A Brand New Salford Bus: Leyland PD2/MCW FRJ 255D in 1966

There was always something a bit exciting about a new bus in the old days when a bit of polished brightwork made them stand out. Well there wasn't much of that of Salford buses but they did look very smart in that no-adverts and dark bottle-green livery. That day in 1966 I caught not just one but two of them with my Ilford Sporti camera, hence the poor quality. No doubt it will be in one of my tatty with age spotters notebooks.

Ribble 'Tank' PD3 TCK 838 at Liverpool in 1981

In the December 1981 winter sunshine this was a lovely day for some photography in Liverpool but it would have been more suited for colour as the soft quality of the light made some negs difficult to work for I couldn't make the bleached out areas darker without deepening already dense areas of shadow. Still it catches the mood and more importantly the Ribble MCW bodied Leyland PD3 one of just a few so-called 'tanks' still in service including from Aintree where a handful still ran up through docklands towards Formby.

London Coaches Leyland Titan KYV 372X at Victoria

Looking back it is quite interesting to see all the different liveries carried by the new companies that were formed after the break-up of London Buses. London Coaches chose this  red and cream livery which makes one look at it and try to think of Provincial operators like IOM and Luton and District. T328 was seen leaving Victoria and as it was the evening looks as though it had finished it's shift on the 52.

A Diamond to Goldthorn Park

The van based minibus seems to be making a bit of a comeback albeit as something more akin to a midi-bus. But the low-step variety could prove to be a useful tool for services like the 61 in Wolverhampton which serves the narrow tree-lined avenues of the rather more prosperous Goldthorn Estate where Mercedes and BMW Cars far outnumber potential bus passengers. There is no visible fleet number on LS68 FOM operated by the Rotala's Diamond.

Front Line Leopard in Birmingham XUB 671V

A smart looking Leyland Leopard with Front Line Buses seen in Birmingham. These were the days before the rather likeable Badgerline Group merged with Grampian and it all went wrong as the new exciting First Group adopted a kind of battleship grey livery and it divisions scoured the country swallowing up bus companies whether they were profitable or not and then ruining them. Maybe I am exaggerating a little bit but it wasn't very good because all the big groups cared about was their City shareholders and this near monopoly is far from what Nikolas Ridley promised when the Thatcher Government deregulated the bus industry to break up the state monopoly.  Oh well if they were still with us those Badgerline buses would probably all be taken off the road as the Government and many farmers believe they spread TB lol.

East Staffordshire DAimler CCG5 in Burton EFA 295D

Two different generations from the East Staffordshire fleet were hard at work on a school contract duplicate with a 1966 Massey bodied Daimler CCG5 up front followed by an East-Lancs bodied Dennis Dominator.

Ambassador Leyland Tiger G111 HNG

By the time this Plaxton bodied Tiger was delivered new Leylands like this were getting scarce on National Express contracts losing out to the standard Volvo B10M. But Ambassador formed to operate the Eastern Counties coach side bought some and this example was seen approaching Victoria Coach Station in the sunshine.