Also see London Transport single deckers.
I am bound to have a reasonable collection of London Transport buses because I was a Londoner, born near Crystal Palace in 1941. I have grouped the LT buses together rather than listing them by make, age and so on. They are still roughly in date order.
Airfix kit bought in England in the 1970s.
Scale is 32:1. The London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) was the largest bus operator during the early years of the motor bus in London. In 1912 the LGOC formed a subsidiary called the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) to build its own fleet of vehicles.
Frank Searle (1874–1948) LGOC's chief engineer, worked with AEC to design new buses. The B-type of 1910 was the first mass-produced bus in the world, and by 1913 there were 2500 in service. It had a 34 seats. With windows boarded-over, and painted khaki, many were used on the Western Front to move troops during WW1. By 1910, LGOC’s use of red livery and the ‘General’ name was uniform.
Rear platform handrails by me (paperclips.) Both these EFE models are of post-1935 buses, one with fleet number STL 805, and the one in warpaint with STL 1988.
Information from Ian's Bus Stop:
Once the new STL (Short Type Lengthened) was established in 1932 it was built continuously by LGOC and
London Transport until 1939. Most bodies were built at LT's Chiswick works. Spare bodies were built to enable the normal practice of swapping bodies at overhaul, the bodies taking longer to repair than the chassis.
After WW2, the Country Area had some STLs with non-standard Weymann bodies (see the green bus, destination St Albans, a bit further down the page).
STL609–958. From November 1934 a more modern-looking type of STL appeared (the models shown here come into this range). The next picture compares the STL with two other wartime buses, Guy at left and Bristol in the middle.
The RLH had a fairly long history, running from 1950 to the early 1970s. It wasn't planned, and LT were offered twenty of them after the original buyer in the Midlands found they didn't need them. The RLH had a Weymann lowbridge body (sunken gangway and 4-seater sofas upstairs), and you can see just how low it is from the pic of the three buses with the pencil over the top. They were very useful, and eventually LT ordered more, the last one being numbered RLH 76.
This model is of RLH 74, which started in 1952 and went on until 1969, when it was bought by a college in Atlanta, USA, and exported there. At last, EFE have given the bench-seat passengers a window, and they've also supplied a used-ticket box on the platform.
Here's a silly story connected with the RLH, and I'm a bit embarrassed to tell it, but I was, after all, only nine or ten years old. Before 1953, I was at the Cypress Rd Primary School in England. In the playground, most boys played Cowboys & Indians or, more topical then, War, in which everyone wanted to be first a GI, second a Tommy, and anyone who was out of favour had to be a German.
I wasn't always in those games because my friend, Peter Oscar Marshall, and I were bus fans, and we ran around the white lines (roads), making an engine noise with the tongue. We steered with the correct hand-over-hand steering movements, and waited a decent time at red lights. But we went further. We actually elected which type of bus we'd be. POM always liked the RLH, and so he often was an RLH. We had decided that the RLH had a rather worried expression (see the first pic above) and POM actually adopted a worried look when he was "driving". I know it's daft, but it's true, and it's a reminder of how seriously small people take their play.
This one, G431, Park Royal body, was from the last batch of Guys delivered to LT, between November 1945 and March 1946.
Look at those ads on the front: "Drought: Watch that tap!" I've never seem that before. Who will volunteer to research a drought some time after November 1945?
Rear platform handrails by me (paperclips.)
I have modified this standard Corgi model to wartime colour
by painting white tips on mudguards and around rear platform, a white spot on
the back panel, and blacked-over headlamps with slits.
Information gathered from Ian's Bus Stop:
London Transport had never been a user of Bristol buses,
and probably would never have been without World War 2. During
WW2 all bus production was controlled by the Ministry of War
Transport.
In 1942 LT took nine Bristol chassis, and they were sent to Park Royal for bodies like those already
designed for the prototype utility buses, the wartime STDs. The bodies were about 3 inches higher than standard, and
this restricted which garages the Bristols could be used at.
They were fitted with Gardner 5-cylinder diesel engines driving through a crash gearbox. The engine
was bolted direct to the chassis, so they were NOISY and vibrated a lot. But they were fairly responsive, light at just 7 tons, and fairly reasonable to drive. The last, B5, was withdrawn in February 1953.
My mother, born in East London, and lived in London for 60 years, told me she'd never heard of Poulton & Noels soup until she saw this model bus. I hadn't either. It certainly wasn't a household name.
This is an EFE model, and reasonable for the money (£12), even though the front axle area has no detail (just blunt, like the front of a landing craft), and, again, there's no rear-looking window for the nearside trasverse seat at the back. (What do EFE have against the poor people who travelled on these uncomfortable seats?)
Edited from Ian's Bus Stop
D74 was one of 19 Daimlers allocated to London Transport by the Ministry of War Transport in 1945. Duple had no red paint, so painted them in the nearest equivalent: brown, with cream relief.
They came with opening windows and upholstered seats and went into service between March and June 1945, from Merton. [So why has this EFE model got wartime paint markings and wire-screen windows?]
Withdrawals started during 1953. They went to Ceylon, Belfast Corporation (which rebodied them and used them until 1969-70), and independent operators around the country.
London Transport already had utility Bristols and Guys and did not welcome a third (Daimler), but by the end of the war they needed buses of any kind. Most had the 8.8 litre AEC engine, and all had fluid flywheels and preselectors, so they were several shades better than the Guys in the eyes of the staff.
