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[Seth]

Here's a view of my favourite 10-metre Y-series Bedford.

It's a YLQ model with 45-seat Plaxton 'Supreme Express V' body - 'Express' denotes that it was built to Bus Grant spec; complete with a 'Bristol dome'.

This coach was powered by the 'Red Series' 8.2-litre naturally-aspirated '500' engine, and driven considerately, would happily maintain a steady 65 mph all day long whilst returning an economical 15 miles per gallon or thereabouts. In fact, a perfect coach for the independent operator in my opinion.







I took this photo on a lovely evening in Summer 1987, and the location is near Mumbles Pier on the shores of Swansea Bay.

Yeomans of Hereford ran an all-Bedford fleet for many years, and they were always smartly turned-out, as is evident here. The company prided itself on first-class routine maintenance standards, and were regular visitors to the South Wales resorts on their comprehensive Day Tour programme.

I'll get Lizzie to post-up a shot of their trademark logo soon

[Seth]

And now to my favourite 11-metre Y-series:



Our good friends Len and Sylvia Cooper from Maiden Bradley in deepest rural Wiltshire were the proprietors of long-established Leathers Coaches.
Their immaculate fleet was also 100% Bedford-based too.
Len certainly knew his stuff about Bedfords, and remains a respected authority on the marque.


Though now retired, they've retained the sole Bedford 'OB' to be owned from new, and you can read their fascinating history here:

http://warminstervbrd.zxq.net/v/Leathers.htm







Seen above is "Wiltshire White Horse" which arrived brand new in 1981, and did 13 years service before being sold on to a Cardiff operator.

It's an 11-metre Bedford YNT with 53-seater Plaxton 'Supreme IV Express' body, again to Grant spec; and with Bristol Dome.
Being a 'YNT' this one had the 'Blue Series' turbocharged '500' engine and was specified with the renowned ZF 'Synchroma' 6-speed gearbox.

With over 200 horses under the floor, this beauty could certainly fly, and the Coopers were very pleased with it.
In fact, Len went on to add several further similarly-spec'd machines to their fleet, and I fully understood his enthusiasm!
 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Here you are Byron, the lovely Yeomans Travel livery:



 8-) 8-)

[Seth]

All Yeomans coaches carried the logo below:



The observant will note the attention to detail - even down to the seriffed lettering.
Pure craftsmanship, this was actually signwritten and not computer-generated vinyl!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Oh yes Byron, those great days of the skill of signwriting

They were real artists who would use their skills on buses, trains, shop signs, enamel posters, advertising on buildings, to name just a few! 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

Absolutely beautiful, and almost a lost art due to the computer

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Now I'm itching to get onto the subject of looking in depth on the subject of post-WW2 buses and coaches.

For starters this photo I believe shows a stunning AEC Regal bus



No doubt Byron, or others, will give us all the details on it in terms of history, spec, and routes covered

[Seth]

Strange though this may seem to some perhaps:
I'd like to dedicate this reply to my long-time great friend and confidante, the late William Langer Raymond Grove MICEE; who sadly passed away in August 2010 aged 86 years.
Many thanks for your understanding on this.


Shown below is a 1950 AEC 'Regal III' with 32-seat Willowbrook body, which began life with City of Oxford Motor Services.
It's a timeless classic, and that superb red/duck egg/brown COMS livery perfectly enhances one of Southall's finest products.
Hordes of identical Willowbrook-bodied examples entered service throughout the country mounted on various other chassis too. 

This beauty is of the 9621A variant, with AEC's big 9.6-litre engine and 'crash' gearbox, so it's a great performer. Other options were the smaller 7.7-litre unit or a 'pre-select' gearbox in lieu of the 'crash' version.

727 put in 13 years service with COMS; and then saw further service with a Scottish operator before being acquired for preservation in 1972.
Also visible is the angled bulkhead on the nearside drivers cab window - it was an early 'convert' to one-man operation.
It now resides at the Oxford Bus Museum in Long Hanborough.

Take a look here: http://www.oxfordbusmuseum.org.uk/ - it's well worth a visit!

 



This photo was taken way back in August 1993, and is particularly cherished by moi:
It's probably my best-ever photographic effort, and brings back wonderful memories of a lovely day out - my late friend Bill was among a small party of us like-minded South Walian souls who visited the museum aboard a preserved AEC Reliance coach. 

