Author: admin
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Fog!
Peter Williamson There can be few sights more incongruous than that of a half-century-old bright red Manchester Corporation Leyland PD2 making its way through lush, green Derbyshire countryside on a warm sunny day with the word FOG displayed in huge letters on its via blind. But that was one of the attractions of the June…
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Burlingham’s flock of Seagulls – Part 3
Neville Mercer To read Part 1 click here or Part 2 click here Not Really Seagulls Burlingham’s bodywork for front engined chassis evolved from the “full fronted” Sun Saloon model of the late 1940s (some later versions of which carried the Seagull “tank” moulding on their sides) into this nameless “Seagull lookalike”. The 1953 body…
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Burlingham’s flock of Seagulls – Part 2
Neville Mercer Not read Part 1 Click here The move to lighter designs (by both bodywork and chassis manufacturers) had been occasioned by tumbling revenues as operators felt the pinch from increasing private car ownership. Similar economic pressures led operators to demand a front entrance version of the Seagull which could be one-man operated on…
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Burlingham’s flock of Seagulls – Part 1
Neville Mercer The original Mark 1 Seagull was a beautiful machine and is represented here by PSU1/15 Royal Tiger HAW 579. Delivered to Whittle of Highley in 1951, and painted in their stylish dark blue and red livery, it was a 39 seater. It was later sold to Buckminster of Leighton Buzzard.(R F Mack via…
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Western National Cornwall
Stephen Ford My father worked for British Railways in Nottingham, so unlike most of my schoolfriends who had to be content with holidays on the Lincolnshire coast or maybe North Wales, we made the very best use of our free rail travel. A favourite destination was Cornwall, and since the railway came to an end…
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AEC Disasters
David Oldfield “All one can do now is salute the old firm and what it achieved. …..the men and women who together comprised AEC may not have always got it right but they produced many fine vehicles and many which made big advances in design. They will long be remembered.” Thus Alan Townsin closes his…
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The Right Bus For ‘Green’ Land
Ralph Adam “AS AN ENERGY-storage system for a bus, a tank of diesel takes some beating: it is compact, fits whatever shape is available, providing plenty of operating range. And, crucially, the up-front cost is modest… Finding an equally convenient means of storing electrical energy on a hybrid bus is not nearly so simple.” That’s…
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Lower Mosley Street Manchester – Part 3
Neville Mercer To read Part 1 click here or Part 2 click here The South Side To the south of Great Bridgewater Street things were less precise. The central “island” shelter carried signs indicating stands 18-21, but as far as I can remember there were no destination signs. Generally speaking the area to the west…
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Lower Mosley Street Manchester – Part 2
Neville Mercer Not read Part 1 Click here The modern era The declaration of war in September 1939 brought a temporary end to the expansion of services from Lower Mosley Street. Most services were suspended for the duration although the Bradford via Halifax service and the number 6 to Glossop continued to run at a…
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Lower Mosley Street Manchester – Part 1
Neville Mercer North Western’s 237 (CDB 237), a 1949 Leyland PD2/1 with Leyland L53R bodywork, is seen awaiting departure for Macclesfield in the middle lane of the western roadway. Behind it is the main building of the bus station, and in the background the enormous train-shed of Central Station. The roof of the shelter for…