Northern General Own Bodies

From as early as 1923, Northern General Transport had produced a number of vehicle chassis that were fitted with bodies built to their own design. One example is the legendary SE6, from which most modern single deck vehicles are derived. From about 1944 onwards, a number of pre war vehicles were rebodied; in most cases, they retained their original registrations. However, between 1951 & 1953, NGT refurbished 43-post war AEC Regal chassis, by the addition of an extra centre section to extend the wheelbase, an overall length of 30ft was achieved, I'm not sure if they were widened at the same time. They were fitted out with new running gear and AEC A173 engines, and reclassified as NGT/AEC. The chassis were numbered 132 to 174; apart from 143 to 148, they were all bodied locally by Picktree Coachworks in Chester Le Street, which was virtually next door to the NGT depot. To all intents and purposes, they were an AEC; however, despite the bus version having a similar style of radiator grill, neither the bus nor the coach versions ever carried AEC badges.

Two in-house NGT bus and coach designs were approved, with the first two built in 1951
132 was a FC35F Picktree A, registered BCN 888; fleet number 1388
133 was a B43F Picktree/NGT, registered CCN 402; fleet number 1402
Both designs proved to be satisfactory, and construction started on the remaining chassis in 1952.

134/142; FC35F Picktree A. CCN 368/76, 1368/76
149; FC35F Picktree A. CCN 404, 1404
150/59; FC35F Picktree B. CCN 677/86, 1457/66

160/71; B43F Picktree/NGT. DCN 67/78, 1467/78
172/74; FC35F Picktree B. DCN 93/5, 1493/5
The coach version was not fitted with a bulkhead, consequently they were rather noisy. As can be seen, there were minor differences between the 'A' and 'B' version, for some reason the bus version became known as 'Kipper boxes'

That brings us to 143/148; these were not bodied by Picktree, they received FC35F Beadle bodies and were destined for Wakefields at Percy Main depot, the registrations were FT 7275 to 7280, numbered 175/80: the first photo of 175 was taken in 1952 when it was new, note the name style and 'W' prefix on the fleet number. 179, is post 1955 'first repaint' the 'W' prefix has been discontinued, and the lettering style for the NGT group coach fleet had also been altered. They had a good second innings, and remained in service until the end of 1961; they were then exported to Yugoslavia of all places.

Two FC39F Beadle's joined the Wakefields fleet in 1953; FT 7791/2, 191/2, but I have not been able to trace the origin of their chassis. They differed slightly from the first six, in that they had a different style of front, which included a number section for the destination layout. They also had a larger seating capacity and were classified as D/P's, they were sold to Garners 'Bridge of Weir' in 1962

NGT also had a number of Beadles, DCN 83 to 92, 1483 to 1492; they were in the same registration block as some of the Picktree built vehicles, but they were not delivered until 1953. As with the last two Beadle's built for Wakefields, I have not been able to trace the origins of their chassis. They were all FC35F with D/P type fronts, but differed from the Wakefields versions in that they did not have a bulkhead or cab doors.

To the best of my knowledge, the last in-house NGT design was the superb C35F Picktree Continental from 1954. Thirteen were built DCN 830 to 842; 1530 to 1542; they were on GUY Arab LUF chassis which had the almost indestructible Gardner 6HLW engine; eight were later sold to Samuel Ledgard, I am not aware of what happened to the other five.

Ronnie Hoye
10/2014

 

---

12/10/14 - 08:58

Funny how things seem to take on a different meaning when you see them in print, and the gist of what you've said can easily be misunderstood, so let me clarify a couple of points. Whilst the first six Beadles assigned to Wakefields, were built on chassis refurbished by NGT, I am not suggesting that NGT designed the bodies. As for their other two Beadle's and those that went to Northern, whilst I suspect that they may have come from NGT, the origin of the chassis remains a mystery. Regarding the Picktree Continentals, my statement that they were the last in-house designs was not strictly correct, two more in- house efforts, namely Tynesider and Wearsider followed them, but they both proved to be one off's.

Ronnie Hoye

 

---

 

Comments regarding the above are more than welcome please get in touch via the 'Contact Page' or by email at

If you have any bus related photographs that you would like to appear in a gallery on this website please send them to me by email at

Quick links to  -  Galleries  -  Comments  -  Contact  -  Home