For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[Busmansholiday]

On 05/05/2023 at 20:27, nsl714 said:

It has, hasn't it? We're not 100% sure if it's been repainted over here, or if this is still the early 90's London paint, either ways it's chalked and faded a bit. The scale tips a bit toward repainting, as there's no evidence of the 90's style London Buses lettering or logo compared to what's on it now. We want to buff it out a bit and see if that will bring back some gloss/shine.

It's definitely been repainted / restored at some point as it's got the original gold fleet numbers and Routemaster on the bonnet as well as a cream (rather than a grey/white ) central band.

In terms of the Cummins/ Allison, that was actually a common conversion here.

 

Found this picture of her on the web, in 1977.

 

 

You need to stick 133CLT as the reg back on her, I doubt it'll matter (!!!).

 

I tried to look up it's history on Ian's bus stop (http://www.countrybus.org) but the page with 1133's history wouldn't load for me.

[Busmansholiday]

On 02/04/2023 at 12:32, PhilJ W said:

'Modern' liveries on old buses never seem to sit well but old liveries on modern buses can look good. ATM First Essex have several buses painted in the liveries of the predecessors of the company. My favourite is the cream with green band(s) express livery. They operate for the most part out of Hadleigh depot.

One for @Enterprisingwestern

[Enterprisingwestern]

13 hours ago, Busmansholiday said:

One for @Enterprisingwestern

 

Thanks but no thanks!

That livery doesn't sit well on anything does it?

I remember chasing round Bridge Street to get the first bus out in that most bland and uninspiring livery, and the early ones were in the insipid lighter shade of "coffee"!

All the colours from the existing fleets that they could have picked, and they chose undercoat.

 

Mike.

[stewartingram]

T least its not all garish stripes.

[Rugd1022]

[Gwiwer]

22 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

 

Is it the print or has that vehicle got some serious structural issues amidships? 

[J. S. Bach]

It is in the print; the street and the building behind the bus seem to have similar distortion. Almost as if the print had been folded.

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by J. S. Bach
To finish the sentence!

[J. S. Bach]

48 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

The photo reminds me of the three-axle trackless trolleys that I saw in Athens years ago. They were painted a dark yellow at the time.

[5 C]

A fascinating and wonderfully 1970's video of the design, development and building of the Leyland National.

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Love ‘em or hate ‘em they were a step-change in British bus design and build techniques. 
 

They got the greasy bits right (finally) with the National 2 and the moquette seats were an improvement on the early vinyl ones. 
 

Fleet engineers generally liked the fundamental design though it had its flaws. Accountants hated their high per-passenger-mile operating costs 

 

By the time the National 2 was available the market was already saturated with earlier versions meaning sales were poor. 
 

But the NBCs stubborn insistence that their fleets got Nationals or Nothing accelerated the decline of rural routes where they were too big and thirsty and “tight” routes where they simply wouldn’t fit.
 

The first I saw and rode on was HOR416L, Provincial no. 16. The last I rode on was a superannuated ex-Western National example by the working for North Devon Red Bus on the Barnstaple - Exeter run where it was slow, noisy and cumbersome. 
 

A type I have always had mixed feelings for. 
 

 

[SRman]

I can't remember if I posted any of these before, but the chances are the photos will have lost their links anyway. These date from my September 2018 visit to the Danish Tramway Museum at Skjoldenæsholm, a little way outside of Copenhagen, where they also have a rather nice collection of well preserved buses under shelter. Some of the earlier buses were based on Leylands, but with Danish content as well. One in particular, the Triangel looked decidedly odd, with a half-cab layout ... the cab is on the right, as are the passenger doors. This apparent anomaly was due to the Leyland engine being fitted needing mechanical access from the British side (of course!). One of the other earlier buses solved the handedness problem by having a central driving position.

The other one that intrigued me was the bus (in the third post) that appeared to have no headlights whatsoever.

There were a couple of rather poor condition vehicles as well, awaiting restoration, but they were definitely in the minority of the displayed items. On the other hand, there was a beautifully restored Leyland Royal Tiger, of the same type as the decrepit one here, taking passengers around the Museum's road system.

there were a good few more modern buses on display as well, and many trams in another shed, and out on the tracks in operation.

The photos have to be placed in multiple posts because of the size limits.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by SRman
Corrected a typo

[SRman]

Further Danish Tramway Museum photos.
 

 

 

[SRman]

... And more Danish Tramway Museum photos.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by SRman

[5 C]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

Love ‘em or hate ‘em they were a step-change in British bus design and build techniques. 
 

They got the greasy bits right (finally) with the National 2 and the moquette seats were an improvement on the early vinyl ones. 
 

Fleet engineers generally liked the fundamental design though it had its flaws. Accountants hated their high per-passenger-mile operating costs 

 

By the time the National 2 was available the market was already saturated with earlier versions meaning sales were poor. 
 

But the NBCs stubborn insistence that their fleets got Nationals or Nothing accelerated the decline of rural routes where they were too big and thirsty and “tight” routes where they simply wouldn’t fit.
 

