Thanks for great pictures of these vehicles old & new. Ray.
Thanks to Oily for a dozen great pictures of buses and coaches, Cheers, Ray.
I was taken out today by my partner, to a lovely little winery called 'Down the Rabbit Hole ’ - just down the road from me in McLaren Vale, South Australia- and found this old gem- a Leyland Atlantean, and still with it’s UK number plate attached!
It is used as a wine tasting seating area if the weather is a bit inclement- but today the weather was lovely- so we sat outside.
I’m guessing someone will work out where the bus was registered & where it operated?
Sorry it’s on it’s side…
Cheers all,
Keith
kmills:
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I was taken out today by my partner, to a lovely little winery called 'Down the Rabbit Hole ’ - just down the road from me in McLaren Vale, South Australia- and found this old gem- a Leyland Atlantean, and still with it’s UK number plate attached!
It is used as a wine tasting seating area if the weather is a bit inclement- but today the weather was lovely- so we sat outside.
I’m guessing someone will work out where the bus was registered & where it operated?
Sorry it’s on it’s side…Cheers all,
Keith
It’s an ex Grampian Region Transport bus. Ran in Aberdeen. Transferred to First Glasgow in 2004 and also operated as an open topper.
This is a copy of a comment cav551 made on the “Automatic/ semi-automatic gearboxes in lorries” thread (trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=173931) that’s relevant here.
cav551:
IAN'S BUS STOPAlthough this should really be in the Buses Coaches & Lorries thread it may be of some interest here.These three buses - Daimler CH6 models with sleeve valve petrol engine, fluid flywheel and epicyclic transmission were delivered to the LGOC - in December 1930 and were the forerunner of the modern bus, being the first order for buses with epicyclic transmission and a fluid flywheel. The original two demonstrators VC6779 and GG1393 being sold to Dundee Corporation. The LGOC eventually followed up with an order for some 300 epicyclic transmissions and fluid flywheels from Daimler which ended up being fitted to AEC LT, STL and a special reverse rotation version for Q type buses. There had been an unsucessful experiment with the NS class of AEC bus with the LGOC without a fluid flywheel in 1929. Further orders were placed by Manchester & Sheffield Corporations along with Newcastle , Middlesborough, Stockton, West Hartlepool, York, Luton, Burton, & Edinburgh. The CH6 was replaced by the CP6 with models going to Leeds, West Yorkshire, Lanarkshire Traction, Yorkshire Traction, and Cardiff, with larger orders placed by Hull, Coventry and Birmingham.
“Daimler” by Alan Townsin goes into the story of the development of the epicyclic transmission with details of how the original Armstrong Siddley Transmission was
licensed first by Daimler then AEC. Following the success it was 1958 before Daimler offered a manual transmission option in bus chassis.
This is a bit of a personal ramble down Memory Lane; some might find it interesting.
When I first arrived in Australia 30-something years ago on a working holiday visa, I inevitably pitched up in a backpacker hostel in Sydney. I had to get work, and I ended up with a removals mob in Mascot (near Kingsford Smith, Sydney’s major airport). To get there, I got the train to Central, walked across Elizabeth St. and waited for a bus (I think it was a 301 or 303 service).
All the routes were served by single-deckers; unsurprisingly, they looked like nothing I’d seen before Mk2 Leyland Leopard, Bus 3899, Sydney, NSW. | Loftus Street,… | Flickr. After a trip or two on them, I thought “that’s a familiar tune” and it turned out that I was (for once) right. It was a Leyland Leopard, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqV6oW7veic. I almost felt at home (if 12,000 miles away from it) on these buses. Naturally, other types would be on the same route, foremost of which was a much newer single-decker whose like I’d never encountered: the Mercedes O305. At the time, I didn’t quite take to the O305 - it made odd noises, had odd harmonics, and besides it wasn’t a Leyland.
And yet, the MB O305 has become one of my favourite bus types. It’s long been out of service in Sydney (and Adelaide and Perth, and Singapore and HK), but I’m happy to see many dedicated bus nuts keeping these wonderfully musical (and bl00dy reliable) buses going. Those who’ve got on a German (or Belgian or French or Dutch) O305 will be familiar with the noise of the engine/ W3D gearbox/ retarder combination (but there’s nothing wrong with revisiting it) and for those who haven’t, here’s a taster or three:
(PMC Mk4 O305) still in service at 25 years old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzUEeMF7JWo
(ex-Berlin BVG O305):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQmsqZ6ihnk
STA PMC Mk4 O305 flat stick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN9Tb0EqJ2s
(Preserved) ex-STA PMC Mk3 O305: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5RozZHqsRQ
“Why did Sydney UTA (later STA) drop Leyland in favour of Mercedes-Benz?”, you might ask. Well, that’s another story.
For my 2 years as a PSV driver with Ribble from early 1968, this type of bus was my favourite.
There were 6 of these Leyland PD3s at Wigan depot, my favourite was fleet number 1760.
This photo shows fleet number 1740 leaving Lancaster on route X42, a short journey to Morecambe. NMP.
Ray.
In Oily’s posting of 17 December, the photo of the Morecambe & Heysham AEC Regent 69 (LTF254) gives me the opportunity to show a couple of photos of sister vehicle - 72 (MTC540) which is approaching the completion of a very long major restoration in which I have had the pleasure of being involved.
April, 2022 during preliminary primer/undercoating
September, 2022 final rub-down and wash the paint dust off.
All the seats have now been installed and a few minor technical matters sorted.
The bus will shortly be going to a professional firm for its final painting.
72 appeared in uncompleted form at the 1950 Motor Show at Earls Court.
An article about Morecambe & Heysham Regents.
From five minutes in, the story of one particular bus which was quite well known.
For those from the Midlands.
oiltreader:
A few from the Highlands.
Oily
Thank you for some great pictures. The Shearings coach company depot was for many years, just 2 miles from where I live.
I remember when it was Smiths Tours, then it became Smiths Happiway Spencers, and then acquired that very large coach
tour company from Leeds whose name I cant recall. About 25 or so years ago, the fleet was so large that they entered a
brand new depot at Bryn, not far from junction 25 M6. Princess Anne did the official opening. It is now a Stagecoach depot.
Cheers, Ray.