Leyland and Volvo Olympians

[Mitchell Hurd]

Hello. I thought I'd create a thread on amongs the most successful buses ever built in case there isn't a thread.

I'm not sure when I started becoming interested in the Olympian (I'm 26). My first trip on an Olympian I'm 99.9% sure was around 20 years ago on an Oxford Bus Company Park & Ride service.

Fast forwarding around 12 years, following my experience on the same RH Transport one for the second time from Marston to Kidlington on route 700 around August / September 2010, I was drawn away from Cummins L10-powered Olympians. On the RH Transport one (L651 MYG), there it was virtually the smell of fumes from Marston (not bad to the point of the bus being taking out of service). This is what made me dislike Leyland Olympians (Cummins L10-powered ones especially)!

It was July 2013 when there was a bus ride at Newbury Showground I thought was due to be run by an ex-Hong Kong Cummins L10 Leyland Olympian (Morton's Travel) which unfortunately was a tropical windows ex-China one (also an L10) instead. Good bus this was - K481 EUX I believe.

Around September 2 months later, I brought home the Olympian book by Martin S. Curtis (the one with the Bath one on the front - G909 TWS I think). That's kind of a school book - meaning I learnt that my least favourite chassis / engine actually was one of the most successful's ever built. So that RH one in 2010 wasn't particularly maintained well (RH went into administration in October 2012).

Via the Leyland Olympian Yahoo Group website in January / February this year, there was a chance to ride 4 ex-Hong Lon

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

(accidentally pressed send on the last one) Kong Olympians with Pulhams Coaches. I got caught out on the first "M-reg" one - I wondered why there was a Volvo dashboard on a Leyland Olympian. Chris Martin (the man in charge I think) reminded me it was a Volvo Olympian. That made sense as the there were Volvo Olympians made with Cummins L10 engines silly me !

About a week ago I bought a 'Lothian's Leyland and Volvo Olympians' book for £8.50 (£7 for the book + £1.50 postage).

So now, I'm rather keen to ride on more Olympians than ever before, basically !

 

[Jordan Adam]

Alexander RH bodied Cummins/ZF Leyland Olympians were the best of the lot in my opinion. The things went like rockets and were pretty bulletproof!

The worst were by far the early Gardener/Voith Leylands - getting out and pushing would be faster, the early Alexander RL body was very ugly too! Along with the early Volvo's (K/L reg especially), you could touch them and they'd rust.

At this current time the Olympian (Volvo & Leyland combined) is the third most successful Decker chassis of all time, with the Atlantean in second. The Trident from Dennis/Transbus/ADL (Which is still in production) recently became the most successful, overtaking the Atlantean.

Olympian: Around 10,300 built.
Atlantean: Around 15,600 built.
Trident: Over 16,000+ build and counting.

Olympians are pretty much impossible to find now, especially on service work where the PSVAR act has prohibited their use. That aside they were a massive part of public transport evolution in the UK, with many lasting to stand the test of time. Even some of those rancid A-FSA's that were new to Grampian in the early 80s lasted not far off 3 decades (of torturing drivers and passengers).
If you can't tell i really did hate those early Gardener/Voith examples with a passion.

 

[overthewater]

Alas I had the delights of early Gardener/Voith Leylands, I agree buckets and were useless, that pretty much put me off them for years. I also flet down stair was very cramp and had little room. Hence Why the Citybus and Ailsa were king in my book.

 

[Jordan Adam]

Alas I had the delights of early Gardener/Voith Leylands, I agree buckets and were useless, that pretty much put me off them for years. I also flet down stair was very cramp and had little room. Hence Why the Citybus and Ailsa were king in my book.

Most of them maxed out at 25MPH(ish), i suspect they lasted so long mainly because it took them so long to get to such a speed! Some of them also stank of exhaust fumes inside and were always boiling hot. Quite a contrast to the later E-DRS batch with the updated body and a Cummins/ZF Drivetrain, far superior vehicles in almost every aspect.

The L-JSA Volvos that Bluebird had were also proper buckets, although the R-XNOs that came from London were generally pretty good.