Rear platform handrails by me (paperclips). This model is of an unusual
batch of non-standard Weymann bodies.
STL 2699 was part of a 1946 batch of just 20 STLs with Weymann bodies. All were sent to Watford and Luton to
support country area routes 321 and 351. Destined to be London's final STLs, the last of this batch was withdrawn from Hertford in May 1965. STL 2699 was one of the 10 bought by Dundee Corporation for further use. The Grimsby/Cleethorpes corporation got hold of one or two more, and this Grimsby/Cleethorpes bus was once London Transport's.
The blue-and-white Grimsby/Cleethorpes model looked bare with no ads, so I cut a couple out of a transfer sheet and stuck them on between the decks. It's not authentic, but it looks better.
The model. Rear platform handrails by me (paperclips.) This is a rotten model, looks like it’s
made of ice cream and starting to melt. Lousy detail. Just above the used ticket box (which it didn't even have: I had to make one) I glued a rectangle of white where the window should be. That is an attempt by me to show that there should be a window there. The casting doesn't even have a hole there! It's just solid casting. Another moan. EFE didn't even put a real grabrail on the rearmost part of the platform. It was a simple, solid lug (see the right-most picture). I filed it off flat, and put a paperclip-handle there.It's the same with the TD1 and the RTL . This STD, and the RTL are the worst models I have. Don’t buy one. If you want to see the other end of the scale, see the Bristol Lodekkers, which are brilliant.
The real thing STD 156, reg HLW 85, into service November 1946. Withdrawn in February 1955. Exported to Yugoslavia.
The Leyland Titan PD1 was launched in 1945 and was fitted with a 7.4 litre engine. In 1947 a 9.8-litre version was classified PD2. Remained in production for over 20 years. Leyland built some of the bodies. The buses were available with lowbridge or highbridge bodywork, the latter with the normal central gangway on the top deck.
Specification: 16ft 3in w/b, single-plate clutch, 4-speed constant mesh gearbox. It was 26 ft long, 7ft 4in wide, 14ft 5in high, and weighed 7t 5cwt.
London Transport bought 65 PD1s in 1946 as a stopgap until enough AEC RTs were available. These had a special metal-framed version of the Leyland-built highbridge bodywork, standard with no rear display. It also had a hinged cab-door — very un-London! The only external variations were a roof box and a larger destination box. The roofbox was only used right at the end by a few buses.
The PD1s formed the STD Class and were allocated numbers 112-176. They had a short life in the capital, and after their London days were exported to Yugoslavia in 1965. In 1963 there were at least 22 in Sarajevo, (Yugoslavia), including STDs 78, 117, 159 and 166, with ex-STD 127 in Split. In 1965 Mostar had STD 113 and probably two others (or more).
(Back to the single-deck AEC Harrington Cavalier)
I have three RTs: a not-very-good (but cheap) EFE 76:1 postwar RT, a new EFE (April 2008) prewar RT, and a 50:1 Solido model of a postwar RT, the first one in this section, bought on a cross-channel steamer from Dover to Brittany in 1998, and it’s very well made & detailed. The only problem with the Solido is that the real RT110 (FXT 285) was a prewar RT, with the sloping-down driver’s windscreen (like the EFE model here with route no. 22), but the Solido model has the postwar body. It’s a pity to spoil such a good model by such an obvious mistake. They even got the right matching rego number, but it’s the wrong body (although the original roofbox was removed in the 1950s). I checked the website Ian's Bus Stop but this bus is not shown as having been rebodied after WW2.
Now to the EFEs
The EFE route 81 is much the same low quality as the EFE RTL (see next entry), but not quite so bad. The ice cream from which it was cast didn't melt as much as the droopy RTL and STD. But I shouldn't complain because it cost £10 only, about half the price of other 76:1 models, and so I suppose EFE or their dealer are, quite correctly, demonstrating that they are ashamed of it. This model has no licence plates, and it doesn't even have a black background for them. I had to paint the black where the licence plates go, and I haven't done it very well (tho it's not this bad in real life: the close-up camera is a curse sometimes).
The EFE model of route 22 (model released in April 2008) is much better and shows what EFE has done to improve their models. This is a wartime bus and is a good copy of the real thing. EFE have at last done something about the platform: you can see that they have provided a hole under the stairs where we used to put our big packages. They have also tried to improve the handrails, although they are still too fat, and, oh joy, a used ticket box.
The back looks good, but I can't believe the ad on the front was quite so glittery-gold. Anyway, it's a good model all round, as it should be, because it cost the full pricxe of £20.
Of all buses anywhere, the RT series means the most to me, even though everyone seems to think that rear-entrance doubledeckers started and ended with the Routemaster. I was born two years after the RT was born, and they were
being slowly withdrawn (replaced by Routemasters) when I withdrew from England in 1966. So the RT and I
were exact contemporaries. They were brilliant buses, well-behaved,
good-looking, comfortable, fast and they didn’t jerk when the driver did a
preselected gearchange. They did vibrate a bit at idling, but that was all quite
stimulating for boys and girls of my age.
Chassis: Type 3RT: AEC Regent III, 16ft 4in wheelbase, 6
cylinder 9.6 litre diesel
Bodies: Park Royal, Weymann, type RT8: 56 seats (26 + 30), metal frames, 4 bays.
