Old Allocations

[kendall17]

I was on a site which had some old pictures dating back to 2003 in Leeds.

I was suprised when i saw W704 CWR was on route 16 & branded for that route - look at the 16 now!

I also saw a Plaxton Verde branded for the green line but i always thought it was ALX Scanias on said routes.

Does anyone else know of other route allocations from back in the day in Leeds, don't have to be intriguing like i found mine. I'm just interested.

[6u3zr]

I'm astonished that you found a Green Line branded Verde.

The Lance/Verdes were Cherry Row motors and were solid on 2/3/12/13. A few got red/blue branding but by the time the branding craze started in earnest their days were numbered anyway.

[kendall17]

myweb.tiscali.co.uk/caroline.mathews/FL4057_18Jan03.jpg
Tell a lie it was Green & Red, 1/2 & 1/2 style.

[nick]

MCW Metrobuses on the 95/96 routes. They were also king of the 732/33/36 route before they changed it to the 33/33A routes.

[kendall17]

I remember them been on the 95/96. We had a mixture of buses on the 56/57 i think it was metrobuses & atlanteans.

[angrycommuter]

The Plaxton Verde/Lance things were branded for the 56 and 57 if I remember correctly.

The old R and S reg Optional bus Atlanteans were refurbished for Leeds City Link for use on the 92 to Headingley Campus. The 92A to Kirkstall Brewery used to have Plaxton Mercedes mini buses.

Metrobuses ruled the roost on almost all 95's, with the G and H reg Scania's on the 755 (now 97), 96 and 28.

There were a few ex-london P-reg double deckers with Dennis engines/chasis (Like the engines on the N805 TPK etc. fleet). They were used on the headingley corridor for a while but I don't know where they disappeared to.

The R reg dual doored buses first had Leeds destinations with London style destination blinds before been converted to the LED screens they have now.

[kendall17]

Dec 11, 2008 11:28:12 GMT 1 angrycommuter said:

The Plaxton Verde/Lance things were branded for the 56 and 57 if I remember correctly.

There were a few ex-london P-reg double deckers with Dennis engines/chasis (Like the engines on the N805 TPK etc. fleet). They were used on the headingley corridor for a while but I don't know where they disappeared to.

I dont remember seeing the PLaxton Verdes up this neck of the woods, but to be honest i want to forget about the horrible machines.

The deckers you talk about were P---PLE Dennis Arrow Northern Counties Palatine II and i dont know where & when they went.

[angrycommuter]

Back in Yorkshire Buses days, the 201/2/3 were jointly operated by Heckmondwike and Dewsbury and had Lances and ECW Olympians quite frequently working alongside Lynx Mk 1's.

I also remember that the 279 used to be operated by West Riding on some of the services.

Gold Rider Plaxton coaches used to work the X33, and I recall seeing a Yorkshire Rider Bradford Bristol VR on the 268 when I was going to Spenborough Pool for swimming lessons with school (not sure if this was a regular allocation or a one off?).

Black Prince used to operate the Sunday service 205 to Dewsbury with Volvo Alisas.

[nick]

Dec 11, 2008 11:28:12 GMT 1 angrycommuter said:

Metrobuses ruled the roost on almost all 95's, with the G and H reg Scania's on the 755 (now 97), 96 and 28.

Scania's made it onto the 780(later 85), X84, 755(97) and 28 but hardly ever made it onto the 96 or there were few allocation of this vehicle as it was mainly MCW Metrobus.

[puggy]

I remember quickstep travel having a Roe bodied Atlantean one of the maroon/brown interior AN68s, not sure if it was while under YR ownership or not but I saw it on the 733 or something in Otley. I do also remember Metrobuses on the 15 (while under First Leeds until Bradford took over)

[kendall17]

Dec 11, 2008 21:44:00 GMT 1 puggy said:

I remember quickstep travel having a Roe bodied Atlantean one of the maroon/brown interior AN68s, not sure if it was while under YR ownership or not but I saw it on the 733 or something in Otley. I do also remember Metrobuses on the 15 (while under First Leeds until Bradford took over)

I think i've seen a pic of an Atlantean on the 733 in YR ownership i think.
Did the 15 used to extend up to Seacroft and follow the route of todays number 4?

