Classic Buses News & Mail (Page 2)

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Last updated 14 March 2010

This is Page Two of the "scrapbook" of contributions - Page One is here.

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RT8 RETURNS TO UK

After 44 years stored unseen at a museum in USA, 'pre-war' RT8 (FXT 183) has been repatriated by Ensignbus for their museum in Essex. This is the oldest complete and original RT in existence - although the chassis of RT1 is older, it does not have his original body. Rebuild will start soon (after work on Cravens RT1499 is complete) before the bodywork deteriorates further, but it will be a major job. The picture was taken at Ensign's depot in Purfleet on 10 April 2006, and was kindly sent by Chris Stanley. He says that Ensign wish to point out that viewing is by prior arrangement only. Thanks to Chris for the photo, and good luck to Ensign with the restoration.

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DISGUISED GEMS IN MALTA

Peter Skerry is fortunate enough to live on the delightful island of Malta, and has been doing some research into the famous buses there. He has also kindly sent me several fine pictures of hidden treasure, still to be found in service in 2006. DBY 346, for example, is not quite what it seems;

Ignore the word "LEYLAND" above the windscreen of this bus, because beneath the typically Maltese exterior, is hidden the chassis of a 1948 AEC Regal III registered as HYP 309 with chassis number O962147. Probably new to Rickards, London, the vehicle subsequently transferring to Best, then Catt & Swinn, and finally Vine, all three companies being based in Great Bromley, Essex. The original Plaxton coach body was replaced when the vehicle was exported to Malta. Meanwhile, below is a vehicle with much older origins;

The chassis of this beast is a 1932 Leyland Tiger TS4 (chassis number 182), new to Scottish General Transport as AG 8284 and passing to Western SMT as their number 328. Later joining the fleet of Greenock Motor Services, it came to Malta around 1952, and is now wearing its fourth body (at least!), having been fitted with a Pickering B30F when new, receiving a Burtenshaw coach body in 1936, a second-hand Leyland bus body around 1948 (from a 1937 Tiger TS7), and then the present Debono B40F body. It is now registered DBY 401, and is still very active today after 74 years ! The next one is a bit of a mystery;

According to the PSV Circle information, FBY 716 incorporates "Leyland TS" chassis number 292672 from 1939, but they don't know the original operator. This would seem to be a chassis number for a Tiger TS8, but maybe some sleuth out there can tell us more.

It's hard to believe, but this started out as Rhondda No.64 (GNY 764), a 1948 AEC Regal III. Originally with a Longwell Green B34F body, it passed to Thomas Bros., Port Talbot in 1958 and eventually wound up in Malta. Until recently it was registered DBY 312, but has now become EBY 484.

Finally we have DBY 340 (on the right). Starting out as Lincolnshire Road Car LT472, a 1937 Brush-bodied Leyland Tiger TS7, it was exported to Malta around 1960, rebodied and re-registered as DBY 340. The bus was withdrawn in 2003 and its registration re-used on a Chinese King Long bus in the November. Operators in Malta can get a subsidy for a new bus if they hand in an old one to the ADT (Malta Transport Authority), and DBY 340 is a case in point. Here we see it , amongst about eight others, in June 2006 in a government compound at Valletta harbour. Though derelict, it does at least still exist. Peter tells me it was not easy to achieve that photo !

My sincere thanks to Peter for his photos and updates from sunny Malta. Maybe he'll find some more surprises.

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TROLLEYBUS MEMORIES

Several trolleybus photos have been sent to me over the last few years, so the recent demise of the Routemaster (intended as a trolleybus replacement) seemed a good moment to look back at days past. First of all, here is a picture of Walthamstow trolleybus depot;

The photo was kindly sent by Dave Humphries, and shows the depot around the mid 1950s. It was probably taken either by his Uncle Les (Leslie E.Davis), who was a driver there, or by his Nan (Elsie Koolman) who was a clippie. I believe that all the buildings on the left have now gone, and only the one on the right (the original tram depot?) still stands. Perhaps someone can confirm this. Anyway my thanks to Dave for sending the picture.

(Kevin Stephens tells me "I can confirm that the Tramway offices are the only surviving buildings, albeit now used as residential flats after the garage was closed and demolished in 1991. The rest is now also residential, entered by a road aptly called Omnibus Way." Thanks for that info, and to prove it, here is a picture kindly sent by David Fisher taken in August 2006 from about the same position.)

