Author: Jim Blake Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473887224 Category : Transportation Languages : en Pages : 325
Book Description
Using photographs from Jim Blake's extensive archives, this book examines the turbulent period in the history of London's buses immediately after London Transport lost its Country Buses and Green Line Coaches to the recently-formed National Bus Company, under their new subsidiary company, London Country Bus Services Ltd.The new entity inherited a largely elderly fleet of buses from London Transport, notably almost 500 RT-class AEC Regent double-deckers, of which replacement was already under way in the shape of new AEC MB and SM class Swift single-deckers.London Transport itself was in the throes of replacing a much larger fleet of these. At the time of the split, it was already apparent that the 36ft-long MB class single-deckers were not suitable for London conditions, particularly in negotiating suburban streets cluttered with cars, and were also mechanically unreliable. The shorter SM class superseded them but they were equally unreliable. January 1971 saw the appearance of London Transport's first purpose-built one-man operated double-decker, the DMS class. All manner of problems plagued these, too.Both operators were also plagued with a shortage of spare parts for their vehicles, made worse by the three-day week imposed by the Heath regime in 1973-4. London Transport and London Country were still closely related, with the latter's buses continuing to be overhauled at LT's Aldenham Works. Such were the problems with the MB, SM, and DMS types that LT not only had to resurrect elderly RTs to keep services going, but even repurchased some from London Country! In turn, the latter operator hired a number of MB-types from LT, now abandoned as useless, from 1974 onwards in an effort to cover their own vehicle shortages. Things looked bleak for both operators in the mid-1970s.This book contains a variety of interesting and often unusual photographs illustrating all of this, most of which have never been published before.
Author: Cliff Marsh Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport ISBN: 1526701170 Category : Transportation Languages : en Pages : 646
Book Description
A colorfully illustrated history of buses in postwar England. AEC, Bristol, Crossley, Daimler, Dennis, Leyland, and others were all manufacturers of passenger vehicle chassis that could be seen throughout England in the years following the end of World War Two. They produced a wide range of double deck and single deck buses and coaches, bodied by a considerable number of body builders. With the exception of Dennis, all those chassis makers have now disappeared, along with nearly all the body builders. In addition, most operators of this variety of vehicles are no longer in existence, being primarily absorbed into larger operations. This book can give only a small indication of the major role lifelong bus enthusiast Steve Morris and his Quantock Heritage fleet have played in preserving not only part of the engineering history of the country, but its effect also on social history. In practical terms he has displayed this by enabling the general public to see, enjoy, and also use vehicles of a bygone era.
Author: Laurie James Publisher: Pen and Sword Transport ISBN: 1526776065 Category : Transportation Languages : en Pages : 374
Book Description
Although the Surrey towns of Walton-on-Thames and Weybridge were for many years served by the London bus network, there were also a number of small scale locally based operators running bus services, before selling out to London Transport in the 1930s. Such companies ran coaches for private hire, contracts and pleasure outings, commencing just after the First World War. This book seeks to newly record the history of these proprietors and put the activities of the London General Omnibus Company and later London Transport into local context. The story starts in the 1890s with horse drawn buses linking with the local railway stations and carries the reader through the dawn of the motor era, the rise of the charabanc, entrepreneurial opportunities in the 1920s and consolidation in the 1930s, World War Two and the gradual decline of bus services from the 1960s. It culminates in a return to a de-regulated operating environment in 1986. Capturing the story of Ben Stanley's Coaches (amongst other pioneers) by using primary source material , the book covers more than just routes and vehicles - it attempts to show how road passenger transport was influenced by local social historic and economic activity.
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