Tag: John Whitaker
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Apple Green and Juicy
In the late 1920s, Morecambe had abandoned its horse tramway, and amalgamated with Heysham, and had developed its bus network considerably. It had also acquired the Heysham and District concern, and, in 1932, it decided that a new image was desirable. A bus trial was organised, and AEC won the day. To suit this new…
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Brighton, Hove & District Omnibus Co.
In 1933, the London bus operations of Thomas Tilling were absorbed by the newly formed London Passenger Transport Board. The Tilling operation in Brighton continued until it was reformed within the TBAT grouping, as the “Brighton, Hove and District Omnibus Company”. From this time, most, if not all, of the indigenous fleet of AEC Regents,…
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Bradford by the Sea – Part One
A brief history of Morecambe and Heysham Corporation Transport. When I was nobbut a very young lad, we used to go on holiday to Morecambe or Bridlington, as did most Bradfordians. My memories of such holidays in Morecambe go back to the late war years, when my Dad was still in the Army, and the…
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Bradford by the Sea – Part Two
To read Part One, click here. The Morecambe Tramways Company worked a standard gauge horse tramway from Strawberry Gardens in Heysham, to East View, Morecambe. An extension to Bare was built by the Corporation in 1898, but operated by the Company. The Morecambe section, east of the Battery, was purchased by the Corporation in 1908.…
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English Electric Bus Bodies
The English Electric Company, and its predecessors in the Dick Kerr group, were the largest producers of tramcar bodies in the UK, and had established a sound business platform in the successor business of bus and trolleybus bodies by 1932. In 1932, a standard 6 bay composite double deck body was produced with considerable success,…
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Rebodying in Bradford
We are all well aware that Bradford followed a “Sow’s Ear to Silk Purse” policy by rebodying trolleybuses, but a lesser known fact is that they also rebodied some motorbuses during WW2. “Not a lot of people know that”, to quote a well known “Cockney” film star. Like the “Regen” trolleybuses, BCPT (Bradford Corporation Passenger…