Next we have a picture of trolleybuses in action, N1 1569 and N2 1659 at Hammersmith Broadway on route 666 to Edgware on 27 July 1961.

This is one of many fine photographs sent by Alan Kenny, who now lives in South Africa. As Alan observed, the South African connection is further enhanced by the adverts for Outspan oranges on the front of 1569 ! Many thanks to Alan for his varied contributions in recent years.

Finally, it's yet another picture of Routemasters in the night - we've had plenty of those in the last year or so. But this one is a little different, as it show RM1069 (with RM1076 behind) emerging from Fulwell garage, to be the first Routemaster to operate from that depot.

It was taken in the very early morning after the last night of trolleybus operations, 9 May 1962. Note the trolleybus wires overhead, and the tram lines still in the cobblestones below. Fulwell was a living history lesson.

RM1069 is still around, and currently in the fleet of Sullivan Buses of Potters Bar. Kathy from Sullivan tells me "We are indeed the keepers of RM1069. I showed the pic to the MD and he tells me that the bus was used to carry dignitaries around the route for a while prior to the official run-out, but he has never seen a picture of this.  The bus has recently been repainted (original livery of course) and is awaiting its gold lettering. Perhaps we should put some Guinness adverts on it !"

My thanks to Les Fenn for sending the interesting picture, and to Sullivan Buses for the additional info. It just goes to show that, over 40 years ago, some folk were willing to stay up very late to see a Routemaster. Nothing changes, does it ?

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TRENT SOS IN OXFORD

I've posted this picture just because I think it looks good. Steve Ley very kindly sent me this image that he acquired recently, showing passengers apparently embarking on a charabanc outside the Clarendon Hotel in Oxford. The vehicle itself turns out to be Trent No.603 (CH 6259), a glorious BMMO SOS QC built in 1927 with a Carlyle 30-seat body. It was one of a batch of five identical examples made for Trent that year, numbered 600-604 (CH 6256 to CH 6260). Midland Red also bought some of the same model during 1927-28. A great picture - Thanks Steve.

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DEEBLES

Rog Ingle very kindly sent me a bunch of photographs he took with a good old Kodak Instamatic. E.J .Deeble of Darleyford, near Liskeard in East Cornwall ran services from Upton Cross in the late 1970s and early 1980s, notably the 182/3. They later took over Pearce's Motors, Polperro who ran the Looe-Polperro service. Rog acknowledges that the pictures are not the greatest, but they are nonetheless interesting. Here is a selection;

On the left is a 1950 Bedford OB (LTA 749), originally No.1410 with Western National. Colin Billington (who owns sister LTA 748) kindly informs me that it is reported to have been with Deebles from June 1963 to October 1975. On the right is Royal Tiger NCV 500, with a glorious Harrington "fin" body. It was new in 1950 to Pearce's, and transferred to Deebles with the takeover. (Pearce's is sometimes spelled "Pearse's", but Mike Grant tells me "...the Western National timetable for Winter 71/2 gives the operator as 'Pearce's Motors Ltd., Central Garage, Polperro'". Thanks for that - we'll assume it's correct.)

315 LKK is easily identified as ex-Maidstone & District SO315, a 1960 Albion Nimbus / Harrington B30F. This still exists, and is now preserved in St.Leonards. 2105 PT on the right is a Karrier / Plaxton coach, which Rog later saw (around 1985) in a pub garden near Pensilva in a rotten condition.

Leyland Tiger Cub / Harrington Cavalier 4425 HA had been new to Gliderways, Smethwick in 1962. Somewhat older, HDR 408, ignominiously dumped at Pensilva, was one of a pair of Leyland Royal Tigers with Longwell Green coach bodies delivered new to Plymouth Co-op in 1953.

Leyland Comet MRL 910 is also seen dumped at Pensilva, circa 1983. Finally VRL 918 is a Bedford SB, seen at Polperro, and another of the vehicles taken over from Pearce's.  Thanks very much to Rog for the photos.

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DAIMLERS IN DISGUISE

Here's another interesting little photographic tale by Vic Brumby. The location is the coach parking area at Wicksteed Park, near Kettering, Northants in the mid 1950s, and up the drive comes a strange piece of coachwork, operated by Spiers Tours of Birmingham, attached to a chassis with the registration number FOF 251.

