TV bus?

What was the bus featured in last nights drama, Call The Midwife, single deck Leyland registration GRN 80. I know it's a Preston registration, and would it be a 'Tiger', the livery is open to debate. Anyone know the answer?

Dave Knapp

24/02/14 - 16:08

The registration is CRN 80 and it was an East Lancs B34R bodied Leyland Tiger PS1/1 of 1949 vintage operated originally as fleet number 75 by Preston Corporation. The livery at the time was deep maroon and cream. The vehicle was, and may still be, owned by Cumbria Classic Coaches which may account for the name 'Rosie'.

Orla Nutting

24/02/14 - 16:30

Is this bus actually as late as 1949 - most Tigers from 1948 onwards were PS2's.

Chris Hebbron

24/02/14 - 17:21

No Chris. A misconception helped along by Leyland themselves. The PS2 replaced the PS1 in Leyland catalogues but the punters weren't having any of it. The PS1 continued to be the majority home market Tiger - even though it wasn't in the catalogue!

David Oldfield

25/02/14 - 06:57

According to the Cumbria Classic Coaches website they still have CRN 80. See their website www.cumbriaclassiccoaches.co.uk/rosie1.shtm

Stephen Howarth

25/02/14 - 06:57

Some sources state this to be a 1946 vehicle that entered the Preston fleet in 1949. www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3492848

Roger Cox

25/02/14 - 09:18

A friend of mine has a classic MK1 Zodiac that has from time to time been used by film and TV companies, on occasion it's been cosmetically made to look a bit shabby, but fear not, its always returned in immaculate condition. I suspect this may have been the case with CRN 80.

Ronnie Hoye

25/02/14 - 14:25

Quote from SCT '61 picture of this bus:
'CRN 80 is a Leyland PS1 with East Lancs B34R bodywork. It was built for Preston Corporation in 1946 and commissioned by them in June 1949. It was withdrawn by Preston in 1968 and preserved by three consecutive enthusiasts over the next ten years. Between 1978 and 1999 it was stored in a garage at Leyland before being bought by Cumbria Classic Coaches'.

Orla Nutting

07/03/14 - 07:43

CRN 80 is certainly still going strong - I drove her in service only last week. She is a PS1 - this is where there is some confusion - 1946 chassis, body 1948.
The body is in fact not an East Lancs one but was manufactured by the Yorkshire Yacht Company. The body is really quite amazing for her age.
She had her sign writing removed for filming & was taken on a low loader to Sussex. Once she had returned, Cumbria Classic Coaches prepared her in house for a total re-spray - she's back in her normal condition now. If anyone is interested she'll be running all weekend in the Kirkby Stephen Classic Commercial Vehicle Rally - April 19th & 20th and I'll be driving her.

Rachel

07/03/14 - 16:09

Thanks for that comprehensive comment, Rachel. Not much seems to be known about the Yorkshire Yacht Builders Company of Bridlington, though another short note may be found here (scroll to the bottom of the page):- http://nonsequitur.freeforums.org/post9008.html#p9008 East Lancashire also had a factory in Bridlington, and it is possible that the body on CRN 80 was built on an East Lancs frame. I've never driven a PS1 or a PD1, but they had a reputation for rather slow gear changes owing to the heavy flywheel on the E181 engine. I won't be able to get to your Kirkby Stephen rally, unfortunately, but I hope the event is a great success.

Roger Cox

07/03/14 - 18:09

The PSV Circle's Fleet History of Hebble Motor Services mentions that The Yorkshire Yachtbuilding & Engineering Company Ltd. of Bridlington occupied a site owned by O & C Estates, having been acquired by the Holdsworth Group in 1946. The company had entered into motor coach building during the early postwar coaching boom, and was renamed Yorkshire Equipment Company in 1948. Coach production ceased in 1949, and in 1950 the company was reformed as a subcontractor for East Lancs. of Blackburn, being renamed East Lancashire Coachbuilders (Bridlington) Ltd. This company was liquidated in 1952.
The caption to a photo of the PS1 on the SCT'61 site quotes it as being bodied by East Lancashire (Bridlington) Ltd. probably on frames supplied by the parent company. I wonder where the information came from that it was built by Yorkshire Yachtbuilders ? If its owner knows that it bears their body plate, then I suppose it's conceivable that YEC may have inherited a stock of 'Yorkshire Yachtbuilders' plates and continued to apply them to use them up.

John Stringer

09/03/14 - 07:13

Once again, John, you have filled in another gap in our knowledge. One point puzzles me. In the immediate postwar period, operators were crying out for almost anything they could get to replace time expired machinery that had been kept running well beyond its normal life expectancy. Why, I wonder, would Preston have obtained a PS1 chassis in 1946 and then left it languishing for a couple of years or so before getting it bodied and putting it into service? Perhaps this hiatus in the process might explain the attachment of the Yorkshire Yachtbuilding & Engineering Company plate to the bodywork. Possibly the coachbuilding construction might have started around 1946 and then been delayed for some reason before delivery of the complete vehicle to Preston.

Roger Cox

09/03/14 - 16:24

There was an informative article, a few years back, about Yorkshire Yachtbuilders (etc) in an edition of Classic Bus Annual. Unsurprisingly, they started off building yachts in Bridlington and then diversified into building Burlingham (half-cab) coach clones on Daimler CVD6 chassis. [They also made school desks and other education connected furniture.] Eventually, like Bruce, they became a sub-contractor for East Lancs - building to their designs on their frames. With a certain amount of logic the company was renamed East Lancs (Bridlington) when, I believe, East Lancs bought the shares. [This was totally unlike the later take over of East Lancs by Craven's and production of Neepsend bodies.] Most, if not all, of Rotherham's Bristol K and L buses were bodied by "Bridlington" and there were a number of rebodying exercises - including Guys for Blackburn (!) and Albions for Glasgow.

David Oldfield

22/03/14 - 09:59

The Yorkshire Equipment Company carried out renovation work for Hull Corporation Transport after WW2.
AEC Regent no 197 (GKH 378) had its NCME body renovated in 1948 giving it a unique appearance whilst Guy Arab no. 208 received attention also in 1948. I think the company did work for Leeds Corporation and Rotherham also.
A description of the company appeared in Transport World on 9 December 1948 and a photograph showed what appears to be no. 197 in the body building shop. The article stated that current work was concentrated on repairs the company had plans for the manufacture of all-metal bodies in the future.

Malcolm J Wells

07/05/16 - 17:41

Firstly Cravens did not take over East Lancashire Coachbuilders, both were purchased at separate times by John Brown Engineering, which later became part of Trafalgar House, who later sold East Lancashire and Craven Tasker to a management buy out.
Secondly Yorkshire Yachtbuilders did _not_ build Burlingham bodies, although there was a superficial resemblance there was no element of licence build or financial association.
Compare and Contrast:
This is the Bridlington body.
This is the Blackpool one.

Stephen Allcroft

27/06/22 - 05:50

The chassis of Preston Corporation PS1s CRN 79, 80 were built in December 1946. Due to capacity problems the bodies were not built until 1949 with the two buses being first registered on 1st June 1949. They were built at East Lancs subsidiary company the Yorkshire Yachtbuilding & Engineering Co of Bridlington and were originally B36R. Sometime between 1949 and 1952 two single seats were removed thus becoming B34R. Both buses are believed to be still in existence.

Michael Rhodes

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