 

[overthewater]

Alas Second batch Fife got which were K and J reg were dumped on the coast route or town services, most never got a chance to see anything. There never got put on the Express work, I never saw/heard of any getting to Glasgow ( one was used a few time on the 14 but that didn't last) Yet Citybuses including B reg were happily sent out on stagecoach express work. That pretty much tell you how much confidence Fife had in Olympians.

FIfe did get a batch of A Reg but there never lasted long either with 3-4 years? there were dumped, and past to Strathtay and Kelvin scottish. No idea Fife got given these in the first place. Strathtay give them coach seats????

https://www.flickr.com/photos/57307454@N08/36571065515/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/26024754@N07/33059700435/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/77000628@N02/37524582892/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/57727182@N08/38300320356/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/boxley/458769027/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/77000628@N02/10343079256/

 

[jp4712]

The Museum of Transport Greater Manchester are planning to have their GMT 3065 (B65PJA) running and giving free rides at their Transpo 50 event next October.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

I like the Alexander R-type bodywork (especially the ones with silver lining) as they look more classic.

I'm not sure if it was June 2016 or last year but when I was in Banbury, I suddenly saw a Notts & Derby-liveried ex-Lothian Leyland Olympian which was either K893 (or 894) CSF. Looked a bit tired. It was dropping school kids off, around 15:30 I think this was.

I find it hard to think that a bus would have come all the way from the Derby / Notts area. So does anyone know which bus / coach operator has this vehicle in Banbury just out of curiosity?

 

[Jordan Adam]

I like the Alexander R-type bodywork (especially the ones with silver lining) as they look more classic.

I'm not sure if it was June 2016 or last year but when I was in Banbury, I suddenly saw a Notts & Derby-liveried ex-Lothian Leyland Olympian which was either K893 (or 894) CSF. Looked a bit tired. It was dropping school kids off, around 15:30 I think this was.

I find it hard to think that a bus would have come all the way from the Derby / Notts area. So does anyone know which bus / coach operator has this vehicle in Banbury just out of curiosity?

It would have been K894CSF, the most recent photo i can find of it is from July 2015 when it was with Notts & Derby, so sadly i can't be much more help!

 

[GusB]

My first experience of Olympians was of the TSO-X (Gardner/Hydracyclic, ECW bodies) and the B-LSO (Gardner/Voith, Alexander RL) delivered to Northern Scottish in the early 80s.

The worst were by far the early Gardener/Voith Leylands - getting out and pushing would be faster, the early Alexander RL body was very ugly too! Along with the early Volvo's (K/L reg especially), you could touch them and they'd rust.

Alas I had the delights of early Gardener/Voith Leylands, I agree buckets and were useless, that pretty much put me off them for years. I also flet down stair was very cramp and had little room. Hence Why the Citybus and Ailsa were king in my book.

I don't think the Gardner/Voith combination was all that bad really, although my main experience of them was on country routes where they got to stretch their legs a bit (and when they were reasonably new). The "coach" seated ones that were delivered later (C-SSO, D-XRS) seemed to be set up slightly differently, as they'd change up to 3rd much later. It felt as if they had a higher top speed, but that may have been my imagination.

I do agree that the Cummins/ZF combination was by far the best, although will admit I have a soft spot for the old Leyland TL11 engine.

 

[swt class 450]

Up until about four months ago Red Kite had a large fleet of Olympians (at least 10 of them) in every day service. They operated many infrequent rural routes around the Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire areas and also on school services. It seems that Red Kite completely ignored the DDA compliance rules. Rather unfortunately Red Kite has shut down about four months ago so it is no longer possible to ride on these vehicles. Are there any Olympians still used on ordinary bus services? Or could these have been the final ones?

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Well one of my favourite Leyland Olympian experiences was in around August 2004 when I was 11 years old. Mum and I were on a tram (first time this was) from Blackpool (the area opposite the old British Home Stores).

About 2 or 3 minutes into the journey I think I was a few minutes away from not coping with too many passengers around me, so Mum and I got off around 1 or 2 stops later when we wanted to get off and waited only what 2 minutes for a number 1 to Fleetwood.