Almost all RTs had the same seating arrangement: the lower
saloon had five rows of forwards-facing seats, and a pair of transverse seats,
each seating three over the wheel arches. These were raised on low plinths above
the level of the gangway, to clear the transmission and rear axle assemblies.
Upstairs there were thirty seats, all in pairs, even the rearmost, and all facing forwards.
Rear platform handrails by me (paperclips.)
I have found that this was EFE's third model, first released in 1990, which may tell us why it's such a rotten model. Lousy detail, radiator the wrong shape — and what's the only exterior difference between an RT and an RTL? Yes, the radiator, and EFE got it wrong!. In the front-view picture (above, right), you can see that, instead of the parallel-sided radiator of real life, this model's radiator has curved sides, like a Bristol.)
I put up with this for about a year, after which I couldn't stand it any longer, so I carefully pinged-off the grille and replaced it with the Leyland grille from a plastic Tower Models RT kit. I put the EFE-joke-grille on to a scratchbuilt heavy haulage tractor, and the Tower Models AEC grille from the Tower Model kit on to the Tower Models RT. So all the models now look OK, but their licence plates are all mixed up (see left-hand pic below).
In the pair of front-view pics above, you can see the rework (far right) and the original (to its left) and you can see which one looks like an RTL.
Just as the model of the STD didn't have a window over the used ticket box, I had to do something with this one too. I made a rectangular hole by patiently drilling about 10 holes through the casting, and then using a small file to try to even it out. The casting didn't have a hole there — it was solid casting. Another moan. Just as on the STD, EFE didn't even put a real grabrail on the rearmost part of the platform. It was a simple, solid lug (see the right-most picture of the STD). I filed it off flat, and put a paperclip-handle there. I'll not buy another EFE until I can see close-up photographs. (When you buy from overseas, you can't see the thing first, so you have to trust the maker. I do not trust EFE.)
These two real-life buses are badly served by these models, the worst I have. Do not buy either one.You pay the same for this low quality as you pay for that brilliant range of Corgi Bristol lodekkers.
The facts about the bodies: Type RT8: 56 seats (26 + 30), metal frames, 4 bays.The Park Royals: RTL 1 - 500, 502-550, 1001-1306, and 1308-1600. The Weymanns: RTL 1307, 1601-1631 (Total 1180). Introduced: June 1948
(Back to the AEC Harrington Cavalier)
The RTWs were London's first 8ft-wide buses. There had been 8ft-wide buses in London Transport already, but those were trolleybuses, meant for South Africa, that were diverted to LT because of the war. The RTWs were originally banned from Central London, and from anywhere with tram tracks. The Metropolitan Police were only prepared to admit them as suburban buses. The RTWs were recognisable from behind by the wide red panel each side of the rear destination panel. This was not a direct result of the 6-inch extra width, but of the rubber stops that Leyland fitted for the emergency exit window.
Each standard double seat was fitted with a one-inch wall spacer and the other four inches of extra width were given to the gangway.
Chassis: Leyland PD2/3, 16ft 4in wheel-base, 6 cylinder 9.8 litre diesel.
Body: Leyland, type RT6: 56 seats (26 + 30), metal frames, 4 bays. 8ft wide
There must be more models of this than of any other British bus. It has become the London double decker for most people around the world. When the Routemaster was withdrawn in the mid-2000s, newspaper headlines called it "London's double decker bus" as if there were no others. I always though too much fuss was made of the Routemaster as, in my opinion, it was the RT that set the standard for buses that were modern, stylish, fast and clean, and used standard parts, with bodies that could be swapped from any chassis to any other. The Routemaster updated the design, with air brakes and integral body-chassis construction. Anyway, it's a fine, big bus but a rather weak model. The Corgi RTW looks far more like the real thing than this Routemaster does. (Generally I buy EFE only when I can't find a Corgi of the same type.) (Go to AEC Q on the single deckers page.)
AEC ‘Q’ double decker, 1930s Corgi 45702 (Bradford), 45706 (Hull)
Model: This is a very well-made Corgi, with handrail, finely wrought front bumper, and a printed list of fares just inside the front entry platform.
Real thing: Built by AEC at its Southall works, the
first Q-type double decker appeared in October 1932, looking as
if it had been built in 1972. Designed by John Rackham, the Q-type is remembered
as one of the most remarkably advanced designs of its era. Only 23 were
built [that must mean 23 doouble deckers, because the LPTB ordered over 100 single deckers], most bodied by Metro-Cammell and at a price of £1,225. (Maybe only 23 real ones were built, but how many models! At August 2007, Hattons models and The Model Store listed nine different double-decker Qs between them, and there may be a few more. How many buses in history have had nearly 50% of their output made into models? Stunning statistic.)
Sales of the AEC Q were
disappointing, so what went wrong? Was the bus industry of the time lacking in
vision, was it the engine accessibility (from right-hand side of body), or the fact that the main customer, London Transport, opted for the STL-type? Perhaps this Wikipedia entry gives another idea: "The Q failed to attract the attention of the British operators and as a result failed to find a market in the UK … One of the reasons was the Q was prone to problems, the most concerning being that the petrol models caught fire at the carburetor. The recommended solution was just as worrying … increasing the revs until the fire went out! The result being the Q did not obtain the popularity of the other AEC models so the project was dropped, last appearing in the 1937 catalogue."
My first model bus bought, in New
Zealand, after travelling around Lake Taupo in a real one.
