The Three Counties Bus And Commercial Vehicle Museum

A column devoted to memories of working with commercial vehicles in the bygone days of motoring...

The early 1960's were the heyday of the coach tour - whether it was a holiday tour, sightseeing or a works outing, the coach was the main form of transport for all these events. During my time with Margo's Coaches of Streatham, South London, these sorts of jobs formed our daily bread and butter. They were our regular income - with the many industries in the area providing many interesting journeys for the other drivers and me.

However, it was not just industry that provided tour work for us, for in the early 1960's one of my regular jobs was to take a group of nuns on outings to the seaside and other places of interest. The Mother Superior was a bossy woman who at regular intervals barked orders to me about what they wanted me to do, where they wanted to go and at what time they were to leave to come home. Disregarding any suggestions, comments or questions I had, the Mother Superior's word was the final say. The rest of the nuns sat and said nothing, as was the rule at the time.

On one particular day on a trip to Eastbourne the Mother Superior had been particularly bad, having forced me to drive a lot further than originally planned whilst shouting her orders at me in the cab. This had really put me on edge. On the way home, I decided to get my own back. Soon after we left Eastbourne there was a tap on the glass: "Driver, we need to stop to go to the toilet as soon possible." Over the next few miles I passed a number of cafes and pubs but did not stop. The Mother Superior asked "Why could we not stop there?" "Ah well," I replied "They aren't very good places, not of the right standard for ladies like yourselves".

A little further on, Mother Superior barked "Driver, we cannot wait any longer, stop straightaway." As luck would have it, I was descending a hill at the end of which there was a layby next to some trees, followed by a sharp right hand bend. As I stopped the nuns piled out and disappeared into the darkness of the trees to answer their calls of nature. I looked in my offside mirror, and saw a convoy of coaches descending the hill ? as they passed me the drivers flicked their lights back up to main beam on the approach to the bend, and illuminated the trees, revealing the nuns squatting in between! Finally, Mother Superior had got her comeuppance!

As the final coach of the convoy disappeared around the corner, with its passengers still cheering and waving from the windows, Mother Superior returned to my coach looking very annoyed but much to my surprise did not utter a word. I took them home and although I had a good laugh, I felt that I had probably lost the company a customer. A few weeks later, I was surprised to be given a job with the nuns again.

But this time Mother Superior was nice to me, asked my opinions, paid for my dinner and even tipped me when we got home. Certainly a change of heart; I wonder if it was anything to do with the nuns in the wood?

Preservation of any type of vehicle is not easy by any means, and buses seem to be much harder to take care of.

Take my own situation for instance, I am the owner of United Counties 587 and father to two children under the age of three, not to mention a wife that does not care for the bus, let alone understand why I would want to own a 9.2 tonne bus! As anyone would know money and time is tight but I did manage to refit the new rear lights and boot lid. I also managed to repaint the bus back to National Bus colours and give her the true United Counties identity, thanks to the help of Eddie Knorn, so 587 made her debut at Stevenage and Hertford Running Day in Hitchin. It was approximately 18 years since 587 last worked in Hitchin as a Hitchin bus where my late father used to drive her so it was quite a special day for me.

As I mentioned earlier, looking after one bus takes time but I also help Eddie Knorn with his St. Albans collection of London Country buses, which keeps on growing! This means more buses, less time but we manage to keep SNB312 and SNC168 running sweet, although MOT time comes round so quick as most of the mechanical work is done by us. SNB449 is coming on nicely as well. That just leaves LR9 Olympian and AN53 Atlantean and not forgetting SNB103 - that's just for starters!

As you can imagine it is time consuming as it is only the middle of February and we have already done MOTs on 312 and 168, this includes some repairs and the collection of AN53. Not to forget both buses ran in St. Albans for the model railway exhibition in January with 312 getting her MOT only the day before! Thankfully both buses performed well even being recognised by a former driver from St. Albans garage. It makes this all worthwhile when you get people enjoying what we do. Then on the other hand one thing that gets my back up is being told "Oh, it's only a Leyland National and it's not old enough". Well SNC168 being 29 years old this year and SNB312 27 years old - what does old enough mean? So if these buses are on a running day I say "take it or leave it, it's your choice. It's your loss if you can't enjoy the day". I could also give a reply that I cannot write down due to the nature of its content. People seem to forget it takes a lot of time and money to keep these historic vehicles running for everyone's pleasure (or not).

