Towards the end of the original Eden business, the company replaced some of its trusty Leyland Leopards with second-hand Leyland Nationals and turned them out to its usual high standard. This fictional National (with full fleetnames rather than the abreviated 'Eden' style) is an example of the rarer Series B - a simpler and lower cost version, which was intended mainly for rural routes. The main visual differences were the lack of a roof pod, the addition of ventilation louvres on the front panel, and black (rather than white) bumpers. It sold in reasonable numbers to a few National Bus Company subsidiaries but attracted little attention elsewhere. In reality, this is a preserved Cumberland Motor Services vehicle photographed at the 2015 Kirby Stephen rally (02-Apr-16).
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Tags: Leyland National Series B The Eden
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2020 should see the final Class 142 railbuses removed from the national rail network after a remarkable 35 years of service. Much criticised in recent years, the 142s cannot be regarded as anything less than successful - at least in commercial terms, providing a low-cost solution to local passenger services that surely has outlined its design life by a comfortable margin. Sadly, the passenger experience won it few friends. I recall my one and only ride on a brand new but rough riding unit, with rattling doors and cramped 3+2 seating. - but I did like the livery, which I have reproduced here on a unit photographed many years later (updated 30-Mar-20).
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Tags: railbus Class 142 BR British Rail Provincial Services
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I originally finished this as a private charter vehicle with a British Railways coaching stock roundel and West Coast Railways logo, before realisation set in that the rather basic qualities of the 153 would not endear it to the charter market (an air-conditioned 158 perhaps?). This updated version pays homage to the single-car Class 121 that Railtrack – precursor to the present-day Network Rail – operated from Aylesbury depot in the mid-1990s in a ‘heritage’ maroon livery with ‘Railtrack Clearing the Way’ branding. This unit was perhaps the prototype Class 153 converted from the two-car 156 and, after being retained for testing and development purposes, it was made available for other departmental duties (update 12-Jan-23).
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Tags: Class 153 diesel railcar Railtrack Leyland
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London Transport was quite late to the Leyland National before taking to it in a big way. It had intended to standardise on the original version but subsequently acquired a small batch of the improved National 2 design, initially for Red Arrow work. The National 2 incorporated a front-mounted radiator and a consequent slight increase in length from 10.4 to 10.6 metres.
London Transport also operated a few examples of the longer 11.4 metre National (bought second-hand for special purposes) but no examples of the 11.6 metre National 2 illustrated here. The company's reluctance to take longer buses is understandable given its experience with the ill-fated AEC Merlin, but its successors have since deployed longer buses in traffic conditions that (prior to the congestion charge at least) cannot have been any less challenging.
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Tags: London Transport Leyland National
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Many ambulance services have a mobile control unit of some kind but I am not aware of any using full-size bus-derived vehicles. This fictional image is based on the previously published fire service versions. The livery is quite restrained by comparison with the accompanying Casualty Treatment Unit. The small checkers on the cantrail identify the vehicle as a control unit (26-Sep-14).
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Tags: emergency vehicle London Ambulance Service Leyland Lynx control unit
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