it was the only one that related to Bradford's pre-war fleet. This was Darlington Corporation 11 (GHN 322). This was a very unusual Karrier E4S with an East Lancs B32C body, the chassis being the single-deck equivalent to the E4 that was the basis of Bradford's 677-692. Only a handful of E4S chassis were produced, with this 1942 vehicle having the distinction of being the last Karrier-design trolleybus to be built, although Karrier badges were fitted to Sunbeam chassis for several years. Bradford 692 was the last Karrier double-decker as well.
Although GHN 322 was a pre-war design Karrier, the main reason for buying it will have been for the EE406/8M motor and the associated control equipment and the same motor was in a much larger group of trolleybuses bought from Darlington, some at the same time (November 1954) and a second batch in October 1956. Bradford bought all but one of Darlington's Karrier Ws, which were fitted with Brush UB33C bodies. Some of these were used as the basis of refurbished and rebodied trolleybuses to become 785-793, but the remainder were used for spares.
Darlington's numbering system makes it quite complex to list the vehicles. Those from the 1943 batch had English Electric motors and were purchased in 1954. They had previously been Darlington 1, 8, 11, 15, 17, 19 and 23 (GHN 406, 408, 407, 404, 401, 402 and 405), of which 1 had originally been numbered 46 and later 48, 11 had been 47 (only carrying the number 11 for a short time after the Karrier mentioned above was withdrawn), 15 had originally been 44 and 23 had been 45. The one other member of this batch was 24 (GHN 403) which was put into service by Bradford as 785, the first of the rebodied batch. This was not before both it and 15 (GHN 404) received some attention in their original form with the intention of using them in Bradford as single-deckers. Whilst GHN 403 did run as T403 for over a year, although GHN 404 was given the temporary number T404 it never ran in passenger service.
The remaining purchases all came from the 1944 batch which had Metrovick equipment. For some reason Bradford didn't buy 9 (GHN 567), but all the rest were acquired. Darlington 16 (GHN 572) was the first withdrawal and came as part of the 1954 purchase, but in 1956 2, 3, 6, 13, 18 and 22 (GHN 561, 562, 565, 568, 573 and 576) were bought for spares. The remaining eight of the batch were bought in 1957 and went on to become Bradford 786-793.
A further purchase in March 1960 had originated as Darlington 68 (LHN 780), being sold to Doncaster in 1952 along with the rest of the batch of six. Five of these went on to become Bradford 831-835 but LHN 780 was used as a source of spares instead.
The final batch of vehicles purchased for spares were the balance of the batch of Sunbeam F4s bought from Mexborough & Swinton that were rebuilt into 841-847. Mexborough & Swinton 31-33, 35 and 36 (FXW 915-917, 919 and 920) were only used for spares.
What remained were two batches of vehicles from Ashton-under-Lyne and Grimsby-Cleethorpes. The Bradford fleet numbers were allocated to try to best correspond with the registrations, but the Ashton ones, despite the lower numbers, arrived slightly later.
From Ashton came two Sunbeam Ws with Roe UH30/26R bodies, although being new in 1946 they were to a more relaxed utility specification. In the Ashton fleet they were 65 (FTJ 401) and 66 (FTJ 400) and they were allocated numbers 821 and 820 respectively in Bradford, where they arrived in August 1960.
In 1947 Grimsby Corporation bought six Karrier Ws with Roe H31/25R bodies numbered 19-24 (AEE 22-27). From the 1st January 1957 Grimsby merged with neighbouring Cleethorpes to form Grimsby-Cleethorpes Joint Transport Committee and these vehicles were transferred, retaining the same fleet numbers but, in time, receiving the new livery. Most of the batch remained in service until the trolleybus system closed on 4th June 1960.
Bradford then bought the batch, with the exception of 23 (AEE 26) and they arrived in July 1960. The numbers allocated to them were 822-825 and 827.
These vehicles were casualties of a couple of things. The change of mood within the council regarding trolleybuses was starting to have an effect and the need for additional vehicles was diminishing, as was the desire to improve the fleet by replacing 7'-6" wide vehicles with 8'-0" wide ones. In addition, Bradford then went on to buy some chassis from Mexborough & Swinton. As single-deckers these had a longer wheelbase and were more suitable for longer (higher-capacity) bodies. These would become 841-847 and are described in the gallery on the batch.
As a consequence, these vehicles that were intended to become 820-825 and 827 were not used and disposed of in November 1962, driven in part by a need to create space to store withdrawn trolleybuses.
© David Beilby
