The Classic Manx Buses website

Isle of Man Road Services 1930 - 1976

Home    Email    North Midland Transport Collection    Links    COMPLETE SITE MENU    Henry’s Coastal Tours     Classic Buses Website     Morris Oxford car site

Isle of Man menu: Douglas Corporation   D C T photos   I o M R S   I o M R S photos   I o M Transport   1996 Manx visit

Public transport in the Isle of Man commenced in 1873 with the opening of the narrow gauge Isle of Man Railway with routes from Douglas to Port Erin and Peel. Three years later; an urban tramway opened for business in Douglas, and control of this passed to Douglas Corporation in 1902, following the liquidation of the operating company. The first buses on the island were a pair of Argus charabancs introduced in 1907 by the Manx Electric Railway, and these linked Bungalow (on the Snaefell Mountain Railway) with the company’s hotel and tea-rooms at Tholt-y-Will, followed by the first Douglas Corporation buses from 1914.

No stage services were to appear outside of Douglas until 1927, when a director of Cumberland Motor Services imported 12 buses to operate as Manxland Bus Services. Within a month, three other companies had also been registered and began competing with Manxland. These were Manx Motors Ltd., Farghers Omnibuses Ltd. and P. Richmond Ltd. Farghers was taken over by the Isle of Man Railway in 1928, and soon the fleetname "Isle of Man Road Services" began to appear on vehicles. In January 1929; the Railway bought out Manx Motors, followed by Manxland a month later. P. Richmond Ltd. also ceased trading around this time, this leaving the all island bus route network in the hands of the Railway, and Isle of Man Road Services Ltd. was set up in 1930.

Until 1939; buses used outside Douglas were restricted to 28 seats, this being revised to 34 in that year. In 1946 however, IoMRS purchased a Leyland Titan which was initially operated with most of the top deck seats roped off. Eventually sense prevailed, the restriction was removed, and a further 42 Titans were added the fleet up till 1964. Small numbers of single deckers were also bought, including Leyland Tigers, Tiger Cubs, Royal Tigers, Leopards, and Bristol REs, and in 1974 came the first of a batch of 14 Leyland Nationals.

During the 1960s, for the first time ever, second-hand buses were added, in the form of ex Aldershot and District Dennis Falcons, while the early 1970s brought the realisation that the ageing PD2 Titans of the late 1940s and early 1950s were needing replacement. So the then General Manager, W.T. Lambden, acquired 15 forward entrance PD3s from Midland Red in 1972, followed by ten similarly equipped buses from Bournemouth in 1974. Those Falcons replaced the last utility bodied Bedford OWBs, and were the only Dennis buses on the island for many years. Although double deck fleet replacement favoured used PD3s, new rear engined single deckers were bought too. The first four were Bristol REMH coaches in 1970/71, with a Leyland National arriving in 1974. Six more of these came in 1975, and a final batch of seven entered service in 1976.

These were to prove to be the final new Isle of Man Road Services buses, as on October 1st 1976 the fleet was merged with the yellow Corporation buses to become Isle of Man National Transport. This move, first suggested in 1966, brought an end to 46 years of IoMRS bus operation. The new company soon made changes to the fleet, livery, and vehicle replacement. One pleasing aspect of more recent years was the restoration of several former fleet members from both sources, and so the old liveries and fleetnames can still be seen.

Isle of Man Road Services fleetlist

(Thanks to Richard Davis for the supply of information regarding the subsequent fate of buses taken over by Isle of Man Transport)

Opening fleet ex Isle of Man Railway in June 1930

New and acquired vehicles after 1930

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1945

Bedford OWB 26 (GMN 145) seen at Port Erin with all-Leyland PD2 76 (KMN 506). Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

1946

1947

1948

1949

Seen at an open day at Ramsey Pier in 1996 are IoMRS Leyland PD2 74, and Douglas Regent III 64 and Regent V 15, all of which are preserved by Isle of Man Transport.

1950

One of four Leyland Olympics bought new in 1950, MMN 297 was the last of the quartet to remain in service, until 1975. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

1951

1952

1956

All new Isle of Man Road Services double deckers had the single front opening window upstairs, as seen on Metro Cammell bodied PD2 number 94 (TMN 335) new in 1956. The bus is seen on Douglas promenade with a horse tram in the background. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

1957

Four Leyland Tiger Cubs (19 – 22) were bought in 1957, fitted with Weymann bodies and they served the island for over 20 years. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

1958

And a Manx bus in its afterlife.....

An e-mail arrived in early 2004 from Alejandro Reol in Madrid to let me know that he had acquired one of the three 1958 Leyland PD3s (number 31, XMN 345) new to Isle of Man Road Services, with the intention of restoring it to original condition. The trio of buses had Metro Cammell Orion bodywork (details above). However, as can be seen in the picture below, this bus was, at that time, lacking some body components, to put it mildly....

XMN 345 (left) as seen on arrival in Madrid in May 2004 (photo by Alejandro Reol), and (below) as it looked just after withdrawal in 1983 (photo by Richard Davis).

Obviously a good place to start the restoration would be to acquire and transport a replacement top deck structure to Madrid. Whether the bus ever got the restoration it would have needed, I don't know, but hopefully XMN 345 may one day reappear in its original format.

And just to show how varied a life this bus has had, Dave Fisher e-mailed me in January 2006 (with the above photo) to say "I passed my PSV class 1 test in November 1988 driving XMC 168A when it was with John's School of Motoring in Walthamstow, London"

1961

1964

Previously preserved in Merseyside; 67 UMN has now returned to its original home. It is from the last batch of new IoMRS deckers, which were also the only new ones with the St. Helens front on the island. The bus was photographed in Blackpool at the tramway centenary in 1985.

1967

Seven ex Aldershot and District Dennis Falcons were acquired in 1967, possibly as replacements for some of the Bedford OWBs or Leyland PS1s, all of which were withdrawn that year. These were the first used ex UK buses to be added to the fleet, as well as being the only Dennis vehicles owned. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

1968

Leyland Leopard 34 LMN was one of seven coaches bought between 1968 and 1971, but the use of these was to be short-lived. All had passed to Tours (IOM) Ltd. by the early 1970s, leaving IoMRS to concentrate on providing bus services only. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson

1970

1971

1972

1974

MAN 14A was the first of fourteen Leyland Nationals placed in service in the mid 1970s. These differed from the standard NBC version by having moquette seats instead of PVC covered ones. Most of these buses achieved 18 to 20 years service; with some being sold for further use afterwards. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

The last front-engined deckers placed in service were the ten ex Bournemouth Weymann bodied PD3s in 1974; new eleven years earlier. Two of them were subsequently preserved in the Bournemouth area. Photo by R.H.G. Simpson.

1975

1976

Total fleet = 231 with 27 SURVIVORs

Home    Email    North Midland Transport Collection    Links    COMPLETE SITE MENU    Henry’s Coastal Tours     Classic Buses Website     Morris Oxford car site

SB