The Classic Irish Buses website

Ulsterbus 1973 - 1976

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

Northern Ireland menu: Belfast Corporation   Citybus   Leyland   Lough Swilly   Lough Swilly photos   NIRTB 1935 - 39   NIRTB 1940 - 48             UTA 1948 - 56   UTA 1957 - 61   UTA 1962 - 66   U'bus 1967 - 72   U'bus 1973 - 76   U'bus 1977 - 82   U'bus 1983 - 88   U'bus 1989 - 2006

By 1973, Ulsterbus had been in into existence for six years, and had placed new vehicle orders for a total of 474 new buses and coaches in that time. Of that total, fourteen Atlanteans and nine Leopards were not delivered until 1973. Vehicle purchasing policy then changed direction with the decision to purchase 200 lightweight 45 seater buses in 1973/74, the chassis order being split 50/50 between the Bristol LH and Bedford's YRQ model. In the event, the first two of the Bedfords were to receive Duple Dominant coach bodies, the first such examples in the fleet. As with previous batches, the arrival of each group of vehicles was to spill over into the following year, with the last five YRQs arriving in 1975.

Virtually no Leopards arrived in 1973 or 1974 (apart from the nine above), this being the era of British Leyland's ongoing industrial relations with its unions. A need for additional 53 seater buses was met by buying 25 of Bedford's YRT model in 1974, these differing from the standard Alexander body fitted to the Leopard by having only an offside emergency door, instead of one on each side of the body as was then usual. Of these YRTs, the final one in Ulsterbus service ran for just nine years. I was to encounter a dozen of these vehicles in their afterlife with Crosson Transport in Drogheda, that company undertaking a series of alterations to them, mainly involving replacing the fibreglass seats with more comfortable units in some of them, and squeezing 57 seats into another. They retained their Ulsterbus livery layout, initially with the blue stripes being repainted red (Citybus style), and then changing to a similar shade of orange to that of Manchester based SELNEC PTE. And how do I know that? Because I had, for a while, an ex SELNEC Atlantean parked alongside them with the intention of restoring it, but that's a story for another telling. Anyway, the shade of orange was the same, that I do know. By late 1991 the last of them had left Crosson's fleet, giving a credible 17 years of life to some of them, not bad for what was originally a non-standard "gap-filler" in the Ulsterbus fleet.

A further policy change occurred in Northern Ireland around this time, with increasing numbers of destroyed buses. Several destroyed buses had what was left of their bodywork removed, the chassis overhauled, and were then sent off to Alexander's for rebodying. In the main this was restricted to Leopards, although a couple of Bristol LHs (and later some Bristol REs) were also done. Unfortunately some vehicles then went on to be destroyed a second time.

Despite these setbacks (virtually unknown to other European bus companies) Ulsterbus did all they could to maintain services. Vehicles nearing the end of their lives were retained as a Reserve fleet to cover losses, while services which were likely to have a higher risk of vehicle loss also tended to be operated by the older members of the fleet, albeit sometimes only on a temporary basis.

From 1975 onwards, further Bristol RELLs were added to the fleet. These differed from the 1969 batch in having Gardner engines, forced air ventilation, two leaf doors, and twin headlights. In total Ulsterbus and Citybus would eventually amass 600 of these buses, with deliveries continuing until 1983.

Finally, one private operator was taken over in 1974, namely Coastal Bus Service of Portrush. Its origins predated Ulsterbus by a year, having taken over some UTA routes in 1966. By 1974 lack of tourist traffic had caught up with it, and it succumbed to its larger neighbour. The acquired fleet included a 1964 Leopard, six 1963/64 Bedford VAL14s, four 1950/51 Leyland Royal Tigers and two 1967 Daimler Roadliners, a mixed, elderly, and potentially troublesome fleet if the newest machines are taken into consideration!

1973

Rebodied vehicles:

Halpenny, Blackrock acquired three ex Ulsterbus Leopards including the former 1585 seen in Dundalk on February 9th 1987, alongside a rare Northern Counties Leopard new to Southdown. The latter was later returned to Sussex and restored to original condition.

Following on from the 1967 Bedfords and the 1968 Bristol LHs, 100 more Bristols were placed in service in 1973. 1622 is seen in the early 1980s after being added to the Ulsterbus driving school. Note that these, the Bedford YRQs and the Bedford YRTs all had a front grille similar to Falkirk bodywork, even though they were products of the Mallusk plant.

1974

Rebodied vehicles:

Several of the Bedfords were adapted for towing duties during the 1980s, such as 1748 seen in Great Victoria Street in 1984.

1975

Rebodied vehicles:

Ulsterbus 2029 seen in Great Victoria Street depot yard, Belfast on November 17th 1984.

1976

Rebodied vehicles:

Bus Eireann Bedford YLQ BA6 was new as Ulsterbus 1868, and is seen here in preservation with its third owner, North Midland Transport Collection. (Photo by Simon Lang).

Photographed near Kells in County Meath was Bus Eireann's LA19, ex Ulsterbus 1943, on June 8th 1995. Bus Eireann acquired 38 of the 1900 series between October 1990 and July 1993 for school services. LA19 was withdrawn in February 1998 and sold for scrap in August 1999.

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

SB