Trivia: Rare and unusual bus and coach types

[TheGrandWazoo]

- A462LFV, the Fishwick's Atlantean with the ECW Olympian-style body.

How can you mention that and not say that it was one of two AN69 Atlanteans? GRN895W was the other, had more conventional ECW bodywork, and was also with Fishwicks.

Or what about D850AAV (photo by Mark Bowerbank) of Whippet? An Atlantean that was built for Baghdad but never made it because the Iran/Iraq war (I think). Finished off by Willowbrook and converted to right hand drive but still retained the off side door and sliding windows!

Whippet Atlantean/Willowbrook D850AAV in Cambridge

This bus was supposed to be exported to Baghdad, but never made it there. The bodywork was finished by Willowbrook and it was bought by Whippet of Fenstanton.

www.flickr.com

 

[Towers]

There was also RX15 HSU which was built by a manufacturer called Frazer Nash Research and i believe Bristol Superlight was the model name. Only one was ever built. But what was ever more odd is that it never even entered passenger service. Ever since it was built it has been extremely elusive. I am not sure what happened to this vehicle but it is definitely a very rare one.

I’ve just looked that up. Yikes!

 

[DunsBus]

How can you mention that and not say that it was one of two AN69 Atlanteans? GRN895W was the other, had more conventional ECW bodywork, and was also with Fishwicks.

Or what about D850AAV (photo by Mark Bowerbank) of Whippet? An Atlantean that was built for Baghdad but never made it because the Iran/Iraq war (I think). Finished off by Willowbrook and converted to right hand drive but still retained the off side door and sliding windows!

Whippet Atlantean/Willowbrook D850AAV in Cambridge

This bus was supposed to be exported to Baghdad, but never made it there. The bodywork was finished by Willowbrook and it was bought by Whippet of Fenstanton.

www.flickr.com

Of course - yes, A642LFV and GRN895W were both AN69 Atlanteans.

The former, as well as being the only ECW Olympian body on an Atlantean chassis was the only ECW body built with engine shrouds on first-generation rear-engined chassis. The latter had (and still has) the same bustle arrangement as the London B20 Fleetlines.

Re D850AAV, there are several stories I've heard as to why it never left the UK. One was due to the Iran/Iraq war, another was of it being damaged at the docks.

 

[MotCO]

was their anymore more full height ECW Olympians that were built?

Metrobus bought 15* Olympians new with ECW body. The last three (K814HMV - K816HMV) were bought from dealer stock just before production ceased, and these three were all full height. They were certainly built with ECW style body, but not sure where they were built.

* There was no bus numbered 801.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Metrobus bought 15* Olympians new with ECW body. The last three (K814HMV - K816HMV) were bought from dealer stock just before production ceased, and these three were all full height. They were certainly built with ECW style body, but not sure where they were built.

* There was no bus numbered 801.

Not ECW bodies - they were built by Leyland using ECW jigs after the Lowestoft factory closed in 1987.

 

[DunsBus]

Not ECW bodies - they were built by Leyland using ECW jigs after the Lowestoft factory closed in 1987.

Seem to recall that Grimsby-Cleethorpes, Colchester and Reading all took small batches of full height ECW-bodied Olympians, in the case of the latter two theirs were the last ECW bodies built for a local authority fleet.

 

[37114]

Of course - yes, A642LFV and GRN895W were both AN69 Atlanteans.

The former, as well as being the only ECW Olympian body on an Atlantean chassis was the only ECW body built with engine shrouds on first-generation rear-engined chassis. The latter had (and still has) the same bustle arrangement as the London B20 Fleetlines.

Re D850AAV, there are several stories I've heard as to why it never left the UK. One was due to the Iran/Iraq war, another was of it being damaged at the docks.

Have read the same in magazines at the time re damage at the docks. Was later damaged again and rebuilt without the offisde door and a Plaxton lower panel... Only it's mother could love it looks wise..

 

[iantherev]

Another couple that I forgot to mention:
B175/6FFS - Volvo Citybus with Alexander RVC bodies, new to Alexander Fife as FRA75/6
B144/5GSC - Leyland Olympian with Alexander RLC bodies, new to Scottish Omnibuses as CLL144/5

The chassis of B176 FFS ended up with Rhondda Buses and received an East Lancs bus body Rhondda Buses 704 B660 EGG Maerdy 2nd January 1996. It was later re-registered A14 RBL and survived into Stagecoach days even receiving beachball livery. If it carried Stagecoach livery with Fife this would mean it carried the stripes as both a double and single decker.

 

[Swanny200]

The chassis of B176 FFS ended up with Rhondda Buses and received an East Lancs bus body Rhondda Buses 704 B660 EGG Maerdy 2nd January 1996. It was later re-registered A14 RBL and survived into Stagecoach days even receiving beachball livery. If it carried Stagecoach livery with Fife this would mean it carried the stripes as both a double and single decker.

