rastone:
A few of Stevensons of Uttoxeter some re Tim Jeffcote
Tony
I should make clear that none of this batch of photos are actually my own work. The as-new photo of EVT 422 and the one of WG 37 came to me from the Stevenson family, as did the picture of NRE 36, although this one was taken by Bus & Coach magazine and used in a 1948 article. The PRE 608 photo was taken by Colin White, VRF 139 by Keith Moody, and EVT 422 at the Salt Box by Roy Marshall. KGK 725 on its side is one of Tony Smithâs own photos, and I donât know who the shot of CRE 13 was taken by. Tim Jeffcoat
Only the colour photos and the shot of KUE 950 are my own; the photo of RF 7352 came to me from the Stevenson family (itâs taken outside their house) and the NRE 36 and FON 326 photos were taken by Roy Marshall. Tim Jeffcoat
In this batch, the colour shots and the one of RRF 330 are my own photos, but the FA 8420/KGK 724 is one taken by Alistair Douglas and FON 630 by Roger Haynes of Burton. Tim Jeffcoat
In this batch, the colour shots and the one of RRF 330 are my own photos, but the FA 8420/KGK 724 is one taken by Alistair Douglas and FON 630 by Roger Haynes of Burton. Tim Jeffcoat
Tim. Thanks for sorting that and as you know Iâm very keen about not stealing photos so I must apologise for my errors.
East Kent ran some unusual buses, changing allegiance to manufacturer several times during its history. In fact the company in theory still exists since the legal writing on Stagecoach buses in the area still reads âEast Kent Road Car Companyâ. IIRC the only other Road Car Company was Lincolnshire RCC. Below standing in the yard at Herne Bay garage is one of their first batch of AEC Regent Vs delivered from 1958 with unusual full fronted bodywork by Park Royal, the batch all registered PFN became known as âPuffinsâ The company never bothered with fleet numbers, simply reserving a consecutive run of FN or JG registration numbers with Canterbury City Council.
At various times the Fleet featured buses by Guy, AEC, Bedford, Tilling Stevens, Leyland, Daimler and Dennis, plus unusually some TS3 powered Coaches from Commer and even more unusually from Morris Commercial who supplied both single deck Viceroys and RPs and the very rare double deck Imperials. Just as the chassis were sometimes unusual , so too was the bodywork, having chosen its first Leyland TD1 Double decker, East Kent went on the order single deck Leyland Tiger chassis and fitted them with double deck open top bodies by Short Bros. Apart from the fully fronted Park Royal Puffins, EK built their own bodies on some chassis and recycled many older chassis and running units with bodies from Beadle. Coaching demands also required some specials: single deck coaches with a luggage area in the roof for Band instruments, notably for the Royal Marines School of Music at Deal, or bodies with roof racks to carry the very long racing rowing boats of the local coastal rowing clubs to regattas around the region. East Kent also ran the South Coast Express Service in conjunction with Southdown and Royal Blue from Margate to Bournemouth.
this pic was taken outside Warrington town hall a couple of years ago. BED 729C Leyland Titan PD2 Warrington Corporation with me (left) and Ste Owen carrying out my daughterâs high school prom duties! The bus was supplied new to Warrington Corporation with East Lancs bodywork, specially constructed narrow to get down (the now part pedestrianised) Sankey Street - a bit further along from where this pic was taken.) This bus remains a one owner vehicle, the âcorpyâ now known as Warringtonâs Own Buses (aka Network Warrington and Warrington Borough Transport)
Froggy55:
A âCâ registration refers to years 1964-65. Were such bodies still manufatured in the 1960s? Or was this bus reconstructed?
I think âCâ reg. was only for 1965 as they didnât start splitting the year up until 1967. this Stockport Corporation bus has a âGâ reg., so you could still get a traditional " half cab " for a few years. Found the photo on the net.
Bonjour Monsieur Froggy, The very last Leyland built with half cab bodywork was TTD 386H,
a 73 seat forward entrance, bodywork by East Lancs of Blackburn. It was ordered for the small
bus fleet of Ramsbottom Council, but by the time it entered service in November 1969, the
operation had been taken over by SELNEC PTE, later to become Greater Manchester Transport.
When I find a picture of TTD 386H, I will post it on here. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.
Thank you to DeanB for the Fishwick of Leyland information from 1964. This single decker is a
Leyland-MCW Olympic integral bus. It is only in the last two or three years that Fishwicks ceased
trading at their garage on Golden Hill Lane in Leyland town centre, almost next door to one of
the Leyland Motors factories. Ray Smyth.
This Sunbeam trolleybus of Bournemouth dates from 1958, and is seen here ready to
leave the Christchurch terminus turntable on its return journey to Bournemouth.
The trolleybus system lasted until 1969. Ray Smyth.