This was operated by a very quietly loaded Leyland Olympian / ECW (normal size so with 78 seats I think) and Mum and I sat at the front with a luggage rack / sideway seat in front. The Olympian had the Gardner 6LXB and hydracyclic gearbox, performed well and was in the orange and yellow Metro Coastlines Line 1 livery. The journey was loads better than the tram would've been!

I'm obviously happy with trams / fine with busy loadings now but wasn't on a tram back then.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

Well one of my favourite Leyland Olympian experiences was in around August 2004 when I was 11 years old. Mum and I were on a tram (first time this was) from Blackpool (the area opposite the old British Home Stores).

About 2 or 3 minutes into the journey I think I was a few minutes away from not coping with too many passengers around me, so Mum and I got off around 1 or 2 stops later when we wanted to get off and waited only what 2 minutes for a number 1 to Fleetwood.

This was operated by a very quietly loaded Leyland Olympian / ECW (normal size so with 78 seats I think) and Mum and I sat at the front with a luggage rack / sideway seat in front. The Olympian had the Gardner 6LXB and hydracyclic gearbox, performed well and was in the orange and yellow Metro Coastlines Line 1 livery. The journey was loads better than the tram would've been!

I'm obviously happy with trams / fine with busy loadings now but wasn't on a tram back then.

We were going to Fleetwood.

 

[gazthomas]

I was always very fond of Crosville Cymru's DOG and EOG series Olympians, with the G signifying Gardiner engines of course. The Coastliner EOG's with the Dragon on the side looked really good. They were hopeless going up hills though, which is a key requirement in North Wales!

 

[GaryMcEwan]

My earliest memory of the Olympian would have been the TSO-X batch in their Perth Panther days. Stagecoach Perth via various company transfers was a stomping ground for Leyland Olympian's and latterly Volvo Olympians in the 90s and 00s.

From memory Perth had the following (This isn't a complete list, but part registrations to give you an example)

OMS910W (I believe this is was a prototype Olympian?)
TSO-X
A44FRS
B-LSO
C-SSO
D-XRS
J-YSS
J-WFS (Just one from this batch was in Perth I believe)
K-ESS
L-JSA
M-XES
N-MPN
N-VHH
R-VPU
S-TRJ (Again just the one)

I've probably missed some out but this is just from memory over the years.

 

[GusB]

My earliest memory of the Olympian would have been the TSO-X batch in their Perth Panther days. Stagecoach Perth via various company transfers was a stomping ground for Leyland Olympian's and latterly Volvo Olympians in the 90s and 00s.

From memory Perth had the following (This isn't a complete list, but part registrations to give you an example)

OMS910W (I believe this is was a prototype Olympian?)
TSO-X
A44FRS
B-LSO
C-SSO
D-XRS
J-YSS
J-WFS (Just one from this batch was in Perth I believe)
K-ESS
L-JSA
M-XES
N-MPN
N-VHH
R-VPU
S-TRJ (Again just the one)

I've probably missed some out but this is just from memory over the years.

Yeah, you lot got our Olympians - we got VRs in return. Thanks for that

OMS910W was an interesting vehicle. It was B45.04, so essentially the fourth of the prototypes. It entered service with Midland Scottish as MRO1 and was one of the vehicles used in the Scottish Bus Group trials, before moving to Northern. It spent time in Aberdeen, going through yellow/cream, green/cream and Citybus liveries, and did a spell in Elgin where it was a regular on my school run. It was fully-auto where the other ECW Olympians were semi-auto, and I hated it! It then was with Clydeside/Western for a while before ending back in Perth with the rest. I'm not sure what became of it after that.

 

[Stan Drews]

From a drivers point of view, my favourites were the KGG-Y batch of low height ECW bodied LO’s that Strathclyde Buses had. They had Leyland TL11 engines with Voith gearboxes, and when you got a good one ...they could shift!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I remember when I saw my first Olympians - JTY-X ones of Northern General about this time of year in 1981/2. They looked space age compared to the VRs I was used to. I then remember when United's Darlington depot got their first one in December 1982 and being allowed to crawl all over it!

