Trivia: Most different buses in one depot at one time.

[philthetube]

I accept that I may be fully accurate on this as I could not find an appropriate fleet list fleet list but it struck me that Queensgate, (Burnley) had a massive variety of vehicles in the 70's adn I wondered if this was normal.

This is all from memory so apologies for any errors or omissions. I think the fleet was something like this. In 1976

25-73 Leyland Tiger Cubs, some gaps in mummering.

??-?? Leyland Panthers, sorry can't recall fleet numbers.

83-87 Bristol RE
88-93 Bristol RE different bodies.
146-150 Bristol RE, possibly the same as above but much newer.

??? Seddons, around 15 of them

131-145 Leyland National

31-3? Leopard bus

1-? Leopard coach,

11-14 Alexander dual purpose Leopard.

258-263 Leyland PD3 decker.

151-??, East lance bodied Bristol VR deckers.

That would be 11, possibly 12 substantially different operation buses at the same time, is this unusual, and could it be beaten.

Presumably this occurred because of running a relatively small fleet, buying small orders and taking what was available at the right proce.

 

[TR673]

I can't be totally sure as I don't have the exact knowledge, but Barton's (in the late 60s/early 70s, I guess) had one hell of a mix; everything from Leyland Titans to Bedford VALs, bus grant spec dual purpose Plaxtons, AEC Regent, Dennis Loline plus all the contraptions they built themselves... and that's just what's been preserved! Back in the day it must've been even more varied.

Various preserved Barton buses at the Chilwell depot
(insert image via link for Flickr photos isn't working, idk why)

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I accept that I may be fully accurate on this as I could not find an appropriate fleet list fleet list but it struck me that Queensgate, (Burnley) had a massive variety of vehicles in the 70's adn I wondered if this was normal.

This is all from memory so apologies for any errors or omissions. I think the fleet was something like this. In 1976

25-73 Leyland Tiger Cubs, some gaps in mummering.

??-?? Leyland Panthers, sorry can't recall fleet numbers.

83-87 Bristol RE
88-93 Bristol RE different bodies.
146-150 Bristol RE, possibly the same as above but much newer.

??? Seddons, around 15 of them

131-145 Leyland National

31-3? Leopard bus

1-? Leopard coach,

11-14 Alexander dual purpose Leopard.

258-263 Leyland PD3 decker.

151-??, East lance bodied Bristol VR deckers.

That would be 11, possibly 12 substantially different operation buses at the same time, is this unusual, and could it be beaten.

Presumably this occurred because of running a relatively small fleet, buying small orders and taking what was available at the right proce.

Darlington Transport at the cessation of operations had a very mixed bag with 16 different types

Bus fleet
MCW Metrorider
Optare Metrorider
Seddon RU
Leyland Leopard - Duple Dominant Bus shell
Leyland Leopard - Duple Dominant Coach shell (grant)
Leyland Tiger - ECW (grant)
Volvo B58 - Duple Dominant Coach shell (grant)
Volvo B58 - Plaxton Supreme (grant)
Dennis Dominator - Marshall Camair single deck
Daimler Fleetline - Roe single deck
Daimler Fleetline - Northern Counties double deck (Nottingham style)
Leyland Fleetline - MCW
Daimler CCG5 - Roe (driver trainer but licensed for PCV use)

Coach fleet
Volvo B10M - Plaxton Paramount 3500
Leyland Leopard - Plaxton Supreme
Ford R1015 - Plaxton Paramount 3200

There were other vehicles such as ex LUT/GM Leopard/Plaxton Derwents, and West Midlands Dodge S56s but not certain what was on loan and what was actually purchased.

 

[Robertj21a]

Walsall always springs to mind with their wide variety of vehicles.

 

[Swanny200]

I would say early to mid 90's Maidstone and District had a mishmash of different buses for their double decker work, with at least 8 different types at Gillingham Depot alone

 

[GusB]

Going back to my mid- to late- teens and just pre-privatisation there was a fair selection of vehicles that ran out of the Elgin depot of Northern Scottish. I say depot, but it's not really accurate due to vehicles being allocated to an area covering a few depots and vehicles were switched around, but here are those that I recall on my local route.

