Created 4-Mar-22
Modified 8-Mar-24
Bowling depot was built in 1905 and was located off Wakefield Road along Foundry Lane. It also incorporated the Permanent Way yard which was served by a railway siding. Because Bradford's trams were 4'-0" gauge this involved a short section of interlaced track where goods would be transhipped, through running not being possible. The depot site was long and narrow and featured seven roads, about half of the length being covered.
It ceased to function as an operational depot in 1937 when the Wakefield Road services were converted to trolleybus operation. However, the tracks as far as Bowling depot remained in use, not only for access to the Permanent Way yard but also because the shed was used for storage of withdrawn trams (as well as new buses).
The whole depot was requisitioned by the ARP in 1939 and remained in use by them until 1945. After that most trams made a one-way journey here to be scrapped, with the scrap often being taken away through the rail connection. Following the disposal of the tram fleet it was used for buses and continued that way until 1977 when the new Central garage was opened (planned by Bradford but opened in PTE days).
The former Permanent Way yard, by now of course no longer needed, was wired for trolleybus operation in May 1956 with additional wiring added in 1962. This section of trolleybus wiring was used solely for driver training. The wiring extended to Wakefield Road along Foundry Lane but did not connect directly with the overhead there, it was necessary to transfer booms manually. As with the trams, this facility continued after after the Wakefield Road routes had been abandoned and the link remained until 5th December 1967 when road improvements forced the closure. Training trolleybus 060 (EKU 745) remained on site at Bowling to continue training, now isolated from the rest of the system. This continued until 13th February 13th 1968 when 745, to everyone's surprise, was returned to passenger service after serving the training school for some four years.
The latest information I have is that the site is still in use and the original tram depot still stands, occupied by Bradford Council.
© David Beilby
