Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[PhilRich]

To Splot, Sethsmate & all the other contributors to this post.
Can I just say a Very Big Thankyou for a fantastic trip down Memory Lane. I don't really have a 'thing' for buses and initially didn't browse the posts but noticed the Thread getting bigger & bigger, until I couldn't keep my nose out any longer LOL  .
I am really glad I gave in to my nosey side, as I can honestly say my life would have been the poorer for not seeing & reading the wonderful stuff there, not to mention the links to other magical stuff from days gone! The one thing that really jumps out at you when you see these wonderful machines is that modern stuff may be 'cleaner' & more powerful?, but it has none of the charisma and sheer romantic beauty the old stuff had. Each & every one of those old girls had a soul & it shines out at you through the photographs. Sadly, the modern stuff just doesn't do that, for me anyway. Keep it up please, i'm a dedicated 'lurker' now 

[Seth]

[/img]

From 1968 onwards, the 36ft Leyland Leopard was to reign supreme in Western Welsh's coach fleet.

The 1968 coach intake consisted of six Leopards with Plaxton 'Panorama 1' 49-seat bodies.
They were allocated fleetnumbers 167-172, and registered LUH 167F etc.
The chassis was of the PSU3/3RT model, with the 9.8-litre 0.600 engine, 4-speed synchromesh gearbox and Eaton 2-speed rear axle.

Gone was the traditional WW fleetname script, it being replaced with a 'bold outlined' white transfer affixed on the Royal Ivory-liveried side panels only.
No power steering made them heavy beasts to manoeuvre, but they were utterly reliable in service.
 

[Seth]

The 1969 order for WW's coach fleet comprised a further six 36ft Leyland Leopards.

Here's smartly turned-out 174 at Hereford, working an Afternoon Tour of the Wye Valley & Herefordshire.
The driver being Bridgend man Gwyn (E.W.) Morgan, a brilliant character with a long service record with the company.


[/img]


They carried fleetnumbers 173-178, with registration numbers OUH 173G etc.

The chassis was of the PSU3A/4RT variant, again with the 0.600 engine, but with fluid flywheel and 5-speed semi-automatic (pneumocyclic) transmission. An Eaton 2-speed axle was also specified.
These were also the first Leylands in the fleet to feature exhaust brakes.

The bodies were again 49-seaters by Plaxtons of Scarborough, though of the then newly-introduced 'Panorama Elite' model. As an experiment, nos. 176-178 were fitted from new with Webasto supplementary combustion heaters.

The then General Manager stated: "Here we have the finest coaches available which can climb the steepest of hills, and yet cruise comfortably at 70mph. They should satisfy the demands of our most discerning customers."

Note the revised and pleasing bold fleetname treatment, which was subsequently applied to all coach repaints.
 




Six identical coaches followed in 1970, additionally being specified with power steering.
These were registered SKG 179H etc; and given fleetnumbers 179-184.

For 1972, six more arrived, though with Plaxton 'Panorama Elite 2' bodies. (185-190: VUH 185K etc).
Their chassis was of the PSU3B/4RT version, with the newly-introduced 11.1-litre Leyland 0.680 engine, semi-automatic transmission and Eaton 2-speed rear axle. Again, power steering was specified.
These were not only to be the last Plaxton-bodied coaches delivered to Western Welsh, they were the last coaches to carry that fabulous Peacock Blue/Royal Ivory livery.

 

[Seth]

Here is a nice picture..............................
Where is it and whose bus yard is it :-/

[/img]

'Tis (was) my home depot at Bridgend, and the photo would've been taken from the canteen in the early '60s.
Bridgend was regarded as 'the jewel in the crown' of the Western Welsh empire.
It was the largest and most modern depot, with almost 100 vehicles 'on shed' at this time.
Bus station, depot etc all on one convenient town centre site.
The canteen was atop our workshop - 72 stairs to get your grub!

There's a Leyland Atlantean top left, with one of the unhappy Albion Nimbuses turning the corner into the 'graveyard'
Loads of Leyland Tiger Cubs too!

Brings back memories, then, Sethsmate?

Aye, I spent the best part of twenty happy years there
There were many great characters and wonderful cameraderie

[splott]

Here is a nice picture of a Western Welsh Coach from Sethsmates collection...........................
I don't know anything about this one but I'm sure someone does
Where is it then?


[/img]

[Seth]

By now part of the National Bus Company, Western Welsh took delivery of three 36ft Leopards with Duple 'Dominant 1' bodies to Bus Grant spec.

Freshly delivered, here's the first to arrive, and the location is Cardiff (Penarth Road) Depot, on 12 October 1976.


[/img]


The chassis was of the PSU3C/4RT model, with Leyland's 11.1-litre 0.680 engine, semi-automatic transmission and Eaton 2-speed rear axle. Water-cooled compressors and full-air spring parking-brake systems were incorporated, along with power steering which was now a standard fitment on the Leopard model.

