busmansholiday

Yes. Knowing they would get a shit load of orders for their bodies from the NBC they built the basic steel frames in advance then stored them outside at the back of the factory, in Blackpool. Obviously the slightly salty sea air did wonders for the unprotected body frames.

Across the back seat, just like you do when the boot handle on a Duple built pile of shit falls off in you hand, after the fitters at the nearest depot have fucked the lock up retrieving the cases you've already put in their.

Had to look closely at that top pic to make sure it wasn't me driving the coach, then realised it was a Leopard and could count on the fingers of one hand how many times I had to take one of Leyland's * finest pieces of shite there. I think one of the last times they sent me there was driving a Scammell wrecking truck to drag a Neoplan decker back to Sheffield, don't ask..... As for @Yossand @Leyland Worldmaster, trust me, some of the things that got sent on Nasty Excess to the smoke when you ran out of "decent" vehicles would make you cringe. Nobody would send a bus seated National, from up north, would they??????. Says the man who had a National on a National Holidays trip.

@eddyramrod Spotted this.

Yes, ran almost all the haulage out of Rotherham and Stockbridge and some out of Scunthorpe.

That looks like it was one of Ernie's* fleet, right colours, flags etc. *Ernie Thorpe, Thurgoland (between Barnsley and Huddersfield), massive, and I mean massive Atkinson fan. When he eventually couldn't get hold of any more he bought a shit load of ex OpenReach / Post Office DAF 95s.

@TripleRich, fancy a second one ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134609473803?hash=item1f5759910b:g:pPQAAOSwt41kdLrt&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4NcRe%2FYwsPXYKWlYoDAm7KitYzNvSt%2F5eenb1EncyaFRhXor%2BWuVjMUcg4UiRXc29Li%2Fhtt9oxZkd%2FDuMIhwxYbDg5Ac3owmqoEenQnKj0kdDiNfNAEbY3aU6VqmgGX5TtcySzvwHIgStWBqX9%2BsBixrVDmsv0glaBVFNtGC6wQovKU6JhUNYI4mf65Vc%2FGzClVkqox572ys4f6TA4TFEpMwwFK2oZUU55iduvV0UJvloIObgwagDEky5Ejjp%2BDCsprSRAT%2BIEXdNghv%2BwkYJR9Km%2BxCKk2ICk%2BJNo2j3n9y|tkp%3ABk9SR6qIvoiWYg £599, Barnard Castle. Says only problem is heater fan stopped working. Now the HBOL says you need to drop the steering column plus possible the clutch pedal to get to it assuming you are also a contortionist. Actually you can get at it in less than 10 minutes without any of that fucking about if you know how. Would if I wasn't currently 2000 miles away.

Great to see you use a tape measure with proper units on it.

Interesting that as everybody of my era referred to them as 007s.

Some good stuff in your blogs, but the shitheap called the Willowbrook Spacecar was the 007 rather than 008. Trust me, I drove the AEC, Leopard and Bedford versions with that body in my NBC days and quite how they managed to make a decent handling chassis (OK I never rated Bedford's power steering and shit manual box) and totally make them shite was beyond anybody. They were affectionately known as "Tonkas" at our depot.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306018003526 @Kiltox £75.....

Actually the first batch were officially designated by Leyland as PSUC Specials, basically a Tiger Cub chassis that they put the 0.600 engine rather than the usual 0.400 engine. Leyland fitted the bigger engine to cope better with the hills around Sheffield before offering them to the open market as the Leopard chassis. The rest, as they say is history. If you look back on this thread I've previously posted a few pics of these and the different batches that were purchased and their history. Commer lorry. Same view today.

No, it's a fucking pile of shite that should have been scrapped 35 years ago. It's actually a Pacer, a Leyland National bus body on a freight chassis. Designed to be cheap (boy were they) and save branch lines (which they did). The most evil fucking thing ever invented, yes they were my local trains for over 20 years,if you've never traveled on one think yourself lucky.

The final idea is petrol and a match....

Fuck me, that makes mine look pristine

Didn't they enter service at about the same time as a "vehicle shortage" (that old euphemism) that resulted in T&W buying a load of ex Leeds Roe bodied Regent V back loaders that they simply painted a single yellow panel on each side and stuck the T&W symbol in. I remember going up there for a long weekend with a load of mates at that time that involved bus spotting, drinking and shagg.....

A wet paper bag is structurally stronger than anything East Lancs put together. One of Sheffield's East Lancs bodied VRs was involved in an accident with the roof support in Herries Road depot that resulted in the whole of the bodywork being distorted. They had to remove the whole lot down to the chassis before rebuilding it.

I remember some statistics being published, probably early mid 80's which compared the reliability of the RM to the DMS in service in London. When you looked closely at them what it actually showed was that the DMS was far more reliable in terms of the average miles covered between breakdowns than a Routemaster. Obviously that didn't fit LTs views. In terms of the FRM, a second prototype was on the books to be displayed at the Commercial Motor Show in the livery of Sheffield Transport. When AEC was taken over by Leyland in 1962 and subsequently BL in 1968, the writing was on the wall for AEC double deckers as you already had the Fleetline and Atlantean plus from 1968 the VR became freely available. When BL closed AEC in 1979 they thought all the loyal customers would switch to their 'wonderful' replacement for the Reliance and Leopard, the Tiger. They got a nasty shock when even some NBC companies promptly went out and bought Volvos, the rest is history.

From what I remember LT fitted it with the same type of powered hydraulic brakes that were fitted to a Routemaster.

DMS 2224 was the one loaned to South Yorkshire in 1977 with the hydraulic brakes.

Don't forget that despite hating the things LT fucked about with the odd one or two "because they could". One was converted to hydraulic brakes and loaned to South Yorkshire PTE who used it on service 95, a particularly hilly cross Sheffield route. Then there was the B20 "quiet" versions. When they flogged them off they were either runners or scrap. One local operator bought a couple of scrap ones as well as the running ones only to find out the reason they had been deemed 'scrap' was because of a broken half shaft. Quick fix and into service. Also because of LT cornering the market is the reason 29 DMS style Fleetlines ended up being purchased by South Yorkshire because MCW could fit them into the LT build line.

Stick some masking tape over the letter C and it'll look like a UK reg.

Bastard!! I learned to drive in an Avenger (and a Hunter) in the early 70's and that's far too close to me for comfort. I'm now going to have to stop drinking in case I do something stupid......

Look like covered aircraft access steps (it is the old British Aerospace Filton site where Concord was built). Could well be First Bus's last resting space for their artics. Bottom right ones look like Wright StreetCars which they used in Swansea for a time after use in Leeds. Rest could be ex London or even the Cardiff ones.