DURING the Second World War Bradford was among a number of transport operators to borrow trolleybuses from other areas of the country to boost its own fleet.
In 1940, four Southend-on-Sea AEC 661Ts fitted with Strachan 56-seat bodywork arrived in the city. The Southend buses numbers 124-127 retained their original livery and fleet numbers. The contrast between the light blue of the southern livery with the darker blue of Bradford’s could easily be seen. One consequence of the arrival of the ex-Southend vehicles was that Bradford subsequently adopted a lighter shade of blue.
These trolleybuses represented the only wartime loans to Bradford and were returned to Essex, in February 1942.
It was not only in wartime that trolleybuses, or components of trolleybuses, from other areas were put to use in Bradford. In 1952 the city took advantage of the demise of the trolleybus system in Llanelly, Wales, to acquire ten of their post-war Karrier W chassis. Dating from 1945 and 1946, they arrived with their bodies already removed.
Fitted with new East Lancashire bodywork, they re-entered service in Bradford as numbers 775 to 784 during February and March 1956, just in time for the opening of the Buttershaw extension on April 8, 1956. This batch of trolleybuses began to be withdrawn from service in December 1966 and all had gone by the end of June 1971.
Following the closure of the Mexborough and Swinton system in March 1961, Bradford acquired 12 of the post-war Sunbeam F4 single deckers that had been rendered redundant. Seven were rebodied by East Lancashire and re-entered service between December 1962 and March 1963. Numbers 841 to 847 were the last trolleybuses to enter service in Bradford and five were to remain operational until the final day.
These little-known, interesting facts are among a treasure trove of Bradford’s trolleybus history brought to life by Bradfordian Peter Waller in his book British Trolleybus Systems, Yorkshire, a beautifully produced, glossy hardback packed with information about trolleybuses in areas including Bradford, Keighley, Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds.
It’s a book that will fascinate both transport enthusiasts and others.
Here, we are taking a second look inside the book, which also includes chapters on Leeds, Hull, Huddersfield, Halifax, Mexborough and Swinton, Rotherham, and York. It is is one of four volumes that, between them, cover all of the trolleybus operators in the British Isles.
With a lengthy chapter devoted to Bradford and another to Keighley, the book, published by Pen & Sword Transport, takes readers from the beginning of this mode of transport across the district until their demise in the early 1970s.
Illustrated throughout with evocative colour and black and white photographs - the shots of trolleybuses in bygone Bradford are captivating - the book is meticulously researched. It covers the history and background surrounding the networks, looking at the reasons why they were opened and why they eventually closed.
Bradford’s - and Britain’s - only third-hand trolleybuses were a batch of BUT 9611Ts that had originally been delivered to Darlington Corporation but which Bradford acquired from Doncaster Corporation a decade later.
To mark the coronation of Elizabeth ll in 1953 two newly-acquired ex-Notts & Derby trolleybuses - numbers 764 and 769 - entered service in June of that year in a special powder blue and white livery. Here is number 769 awaiting departure with a service bound for Clayton. A special decoration on the front states ‘Long Live the Queen’.
On 20 June 1961, Bradford celebrated the trolleybus system’s Golden Jubilee. To mark the anniversary, two trolleybuses were repainted into historic liveries. One of these was number 603, one of the oldest vehicles in the fleet, dating from 1934 but rebodied in 1947. The following year, number 603 was to pass a million miles in public service.
Shortly after the celebrations, it was suggested by the Transport Committee’s deputy chairman Councillor HA Sissling that, in his belief, the trolleybus would disappear from the city’s streets within a decade. While it was not yet council policy, the writing was on the wall.
Although regular services on the Bradford system ceased on Friday March 24, 1972, over the weekend of March 25 and 26 commemorative tours operated. The vehicle selected for this sad role was one of the ex-Mexborough & Swinton batch - number 844.
The 844 was not retained by Bradford Corporation – one of the DKY batch of Karrier Ws (number 737) was selected for the city’s Industrial Museum. But the 844 did live on at Keighley Bus Museum.
Author Peter Waller is an authority on tram and trolleybus systems, with a series of books already published on the history of British and Irish tram networks.
This volume contains a useful table giving details of route numbers, where trolleybuses ran from and to, the dates of opening and closing, as well as any notes about that particular service. One note, for a fleet of trolleybuses, reads: ‘Ordered by Johannesburg; diverted to Bradford due to war.’ The date is 1942.
Others changed routes, some were used for short workings or for driver training.
There is so much detail in this thoroughly researched book. Anyone with an interest in the subject will find its pages very rewarding.
The chapter on Teesside was of particular interest to me, having been taken as a child on trolleybuses by my dad, who was born and raised in Middlesbrough. We have a photograph of a family outing to travel on the very last service. It was 1971 - I was aged ten and clearly remember it. There’s a picture of that trolleybus in the book.
*British Trolleybus Systems Yorkshire by Peter Waller is published by Pen & Sword and costs £30.
*Do you have any memories of Bradford’s trolleybuses? Tell us about them. Email helen.mead@nqyne.co.uk
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