Rear platform handrails by me (paperclips.)
This is a lowbridge bus, and the low height was achieved by using a
right-hand gangway and 4-seater "sofas" to its left. The Bristol 'K' was built from
1937 until the early 1950s. Most were equipped with five cylinder Gardner diesel engines, but
some of the earlier ones had gasoline engines. Engines were bolted direct to the chassis, so these buses rattled and shook quite a lot. Most of these buses ended active service by 1970.
Postscript: I was looking through the internet to find pictures of this type of bus. A picture of two of them came up with the unforgettable caption: "A pair of beautifully preserved Bristols".
Route 182 served Sydney’s northern beaches and, at that
time, used Albions most of the time.
This is a body style particular to Sydney, and we are lucky that Trax have spent the money on making a model. There cannot be many collectors who'd want this one. See their website http://www.topgear.com.au
(Also see the Guy utility from Coventry.)
Coventry bought its first motorbuses, seven double deck Maudslays, in 1914. Heavy bombing of the City in 1940 caused extensive damage to the tramway system and as a result, many replacement buses were borrowed from other operators. The company bought its first Daimlers in 1933 and repeat orders gave the local product overwhelming superiority - 96% of the fleet by 1962. The last buses received, built to wartime design, were a batch of Duple bodied CWA6s, numbered 373-386 delivered new between August 1945 and March 1946. They had many relaxed features including more opening windows, full destination displays and rexine covered seats.
The maroon one is 1:76, with rear platform handrails by me (paperclips.) The green one, in
livery of Derby Corporation, is 1:50, and a very good model.
Look at the mudguards on the maroon model, and compare them with the green bus on the right. That maroon model's no Daimler! It's a Guy! Corgi made a mistake calling this a
Daimler. It's just a Guy (Southdown) lowbridge 4-abreast seating, with a
Daimler radiator grille. To modify it to look like a real Daimler, I:
1. removed Daimler radiator &
headlights, and filed the Guy-type extended bonnet flush with the front panel
before refitting the radiator — about 1.5 mm of metal to remove
2. filed down the flared-out mudguards
and shortened them slightly to look like the real photo
3. removed the licence plate from the
radiator bottom (as shown on the Guy) and painted it black
4. made up a square licence plate FDU 385 and stuck it under the driver's window, not at the bottom of the radiator grille.
5. made up a foglamp and hung it below
the left mudguard.
See the pic. It's all my own work!
I wrote to Corgi to tell them they’d
made a mistake, and that their Daimler was a Guy.
Although they denied there had been a mistake, I carried on at them, backed up with some pix of the real thing, and they eventually agreed there's been a mistake. They said: “Firstly, the hand made catalogue model was made with Guy parts by error
— radiator, mudguards, bonnet etc. This was noticed and the factory in China was
asked to change to all Daimler parts, which we have. However, although they
changed the radiator, they did not change the bonnet or mudguards and
unfortunately once the model has gone out there is nothing we can do about it
and actually very few people even noticed. The real bus was a Daimler and our
model has the incorrect bonnet and mudguards.”
A couple of years later, I made up some ads for the sides (see pix) because I thought the Daimler looked a bit dull without them, even though it's pretty stylish as it is, and even thought they did run naked like that (see the picture of a real one in action). I typeset the ads following pictures in a book of old buses, and the "Player's Weights" one is authentic because the picture I took it from was of a 1943 Coventry Daimler. I don't know if Coventry ever carried the "Olivier" one, but I did it anyway because it was quite easy to set. The cigarettes are advertised at 3/0 for a packet of 20, and my memory tells me that would be somewhere around the late 1950s or early 1060s, so the utility Daimler could still be running then. Here's what they look like.
Daimler Utility, Douglas Corporation, Corgi 43912
(Back to the pie stall on "Other models".)
The first Douglas Corporation motorbuses arrived in 1914. A Vulcan opentopper in 1926 was the only double decker until six AEC Regents arrived in 1933–34. During the war Bedford OWBs and Daimler utilities arrived This model, fleet no.52, Registration FMN 955, was one of three acquired in 1945 and served with the Corporation until it was withdrawal in 1970 for preservation.
There's a problem with having good books. I have a really good one The Heyday of the Halfcab, published by Ian Allan (UK) and it carries a picture of fleet no. 52. It has a silver or white grille mesh, whereas the Corgi is all-black. I did the quick fix (pic above) with a white crayon. A bit rough, but more authentic.
For an idea of what "highbridge" means, please flick to the Home Page.
This bus with nine others was delivered to LCT in 1946. It moved to Devon General in 1952 in
exchange for AEC Regal single deckers. I have weathered this model by spraying with water coloured with black and brown acrylic paint, then blowing the excess off with a hairdryer. It looks quite good, but perhaps too dirty on top.
From what I can find, I think the Regent MkV was a low-chassis model but standard height inside, and available in about 1955–1959. There was also the low-height Bridgemaster, AEC's answer to the Bristol Lodekka (from 1956 or 1957), but which never equalled the Bristol's success. Only 179 Bridgemasters were built between 1957 and 1962. The Regent Mk V had a good range of customers, and they had all sorts of bodies, many by Park Royal. This West Yorkshire MCW-Orion-bodied Regent V, MCY 405, fleet number DAW1, is on the route to Newall and Westbourne Estate and would have been delivered in early-to-mid 1950s.