[A1YBG]

I lived up in Ireland Wood few years back. Not once did I ever see the Verdes route branded for the 56/57s. Maybe I'm wrong?
The Scanias 8011+ used to be on the 41 and 50s when new. Also used to get on them on the then 755. Bramley had 1/2 and Headingley (then Kirkstall) had the last half. H+K had 8001-8005 (With Big wind up blinds) then I think from 8030 onwards. Bramley had 8006-8010 (Northern Counties) and 8011 - 8029. That was when they got delivered before the all united to one depot.

[6u3zr]

I'd forgotten that the original 2/3/12/13 "branding" was a red and green band on the solebar.

I can't remember precisely but I'd be very surprised if the Lance/Verdes were branded for 56/57. They were actually very good motors but the design was very dated - effectively they were a straight copy of the RE/ECW but with a far more fragile drive train and build problems that always affected Scarborough but, oddly, never Lowestoft. Luckily they were'nt built in Blackpool...

733 used to kick out anything, especially after Quickstep made friends with The Badger. It ended up as the last solid turn for Kirkstall's ex WYRCC VR's.

If you want odd allocations/kick outs I once had a VR on the old 63. I heard it going up the hill past my old house on Belle Vue Road and then did a round trip with it when it came back. 736 I think, but I'd need to dig out my old moves books to confirm.

[angrycommuter]

The branding was a single coloured line just below the roof. I saw them quite a bit whilst up at Leeds Uni. They used to work with Olympians and the odd Atlantean on the services.

[MetrolineGA1511]

As this thread started from an observation from 2003, I feel like sharing memories of one of my days on holiday in Leeds in 2003.

I rode to Keighley, then on an ex-Manchester Atlantean on route 502 to Halifax, then an ex-London Metrobus on route 503 to Huddersfield. These were in Calderline and Kingfisher livery respectively. For a while this side of the county was more interesting than Leeds and Bradford with its more modern but more standardised First fleet!

[westyorkshirebus]

Didn't the ALX400s receive 56/57 branding when new, it was just a white sticker with place names in a line? Maybe that's what you are thinking of?

I don't think the Verdes ever had any other branding in Leeds.

[Steve Macz403]

I do remember the Verdes on the 56/57, they wernt often on here, and more on the 2/3/12/13, Which i think 12 was the 10. and 13, was either a 21 or 23 before overground colours.

and the Superbus Scanias, which still had superbus letters and branding after the L113 ultralows were introduced. The Scania Double Decks were always on X84, remember getting 8039 up to Skipton in 1999. The driver ran out of fuel, and refuelled at the BP petrol station in Headingley for about 5 minutes, before continuing the whole length.

[Burnside]

Delving back into the annals of time, some i can remember are getting a Roe/Atlantean (with low driving position) on the X84 from Otley to Leeds, a Robin Hood bodied Iveco on Quickstep 33 all the way from Otley to Leeds, Quickstep's odd fleet including 2 Plaxton Derwent bodied Tigers and an East Lancs EL2000 bodied single decker of some kind, Bradford Traveller Plaxton Paramount bodied Tigers on the 648 and 653 and the solitary Rider Atlantean to recieve Quickstep livery.

[www.buseireann.ie]

I remember those Ailsa type VRs (think they were bodied by Alexander, looked loke Black Prince Volvo Ailsa's) which were in Leeds for a brief time as a loan to train drivers on dual door operation before the bendi's were introduced. They were mainly used on Headingley routes but one did make it onto the old Quickstep 26 up East End Park. Now that was a rare sight!

[576 Gemini 2]

Dec 11, 2008 12:31:40 GMT 1 kendall17 said:

Dec 11, 2008 11:28:12 GMT 1 angrycommuter said:

The Plaxton Verde/Lance things were branded for the 56 and 57 if I remember correctly.

There were a few ex-london P-reg double deckers with Dennis engines/chasis (Like the engines on the N805 TPK etc. fleet). They were used on the headingley corridor for a while but I don't know where they disappeared to.

I dont remember seeing the PLaxton Verdes up this neck of the woods, but to be honest i want to forget about the horrible machines.

The deckers you talk about were P---PLE Dennis Arrow Northern Counties Palatine II and i dont know where & when they went.

The Arrows went to First Manchester"s Bolton depot last I heard there were four left in service

Had Bradford based Alexander RL Olympian 5204 covering for a Halifax based bus on the 576

[Steve Macz403]

I saw one of those Arrows on First Manchesters 33, and i thought they really remind me of the Leeds Arrows, whether there the same batch didnt put that in mind. ;D