Northwestern "tube" buses: a nostalgic query please

[Lost property]

This is a purely personal query please.

"A long time ago" (cough!), Northwestern, as was, started to operate a dedicated design "tube" bus, specifically I understood for use on the Altrincham -Dunham Massey routes, and, more significantly the Altrincham-Congleton route, with the bit through Rostherne specifically in mind...and it must have been a nightmare for other types to be driven along.

However they didn't seem to operate for very long hence I always wondered what happened to this specific type and how long they were actually in service for given they were primarily intended for very specific routes.

 

[Roger1973]

There were (to the best of my knowledge, although there may be others) two generations of low roof bus for the bridge in question.

The Greater Manchester Transport Museum has posted photos and more information on both types on Flickr - Bedford VAL / Strachans, bought 1964, and Bristol RE / ECW, bought 1971.

The latter batch were dispersed to other (by then) Crosville depots after need for them ended when the canal bridge was rebuilt.

Two of the VAL's are in preservation, one pictured here (not my photo), none of the batch of RE's is known to have survived.

 

[Lost property]

Thanks for your reply and the photo's. My query arose from a "do you remember?" conversation with a friend so as this site has a forum for bus and coach travel, it seemed the logical place to ask.

For a railway connection at the time, onward travel from Congleton was to Mossley c/o the Biddulph service...however, this was when Congleton still had the somewhat infamous (the traffic queues even then could be lengthy) level crossing where, at least from my perspective, if you got stopped around lunch time, you would be treated to either "The Mancunian" or "The Comet", so I was told, passing at high speed.

 

[Whisky Papa]

There were (to the best of my knowledge, although there may be others) two generations of low roof bus for the bridge in question.

The Greater Manchester Transport Museum has posted photos and more information on both types on Flickr - Bedford VAL / Strachans, bought 1964, and Bristol RE / ECW, bought 1971.

The latter batch were dispersed to other (by then) Crosville depots after need for them ended when the canal bridge was rebuilt.

Two of the VAL's are in preservation, one pictured here (not my photo), none of the batch of RE's is known to have survived.

Previous to the Bedford VAL, I think front-engined types that were inherently low enough would have been used.

Rigby's of Eccles had one or possibly two of the VALs, one would normally appear on the school contract from my school in Urmston to take pupils back to Irlam and Cadishead through the 1970s.

The REs were regular performers on the two-hourly 42 from Warrington to Urmston in (post-North Western Road Car) Crosville NBC livery - I think most if not all of them were based at Warrington at that time.

 

[TheSel]

The North Western (later Crosville) REs were all withdrawn by the end of March 1982, so little more than ten years old. Indeed, SRL240 - SJA375J - succumbed in 1980, so after somewhat less than ten years. There are photos of all nine of them in Crosville ownership on Rob Sly's excellent site, here (may need to scroll down a little).

The problem was that their bodies were intrinsically structurally unsound. That, coupled to the fact that Crosville had a surplus of single-deckers at the time, led to their demise. As far as I know, @Whisky Papa is correct that all of them were allocated to Warrington - certainly all of my photos of them are on Warrington based services (through not necessarily routes passing under the Dunham Massey bridge).

 

[Whisky Papa]

As a further random recollection, I remember seeing one of the REs at the Urmston Queens Road terminus of the route from Warrington when it must have been brand new. I would have walking home from junior school, as my family home was just around the corner, and usually passed the bus that was laying over there prior to a departure some time after 1600. I was struck by the vehicle's shiny new paint (North Western Road Car Company livery) initially, but the very aggressive engine note (Leyland) on tickover was what really stuck out as something different.

 

[jp4712]

I have the honour to be the bod that uploads photos to Flickr on behalf of the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, including the two photos linked above. I also happen to own a North Western Bristol RE, although as @Roger1973 says none of the Dunham Massey ones survived.

The pic shows the real reason why these buses were specified - the Bridgewater Canal bridge at Dunham Massey. The irony was that the paint was hardly dry on the Bristol RE batch when the canal bridge started to collapse and was replaced by a bridge that could take 'normal' single deckers.

There was no reason to specify this type of bus for services passing through Rostherne, plenty of normal NW buses used that lane - the only reason the special Bedfords and Bristols were seen on the Holmes Chapel or Congleton service was that in truth, more were bought than were needed for the 98 (if none was in dock, under repair etc) so in practice once the 98 via Dunham Massey was served, any left over Bedfords were used on any service from Altrincham garage as required.

 

[Gonzoiku]

I have the honour to be the bod that uploads photos to Flickr on behalf of the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester, including the two photos linked above. I also happen to own a North Western Bristol RE, although as @Roger1973 says none of the Dunham Massey ones survived.

The pic shows the real reason why these buses were specified - the Bridgewater Canal bridge at Dunham Massey. The irony was that the paint was hardly dry on the Bristol RE batch when the canal bridge started to collapse and was replaced by a bridge that could take 'normal' single deckers.

There was no reason to specify this type of bus for services passing through Rostherne, plenty of normal NW buses used that lane - the only reason the special Bedfords and Bristols were seen on the Holmes Chapel or Congleton service was that in truth, more were bought than were needed for the 98 (if none was in dock, under repair etc) so in practice once the 98 via Dunham Massey was served, any left over Bedfords were used on any service from Altrincham garage as required.

I have clear memories of AJA130B - 139B operating along Ashley Road in Hale, which is not noted for an over abundance of bridges of any sort, which would support your final paragraph.

GZ

PS Also clear memories of the Canal burst at Dunham in 1972!