Halifax Passenger Transport in the Mid-1960's - Part Three

Halifax Passenger Transport in the Mid-1960's - Part Three

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423 (LUA 423) AEC Regent III 9612E / Roe H31/25R, new to Leeds City Transport (423) 1947. (Photo - John Stringer)

There was a severe delay in the delivery of more PD2's intended for 1964/65, due to a protracted labour dispute at Weymann's. Some vehicles that were due to replaced had to be given a reprieve, but others needed to go and this led to a vehicle shortage. Consequently four Roe-bodied Regent III's formerly in the Leeds City Transport fleet were purchased from North's, the dealer, in July1964 to help out for a while - remaining in their mostly dark green livery with the lighter green window surrounds repainted with Halifax cream. One was allocated to the Corporation fleet (40, LUA 440), and three to the JOC (420/422/423, LUA 420/416/423), a further example (49, LUA 427) being added to the Corporation fleet in the November. Leeds C.T. were well known for their policy of derating vehicles for economy purposes and this became obvious when these had to work hard fully laden in Halifax's terrain. Consequently they were unpopular with crews and passengers alike - not only due to their lack of urge, but also their lack of heaters and generally sombre appearance compared to the cheerful indigenous buses. Whenever possible they tended to be mostly confined to schools and peak period services. 40 passed briefly to the JOC in 1965 as 440, but all were withdrawn by the end of the year.
423 is seen leaning on the bend from Godley Cutting into Godley Road, having just passed under Godley Bridge, as it works a schools journey towards town. To the left can be seen an example of Halifax's other double deckers - the double-decker houses once so familiar on the steep hillsides, with the lower two floors being one house accessed from the main road, and the upper one or two facing the opposite way being accessed from a street at a higher level round the back. Those pictured were all swept away in the late 1960's along with many hundreds of other nearby properties in order to create a derelict wasteland overrun with rosebay willow herb.

200 (MBY 347) AEC Reliance MU3RV / Park Royal C41C, new to Bourne & Balmer of Croydon in 1954.

It was Geoff Hilditch's desire from soon after arriving at Halifax to develop the Tours and Private Hire business. Having cancelled two from an order for PD2 double deckers and replaced them with a pair of smart new dual-purpose Willowbrook-bodied Leopards in a revised livery, he then wished to equip two of the Nimbuses similarly. This Reliance coach had been in the fleet of Bourne & Balmer of Croydon , and later BET subsidiary Timpson's - but had been sold to Holloway of Scunthorpe, with whom it received frontal damage in an accident. Sold to North's, the dealer, it came to the notice of Hilditch who in 1965 is said to have then acquired it for a modest sum with a view to using the seats to reseat a Nimbus. Instead it was repaired by his bodyshop with a modified frontal treatment and put into service as coach 200 (MBY347). After a spate of renumberings it was rebodied with a new Plaxton Panorama I body, ending up as 256. It passed to WYPTE which used it as a mobile sales outlet for their new MetroCard. It passed briefly in 1976 to a preservationist, then becoming a stock-car transporter for a few years more.
Here it is pictured awaiting attention in the dockshop at Skircoat Garage with a CVG6 behind.

19 (TWJ 505) PRV/AEC Monocoach MC3RV / Park Royal B44F, new to Sheffield JOC (1205) in 1955.

In 1965 to help further with the ongoing shortage, North's supplied two of these relatively uncommon Monocoaches (19/20, TWJ 505/506) which had been part of the Sheffield JOC fleet. The Monocoach was technically a Park Royal product - effectively an integrally constructed (chassisless) version of the more common Park Royal-bodied Reliance to which it bore a strong resemblance. Cautious and conservative bus engineers were not convinced at that stage of the merits of integral construction and tended to give them a wide berth, though they were favoured by the Scottish Bus Group. These two had all the usual early Reliance type growling sound effects, and with their mostly dark red interiors and floral seat moquette felt from a passenger's point of view more like they were riding on a Hebble, rather than a Corporation bus. Transferred to the JOC in 1967 as 219/220, they were withdrawn in 1969.
19 is pictured at the bottom of Bradford Road, Stump Cross, where the Bradford road joins the A58 from Leeds at an acute angle - coming in on the right side of the photo. Before the installation of traffic lights in the mid-1960's this was a serious accident blackspot, with collisions occurring often several times a week. It is returning from Northowram Village and will then operate across town to the General Hospital. A familiar and nostalgic scene for the writer who in his young childhood days lived only 100 yards away from here.

65 (CCP 165C) Leyland Titan PD2/37 /Roe H37/28F, new in 1965.

