Created 8-Jan-22
Modified 8-Mar-24
This batch of secondhand vehicles had a more drawn-out arrival in Bradford and fell originally into two groups. In 1955 Bradford bought one Karrier E4S and nine Karrier Ws from Darlington Corporation as a source of spare parts. With one exception described below, these are covered in detail in the gallery on trolleybuses bought but not used, with one receiving a brief mention here.
GHN 403 and 404 were Karrier Ws with Brush UB33C bodywork which had been numbered 24 and 15 respectively in the Darlington fleet (although 15 had been 44 until 1953), two of a batch of eight new in 1943. When these two arrived in Bradford, instead of being dismantled some work was done on them and they were given temporary fleet numbers T403 and T404. They made some test runs but were put into store in March 1955. For T404 that was the end and it was disposed of, no doubt having been stripped for spares. T403 however, was kept and put into service on a new service to Bierley Church starting on the last day of 1956 and ran until January 1958, known to staff as "The Pup".
On 1st August 1957 Darlington ceased operation of trolleybuses on their last route, from Faverdale to Neasham Road. The final eight trolleybuses were from a batch of sixteen Karrier Ws with Brush B33C bodywork new in 1944, they were Darlington's 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 20 and 21 (GHN 563, 564, 566, 569, 570, 571, 574 and 575) and would become 786-793 in the Bradford fleet, with T403 becoming 785.
Before assuming their new Bradford identities the chassis were refurbished and they were then fitted with East Lancs H39/32F bodies. The forward-entrance bodies on these set the standard for all future new trolleybus bodies for the fleet. The higher seating capacity was achieved as these vehicles were 28'-11" long and of course 8'-0" wide, long the standard for Bradford buses. The extra length was possible as the original chassis had been single-deck with a longer wheelbase, as the permitted length of single deckers during the war was 27'-6" whereas for double-deckers it was just 26'-0". This extra length meant that despite their initial allocation to Duckworth Lane depot, they weren't used on the Duckworth Lane service as the turning circle at the terminus was quite tight. Over the years they were seen on most services.
788 was fitted experimentally with Ohio Brass lightweight booms and associated equipment along with trolley retrievers in an attempt to reduce damage to overhead, but the experiment was not extended.
786 was withdrawn in 1970 but most lasted until the end of July 1971 when the Clayton, Wibsey and Buttershaw routes were abandoned.
© David Beilby