The first I saw and rode on was HOR416L, Provincial no. 16. The last I rode on was a superannuated ex-Western National example by the working for North Devon Red Bus on the Barnstaple - Exeter run where it was slow, noisy and cumbersome. 
 

A type I have always had mixed feelings for. 
 

 

They were definitely the bus of my childhood. My first sight of them was lined up outside Stafford station, en route to see my grandparents nearby. The futuristic design and distinctive pod marked them out as something newer and radically different from the home grown Midland Red products that plied the roads in the area. 

 

A move to the North West at the end of 1978 and they took me to and from school and later college, courtesy of Ribble and local independent Fishwicks with their attractive two-tone green livery.

 

The sound of that 510 engine and other uniquely National noises were my 80's soundtrack.

[PhilJ W]

The trolleybus in a couple of pics is also right hand drive. It is also a Leyland, one of those supplied to Copenhagen in the late thirties. The chassis was the same as provided to British operators including London.

10 hours ago, SRman said:

I can't remember if I posted any of these before, but the chances are the photos will have lost their links anyway. These date from my September 2018 visit to the Danish Tramway Museum at Skjoldenæsholm, a little way outside of Copenhagen, where they also have a rather nice collection of well preserved buses under shelter. Some of the earlier buses were based on Leylands, but with Danish content as well. One in particular, the Triangeln looked decidedly odd, with a half-cab layout ... the cab is on the right, as are the passenger doors. This apparent anomaly was due to the Leyland engine being fitted needing mechanical access from the British side (of course!). One of the other earlier buses solved the handedness problem by having a central driving position.

T

 

The trolleybus is in the centre numbered 23.

Edited May 19, 2023 by PhilJ W

[SRman]

On 20/05/2023 at 07:48, PhilJ W said:

The trolleybus in a couple of pics is also right hand drive. It is also a Leyland, one of those supplied to Copenhagen in the late thirties. The chassis was the same as provided to British operators including London.

The trolleybus is in the centre numbered 23.

I hadn't noticed that, although in my photo it looks like a steering wheel on the left of the bus - that could be an optical illusion too, or maybe it got converted later.

Edit: I just realised you were talking about the red trolleybus not the yellow one. It does appear that the steering wheel is on the right.

Edited June 3, 2023 by SRman

[Johann Marsbar]

That cast NESA logo on the front of the other trolleybus in the photo (a 1953 BUT) is quite a distinctive feature and something lacking from the NESA Garrett that is preserved at the East Anglia Transport Museum....

 

 

 

.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Johann Marsbar
extra text added

[ColinK]

There is a big preserved bus event in Morecambe tomorrow (21st May).

[45156]

1 hour ago, ColinK said:

There is a big preserved bus event in Morecambe tomorrow (21st May).

 

Drat - I've moved from that area now

[PhilJ W]

6 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

That cast NESA logo on the front of the other trolleybus in the photo (a 1953 BUT) is quite a distinctive feature and something lacking from the NESA Garrett that is preserved at the East Anglia Transport Museum....

 

 

 

.

That also was originally right hand drive with the driver over the front axle. A similar conversion was carried out on a couple of ex London Q type trolleybuses* in Spain. Such a conversion was probably easier as it often only needed turning the draglink ninety degrees rather than rebuilding the front axle.

*They were also converted to diesel. 

[Johann Marsbar]

49 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

That also was originally right hand drive with the driver over the front axle. A similar conversion was carried out on a couple of ex London Q type trolleybuses* in Spain. Such a conversion was probably easier as it often only needed turning the draglink ninety degrees rather than rebuilding the front axle.

*They were also converted to diesel. 

 

Delivered new in 1927 to Denmark with the drivers seat on the correct side for the rule of the road - ie the opposite side to that used on their UK chassis.   I happen to have a photo of one to hand in as delivered condition as I'm using it in a forthcoming exhibition........

 

 

Given the position of the front passenger door on it, the drivers seat couldn't actually be on the "British" side!   They were almost a "mirror image" of the 15 Garretts supplied to Ipswich in 1926...

 

 

The Garrett continental demonstrator that was used in the Netherlands (at least) also had the correct driving position for European running, even though it was a centre-entrance vehicle.  That was converted to the opposite side before being sold to Ipswich Corporation as their fleet No.45 in 1931.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Johann Marsbar

[J. S. Bach]

12 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

That cast NESA logo on the front of the other trolleybus in the photo (a 1953 BUT) is quite a distinctive feature and something lacking from the NESA Garrett that is preserved at the East Anglia Transport Museum....

 

 

 

.

That reminds me of Baltimore, MD's Pullman-Standards:

[Rugd1022]

Photo by John Atkinson : Leyland Atlantean 228 at Epsom Downs in June 1982...

 

[Johann Marsbar]

This unusual conversion job on a Bristol LH is running around on Island tours in Jersey......

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, Johann Marsbar said:

This unusual conversion job on a Bristol LH is running around on Island tours in Jersey......

 

 

Rescued from Top Gear?

 

Mike.