As you can tell, I was brought up on a diet of standard NBC Olympians (ECW/Gardner engined) that were comfortable if not sprightly, though the semi autos were much better. The performance difference was noticeable when getting a late 723 from Durham to Darlington, comparing a United Olympian vs. a Northern Cummins Metrobus 2 - the latter could really shift whilst the Olyms were much more stately! Northern then got some Cummins Olympians in 1985 - nice!

I had a good 30 years of travelling around on Olympians with my first one being that United one - WDC215Y - and my penultimate one being Stagecoach Midland Red 16683 L683HNV on an X16 from Stratford to Warwick express in 2014. A nice way to (almost) finish. Best one - a DP version of East Yorkshire in 1987 - glorious relaxing trip across the Wolds from Pocklington to Bridlington!

 

[Eyersey468]

The Gardner engined Olympians the company I work for had were some of the best buses I've driven. Can't remember what gearboxes they had.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

I remember that Stagecoach Oxford had 2 M-reg and 1 N-reg Olympian / Northern Counties Palatines on loan in late 2003 before new Brookes bus Tridents arrived. The N-reg one I think was N339 HGK (I know now this was an ex-London one). The other 2 were M302 (and 303) DGP.

My first trip on one of these particular Olympians was in November 2003 on a 32 from Didcot to Wantage or Mably Way near Grove. Mum and I got off a Class 180 train from Swindon (on route back from Plymouth via Bristol Temple Meads) at around 10:50 at Didcot Parkway and I think Michelle, my sister, was with us too who would've met us at Didcot (on route back from Plymouth via Bristol Temple Meads) and the next 32 was the 11:46 which never turned up. So the 12:46 was our next one which was operated by one of these then 8-year-old Olympians!

We sat at the back - quite squeally the bus was which I guess was the fan belt.

Til like January / February 2004, Mum and I were on 2 or 3 of these Olympian's - one probably the same as on the 32. I remember these being from Mably Way to Brereton Drive (or the Green) in Grove, Mably Way to Wantage (but caught the one that meant a ride round through Grove to avoid waiting for it to come back to us 15 minutes later ) - we bought an explorer card (I miss the great days of having a Stagecoach in Oxfordshire (SiO) explorer card and sticking it in the reader on another Stagecoach bus).

We caught another one of these Olympians from Wantage to Abingdon on route 31. I'm not sure if the driver got the bus to it's top speed of probably around 55mph.

From looking at the page in my Olympian book (that's written by Martin S. Curtis I believe, can't remember now exactly) where there was a picture of N340 (or 342) HGK working for Stagecoach in London, I learnt that the 3 Olympians on loan to Stagecoach Oxford 15 years ago (as of today, 29/12/18) had Cummins L10 engines.

Great reliable buses these were - however I'm not sure if Stagecoach Oxford engineers had experience with Cummins L10 engines.

Probably in 2016 / 2017 was when I ironically found out, from looking at an old late 2003 Spottings and Jottings page that 2 of these Olympians were on loan from Devon! Basically Mum and I made occasional trips to and from Plymouth - Oxfordshire (largely Wantage) between a Sunday in August 2003 and Sunday 4th June 2006.

 

[Mitchell Hurd]

I remember when I saw my first Olympians - JTY-X ones of Northern General about this time of year in 1981/2. They looked space age compared to the VRs I was used to. I then remember when United's Darlington depot got their first one in December 1982 and being allowed to crawl all over it!

As you can tell, I was brought up on a diet of standard NBC Olympians (ECW/Gardner engined) that were comfortable if not sprightly, though the semi autos were much better. The performance difference was noticeable when getting a late 723 from Durham to Darlington, comparing a United Olympian vs. a Northern Cummins Metrobus 2 - the latter could really shift whilst the Olyms were much more stately! Northern then got some Cummins Olympians in 1985 - nice!

I had a good 30 years of travelling around on Olympians with my first one being that United one - WDC215Y - and my penultimate one being Stagecoach Midland Red 16683 L683HNV on an X16 from Stratford to Warwick express in 2014. A nice way to (almost) finish. Best one - a DP version of East Yorkshire in 1987 - glorious relaxing trip across the Wolds from Pocklington to Bridlington!