Anyway, time to go, I hope you have found this interesting and if not I hope I didn't bore you too much!

Those members who subscribe to the Cobham Bus Museum's magazine will probably have read this article focusing on that most rare of vehicle, the LT CR type. Many members may know that 3CBCVM Chairman Malcolm Skevington is currently in the final stages of restoring FXT 122, CR 16, a process that has taken six years. For those who are not Cobham members reproduced here is the final part of the article which focuses on Malcolm's trials and tribulations during the restoration of CR 16. Malcolm has also developed a presentation about the restoration of the CR which he gave at the 3CBCVM meeting on April 26th 2004, so for those who were not able to make it, here is the story of 'The Last CR', courtesy of Norman Davey and David Kinnear.

November 2003 marked the 50th anniversary of the last CR's in passenger service with London Transport. This ground-breaking 20 seat single deck, one man operated bus with a revolutionary rear engine was a glimpse of 30 years into the future. Designed at Chiswick Works in the late 1930s, it was the last of LTs visionary pre-war innovations following on from the side-engine Q and the underfloor Leyland Tiger TF. Ahead of their time, these advanced little buses led chequered careers due to problems with their advanced design and the impact of WW2, spending much of their time in store. Post-war shortages pressed them into uneconomic, unsuitable crew service in central London, yet it was 1955 before the last left LT. Few survived for long within the UK, however the long and amazing story of the restoration of what could be called 'The last of the CRs'

The Cyprus CRs 16 and 36 were the lucky ones ? they were spotted as they lay decomposing in a local scrap yard by an enthusiast, a senior RAF officer based on the island. In 1980, allegedly, he arranged for them to be flown home in a large transport aircraft - another little miracle, imagine trying to fly an old bus home in today's Air Force? Sadly, after their airborne rescue they had a chequered path to preservation, passing through the hands of a series of owners, one of whom 'cannibalised' CR 36 to rebuild CR16, and a large pile of parts up for auction. Eventually, in April of that year, it was acquired by a well-known name in preservation circles, who sadly died before he could restore CR16. It lay forgotten in a yard in Buckinghamshire. Fate then seemed to take a hand, resulting in what was to be the beginning of an extraordinary series of coincidences. The little bus was about to pop up again.

Enter, Malcolm Skevington, well-known automotive engineer and classic bus restorer. One evening, in October 1997, Malcolm responded to a call to give advice on a vehicle at a yard in High Wycombe to enable it to be suspend towed. Parked behind it in a dark corner, he noticed the oddest little bus he had ever seen. He says "I could not recall ever seeing such a vehicle. I was intrigued by its halfcab front with a very low curved panel where the engine compartment should have been, but there was no sign of a radiator grille. The chassis was in reasonable condition, but there were no seats and the interior of the bus was filled with strange shaped metal panels. I was utterly fascinated and wanted to find out all about it". Not being an LT buff at the time, Malcolm didn't know that he was looking straight into the battered face of CR16. There followed a series of negotiations with the late owner's executors who at first asked a higher price than Malcolm wanted to pay, considering the decrepit state of the bus. He walked away, thinking that it was a shame that such a treasure would continue to languish.

The New Year brought Malcolm a surprise, a phone call from the vendors to say that they felt it right to pass the Leyland Cub onto someone who had the necessary skills and resources to put it back on the road. Because of this, they would offer it to Malcolm at a reduced price. A deal was clinched in February 1998 and CR16 (FXT 122) along with a large collection of spares, soon arrived at Malcolm's premises not far from Dunstable. Together with a friend they stared in growing dismay at what they had bought. It might, they thought, cheer them up if they could get the engine started.