These models were introduced by EFE in 2005. This is a boring model with no interesting features. It’s so boring, I do not know why I bought it.
The real thing: Two prototypes built in 1949. Transmission mounted along one side with drop centre axle. Overall height 13 feet 6 inches. After numerous modifications to the prototypes the LD went into production in 1954, and that finished off the old K Type.
The Lodekka had a lightweight "chassis" which was more properly a perimeter frame. It did not reach its full strength until combined with the floor construction of the body. It was therefore classified as an integrally-constructed vehicle, although it was still possible for the chassis to be driven to Lowestoft for bodying. 5200 of various types were built and production ceased in 1968. Dennis built a copy, the Loline, under licence.
The LD from 1954 had a slightly dropped central gangway, but the flat floor Lodekkas were introduced in 1960:
FS: Flat floor Short (open rear platform)
FSF: Flat floor Short Forward entrance
FL: Flat floor Long (open rear platform)
FLF: Flat floor Long Forward entrance.
These codes are followed by the engine code (number of cylinders and make). 5 cylinder Gardner (5G), 6 cylinder Gardner (6G) or Bristol's own BVW engine (6B).
The models:
(Back to the CMB/Southdown Arab Mk 4s)
The LD and FS models were different in real life, and what's good is that Corgi bothered to make more than one casting. They are the best of all the models I have.
In the picture of the front view of both, side-by-side, look at the differences in the castings. The Brighton & Hove (red one) has black-painted grilles below the top-deck front windows, but the Southdown does not. They are not just transfers — they are cast in.
The Brighton & Hove has front mudguards and a front panel that go down quite deep at the front, but the Southdown's are shorter.
They both even have a registration disc stuck inside the driver's window, near the grabrail on the driver's window pillar, and a full set of destination-blind winding handles (out of focus in this pic). The Southdown, which has an open rear platform, also has fine detail including notices inside, on the staircase shrouding to tell passengers about luggage! You can't actually see any words on that white label, but you need a compositor's magnifying glass even to see the gold "8 standing passengers" label below it.
Western SMT (Scottish Motor Traction): Bristol Lodekkas nos 1625–1627 were the only FS types (flat floor) in this fleet, after many LDs (same as the Southdown bus above). Again, this Corgi model has different front mudgards from the other two, as you can see from the detail. That makes three sets of front mudguards for one similar casting. Good, isn't it?
For some reason this model doesn't have the licence discs, the "8 standing passengers" sign, or the twin destination winding handles. Also, the "Western" signwriting on the sides didn't come out well. I think it's supposed to be shadowed.
It's not as detailed as the other two, but it's not bad. It was very cheap, too, at £12 from Hattons.
The attention to detail on the first two pictured here must have added a lot to the cost, but Corgi were keen enough to accurately reflect the differences. They were both cheap, on special from Hattons at about £14 each. These are the best-made models I have. To see the worst, go to EFE's STD and RTL.
Two models: one standard red, and one in
livery of Hall Green Greyhound Stadium.
The BMMO or Midland Red as the company
was better known, was unique in that between 1923 and 1970 it designed and
constructed most of its own vehicles. One such vehicle was the D9 which was
first unveiled in 1958. Some way into the production run, the D9's traditional
mudguards were replaced by a flush panel, and these were unofficially
known as MkIIs. Fleet number 5413, this model, was one of those.
The Hall Green Stadium was situated only a short distance from the bus garage at Digbeth.
1964 BMMO D9, Midland Red 5370 - 6370 HA
Body (integral) BMMO, 72 seats, 40 upper, 32 lower
Fibreglass, one-piece roof
Engine BMMO 10.5 litres
Transmission: epicyclic semi-automatic
The D9 was Midland Red’s first double
decker built to the new maximum length of 30ft. 345 were built between 1958 and
1966 at Carlyle works in Edgbaston. They were withdrawn from service between
1972 and 1979.
The D9 was a very advanced vehicle for
its time, being of integral construction with many body panels made of glass
fibre, indeed the whole roof is one moulded glass fibre panel. The
powerful engine, power steering, rubber independent suspension and good
visibility from the cab made this a very pleasant and popular vehicle to drive.
An unusual feature is that the front wheels are set back from the front of the
vehicle, resulting in a particularly small turning circle.
This particular vehicle was built in
1964 and spent most of its working life in Leicester. It was one of the last
six D9s to be withdrawn, in 1979.
In the 1970s, HK’s population growth in the New Territories led to an increased
demand for passenger buses. KMB introduced these buses in 1973, probably secondhand from East Lancashire. They were 30ft long and designed to carry 88 passengers, but from my experience of Hong Kong at that time I can say there'd be more than 100 aboard, with the rear wheel arches scraping on the wheel-tops on corners. This was the first double-decker
serving the Sheung Shui district.
This is a Corgi and I bought it from Hattons in England.
(The second from the left was originally an East Lancs bus, but this one was bought by Kowloon Motor Bus Co. and exported to Hong Kong.) The name East Lancashire Coachbuilders
was first registered in October 1934 when the firm manufactured bodies for vans,
lorries and small coaches. A major change took place in May 1938 when Alfred
Alcock and George Danson moved from Massey Brothers to become directors of the
Company. They brought their expertise in the building of larger buses,
particularly double deckers. Metal framing was introduced from these early days
and the firm became known as a major supplier to the municipal sector of the
market. Since the decline of this market, the customer base has widened to
embrace all types of operator including major groups, both at home and abroad.