Unfortunately not, it never carried Stagecoach livery as a double, was IIRC in the Red and Cream fife Scottish livery and then in the triple blue and yellow Fife Scottish citylink livery before going to Western also in a bespoke livery

 

[Strathclyder]

In all fairness while not rare i wouldn't say they were that common either. It really comes down to where in the country you lived.

The Volvo B7L chassis replaced the B10BLE at the turn of the century, however it never met its expected sales in part due to the interior layout but also just due to the chassis design as a whole and by 2003 Volvo introduced the B7RLE chassis on the Wright Eclipse Urban body which had a more conventional layout. The Volvo B7L Wright Eclipse Metro even later in life was never exactly popular with them being seen as smelly, rattily and loud with poor performance, many were also affected by floor rot. It perhaps speaks volumes about the design that at most operators which operated both B7Ls and the older B10BLE the latter outlived the former.

First Glasgow was one of them, withdrawing their last 5 Wright-bodied B7Ls in August 2019, while their last B10BLEs - virtually all remaining examples of both were part of the same order delivered between October 2001 and March 2002; the B10BLEs were First's last examples of that type ordered new - went en-masse in March 2020.

 

[DunsBus]

The Dennis Falcon V merits a mention. Ten coaches and six double-deckers built between 1982 and 1984. By all accounts these sixteen vehicles were not Dennis's finest hour and one of the double-deckers (the demonstrator) became the UK's newest playbus once its demonstration duties were finished.

 

[Strathclyder]

On the subject of the B7L, would the 10 East Lancs Nordic tri-axle low-height deckers built for First Glasgow fit the parameters of the OP?

 

[JD2168]

Some more:
Designline Olymbus that Stagecoach Newcastle had on Quaylink service.

Plaxton Primo, not many were built & not Plaxton’s finest idea.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The Dennis Falcon V merits a mention. Ten coaches and six double-deckers built between 1982 and 1984. By all accounts these sixteen vehicles were not Dennis's finest hour and one of the double-deckers (the demonstrator) became the UK's newest playbus once its demonstration duties were finished.

Good call. The coaches were the stuff of legend.

Ten were built for National Express Rapide services. Pressure came from the NBC because of the need to have something British with the ability to have toilets etc which the Tiger and available bodies weren't brilliant. So Dennis and Duple had to work to a very ambitious timescale so virtually no testing done before the completed coaches entered service.

Also the design featured a few interesting nuggets.... like a Perkins V8 engine rated at 260bhp. This was then linked to a 4 speed Voith gearbox with no top gear capable of dealing with that power on open motorways. Some of them caught fire as a consequence though I don't think any met their end that way. The body also had problems with the Duple Goldliner prone to body flexing. This caused the plug type entrance door to open while the coach was moving. This had an interlock so this then cut power from the engine when belting along at 70mph (as was permitted at the time). All were sold within five years

 

[GusB]

Plaxton Primo, not many were built & not Plaxton’s finest idea.

184, according to Buslistsontheweb.co.uk - well outwith the scope of this thread.

 

[busesrusuk]

Two that I can think of, the 263 bought by London in 1984-87, and the 128 bought by Lothian between 1982 and 1986. All were dual door and the Lothian ones were the only 10.2m examples in the UK.
The first Lothian batch were also the first ECW Olympian bodies built with glass upper-deck emergency exits.

I'm pretty sure that the last batch of NBC London Country LR class Olympians were ECW bodied due to the closure of Roe but were very similar apart from some minor differences.
C.H Roe:

London Country NE LR23

Edgware Bus Station

www.flickr.com

ECW:

London Country NE LR66

Enfield Town

www.flickr.com

Im pretty sure the location of bodyside indicators were a giveaway - see above for comparison..

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I'm pretty sure that the last batch of NBC London Country LR class Olympians were ECW bodied due to the closure of Roe but were very similar apart from some minor differences.
C.H Roe:

London Country NE LR23

Edgware Bus Station

www.flickr.com

ECW:

London Country NE LR66

Enfield Town

www.flickr.com

Im pretty sure the location of bodyside indicators were a giveaway - see above for comparison..

Were they? The windscreen is still the Row design

 

[A0wen]

Were they? The windscreen is still the Row design

Yes they were. I recall riding on some of the late ones many moons ago and they had ECW makers transfers, from memory on the upper deck..

 

[DunsBus]

Were they? The windscreen is still the Row design

A good shout, I'd completely forgotten about those.

London Country LR61-75 were indeed bodied by ECW following the closure of Roe. The windscreen on these was to the Roe design and were the only ECW Olympian bodies built with these windscreens.

 

[Steve440]

Were they? The windscreen is still the Row design

LR61-75 were ECW body numbers 22621-22635

B261 LPH - JOV 752P

B261 LPH Leyland Olympian / ECW London Country New to London Country 5/1985 as LR61 -------------------------------------------------------- JOV 752P Volvo Ailsa / Alexander AV London Transport New to West Midlands PTE 2/1976 as 4752

www.flickr.com

 

[CBlue]

Seem to recall that Grimsby-Cleethorpes, Colchester and Reading all took small batches of full height ECW-bodied Olympians, in the case of the latter two theirs were the last ECW bodies built for a local authority fleet.

