Huddersfield 473 - Daimler Fleetline  - ( KVH 473E )

Leeds 28 - Leyland Tiger PS1 - (MNW  86)

KVH 473E: Daimler Fleetline CRG6LX Roe H44/31F 1967

Huddersfield Corporation resumed motor bus operation in 1961 with the first phase of the trolleybus replacement programme  and up to 1966 built up a fleet of Leyland PD3s and Daimler CVG6s. For 1967 the first rear engined buses for either the Corporation or the Joint Omnibus Committee were ordered, entering the Corporation fleet as numbers 473 - 488. They carried Roe bodied and were fitted with the Gardner 6LX engine.

473 thus entered service as Huddersfield's first rear engined bus in July 1967, the month that trolleybus services to Longwood and Bradley were discontinued, and a full year before the final abandonment of Huddersfield's trolleybuses in July 1968 on arrival of a further batch of Roe-bodied Fleetlines.

Of the West Yorkshire PTE's constituent fleets, the Fleetline was represented in those of Bradford, Calderdale Joint Omnibus Committee, Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds. Three of these - Halifax, Huddersfield and Leeds - also had examples of the less common single deck version of the Fleetline.

Of formation of the PTE in April 1974, 473 was renumbered 4473. In the PTE's numbering scheme, Bradford vehicle gained a 2 prefix to their existing fleet numbers, Halifax and Calderdale vehicles similarly gained a 3 prefix, while those of Huddersfield had a 4 prefix. Leeds buses retained their original fleet numbers in a series up to 1301.

4473 was withdrawn from PTE service and acquired by the West Yorkshire Transport Museum in March 1984 to represent the Huddersfield fleet. It was the first vehicle to be restored by the Museum in 1985.

It was acquired by Keighley Bus Museum from the administrators of Transperience in September 1998 with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Science Museum PRISM Fund and Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council.

MNW 86: LeylandTiger PS1 Roe B36R 1948

The single deck equivalent of the Leyland Titan PD1 was the PS1 series of the Tiger, both models sharing the 7.4 litre Leyland E.181 engine and in production between 1946 and 1950, when superseded by the PD2 and PS2 respectively. The basic models in the PS1 range comprised the PS1 itself (suitable for 7ft 6in wide bodywork), the PS1/1 (with rear chassis frame extension, nominally for coach use) and PS1/3 (suitable for 8ft wide bodywork).

 28 was one of a pair of PS1s with 36-seat rear entrance bodywork by Roe acquired by Leeds in 1948. Single deckers were very much in a minority in the Leeds fleet. For example, in 1964, the fleet strength comprised as many as 915 double deckers but only 15 single deckers. However, during the late 1960s an influx of AEC Swifts saw single deckers playing a more substantial role.

28's career in the Leeds fleet spanned 14 years from November 1948 to December 1962. After withdrawal it was sold early in 1963 back to Charles H. Roe when it became transport for the bodybuilder's staff Sports and Social Club. Here it was to serve for a further 10 years until acquired in July 1973 for preservation by the Halifax-based Mile Cross Transport Collection. On dispersal of that collection as a result of ill health in 1985, it was acquired by the Leeds Regent Preservation Group and was latterly displayed by its owners at Transperience.

As a pre-1950 vehicle, it is restored, as are Regent 139 and Regent III 492, in the blue livery that was used by Leeds prior to the introduction of the two-tone green livery exemplified by Fleetline 131.

As the owners already had two of their four buses at Keighley Bus Museum, 28, together with Regent 139 which had also been displayed at Transperience, were transferred upon its closure to become part of the Keighley Bus Museum collection.