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[Seth]

Whilst on this 'Garden of England' theme, this one appears to be heading your way, Lizzie:


It's a rear-engined 1968 Leyland Panther with a Strachans standee-type body to the contemporary BET Federation outline. The 'moustache' moulding below the windscreen was a Maidstone & District trademark for some years.

Whilst these felines weren't entirely successful in service, this example has been restored to a high standard, and is seen here at Duxford in September 1994.




M&D logo:


Traditional 'varnish-affixed' transfer.

 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

A great example of those coaches we used to see on a daily basis Seth.  They still look good today, unlike some during the 1970's.

[the alarming man]

Whilst on this 'Garden of England' theme, this one appears to be heading your way, Lizzie:


It's a rear-engined 1968 Leyland Panther with a Strachans standee-type body to the contemporary BET Federation outline. The 'moustache' moulding below the windscreen was a Maidstone & District trademark for some years.

Whilst these felines weren't entirely successful in service this example has been restored to a high standard, and is seen here at Duxford in September 1994.










M&D logo:


Traditional 'varnish-affixed' transfer.

neither was maidstone and district once arriva turned up!!

[Seth]

A great example of those coaches we used to see on a daily basis Seth.  They still look good today, unlike some during the 1970's.

Leyland's 'Panther' model was one example of a veritable rash of rear-engined single-deckers that came on to the market in the mid-1960s. It shared many components with the ubiquitous mid-engined 'Leopard'. 

The basic idea was to replace crew-operated double-deckers with one-man operated 'standee'-type single-deckers.
Mounting the engine horizontally, (and gearboxes, in some cases) under the floor on the rear overhang brought forth previously unheard-of problems. Probably the most serious was when a body was 'tied' to the chassis aft of mid-wheelbase - serious stress-related failures often occurred within the body frame.

Alas, many led comparatively short lives, and Leyland operators generally returned to the trusty Leopard to satisfy their single-deck requirements.

One good thing about a Panther:


Like hen's teeth, and worth a pretty penny these days!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I was going through again this wonderful thread to remind myself of all the wonderful bus and coach example we all have posted.

However I am disappointed to note that far from all the original photo's are now showing!!   All I am seeing on so many posts is [/img]

Why is that?

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I have found this on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjEGzvM_W3k

Most of these buses were going around when I was born, still going around when I lived there again from 1962-64 and then when I again revisited in 1994.  Oh, what lovely memories.

[Richie London]

I have found this on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjEGzvM_W3k

Most of these buses were going around when I was born, still going around when I lived there again from 1962-64 and then when I again revisited in 1994.  Oh, what lovely memories.

i thought everyone travelled by horse and cart when you were born lizzie 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I have found this on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjEGzvM_W3k

Most of these buses were going around when I was born, still going around when I lived there again from 1962-64 and then when I again revisited in 1994.  Oh, what lovely memories.

i thought everyone travelled by horse and cart when you were born lizzie 

I think many believe that Richie!

Actually when I was 3 years old there were still many horse drawn carriages of one type of another passing my Grandmothers home in Stratford, East London

[Seth]

Prior to the formation of NBC's National Travel coaching arm at the turn of the '70s, Britain's long-distance express coaching operations were generally operated under the auspices of several 'pools' of the larger 'area agreement' companies.

Much of the South Coast, South Wales, the Midlands and the West Country was covered by the Associated Motorways 'pool'. As well as cross-country routes, there were important routes that linked London with all parts of the network. The Southern National and Western National concerns were AM partners, and contributed coaches in the superb 'Royal Blue' livery as seen carried by 2368 laying-over at Bournemouth's Mallard Road below:

   

It's a 1967 Bristol RELH6G with 45-seat Eastern Coachworks 'coach' body. These were the backbone of Royal Blue's substantial express coach fleet for some years.

The 10.45-litre Gardner 6HLX engine was mounted horizontally underfloor on the rear overhang, and drove through a fluid flywheel and cardan shaft to a 5-speed epicyclic gearbox which was remotely-mounted forward of the drop-centre rear axle. IIRC; these were specified with the optional air-over-leaf suspension.

The ECW body was absolutely rock-solid, and featured forced-air ventilation as standard. Finished with luxurious leatherette seats, passengers were assured of a wonderfully comfortable journey. Luggage was stowed in a cavernous underfloor locker situated in mid-wheelbase and accessible from both sides of the coach. There was also a small 'boot' at the rear, aft of the engine compartment.

The white-coloured steering wheel reminded it's driver that his vehicle was 8ft 2 1/2 ins wide!   

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Very nice

[Seth]

As the 1970s progressed, the individual liveries were steadily swept away, as all NBC coaches began appearing in the familiar all-over white livery with corporate 'NATIONAL' branding.

Apart from the legal lettering, the only clue to the actual operating subsidiary was the red fleetname transfer affixed on the waist rail over the N/S/F wheelarch.


Here's 1461 from the 1969 batch resting between duties outside Western National's Weymouth depot in Summer 1978.

You decide which livery better suits that ECW body!

[BazaJT]

Before the buses took over I remember riding on the Tracklesses in the town where I grew up.A Trackless was like a tram using overhead wires to power them but ran on rubber tyres and of course didn't use tracks like a tram,hencethe name obviously.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Before the buses took over I remember riding on the Tracklesses in the town where I grew up.A Trackless was like a tram using overhead wires to power them but ran on rubber tyres and of course didn't use tracks like a tram,hencethe name obviously.

Similar then to a trolley bus, although they were usually double decked.  Like this:



 

[Seth]

The lion's share of Associated Motorways duties from the South Wales area were operated by Red & White Services Ltd.

Being a Tilling Group subsidiary, the company followed that group's vehicular policy and operated a huge fleet of ECW-bodied Bristols. Between 1966 and 1969, 30-odd of these fine machines entered service and could be seen on express duties throughout the AM network:


In all it's regalia, RC 969 (which signified it as being the 9th rear-engined coach of 1969) is a Bristol RELH6L model with the customary Eastern Coachworks body seating 47 passengers.
The 1968/9 coaches had the optional 9.8-litre Leyland 0.600 engine (rather than the Gardner 6HLX unit), whilst the body featured jack-knife entrance doors rather than a traditional single-piece slam door.



With that Leyland engine in full cry, they would happily cruise at 80+ mph all day long, (no tachographs or limiters in those days!), and proved to be very popular with drivers and passengers alike!

 

[Vamps]

The lion's share of Associated Motorways duties from the South Wales area were operated by Red & White Services Ltd.

Being a Tilling Group subsidiary, the company followed that group's vehicular policy and operated a huge fleet of ECW-bodied Bristols. Between 1966 and 1969, 30-odd of these fine machines entered service and could be seen on express duties throughout the AM network:


In all it's regalia, RC 969 (which signified it as being the 9th rear-engined coach of 1969) is a Bristol RELH6L model with the customary Eastern Coachworks body seating 47 passengers.
The 1968/9 coaches had the optional 9.8-litre Leyland 0.600 engine (rather than the Gardner 6HLX unit), whilst the body featured jack-knife entrance doors rather than a traditional single-piece slam door.



With that Leyland engine in full cry, they would happily cruise at 80+ mph all day long, (no tachographs or limiters in those days!), and proved to be very popular with drivers and passengers alike!

 

I like that, colours suit the shape nicely.....
Sadly I have only ever driven Ford's and Bedford's of that era......