The Duple body was of all-steel construction, and within a few years, significant corrosion and structural problems became apparent. Extensive rebuilding, particularly around the rear overhang/boot areas, led to these coaches being demoted from 'front-line' work to local limited-stop service duties quite early in their lives.
Being built to Bus Grant spec; (note the 'jack-knife' entrance doors), also meant that a certain proportion of their annual mileages had to be accrued working on stage-carriage services.

The fabulous Peacock Blue/Royal Ivory livery has also been swept away, in favour of NBC corporate white.
 



A while later, the Western Welsh name would disappear too, in favour of 'National Welsh', which was the result of a merger with the neighbouring Red & White company.
 


Things would never be quite the same again ..............   

 

[splott]

Here is a nice picture of Western Welsh , is it my imagination or is this bus very short?? :-/ :-/

[/img]

[splott]

There is another picture of it in a rally or somthing as it is being followed by what looks like a 50's Crosville. Along this same road.

So thats not you Byron, giving it a test run then 8-) 8-)

[Seth]

[/img]

Ooerr ...... it's one of those 'unhappy' Albion Nimbuses!

Looks like it's a preserved example, though the route number display suggests that it's working a Bridgend 'Town Service'.
 

[splott]

There is another picture of it in a rally or somthing as it is being followed by what looks like a 50's Crosville. Along this same road.

So thats not you Byron, giving it a test run then 8-) 8-)

Here is the rally picture, I think :-/ :-/ :-/
[/img]

[Seth]

There is another picture of it in a rally or somthing as it is being followed by what looks like a 50's Crosville. Along this same road.

So thats not you Byron, giving it a test run then 8-) 8-)

Afraid not, dear splott ..........
All 48 Nimbuses had been withdrawn by the time I started working for Western Welsh - phew!

[splott]

Here is a nice Bedford coach and I think Sethsmate has some connection with this one............................................


[/img]

[Crazydad]

Dare i even say it..................

[Seth]

The diminutive Bedford OB with Duple 'Vista' 29-seat body will need little introduction to many.

These were the staple diet of many operators, before, during and after World War 2.
Simplicity themselves, they were powered by Bedford's own 28HP petrol engine.


[/img]


Seen above is the sole-surviving example that's still with it's original owner - in this case, since 1951!

The Sethsmates' long-time friends Len and Sylvia Cooper, retained this coach when they closed their business upon retirement. They still attend vintage transport events with it, and it's been featured on the 'Animal Park' TV series which was centred on nearby Longleat House & Wildlife Park.

'Yours truly' also 'did the business' and got Exclusive First Editions to produce and release a delightfully-accurate 'OO' scale model of it a few years back



To find out more about Leathers Coaches, click this link:

http://www.warminstervbrd.connectfree.co.uk/v/Leathers.htm



Then click this one to read about how things began in the early years of the last century.
It's a lovely story, and you're guaranteed to be enthralled

http://www.btinternet.com/~JIM.DOWNES1/leathers-coaches.htm



And this one:

http://www.btinternet.com/~JIM.DOWNES1/don-newbury.htm

[Lizzie_Zoom]

To add a railway element to this thread, I will mention the first railway owned buses. 

The Great Western Railway (GWR) started the first service of this type in 1903 on the Helston to Lizard route using 16 hp Milnes-Daimler single-deck buses:



These were used to test the potential traffic of a railway that could be built on this route, without the actual cost of doing so!  This happened in a number of areas, and permanently avoided the need of an expensively built railway!   Indeed, before 1914 the GWR were operating 31 bus services using 112 vehicles.  By 1928 they were using 300 buses of various makes on no less than 168 routes.

In 1904 the GWR commenced a Slough to Windsor bus service using these Milnes Daimler double deck buses:



In 1907 the GWR were running a Cardigan to Newquay  bus service:



In 1927 the GWR ran buses such as this Guy example, chassis number 22257 with a Hall Lewis B32R body reg. no. YE 7310



By 1933 the GWR had faced changed legislation that ruled railway companies could not run bus routes that represented a monoply, so ceased bus operations.  They did however have financial links  with a number of bus companies which included Western National, Thames Valley, Western Welsh, and Midland Red.

The LMS (London Midland & Scottish Railway) also had financial links to a number of bus companies, but their oddest contribution was an attempt in 1932 to mix the benefits of a road coach with that of a rail bus:



Of course out of this came the 1930 pure rail cars!!

For further information and very interesting details along with pictures, I highly recommend this great little web site:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/imfile/06590.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r137.html&usg=__ozCF1CVp0L_38mAyrXyrGKbBvbc=&h=458&w=751&sz=80&hl=en&start=12&itbs=1&tbnid=CR8uAuTeE9PREM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=141&prev=/images%3Fq%3DLMS%2BRailway%2BRoad%2BTrailer%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1