BUSWORLD PHOTOGRAPHY

I AM CHRISTOPHER LEACH THE ARTIST. I started this blog so that I can share with everyone my vast collection of transport photographs showing a personal and nostalgic view of the industry with images that span some 45 years taking in the U.K and some of Europe. I have no darkroom and so rather than being the perfectionist after tidying them up I upload the images warts and all, and even those that won't scan squarely or are scratched. In a way it adds age and character. You are all free to download these for your personal use but please remember I still own them and you are not just free to use them without prior permission for any knd of publishing. Click on images to enlarge them and if you want to see more leave your comments or visit my website for the mother-site with galleries including those Buses & Girls: PICTUREWORLD

Friday 13 February 2009

Midland Red: Ford R192 in Rugby



In the early Seventies Midland Red having ceased construction of it's own advanced but also quite unsophisticated single-deckers and it needed a no-frills equivalent to replace it's 30ft long S14 and S15 types buses on country routes. Lightweight Ford R192's with Plaxton Derwent bodywork seemed to be the answer and the company built up a large fleet of them with an initial large batch of one-hundred. However they were not intended for a long and busy life and operator's who chose them paid for it later with increased downtime and higher running costs. They looked what they were and made an interesting contrast with the bus at the other end of the spectrum, the integral Leyland National pictured behind it in Rugby. Perhaps the ideal single-decker was something in between the crude and the contentious, and fortunately Midland Red had those in the bucket load too the rugged and reliable Leyland Leopard.

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