Certainly the later batches Reading and Colchester operated were ECW designs built elsewhere.

The E registration Olympians at Reading were built by Optare to the ECW designs and even carried Optare makers' plates inside.

Colchester had some F and H reg ones, which were built at the Leyland factory at Workington.



Speaking of rare and unusual I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the Fowler bodied Atlantean yet:

Fishwick 6 (MTE 186K)

Fishwick Leyland Atlantean / Fowler 6 (MTE 186K) Leyland 25/10/75 The only Fowler bodied double decker. BKP

flickr.com

The story goes that Fowler's workshop wasn't tall enough to accommodate a double deck body, so it was constructed as two halves and put together outside. I can only assume that separation extended to having two different people design the top and bottom decks!

 

[A0wen]

Although the Bristol RE was common, the RESH (short, high frame) wasn't with only 11 built.

AIUI most had Duple coach bodies, but 2 had the ECW bus body.

Similarly the Bristol LH was fairly common, but there were a couple of rarities, the prototype one which had a Weymann body which had been on an Albion Nimbus and the solitary Wadham Stringer bodied LHS which Harvey of Mousehole had.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

A good shout, I'd completely forgotten about those.

London Country LR61-75 were indeed bodied by ECW following the closure of Roe. The windscreen on these was to the Roe design and were the only ECW Olympian bodies built with these windscreens.

LR61-75 were ECW body numbers 22621-22635

B261 LPH - JOV 752P

B261 LPH Leyland Olympian / ECW London Country New to London Country 5/1985 as LR61 -------------------------------------------------------- JOV 752P Volvo Ailsa / Alexander AV London Transport New to West Midlands PTE 2/1976 as 4752

www.flickr.com

Apologies - it sounded like I didn’t believe you. It was more that I didn’t know after all these years - disbelief I’d never realised Every day a school day

 

[busesrusuk]

How about the Leyland National Suburban Express? This bus differed from other Nationals in having a raised floor in the front section giving a level floor throughout and fitted with coach seats.

I'm not sure if anyone ordered any - I think I read in the definitive Leyland Bus tome that a batch were built (possibly Crosville?) but a very quick re-read and I cant find mention again so not sure if any were sold. They would seem to have been far more suitable than the original LNC and SNC buses used by London Country for instance. The prototype survives:

Preserved British Leyland RRM148M Jul22

Wythall Busfest, Gaydon Jul 2022

www.flickr.com

 

[GusB]

How about the Leyland National Suburban Express? This bus differed from other Nationals in having a raised floor in the front section giving a level floor throughout and fitted with coach seats.

I'm not sure if anyone ordered any - I think I read in the definitive Leyland Bus tome that a batch were built (possibly Crosville?) but a very quick re-read and I cant find mention again so not sure if any were sold. They would seem to have been far more suitable than the original LNC and SNC buses used by London Country for instance. The prototype survives:

Preserved British Leyland RRM148M Jul22

Wythall Busfest, Gaydon Jul 2022

www.flickr.com

It's a minor variant of a very standard product. It doesn't count as far as this thread is concerned.

 

[harz99]

H909SKW. Whittaker Europa bodied Renault S75 midibus. Afaik the only one built on this chassis and possibly the only one built period.

HKX553V. Bedford JJL integral midibus. The last survivor of only 4 built.

I owned/operated both the above in the 90s/00s, the Renault was scrapped and the JJL is in a preservationist's hands.

 

[CN04NRJ]

Dennis Javelin/Duple 300 (bus) body?

Had the misfortune of driving this one a few times at Edwards Coaches, all noise and absolutely no go with the ZF 4 speed. Bit of trivia on this bus, Edwards were buying a number of Ailsas from Ferris Coaches (Nantgarw), and on the condition they bought all of the Volvos this came free.

New to Leask & Silver, Lerwick.

Dennis Javelin/Duple 300

zzzzzzz

flic.kr

 

[A0wen]

.

CRL4 / RMC4, the prototype Routemaster coach was bodied by ECW - still survives in preservation.

Another rarity, at least in the UK and right hand drive configuration were the 4 Bluebird American school buses - I know similar vehicles were bought by other operators, what made Uno's rare is they were put out on public service routes rather than restricted to school routes.

 

[MotCO]

Crystals of Orpington ran a couple of Leyland Cub Lex Maxetas on route 146. C923-4 DKR. https://www.flickr.com/photos/18186...-LLvgyD-rcBL2U-29G4QXv-fC3bmr-2ptDuKT-29G4P6p

Also saw some photos on Flickr of Mecedes 0403G with Maxeta bodies working at Luton Airport including UBH394W. https://www.flickr.com/photos/55286...YdQPtG-29YUf85-NWGDWC-26aom7g-2mNwVqH-26aonFP

 

[A0wen]

How about the sole Mercedes 811 / Plaxton Mini Paramount ?

Not my photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/quicksilver_coaches/5357068880