Mercedes Benz 609D	Various bodies - won't class each one as an individual type
Dodgy S56	Alx AM
Leyland National 2
Leyland Leopard	Alx Y
"	Alx T
"	Dup Dominant (I and II)
Leyland Tiger (TL11)	Alx P
" (6LXB)	Alx P
" (6LXCT)	Dup 320
" (TL11)	Dup Goldliner IV (rebuilt from III)
"	Alx TC (11 and 12m)
Dennis Lancet	Alx Y
"	Alx P
MCW Metroliner	Integral (Hi-Liner)
Leyland Olympian	ECW
"	Alx RL

A couple of years earlier there were no minibuses, but there would have been a couple of Leyland Fleetlines and perhaps a few Ford R-series still kicking around. There was also one AEC Reliance/Y-type and one Albion Viking/Y-type, although I'm not sure if these were still actually owned by the company or just being stored at the depot.

A couple of years later, just after privatisation, the Dodgy S56, Dennis Lancets and Metroliners had gone and the ECW Olympians where wheeched away to Perth. However, we had Bristol VRT/ECWs added to the fleet (Gardner and Leyland engined), ECW Leyland Leopards, a couple of 12m Duple Dominant Leopards (these had the splitter gearboxes) and few early Alexander AM Dennis Drats. At this time the chaos in Inverness was ongoing and vehicles were being swapped around frequently.

 

[delt1c]

Bathgate , SMT hat a policy if it ran it worked. You could find literally any of the vast variety of vehicles in SMT fleet regardless of their home depot. Coulnt start to compile a list as changed on a daily basis.in 60's and 70's saw everything including half cab single deckers, Edinburgh Leylands, Bridgemasters and many more

 

[43055]

Midland Classic has a few different types of vehicles all out of one depot:

ADL Enviro 200 (1 and 2 door)
Optare Metrocity
Scania E300
Optare Solo
Wright Pulsar Gemini
Optare Olympus
Scania Omnidekka
Scania Omnicity
ADL Enviro 400
Scania K94UB Wright Solar
Scania K230UB Wright Solar
Volvo B7TL Plaxton President
Scania K230UB Irizar i3 (brought but not entered service I think)
Alexandra RL (Heritage vehicle)

 

[MackTen]

I would say early to mid 90's Maidstone and District had a mishmash of different buses for their double decker work, with at least 8 different types at Gillingham Depot alone

This was a legacy of it having been chosen by the NBC for new double decker trials.

For a time there, you never quite knew what manner of oddity was going to break the relative uniformity of the VRs and Atlanteans who called their dark dank Stoneborough and Pentagon lairs home.

IIRC, the first new deliveries of Palatine 1 Olympians finally displaced these oddities, before further inroads were then made on the more standard affairs with even more Palatine 1s.

And of course, due to the times, in that same period they also had a nice variety of mini, midi, heavyweight and coaches too, before standardizing on the 809, SPD and B10M.

Not necessarily all at one depot, but it wasn't unheard of for vehicles to spend brief periods away from their home base.

Fun times.

 

[Swanny200]

This was a legacy of it having been chosen by the NBC for new double decker trials.

For a time there, you never quite knew what manner of oddity was going to break the relative uniformity of the VRs and Atlanteans who called their dark dank Stoneborough and Pentagon lairs home.

IIRC, the first new deliveries of Palatine 1 Olympians finally displaced these oddities, before further inroads were then made on the more standard affairs with even more Palatine 1s.

And of course, due to the times, in that same period they also had a nice variety of mini, midi, heavyweight and coaches too, before standardizing on the 809, SPD and B10M.

Not necessarily all at one depot, but it wasn't unheard of for vehicles to spend brief periods away from their home base.

Fun times.