Ray Smyth:
Bonjour Monsieur Froggy, The very last Leyland built with half cab bodywork was TTD 386H,
a 73 seat forward entrance, bodywork by East Lancs of Blackburn. It was ordered for the small
bus fleet of Ramsbottom Council, but by the time it entered service in November 1969, the
operation had been taken over by SELNEC PTE, later to become Greater Manchester Transport.
When I find a picture of TTD 386H, I will post it on here. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.
Thank you very much! I would never have thought that! I thought that the RMs had gradually replaced the RTs from the day they started to be produced.
Ray Smyth:
Bonjour Monsieur Froggy, The very last Leyland built with half cab bodywork was TTD 386H,
a 73 seat forward entrance, bodywork by East Lancs of Blackburn. It was ordered for the small
bus fleet of Ramsbottom Council, but by the time it entered service in November 1969, the
operation had been taken over by SELNEC PTE, later to become Greater Manchester Transport.
When I find a picture of TTD 386H, I will post it on here. Kind Regards, Ray Smyth.
Thank you very much! I would never have thought that! I thought that the RMs had gradually replaced the RTs from the day they started to be produced.
Hi Froggy, Have a look at page 1 on this thread and see 2 Leyland PD2 half cab buses from the 1960s, D reg & F reg. Kind Regards, Ray.
Hi Ramone, That is a very interesting question, I donât have a precise answer, but I do know that
Leyland Motors produced a couple of rear engined double deckers in the early 1950s.
STF 90 was, in my opinion, a very handsome looking machine, with bodywork by Saunders-Roe,
who I think were based at Beaumaris, on the Isle of Anglesey. XTC 684 was, again in my opinion
an unattractive lop sided vehicle, with bodywork by MCW. The engine was transverse at the rear,
mainly to the offside, which meant that the staircase was rearward ascending to get over and
above the engine. Put these Reg.Numbers into your Google thingamy, and you can see more photos
of both buses. I saw XTC 684 about 10 years ago in the North Western Museum Of Road Transport,
at Hall Street, St Helens, and it was in a dreadful condition, awaiting restoration. Where they both
are now, I do not know. A visit to the Museum at St Helens is an enjoyable day out.
I have been unable to either recall or find anything earlier than the Leyland Atlantean. Looking much like a trolleybus STF 90 was the first prototype. The second prototype was XTC 684 which resembled the 1938 rear engined Leyland single deckers of the London Transport CR and TF classes.The first preproduction vehicle 251 ATC much more closely resembled the final product.
cav551:
I have been unable to either recall or find anything earlier than the Leyland Atlantean. Looking much like a trolleybus STF 90 was the first prototype. The second prototype was XTC 684 which resembled the 1938 rear engined Leyland single deckers of the London Transport CR and TF classes.The first preproduction vehicle 251 ATC much more closely resembled the final product.
The modern bus layout is testimony to three of the most important engineers and managers in the UK bus industry: Major Gordon W Hayter of Northern General, Loftus George Wyndham Shire of Midland Red, or the BMMO as it was properly called and Donald Mcintyre Sinclair who worked for both companies and was equally responsible for both sets of developments. The sheer fleet size of even fairly modest bus operators required very significant engineering support with many companies building centralised engineering works capable of just about everything conceivably required to operate the organisation. The BMMO went down that route Northern General however operated smaller scale, but equally capable decentralised works.
The BMMO and Northern were part of the BET group, BMMO were the largest PSV operator in the UK outside London and like London were intent on doing things their way. London Transport was a major shareholder in the Associated Equipment Company and had significant influence over the AECâs psv designs, and with their own engineering works constructed bodywork.
The BMMO to a very large extent went one step further and constructed their own vehicles, manufacturing just about everything themselves including the engines. The Companyâs first designs were badged as SOS and made available to other members of the BET group notably Northern. In later years The BMMO pushed forward under Sinclair with more innovative designs introducing discbrakes, an underfloor engine single and doubledeck chassis, and motorway coaches capable of 85mph on the first day of the M1 opening.
Shireâs 1935 REC model introduced a transversely mounted rear engine with the passenger entrance at the front alongside the driver which can be viewed as perhaps the most significant development in bus design.
Hayter meanwhile was disatisfied with the designs of AEC and Tilling Stevens and set about improving them. In 1935 he came up with the front entrance six wheeler SE6 single deck coach with side mounted engine behind the o/s/f axle. He soon ran into trouble with AEC whose Q type vehicle was a similar parallel development, but on two axles only. Of the two the SE6 was the better vehicle since its Hercules petrol engine was less intrusive into the passenger space and the radiator was more sensibly placed at the front of the vehicle. The obvious visible diference between the two rival s was the the SE6 had a front entrance and AECâs Q had a centre entrance.
