Subject: Bradford C.T. chassis and lower deck body frame
Chassis: AEC 661T
Body: English Electric
Location: Preston, Dick, Kerr works
Date: 1934

A rear view of the lower deck framing on the chassis. These bodies were to prove troublesome in service and my suspicion is that welding the waistrail and other horizontal members in short sections between the pillars was the root of the problem. The fatigue loads on the welds would have been significant and embrittlement due to welding was probably not fully understood at the time. It is notable that later designs changed to a continuous waistrail rivetted to the pillar which was a technique adopted by the more successful steel-framed body builders.

Photograph from the GEC archive