The body is by Burlingham, a design from around 1950 known as the "Sunseeker" (you can see a similar Alexander (Northern) Leyland Tiger PS1 here, photographed by George Bett). But what of the chassis? That registration number will probably ring a bell with Birmingham fans, as it was used by the many Daimler COG5 / MCCW and BRCW H54R double deckers delivered in 1939. The last 30 of those were numbered 1240-1269 (FOF 240-269), and this chassis has obviously been transplanted from No.1251 on its retirement from Birmingham service in 1949.

Meanwhile, nearby in the Wicksteed coach park is a double decker wearing the number FOF 269 and - Lo and behold ! - it's the last one from the same batch. Retired by Birmingham in 1954, it is seen here in service with Courts of Nuneaton. The body is not original. No.1269 was built in 1939 with a BRCW H54R body, but it was replaced in 1949 by an English Electric H54R body which came from 1935 Daimler COG No.765 (AOP 765).  But that wasn't the original body for No.765 either.  It had been built and fitted to 765 in 1943, replacing the original 1935 BRCW body, which had perhaps suffered from war damage.  

Anyway the wartime English Electric body on 1269 seems in reasonable order, apart from the dubious operating condition of the upper deck half-drop windows. So here we have two "FOF" Birmingham Daimlers (neither with their original bodies), and these days you won't even find one. That doesn't apply to the bus on the right, however. Lowbridge Barton Titan PD1A / Duple L55F No.507 (JVO 230) from 1948 is thankfully still with us in fine condition, and can be found at the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre.

Some of the other vehicles in that picture are intriguing too. Is that an RF on the right ? (Shane Conway thinks it's a BMMO vehicle, and he could be right. Maybe it's an S14, or somesuch.) And what about the Daimler saloon in the middle ?  Oh for a time machine! Anyway many thanks to Vic for more snippets from the past.

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Returning to the top picture, in February 2007 I received this interesting email from Ray Spiers regarding FOF 251

"Our family business, AG & KM Spiers Ltd. of Queen Street, Henley on Thames, bought this vehicle from SS Motorways of Birmingham in 1952.  It was a Daimler COG5 ex Birmingham Corporation Transport double-deck, having been rebodied by Burlingham in 1951. The chassis had been extended prior to being rebodied, to cope with 30 ft., 37 seat bodywork.

The vehicle was a pleasure to own, drove beautifully, and outwardly showed no sign of being anything other than new. Our customers were very impressed ..... especially with all the continental destinations on the louvres!  It was driven exclusively by Albert Jones until 1954 (who took over and drove a freshly purchased 1952 Sentinel Plaxton, MYR500) and then by Philip Compton. Both these top-drawer drivers kept the coach immaculate. Albert drove the vehicle on private hire European trips, quite a feat!

I am 90% certain that the driver in the photo is Phil Compton, who unfortunately died last year. I attended his funeral. During the War he served in the Army as a tank driver, being at Monte Casino of all places, and was wounded in action. He worked for Bury's Transport of Nettlebed after us. He then moved to Gloucester and worked for Red and White, becoming an Inspector at Victoria Coach Station, travelling every day from Gloucester to London and back! On his retirement he was featured in the Gloucester newspaper - well deserved too.

Unfortunately due to the shrouded radiator on this style of Burlingham body, plus having no cooling fan, the vehicle overheated. It was also underpowered, weighing in at 7 tons 7 cwt. so a cure was attempted by purchasing a life-expired Manchester Corporation Daimler CWA6 and replacing the Gardner 5LW with the CWA6 AEC 7.7 unit. Although we did some of the initial work ourselves, completion was by Caversham Motors. The downside to this was that the 7.7 was solidly mounted in the frame with resulting vibration at certain speeds. Skill was needed by the driver to try to steer clear of this.

This coach was very heavy on front tyre wear, and Michelin Metalics (the fore-runner to Michelin X) were fitted which partially helped. The Michelin X was a revolutionary and far superior tyre.

A little talked about subject is the flexing nature of the Daimler chassis, which caused 'creep' in the coachwork .... particularly the roof. This is due to the curved low slung style of the chassis which Daimler seemed to love, with (in my opinion) the bending taking place on the curved parts. This manifested itself on the Roadliner too.

We kept the coach until approx 1960, when we did an exchange with Lambert of Guildford for a 1954 Commer Avenger TS3 fitted with Duple 41 seat coachwork (KRP 688), as by that time we had several other Avengers, and on which we became more or less standardised until the AEC Reliance became our sole make. It is rumoured that KRP 688 still exists!  Hope this is of some interest."

It certainly is. Thank you very much, Ray.

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