A big AEC man, dear Bill was in his elements on that sunny sabbath - God Bless and RIP Bill.

[Sixstring]

I love old buses..................especially the old leylands (not just because i've got an old Leyland bus...................)and the AEC's too.
might just have to visit that museum some time.
RIP Bill..............hope the fares are cheaper up there and they all run on time.

[Seth]

Well, well, well ......... nice to hear from you Mike ....... 

City of Oxford Motor Services has become: http://www.oxfordbus.co.uk/index.php

You'll probably see their 'Airline' and 'Oxford Espress' coaches on your travels mate!

[The Red Baron]

thats a cracking picture of the regal byron. a really good looking model from aec/willowbrook, was the 11.3l engine used in any bus models?

[Seth]

thats a cracking picture of the regal byron. a really good looking model from aec/willowbrook, was the 11.3l engine used in any bus models?

Yes Jon - some late Regent V double-deckers and some RMs had this motor, and it was designated as the 'AV691'

During the late 60s/early 70s, it was the higher-powered offering in the 11m and 12m Reliance single-deck chassis - 'AH691' in this application!
IIRC London Transport specified it in their rear-engined 'Swift' single-deckers - that chassis was then known as the 'Merlin'.
 

[The Red Baron]

thats a cracking picture of the regal byron. a really good looking model from aec/willowbrook, was the 11.3l engine used in any bus models?

Yes Jon - some late Regent V double-deckers and some RMs had this motor, and it was designated as the 'AV691'

During the late 60s/early 70s, it was the higher-powered offering in the 11m and 12m Reliance single-deck chassis - 'AH691' in this application!
IIRC London Transport specified it in their rear-engined 'Swift' single-deckers - that chassis was then known as the 'Merlin'.
 

ahh yes, silly me. my millitant had the 11.3, would climb the side of a house.

[Seth]

thats a cracking picture of the regal byron. a really good looking model from aec/willowbrook, was the 11.3l engine used in any bus models?

Yes Jon - some late Regent V double-deckers and some RMs had this motor, and it was designated as the 'AV691'

During the late 60s/early 70s, it was the higher-powered offering in the 11m and 12m Reliance single-deck chassis - 'AH691' in this application!
IIRC London Transport specified it in their rear-engined 'Swift' single-deckers - that chassis was then known as the 'Merlin'.
 

ahh yes, silly me. my millitant had the 11.3, would climb the side of a house.

....... and a 691-powered Reliance was no slouch either, especially if the ZF 6-speed 'box was specified

However, even greater things were to emerge from the AEC stable soon afterwards ............ 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Now how about this beauty?! 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

A Willowbrook-bodied half-cab single-decker in a street scene long gone   Note the advert on the side of the bus for St. Julien tobacco, one of the hundreds of tobacco's around in the post-war years that I sold during my early days in retailing.  I loved the smell of tobacco and cigars, but never smoked myself as I couldn't understand 'why' people did!!  That smell would have been prevalent in the buses and coaches of those days, as it seemed everyone smoked, and that aroma would mix with the niff of oil, leather, wood, and stale textiles inside the vehicle.  I can still 'smell' it all now in my mind, as I can when thinking of the same smells in the cars of that era.  Loved it.

Also note in the picture the standard of dress, with typically an older woman (probably only 50!! ) dressed entirely in respectful black having lost a relative....or six!  One of the two gents has a flat cap on, indicating he was of the working class which was what caps and hats did then, and the younger man with a child very much of the new generation of an early (?) fifties style.

The Walls Ice Cream sign on the shop wall above the bus is also so indicative of that era, and readily recognisable by my generation, with ice cream blocks, wafers and cornet's coming to mind   This style of Walls branding lasted right through the 1960s and into the early 70s, but during that decade changed to a more modern image.  That image has been subsequently changed yet again to a very 21st century branding 8-) 8-)   Notice also the complete lack of street furniture and parking restrictions; how empty the roads were then in Welsh Wales, and most parts outside of cities!!



No doubt Byron will comment on this, and I hope some others will join in

What are your memories of this time, if you were alive then that is!!

[albitz]

I will most certainly join in, as I do love this thread. Despite what that lying Stokie says.