(Blue & red model, above) Leyland PD3a, Corgi 41103. Accrington Corporation commenced motor bus operation in 1928. The operator
became known for its distinctive dark blue and red livery. In the postwar period
Guy and Leyland chassis together with bodies by East Lancs predominated. The
operator remained faithful to front-engined chassis, taking a final batch of 4
in 1967, these being their first with front entrances.
The cream & red AEC Regent Mk5 (Corgi 41101C) is a St. Helens Corporation Transport route 309 to Southport
via Burtonwood Winwick Road. St. Helens Corporation commenced motor bus
operation in 1923. In 1959, a solitary front entrance 30ft-long double decker
numbered K199 was purchased. It was an AEC Regent Mk5 with East Lancs body. The
main problem with it was that the fuel tank was insufficient capacity to enable
it to operate all day without refuelling and it remained as the only 30ft double
decker in the fleet.
The route 33 Leyland PD3/E (above, right, and 2nd from right in the group pic) has the traditional Leyland radiator grille, and was one of a batch of six similar buses delivered to Stockport in 1969 registered MJA 862-97G, fleet numbers 92–97. The Huddersfield Corporation Transport Daimler CVG6/E (just above, 41102C), has the same body as the others but with no advertising and a Daimler grille, and the paint design makes it look quite dashing.
This Guy (right) is from Coventry Transport. Compare the colour with the Daimler utility from Coventry. The Daimler is maroon but this Guy is more red. The Guy is by EFE and the Daimler is by Corgi, so that may be why they're different colours. There's more difference in life than in this pic.
I have a soft spot for Southdown as I spent a lot of time in their territory between 1950 and 1965. Because of this, I have collected too many models of Southdowns. They are listed by type on this webpage, but here's a picture of them all together. (The single-deck Leyland at right is not a good, scale model. It's a cheap Lledo model, and I removed the top deck, made a wooden roof and routed it to Rye. I don't expect anyone in Rye ever saw one, but it's a nice short name for me to fit into such a small aperture.
Model: I have a Southdown Guy Mk 4, and three Mk 2s: wartime livery EFE 99205, postwar dark-green roof Corgi 43906, postwar cream roof Corgi 0000.
Real thing:Southdown began on 2 June 1915 and grew to a very big and well-known operator around Brighton, Worthing and surroundings. The utilites were introduced by Guy during the war. My cousin Carol married Les Goode, who was a Southdown driver, and who learned on a crash-gearbox Guy like this.
GUF 395 (below), fleet no. 495, Gardner 5LW engine, was built in March 46 with Park Royal body, withdrawn November 1956. Sold to Meal Service Co., Brighton for staff transport. For sale again in 1959 by dealer Thurgood of Ware, Herts. for £225.
GUF144, fleet no. 444 (Corgi 43906), was delivered in 1944. This has a dark-green roof, and the light-green paint seems lighter than the others. It was later converted to open-roof, and retired in July 1964.
The grey one, GUF 120, must have been delivered during the early part of WW2, and operated along the seafront between Saeford and Worthing. This made it vulnerable to air attack, hence the rather lame attempt at camouflage. It's an EFE model, and so carries the hallmarks of their uninterest in detail. There's no rear-view window for the passengers on the nearside triple seat on the lower saloon (you can just see it on the rear view of the three buses together), and there are no rear-view mirrors.
Postscript: I already had one Southdown Guy, and for my birthday in 2007, I bought another one and asked my lady friend to buy me two more. She couldn't see why a collector would want to end up with four Guys all run by Southdown. So, along with her present, she delivered this limerick:
"I've something to tell you" he said
as they were lying in bed.
"I love you, my dear,
but I very much fear,
I prefer playing with Guys instead".
I found the blue CMB by accident, on the internet, at a really keen Hong Kong model shop called Jotus. It amazes me that a place with such a relatively small population has manufacturers who are prepared to make models that cannot have a big market although this one, of course, is also sold from England in Southdown livery. The Southdown certificate tells me they made 1200 of that. Britbus is expensive, double the normal price, but more detailed that Corgi or EFE (except the Bristol Bristol Lodekkers which are stunningly good). Previous Hong Kong models from Britbus were issued as AsianBus models, but the packaging of this model, released in Hong Kong on 11th March 2004, reads 'Manufactured for Britbus by Asianbus'.
Britbus care about details. You can see that the two models' front mudguards finish at different heights, and the front passenger window of the lower saloon is a quite different shape on each. Also, the panel just in front of the front entrance doors (CMB) and front-most passenger window on the lower deck (Southdown) have different contours. The CMB has a big handle on the outside of the upper deck emergency exit (the top windows in the rear view) but the Southdown one doesn't. I don't know whether that's because the Southdown didn't have one, or whether it fell off the model before it got to me.
The bus: 17 Guy Arab Mk IVs were purchased from Southdown and entered service in Hong Kong between December 1970 and January 1972. They were the first secondhand buses purchased by CMB. The buses were new to Southdown in 1956, and were bought to cover for the short wheelbase Guy Arab Mk V single deckers whilst they were re-bodied as double-deckers.
In 1974, as part of CMB's push towards one-man operation, these vehicles were refurbished, including fitting a single-width doorway with folding doors in the first of the nearside bays. A farebox was fitted and the bulkhead window was altered, thus allowing the driver to see the farebox!
