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[splott]

the Coleford festival of transport is very soon (this weekend??) and there is always some lovely old buses there, one year I actually found the bus that used to take me to school displayed.......Bristol LE, bloody lovely.

I love old buses and coaches, it's going to kill me to sell my Leyland Swift motorhome soon, but mortgage beckons.......

What a shame, I suppose priorities prevail

[Seth]

Took my friends' AEC Reliance to the Coleford event a few years back.

'Twas the epitome of truly British coaching - a late 70's AH760-engined job with Plaxton body that was new to Humphreys of Pontypridd.
12.5 litres of brute power under the floor!
 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Although I have posted this picture under another thread, I thought I would drop it into this wonderful thread, and especially for you Sethsmate as promised!

My ex-part owned 1958 56 seater Duple (MUD 975 I think) pictured in about 1979 on our drive:



 

[Seth]

Well done Lizzie ......
Seems to be an AEC Reliance with Duple 'Britannia' centre-door 41-seat (usually) body.

Has the same 30' chassis frame as the one that I previously restored/owned, but with the earlier AH470 engine, which featured 'wet' cylinder liners. These engines often suffered badly with head gasket failures and overheating problems.
The radiator was usually the root cause of all this though.

Did yours have air or vacuum brakes?
Was it a former Chiltern Queens coach? (Judging by the livery).

[splott]

Although I have posted this picture under another thread, I thought I would drop it into this wonderful thread, and especially for you Sethsmate as promised!

My ex-part owned 1958 56 seater Duple (MUD 975 I think) pictured in about 1979 on our drive:


 

Had me worried there thought you were starting another bus thread 
I would love to own a bus but finances won't allow

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Well done Lizzie ......
Seems to be an AEC Reliance with Duple 'Britannia' centre-door 41-seat (usually) body.

Has the same 30' chassis frame as the one that I previously restored/owned, but with the earlier AH470 engine, which featured 'wet' cylinder liners. These engines often suffered badly with head gasket failures and overheating problems.
The radiator was usually the root cause of all this though.

Did yours have air or vacuum brakes?
Was it a former Chiltern Queens coach? (Judging by the livery).

This one definately had 56 seats as I had to count them at the time!

Yes SM, it had air brakes, with a cute little metal flag that had to go down before it could be driven 8-) 8-)

Yes again, it was bought direct from Chiltern Queens for £500 with a full tank of fuel, good tyres, and some spares .

I drove it for about 3,000 miles in all, but my then husband went to drive it one bitterly cold morning and found the clutch had frozen away from the flywheel!  Tried to start it again after first turning the ignition off, and it wouldn't start!

A member of the coaches owning railway society, that we were members of and had contributed to a share of the £500 purchase price, who was an ex-army tank mechanic tried to fix it.

That failed, and in the end I had to use my retail contacts with a coach company we did business with, and organise for them to tow it back to the railway using one of their HGV recovery vehicles!

Ahhhhhhhhhh!  What lovely memories!!  :-*8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

[Seth]

Judging by the instrument binnacle below the steering wheel, air brakes and that Westinghouse flag, I'd reckon that it's actually a 1959-model Reliance.

Lovely vehicles to drive though, and with superb brakes. The '470' had to be the sweetest-sounding AEC engine ever!
I've still got a huge box-spanner here to undo the rear hub nut from the axle casing.

Great stuff this:y

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Judging by the instrument binnacle below the steering wheel, air brakes and that Westinghouse flag, I'd reckon that it's actually a 1959-model Reliance.

Lovely vehicles to drive though, and with superb brakes. The '470' had to be the sweetest-sounding AEC engine ever!
I've still got a huge box-spanner here to undo the rear hub nut from the axle casing.

Great stuff this:y

Oh yes she purrrrrrrrrrred when travelling, and was a real pleasure to drive! 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Just wonder if she is still around somewhere! :-/ :-/ :-/  I hope she is still with us, but I moved away from the area and lost touch with the owning society

[Seth]

At this time, you were the envy of many drivers if you had an AEC or Leyland.

The lion's share of this market was dominated by the likes of the lightweight Bedford and Ford chassis at that time.

IIRC; the front-entrance equivalent Duple body for underfloor-engined chassis was called the 'Elizabethan'
Named in your honour madam 8-)

[Lizzie_Zoom]

At this time, you were the envy of many drivers if you had an AEC or Leyland.

The lion's share of this market was dominated by the likes of the lightweight Bedford and Ford chassis at that time.

IIRC; the front-entrance equivalent Duple body for underfloor-engined chassis was called the 'Elizabethan'
Named in your honour madam 8-)

Fantastic knowlege Sethsmate!! 8-) 8-) 8-)  Thanks

[Seth]

Just found this:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Chiltern-Queens-AEC-Reliance-MUD-975-B-W-Photo_W0QQitemZ270535803404QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_Bus_CoachCollectables_SM?hash=item3efd30c20c

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Just found this:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Chiltern-Queens-AEC-Reliance-MUD-975-B-W-Photo_W0QQitemZ270535803404QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_Bus_CoachCollectables_SM?hash=item3efd30c20c

Fantastic SM!! 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

It is so good seeing her again at, I assume, a far recent date compared to my time with MUD 975!  I notice she has apparently lost one of those lovely chrome wheel covers from her fns, but she looks very complete 8-) 8-).

I just still wonder where she is?? :-/ :-/

Thanks

[splott]

And more buses courtesy of Sethsmate................

[/img]


[/img]

[splott]

This charabanc picture was taken on the Wirral........
[/img]

[Seth]

And more buses courtesy of Sethsmate................

[/img]

Recently-introduced legislation allowed the maximum length for buses to be increased to 36', and Western Welsh were quick to take advantage of this opportunity.

In 1962, 18 of these PSU3-model Leyland Leopards arrived with 54-seat Willowbrook bodies, 0.600 engines and semi-automatic transmissions, as shown above by 614 outside Barry depot in 'as delivered' condition.
They were numbered 601-618, and registered 601-618 BBO, with the majority being allocated to Bridgend for the three main valleys routes which were heavily-patronised.



[/img]

Here's 607 at my local bus station at Maesteg, ready for it's back-working to Bridgend. It's been repainted into the later all-over red livery, and being Bridgend-based, carries a blue diamond above the offside fleet number.

These Leopards ran virtually non-stop for their 18-hour working days on the Bridgend Valleys routes, and were used seven days a week. Most put in a 15-year working life before withdrawal.
Although they could achieve a fair gallop, they suffered from heavy steering for their entire life-span.
On reflection, 'yours truly' must've spent a colossal part of his apprenticeship oiling king pins, and changing thrust pads on these leviathons!

I vividly remember an embossed notice on the drivers' cab demister panel.
It read: "Caution - This vehicle is 36' long x 8'21/2" wide"

 8-)