There were 30 Weymann-bodied PD2/37's on order for 1964/65 (eight for the Corporation and seven for the JOC in each year), two as already mentioned being cancelled in favour of a pair of Leopard DP's. The strike at Weymann's dragged on, none being delivered in 1964, and eventually Roe agreed to body ten of them in 1965. The chassis were stored at Elmwood Garage for quite a while before being despatched to Leeds, from where they reappeared as eight for the Corporation (59-66, CCP 159-166C) and two for the JOC (278/279, CCP 523/524C). With bodies that were in effect forward-entrance versions of the 1956 Daimlers, they were most handsome vehicles, having the front destination and number blinds in three separate apertures - which was to be the standard for double deckers from then on. They featured a new seat moquette pattern specially commissioned from Holdsworth's (whose mill was situated just behind Elmwood Garage) incorporating the orange, green, cream and black colours of the bus livery, with green vynide trim - also to become standard until 1973. The interior was in Roe's familiar olive green with metallic grey window surrounds, the doors had full depth glazing, and there was a return to rear route number indicators - not specified since the Daimlers. They had excellent visibility for the driver with deep cab windows, and the bodies remained sound and rattle-free throughout their lives. All passed to WYPTE, 66 going in 1976, most in 1978/79 but 62 surviving until 1980 - being the penultimate halfcab. Three were converted to training buses, one being sold off as surplus by the PTE, but the other two passing to Yorkshire Rider - the writer as an Instructor having the distinction of having trained the last driver to pass their PSV Test on the last one the day before it was withdrawn in 1990. One (62) was exported to Denver, Colorado where it may still exist, otherwise sadly none survived into preservation.
In the picture, though still a fairly new service bus, L-plated 65 is being used for training purposes, and is standing in Heath Road, opposite Skircoat Road Garage - which is just out of view to the right. Incidentally the writer passed his PSV test on similar bus 59 !

280 (CJX 320C) Leyland Titan PD2/37 / Weymann H36/28F, new in 1965

The balance of the order for Weymann-bodied PD2's finally began arriving towards the very end of 1965. There were ten for the JOC (280-289, CJX 320-329C) and in early 1966 came the remaining eight for the Corporation (67-74, DCP 67-74D). They featured the recessed windscreen as used on the 1963 PD3's, but the interiors were in green with pale grey formica and the new special moquette. These and the Roe-bodied PD2's were generally regarded as far superior to the earlier Leylands, 280-289 also being the fastest of them all for some reason. Just prior to the formation of WYPTE, 68 was turned out in a proposed 'Calderdale District' livery of cream with orange relief, but this was rejected. Then with 67 and a variety of other vehicles it appeared in a Hilditch-designed livery of dark green and cream - which was also firmly rejected. After the takeover a universal buttermilk and verona green livery was adopted, and applied somewhat uncomfortably to many of the older vehicles. Most were withdrawn in 1978, 282 being the last vehicle to operate in the green, orange and cream livery - albeit rather faded by then.
280 is seen here at Salterhebble, having just descended the short but sharp Salterhebble Hill about a mile and a half from town on the Huddersfield Road, from which it will shortly bear right at the Calder & Hebble junction and aim for West Vale and its hilltop village destination of Stainland.

An unidentified PD2 of the 280-289 batch

Another of the same type is seen in wintry conditions climbing Upper Bolton Brow opposite Crow Wood Park on the upper fringe of Sowerby Bridge only a couple of hundred yards before crossing the borough boundary into Halifax. It is returning from Tuel Lane to town.

Demonstrator 565 CRW - Daimler Fleetline CRG6 / Alexander H44/34F, new in 1963.

When Geoff Hilditch arrived at Halifax his predecessor had already placed orders for Leyland double-deckers for 1964/65 delivery. He has said that had this not been the case he would have preferred to have bought Roe-bodied Daimler CVG6LX's, but considering purchases beyond 1965 he set about arranging visits by a host of all the available demonstration vehicles he could muster. During 1964 there were double decker demonstrations by a Daimler Fleetline, two different Leyland Atlanteans, AEC Renown and RMF Routemaster, Guy Arab V and Dennis Loline. For further comparison the Department included its own Leyland re-engined CVG6 (92), a PD3 (206) and a Regent V (218) in the 'competition'. The Routemaster was certainly the most favoured by the staff - both engineering and driving - and achieved the best score in the maintenance cost calculations, though at nearly £4,000 more than the Fleetline or Atlantean it was never going to be a serious contender. The Leyland-engined CVG6 achieved the best fuel consumption score, but rear engines were considered the way to go and though five Lolines eventually came our way to fill a special need, the Fleetline otherwise became the choice for new double deckers from 1966.
Alexander-bodied Fleetline 565 CRW paid three visits altogether, and here it is seen second time around near King Cross on the long Hebden Bridge-Brighouse service.

West Yorkshire R.C.C. SRG15 (HWU 641C) Bristol RELL6G / ECW B54F, new in 1965.

Having tried all the double decker demonstrators and made a decision which to go for, Hilditch turned his attention the following year to single deckers. Once again the local public were treated to a variety of types, including a Leyland Panther and Panther Cub, AEC Swift and two Daimler Roadliners - both bus and coach versions. One vehicle that paid a visit for inspection but was not used in service was this West Yorkshire Bristol RELL6G with the original design of ECW bus body. Prior to this the state-owned Bristol company had for many years only been allowed to sell its products to state-owned operators, but an exchange of shares between the Bristol and Leyland companies allowed them to get around this restriction and there was then a push to sell them on the open market. Generally regarded as the best of all the rear-engined single deck models of the 1960's, at that point there was no shorter length Bristol to suit Halifax's operating terrain anyway, and unfortunately none ever came Halifax's way.
It is seen here parked just inside the front of Elmwood Garage, with - yet again - Regent III 373 looking on.

All photographs by Roger Cox unless otherwise stated.

Text by John Stringer.

 

Part Four, click here

 

 


 

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