The bus had a Leyland 4.7 litre, 6-cylinder diesel, not transverse like a mini, but in line with the main chassis, pointing backwards. The radiator, also back to front, was equipped with a huge fan which appeared to blow air the wrong way. The transmission, equally weird: a curious transfer box connected to what appeared to be a De Dion axle unit. On cranking the engine, Malcolm watched with horror as oil seeped out everywhere. An inspection revealed the awful truth. They had bought nearly the rarest bus in the universe with a body entering the final stages of disintegration and now they had found that the engine was just a piece of scrap, worn beyond repair. Every part would have to be specially manufactured from scratch, a financial commitment that would have turned Richard Branson pale. Could it get worse? Well, at least the chassis was sound, wasn't it? Ah, well, thought Malcolm, it had been a noble cause. It was at this low point that the little bus seemed to work the first of its magic. Seeing her husband's glum face, Mrs Skevington suggested scanning the small ads in the HCVS Newsletter, which had arrived that morning. It was inspirational advice. Looking at the first advertisement, he could hardly believe his eyes. It simple said "Wanted. Timing Cover for Leyland Cub engine". Here, right out of the blue was someone who clearly knew about restoring such a rare engine. With trembling fingers Malcolm reached for the phone and dialled the number. A voice answered. "No", explained Malcolm he didn't have a timing cover, but could the man pass on any tips on how to restore a Cub engine? There was quite a long silence. "Well" said the man "I bought it for a lorry I restored, but I sold that some while ago, so the Cub engine is now going spare. I was going to put it together to sell it and needed a timing cover to complete it. Are you interested in buying it then? Malcolm couldn't believe his luck. A deal rapidly done, he collected his prize from the vendor, in Colne, Lancs.

With positive movement on the mechanical side, it was time to consider the restoration of the Cub's body, almost wholly disassembled and in a parlous condition. Tackling the difficulty of working out how all the pieces fitted together, acquiring or recreating what was missing, then accurately assembling it, threw up two major problems. A large weatherproof workshop was urgently needed. And no restoration of such complexity could be completed without a set of engineering drawings. Malcolm's application to build a workshop was turned down flat by local authority who ruled that restoring old buses was 'not a hobby', but 'a commercial operation' - which could not possibly be allowed. Not to be thwarted, Malcolm's ingenious solution was to erect a temporary building composed of some large steel Nissen hut sections mounted on railways sleepers. But where on earth could he get hold of a set of plans?

At this point CR16 seemed to work its magic again. By chance Cobham Bus Museum's Roger Stagg called Malcolm to ask for advice on his RT 2043. Roger says "RT 2043 was smoking so badly that one of my neighbours summoned the fire brigade when it went by. Knowing of Malcolm's expertise with diesel fuel injection, I called him for advice. He kindly drove over and sorted out the problem ? result ? no smoke at all!" The next bit was like a dream. Knowing Roger's connection with Cobham, upon asking the inevitable question about the CR plans, Malcolm experienced mild shock at the answer "Yes", said Roger. "We have a complete set of plans for this vehicle"."There are 36 engineering drawings. Which ones would you like to see?" "Well, yes" he replied. He would rather like to see ALL of them, actually. Roger says " When he told me that he had 'hit the wall' with his CR restoration, I immediately agreed that he should have access to Cobham's plans, exactly in line with the museum's charitable objectives. As I am a civil engineer it was no problem at all to copy Cobham's 36 plans in my drawing office - one good turn deserves another!"

Back near Dunstable, now armed with the vital plans, restoration on the body could gather pace. But like a Jurassic Park DNA-created dinosaur, some of the CRs peculiarities began to re-emerge out of the past revealing factors that led to the CR's premature demise: Unlike the front radiator on the TF, the CRs was right at the back. Malcolm found that the cooling design didn't work too well. As LT vehicles only had a speedo, the first sign of trouble would be a plume of steam issuing from the rear. When eventually spotted by the driver (or passengers), the usual LT practice of lifting the accelerator pedal to shut off the engine was likely. In the interests of safety, Malcolm has overcome this fatal weakness with an electrical solenoid system. One of the most time-consuming puzzles has been overhauling the electro-pneumatic passenger door fitted uniquely to the CR. Operated by an electrical switch, linked to a pneumatic strut, driven by a compressor which supplies no other services to the vehicles, this complex piece of over-engineering just CLOSES the door, it can't open it. The size of the device can be judged by a look at any nearside CR picture: it occupies the space beneath the large hinged panel above the entrance. Put all these maintenance complications in a war/post war scenario, with scarcity or parts, unsuitable use of an OPO country bus with a crew and only 20 seats in central areas, and it is not difficult to see why LT had a bumpy ride with its CRs. Nevertheless, London's Leyland Cub was truly a bus before its time - and it survived in service against all the odds until 1955.

Overall, Malcolm's restoration of CR16 has been a project of breathtaking complexity and a piece of inspired industrial and scientific archaeology by Malcolm and his colleagues to regenerate this important historic vehicle for the benefit of future generations. We hope that soon this fascinating and innovative little bus will again be charging down the lanes of its heyday - it will certainly be a superb sight!