Created 4-Mar-22
Modified 8-Mar-24
The first and almost the last trolleybus depot in the country, let alone Bradford, was Thornbury. A small shed was opened there to house the original Railless vehicles and this was used right to the end to store (usually withdrawn) trolleybuses. As the fleet expanded it moved into the tram depot proper and eventually nearly the whole depot was wired for trolleybus operation. Thornbury ceased to be an operational depot after the withdrawal of the Clayton service on 31st July 1971, although the adjacent workshops were responsible for maintenance of the fleet throughout. Thornbury was to have one last fling on the final trolleybus weekend. As the replacement motorbuses needed the space in Duckworth Lane depot, the trolleybuses provided for the special tours and also 844, the last trolleybus of all, were based at the workshops, which became a running shed for the weekend. The workshops once had a most unusual feature, which was a turntable on a traverser, used for shunting trolleybuses (and no doubt motorbuses) within the workshops.
© David Beilby