If you type in the Google search box 'Herberts Travel Leyland Olympian', you will find a '11:26' and '18:29' video of an ex-Northern General Leyland Olympian / ECW, B746 GCN. Lovely to listen to! For a 33-year-old bus I'm impressed it still sounds healthy (you wouldn't think it's that old).

I'm told these had the Cummins L10 / Voith combination because Northern had Metrobuses with Cummins L10 engines which I think you've mentioned !

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The Gardner engined Olympians the company I work for had were some of the best buses I've driven. Can't remember what gearboxes they had.

Were these the original ECW Olympians (1983-6)? Probably Leyland’s own hydracyclic boxes - the auto did have Hold in each gear though

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

If you type in the Google search box 'Herberts Travel Leyland Olympian', you will find a '11:26' and '18:29' video of an ex-Northern General Leyland Olympian / ECW, B746 GCN. Lovely to listen to! For a 33-year-old bus I'm impressed it still sounds healthy (you wouldn't think it's that old).

I'm told these had the Cummins L10 / Voith combination because Northern had Metrobuses with Cummins L10 engines which I think you've mentioned !

Sounds like a fair explanation.

The X and Y reg Olyms were Gardner. Then they got 10 Metrobuses, 5 Gardner (of which 3501 is expertly preserved) and 5 Cummins. That led to more Cummins engined Metrobuses and Olympians.

That said, Northern always preferred something quicker - most of their VRs were Leyland 501 engined. Surprised that they entertained Gardner Olympians!

 

[Driver362]

My own personal favourite. Have driven a L10 powered one with the noisy fan . The ones I most enjoyed were the ones with volvo/ZF with un lockable overdrive This made such a difference to cruising .A comfortable indicated 65mph at very quite Rpm .(30828 first) was a personal favourite

I think the oldest one I've recently seen in everyday use is EM HORSBURGH ex Lothian example from the E***MSG batch plus several newer examples from various sources albeit on school work and not service work

 

[Busaholic]

Williams of Camborne, Cornwall still operate some ex-London examples on supermarket work: they have P regs.

 

[route101]

Last one i seen in Glasgow in service was around 3 years ago on First Bluebird service

 

[Jordan Adam]

To my knowledge 3 Olympians remain in the North East Scotland area.

Grampian B121MSO: Gardener/Voith, Alexander RL (Short). Preserved awaiting restoration.
Grampian E131DRS: Cummins/ZF, Alexander RH (Long). Preserved & Restored, housed at the Bus Collection at Alford.
Stagecoach London R121XNO: Volvo/Voith, Northern Counties Palatine 1. Withdrawn awaiting disposal at Stagecoach's Insch depot.

Both Grampian examples are with Aberdeen & District Transport Preservation Trust (ADTPT), B121MSO is currently stored offsite in their storage barn.

R121XNO (16121) is currently registered EUI656 has been in storage at Insch since withdrawal just over 2 years ago, It's still in working order (i believe) and would be a good preservation candidate if anyone was after a R-XNO. Further to that it still has it's original grey seating. They appear to be in no rush at all to move it on.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

B357LSO (14457) seemed to have the longest gear ratios out of the batch. The length of time it took to go from from 1st to 2nd too an absolute age.

What batch was it that were originally dual door? I seem to remember a batch of Bluebird Oly's being dual door but by the time they came to Perth they had been converted to single door.

 

[Jordan Adam]

B357LSO (14457) seemed to have the longest gear ratios out of the batch. The length of time it took to go from from 1st to 2nd too an absolute age.

What batch was it that were originally dual door? I seem to remember a batch of Bluebird Oly's being dual door but by the time they came to Perth they had been converted to single door.

The dual door Olympians were the D-XRS batch. Bluebird bought them for "City Bus" services which went in competition with Grampian.

Prior to Conversion:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/solenteer/38165738946

During conversion:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/william-walker/5336850948

After conversion:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/iainrobbie9/16242106293

 

[GaryMcEwan]

The dual door Olympians were the D-XRS batch.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/iainrobbie9/10037927325

Perth only got 4 of the D-XRS batch. 14486, 14487, 14488 and 14489. I seem to remember them having very high backed seats instead of the usual bench seats that the Leylands used to have.