MW17 entered service in January 1972 and was withdrawn in September 1981. This model was announced in February 2004.
Having just told you that Britbus cost a lot more, I suddenly found, In May 2008, a whole fleet of them at very special prices from Hattons models. They were asking just £15 for each, including the two above, for which I originally paid at least double. There was one in the fleet I didn't have, a sister to the "Bank vehicle" on the "Other models" page, so I got it. In life, it looks much better than it does under the relentless close-up lens of my camera. The front view below looks almost toy-like. Even so, it really does typify the HK buses of the 60s and 70s, and is well worth the money. The radiator grille is blue. I never saw a Hong Kong Guy like that. I took a b&w photograph of AH4004, also route 15, in 1979, but it's grille was the same colour as the rest of the body which was, I think, blue.
This is the best photo I can manage of a really fine detail: a black square painted on the bonnet saying EMERGENCY ENG. STOP, with accompanying Chinese characters — but you just cannot read it without a compositors lens! How on earth do they make writing that small without filling up the spaces? The bonnet even opens to show the Gardner engine but it's too tricky to photograph.
Same body casting as Leyland PD3 City of Lincoln Leyland PD3. B&w photo by me, taken near a HYF ferry
terminal in Central Hong Kong in 1979. This model also comes from the Jotus shop in Hong Kong.
Constructed in the Java Rd workshops [Between 1969 and 1979, I
worked up the road, at the junction with Oil Street] from a new Walter Alexander
CKD body kit, mounted onto the old chassis, with old fleet number LX22 (which
first had a Metal Sections body). As the chassis was overhauled at the same
time, the ‘new’ bus got new fleet no. LX333, and they re-registered it so the
whole thing looked new. Withdrawn in 1993. From left to right: MAN 6-wheeler, Leyland Victory, Guy Arab Mk 5, AEC ex-East Lancs, Guy Arab Mk 4, Guy bank vehicle (see the "Other models" page, Guy Long Dragon, Albion (see individual descriptions)
I made the handrails at the back, from paperclips. It looked really bare without them. This model, like the Leyland STD and RTL, also displayed the care that EFE do not always lavish on their models. Passengers sitting on the nearside bench seat, at the rearmost window on the nearside, had a window to look through, above the rear platform, to see where they'd been. Well, just like the STD and the RTL, this model had no window — it was solid casting! That is so slack. So I had to get out my drills, drill through, finish off with a file, then mix up some paint to match. I think that's a pretty bad show when you've just paid £20 for a model. Shame on you, EFE. Right-side picture weathered with dirty acrylic paint. Same casting as Bristol K. Upper deck
lowered by right-hand gangway and 4-seater benches. During
the 1950s there was a brief interest in unpainted buses, as operators sought to
save painting costs. Unpainted aluminium finishes were tried experimentally by a
number of operators in Britain, including, Liverpool Corporation, London
Transport, SWT and Edinburgh Corporation. Edinburgh bought its first unpainted
bus in 1955, and a further 10 in 1957. All 11 were from the 300 Leyland Titan
PD2/20s with lightweight MCW Orion Bodies bought to replace the city's tramcars.
the unpainted finish weathered badly, and all 11 buses were painted into
standard colours in 1959. The bus modelled, no.798 of the 1957 batch, has
undergone long-term restoration at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at
Lanthalmond, Fife. No info yet.
This is same casting as the Wolverhampton Guy Arab/Roe, so this Leyland has Roe bodywork. (The open-top version was operated by Provincial (Dorset & IOW?). (My amateur attempt at making open doors on the Southdown was probably a mistake, but I wanted to see inside, and see the staircase. You try making a set of folding doors, with glass, at a scale of 1:76.)
Between 1958 and 1967, Southdown took delivery of 285 stylish ‘Northern Counties’ forward entrance ‘Leyland PD3’ double deck buses.Built to the newly allowed full length of 30ft, these vehicles quickly acquired the nickname ‘Queen Mary’ due to their size. Southdown had a set of these buses with completely removeable roofs so that they could operate as open-toppers in summer.
Some of this type was sold to China Motor Bus (see next entry). I took this black-and-white pic near Hong Kong Central in 1979, and the blue-and-cream bus was pretty shabby. This was just as these designs were being superseded by Leyland Victory and other rear-engined models. The Corgi model is red and white, although a blue-and-white model is also available. The black-and-white pictures were taken by me in 1979, and the buses were blue and white then.
PD28 was one of the ex-Southdowns bought by CMB to use on cross-harbour routes after the tunnel opened in May 1972. The tunnel caused a sharp increase in demand for buses, and KMB and CMB bought used UK buses as a stop-gap. Leyland and others had just about stopped making new front-engined bus chassis by then. This bus, PD28, originally a 1958 model, had original UK registration number TCD 827, and was registered in Hong Kong in January 1973 as BB9521. The CMB fleet had 76 Queen Marys, with Northern Counties bodies, but the windows were modified to be deeper and wider-opening. They had Leyland 0600 engines, and this was new to the mechanics as most CMB buses had Gardner engines until then. The gearbox was manual.
Scale is 1:50. This model, operated by Scout Motor Services, was copied from a preserved bus, reg. no. PRN 143, which ia a PDR1/1, made in June 1961. This means it's a model of the very first Atlanteans. Kowloon Motor Bus Hong Kong Leyland
Victory MkII series 3 d/deck bus. I think about 1970. This is a Corgi and I bought it from Hattons in England.
