Rawtenstall 60 - Leyland Lion LT3 - ( TE 6860 )

WYPTE 64 - Leyland Leopard (GWY 690N)

TE 6860: Leyland Lion LT3 Leyland B36R 1931

The Leyland Lion was first built in January 1926 and rapidly became the most popular bus both for town and country operations, having a 4-cylinder 5.1 litre petrol engine that produced 62bhp @ 1800 rpm. The standardised Leyland bodywork was available with either forward or rear entrance for bus or coach use, based upon a common body frame. In 1929 the first of many progressive improvements was made, each being accompanied by a change in the type designation.

 Following the general introduction of the diesel engine from 1932 onwards, a choice of petrol or 4-cylinder diesel was offered in the Lion chassis from 1934. Production continued until 1940.

Rawtenstall purchased Leyland buses almost exclusively from 1923 to 1973. The tramway replacement fleet of 1930-32 included 3 LT3 Lions numbered 60 - 62, each costing £1309. These entered service early in December 1931, just 4 months before the last trams ran in the district. The Rawtenstall routes include many severe gradients on the Accrington and Burnley services and up the sides of the Rossendale valley to reach the post First World War housing estates. The Lions were therefore fitted with the 6.5 to 1 differential for power rather than high speed.

Most of the 1930/31 Rawtenstall single deckers were replaced at the beginning of the Second World War, but two (48 & 61) were retained and converted to emergency ambulances. In 1945,61 was converted back to a bus and fitted with a new 6-cylinder 8.6 litre 93bhp diesel engine to match the standard power pack in the remainder of the largely double-deck fleet. In 1947 it became the

"School Bus"; its road tax as a bus ceased in December 1950. Thereafter it was used as a mobile illuminated display, tow bus and snowplough - for which a purpose built plough was made.

It fell out of use after the bad winter of 1963. It was sold for preservation in March 1965 and driven to Leeds. Since July 1965 it has always been under covered, dry storage within the West Riding. Restoration commenced in 1987. The body has been lifted off the chassis which was stripped, blasted and painted. The total overhaul of engine, gearbox and transmission, both axles, steering, brake mechanism and fuel system has largely been completed with certain items outstanding. Reassembly is underway The body bulkhead has been partially rebuilt; other reconstruction may follow once the mechanics are completed.

GWY 690N : Leyland Leopard PSU4B/4R Plaxton C45F 1975

Although primarily a bus operator, the West Yorkshire PTE did inherit a small number of coaches at its formation in April 1974. These comprised three Plaxton-bodied Leyland Leopards from Leeds City Transport, and seven Plaxton-bodied AEC Reliances from Calderdale Joint Omnibus Committee. Very soon after its inception, the PTE expanded its coach operations with the acquisition in May 1974 of Hanson Coach Services Ltd, the coaching arm of the long-established Huddersfield independent operator whose stage services had been acquired by Huddersfield Corporation in 1969.

Further expansion into coaching was to follow with the takeover of Baddeley Brothers of Holmfirth in March 1976 and W.R.& P.Bingley of Kinsley in April 1977. The Hanson and Baddeley fleets were returned to private ownership in April 1979 and January 1980 respectively, but the Bingley fleet survived as a separate entity until it and the PTE fleet passed to Yorkshire Rider on deregulation in October 1986. Yorkshire Rider continued its coaching unit and for a time supplied coaches for the National Express network until 2000.

The PTE regularly added new coaches to its fleet, those in 1975 comprising eight Leyland Leopards plus three Volvos for the MetroHanson fleet. All had Plaxton bodies and included 63/64 (GWY 689/90N) which were allocated to Calderdale. These were of the shorter PSU4B/4R variant. Early in their careers both were converted to one person operation to allow their use on stage services when not required for coaching duties. Initially in green and cream fleet livery, both were repainted in 1980 into the red and ivory MetroCoach livery. They were also withdrawn together in November 1988.

64 was soon to find a new home with the Halifax-based Siddal Amateur Rugby League Football Club, who used it for team transport in place of KCP 873G, an AEC Reliance Plaxton coach that was one of the seven that had transferred to the PTE from the Calderdale Joint Omnibus Committee fleet.

Siddal ARLFC is one of the country’s leading amateur rugby league clubs, being champions of the amateur National Conference League in 2002/2003 and 2003/2004. Among their former players is the late Shirley Crabtree, better known as the wrestler Big Daddy. Rather than see the coach go for scrap, the club committee kindly donated it to Keighley Bus Museum, where it arrived in February 2002.