I never knew that was the reason, just thought they just used whatever they could get. I remember MCW Metrobuses, A Scania Metropolitan, VRT's, Fleetlines, Atlanteans, Dennis Dominator, an Ailsa or two, Olympians including the coach ones and a weird Willowbrook bodied decker too, I remember the original Palatines coming in, it was like night and day, I think they were originally for the 101 but then ventured elsewhere. I moved away before the overnight convoy of ALX400's hit the Medway Towns.

 

[jp4712]

In older times Walsall and Barton have been mentioned, but Potteries also had an amazing mix in the 50s and 60s thanks to acquisitions and some eccentric purchasing of its own. And there were independents such as Silcox, Pembroke Dock and Berresford, Cheddleton that were reasonably sized yet had hardly two buses alike.

 

[MackTen]

I never knew that was the reason, just thought they just used whatever they could get. I remember MCW Metrobuses, A Scania Metropolitan, VRT's, Fleetlines, Atlanteans, Dennis Dominator, an Ailsa or two, Olympians including the coach ones and a weird Willowbrook bodied decker too, I remember the original Palatines coming in, it was like night and day, I think they were originally for the 101 but then ventured elsewhere. I moved away before the overnight convoy of ALX400's hit the Medway Towns.

It wasn't the only reason, at least some of the variety was for the usual post-deregulation reasons. But it most definitely added to the interest. It was well documented at the time, and in later histories, in part because it was such an unusual thing - variety in an NBC fleet!

And I always assumed they stayed long into deregulation simply because nobody else wanted them, or indeed, M&D didn't need to get rid of them since the trial meant they had already learned how to keep them running.

I also thankfully moved away before it became just another Arriva outpost, but not before they had begun to buy nice new stuff, with an eye to finally standardizing the fleet. But you could always tell, pre-Arriva, given how small they were, and how bus building was changing, there would always be some interesting variety in the fleet, for reasons of legacy or finance. But not when you had the money to replace all your deckers overnight. Operation Overdrive they called it.

 

[Swanny200]

It wasn't the only reason, at least some of the variety was for the usual post-deregulation reasons. But it most definitely added to the interest. It was well documented at the time, and in later histories, in part because it was such an unusual thing - variety in an NBC fleet!

And I always assumed they stayed long into deregulation simply because nobody else wanted them, or indeed, M&D didn't need to get rid of them since the trial meant they had already learned how to keep them running.

I also thankfully moved away before it became just another Arriva outpost, but not before they had begun to buy nice new stuff, with an eye to finally standardizing the fleet. But you could always tell, pre-Arriva, given how small they were, and how bus building was changing, there would always be some interesting variety in the fleet, for reasons of legacy or finance. But not when you had the money to replace all your deckers overnight. Operation Overdrive they called it.

I loved when they got the Darts, although on routes like the 145 Warren Wood services the Mercs still held their own especially along the narrow bits even Delce Road in Rochester could be a bit tricky with a wider bus at times, I remember when they got the Vario's, they never had the same character as the 609's and 709's. I was surprised at how long the P reg Darts and the 1st batch of Palatines lasted down there, there was still so much variety until Operation Overdrive.

I know a few of the buses went in the fire at the old Luton Road depot, including a few of the preserved fleet.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

South Yorkshire PTE Leicester Avenue Doncaster depot after the take over of felix, blue line, reliance and severns had an amazing collection
Ford R1014
Ford R1114
Bedford VAS
Bedford SB
Bedford YRQ
AEC Reliance
Leyland Tiger cub
Leyland Royal Tiger Cub RTC1/1
Leyland Royal Tiger Cub RTC1/2
Seddon pennine 4 Midi
Seddon Pennine RU
Leyland PD2
Leyland PD3
Daimler CVG6
Daimler Fleetline
Volvo Ailsa
Scania Metropolitan

That doesn't cover all the individual body/chassis combinations and I think the Felix Regent Vs had gone before the Blue Line coaches arrived and Severns Atlanteans were concentrated at Bootham Lane