(Return to the Queen Mary.)
No information yet, but I know it has a
double-reduction axle, same as our MANs in Brisbane. See other models webpage)
Guy Arab Mk 4 (Roe of Leeds Body) 1953, Wolverhampton Corporation, fleet No: 572
The Corporation purchased the company horse tramways in the town in 1923, and electrified the system using the Lorain surface-contact method, thus isolating it from surrounding networks. Motorbus operation commenced as early as 1905, with a route to Lea Road using three Wolseley double deckers, making Wolverhampton the first municipal tramway undertaking to operate motorbuses. Wolverhampton pioneered trolleybus operation in the 1920s, quickly replacing tram services and some motorbus services, these being replaced during the 1940s by modern trolleybuses. The Guy Motors factory was situated in the town, and so its products have always provided a large part of the Wolverhampton bus and trolleybus fleet and for a single batch of Guys delivered in 1953, nos 571-577 (KJW-571-577).
(Back to the Guy bank vehicle on "Other models".)
Guy Arab Mk5 (China Motor Bus)
(Following notes written by a HK enthusiast)
MODEL: GUY ARAB V. ENGINE: Gardner 6LX.
TRANSMISSION: Daimatic. BODY: Alexander
China Motor Bus Co.'s LX is the last
half-cab design running in Hong Kong. Although this bus is about 30 years of
age, it is still one of my favourites
Guy was a company specialized in
building large vehicles in Britain. One of the characteristic for Guy built
buses was that they can use Gardner Engines as the power source. Gardner engines
have long been famous for its high torque output, which was also a reason for
the success Guy Arab had in Hong Kong.
In the mid 60's, China Motor Bus Company
brought Guy Arab V to handle the increasing demand of public transportation
after their success with Arab IV, and Under Floor (UF).
The original Guy Arab V in Hong Kong
were single-deck buses with a length of 25 feet and 30 seats. They employed
SCG340 semi-automatic transmission and Gardner 6LX engines which provided
150bhp. They were later changed to Daimatic semi-automatic transmissions, which
were considered very advance in the 60's.
In 1970, a 25 feet Guy Arab V with a
license plate of AD4589 was on fire in an accident. The whole body was badly
burned. The chassis and the Gardner engine were the only thing left. The
engineers in China Motor Bus Company thought of a creative idea - to rebuild the
bus into a double decker. With the doubled capacity, the Gardner engine could
still handle the load easily. As a result, China Motor Bus Company decided to
rebuild all of its Guy Arab's to double deckers. 50 of them became series S and
56 of them became series LS, while S had a height of 14ft-6in and the LS had a
height of 14ft-2in.
Although the last Guy Arab have been
retired (LX332), people will still remember their power and speed. Guy Arab, we
appreciate your hard work, and you will always be one of the best in the world.Hong Kong buses
Leyland Titan TD1 Bondi Beach
lowbridge, 27211A
The model was unveiled at the 1927 Commercial Motor
Show, and it created much excitement with its low frame height, allowing much
easier boarding and alighting than earlier models. The upper deck was made lower than normal by using a right-hand gangway
and 4-seater seats. The low height allowed double-deck operation under bridges as low as 13 ft 6 inches.
A much faster, smoother and quieter ride (partly due to the adoption of
inflatable rather than solid rubber tyres) and a much improved level of
reliability was offered by this new generation of buses.
Power was provided by a 6.8 litre, overhead camshaft petrol
engine, with a "heron" head combustion (the combustion chamber is in the piston
rather than the cylinder head.) Drive is through a 4-speed sliding mesh gearbox
to an offset rear axle.Leyland North Western lowbridge
Leyland Titan PD2 Orion, mid-1950s
(unpainted) (Corgi ? 40802C, or 40902)
Leyland Titan PD2 East Kent lowbridge
Leyland PD3 (PD2?) City of Lincoln, 1950s, (Corgi OM41403)
Leyland PD3 “Queen Mary”, 1958 to 1967 (open-top 41908, Southdown 41910)
Leyland PD3 “Queen Mary” China Motor Bus Co, 41904
Leyland Atlantean, scale 1:50
The prototype 'Atlantean' was exhibited at the 1956 Commercial Motor Show, although several drawbacks prevented the bus being placed on the market. Among the chief problems was the amount of noise in the lower saloon, largely because the engine was inside the body, with the compartment being used for bench seating for up to 5 passengers. By 1958, Leyland had overcome the initial difficulties and announced the first production 'Atlantean' the PDR1/1 with 16ft 3in wheelbase, with Glasgow Corporation taking the honour of putting the first Atlantean into service.
In 1972, Leyland announced the Atlantean AN68 series. It was available in two models, the AN68.1R, with 16ft 3in wheelbase, suitable for bodywork up to 30ft 10in long, and the AN68.2R, with 18ft 6in wheelbase, suitable for 33ft 3in long bodywork. Wigan Corporation No.1 (NEK1K) was the first AN68 Atlantean delivered.
In 1980 the new 'Olympian' was offered, but the Atlantean continued to be available in the AN68B series.
Scout started in Blackpool in 1928, and they ran an express service from Preston to London. They started to decline in the 1950s and were bought by Ribble in 1961. They kept the Scout livery until 1968 when Ribble was taken over by National Bus Company.
Leyland Victory, KMB
MAN six-wheeled double deck Hong
Kong bus
Trolleybuses