1.
Bus
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A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry many passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers, many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus do not charge a fare, in many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special licence above and beyond a regular drivers licence. Horse-drawn buses were used from the 1820s, followed by steam buses in the 1830s, the first internal combustion engine buses, or motor buses, were used in 1895. Recently, interest has been growing in hybrid electric buses, fuel cell buses, as of the 2010s, bus manufacturing is increasingly globalised, with the same designs appearing around the world. Bus is a form of the Latin word omnibus. The first horse-drawn omnibus service was started by a businessman named Stanislas Baudry in the French city of Nantes in 1823, Nantes citizens soon gave the nickname omnibus to the vehicle. The omnibus in Nantes was a success and Baudry moved to Paris, a similar service was introduced in London in 1829. The first mechanically propelled omnibus appeared on the streets of London on 22 April 1833, in parallel to the development of the bus was the invention of the electric trolleybus, typically fed through trolley poles by overhead wires. The Siemens brothers, William in England and Ernst Werner in Germany, sir William first proposed the idea in an article to the Journal of the Society of Arts in 1881 as an. arrangement by which an ordinary omnibus. The first such vehicle, the Electromote, was made by his brother Dr. Ernst Werner von Siemens and presented to the public in 1882 in Halensee, Germany. Although this experimental vehicle fulfilled all the criteria of a typical trolleybus. Max Schiemann opened a trolleybus in 1901 near Dresden, in Germany. Although this system operated only until 1904, Schiemann had developed what is now the standard trolleybus current collection system, in the early days, a few other methods of current collection were used. Leeds and Bradford became the first cities to put trolleybuses into service in Great Britain on 20 June 1911, in Siegerland, Germany, two passenger bus lines ran briefly, but unprofitably, in 1895 using a six-passenger motor carriage developed from the 1893 Benz Viktoria. Another commercial bus line using the same model Benz omnibuses ran for a time in 1898 in the rural area around Llandudno. Daimler also produced one of the earliest motor-bus models in 1898, the vehicle had a maximum speed of 18 kph and accommodated up to 20 passengers, in an enclosed area below and on an open-air platform above. With the success and popularity of bus, Daimler expanded production, selling more buses to companies in London and, in 1899, to Stockholm
2.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
3.
Plaxton
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Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. The Plaxton of today is the successor to a business founded in Scarborough in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton and it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. The business was founded as a workshop, and expanded into building contracting. As a building contractor, Plaxtons built a number of buildings in Scarborough. Soon after World War I Plaxtons diversified and began to build charabanc bodies on Ford Model T chassis, of more importance at the time was the construction of automobile bodywork. This included bodywork for Rolls-Royce, Sunbeam and Daimler, but principally for Crossley car chassis and this activity continued through the 1920s, but the depression of 1929-1933 created difficulties for manufacture of luxury automobiles. As a result, the manufacture of charabanc, and later coach bodies became more important through the late 1920s, customers during this time tended to be local to the Scarborough area, Scarborough being a popular seaside resort. By 1936 the company felt justified in construction of a new manufacturing facility in Seamer Road. This allowed increased production, and Plaxtons became popular with independent operators throughout Northern England. Many of these operators purchased their vehicles through independent dealers, rather than directly from the factory, in this regard, Plaxtons sales were through Lancashire Motor Traders Ltd of Manchester and Arlington Motor Co Ltd of London. The company became known as FW Plaxton & Son by 1937, as the founders son, FW Plaxton junior was to be known as Eric to avoid confusion with his father. Plaxtons built a number of different coach designs through the 1930s, the style typically consisted of a very rounded front profile at the windscreen area with side windows that sloped backwards at the front, were upright at the centre, and sloped forward at the back. Bodywork for the Bedford WTB chassis was particularly distinctive, sloping severally from the bottom of the front wheel arch to the roofline, the WTB chassis was very popular choice for operators at that time, together with the Dodge RBF and SBF. Leyland and AEC chassis were popular for larger coaches, notably the Leyland Tiger. On the outbreak of World War II in 1939, coach production halted, many records from the early years were lost when an incendiary bomb set fire to the Seamer Road factory in 1943 causing much damage. As the factory was under control of the Ministry of Works, some adjacent land was loaned by a market gardener who subsequently joined the board years later. Production restarted at the end of 1945, and in 1951 the business was registered for the first time as a private company, two new models were exhibited at the 1950 Commercial Motor Show, with names instead of model codes for the first time. On front-engined chassis the Crusader employed the Envoys front trim, both Envoy and Crusader were produced to the new maximum dimensions of 30 ft by 8 ft, and many examples were originally fitted with rear wheel spats
4.
Mercedes-Benz T2
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The Mercedes-Benz T2 was a transporter manufactured by Daimler-Benz. The T2 is also known as the Düsseldorf transporter, since it was built until 1996 in Düsseldorf, the third series, built from 1996 at Ludwigsfelde, was branded the Mercedes-Benz Vario. Some T2s were assembled by Mercedes-Benz España in their Alcobendas assembly plant, for Argentina, the first T2 product are the L608 D in 1969 until 1990. In 1989, the new products are the L710, L914 and 814 with the LO variant, the Venezuelan version of the T2 was manufactured in Barcelona by the Grupo Consorcio 1390 S. A. as the Mercedes-Benz Class L3. The L3 was built from 1969 up to 1978, when the company was bought by the Ford Motor Company, in 1967, the T2 was introduced as a successor to the L319 / L406 series. The vehicle filled the gap between the smaller Mercedes-Benz T1 and the trucks, manufactured in Wörth. The T2 was available as a box van, a light truck. From 1977 the chassis was offered, for the mounting of larger box van and bus bodies, in 1981 the T2 received a facelift, the most visible differences were the new radiator grille, which now was a moulding of black plastic. In the early 1970s, T2 was also offered branded as a Hanomag-Henschel, in Brazil and some other South American countries it was built with a turbo system. Production of flat-bed trucks of the first generation ended after 19 year construction period, after approximately 450,000 vehicles had been produced, the second generation of the T2 was introduced in 1986, and was manufactured until 1996. It was significantly upgraded, the bonnet having become longer and the design altogether more sharp-edged, the chassis sold in large numbers in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the minibus revolution. Variations included the 609D, 614D, 709D, 711D, 811D, the LO812 was sold in Australia from the early 1990s, Westbus purchasing 26 in 1992 and National Bus Company purchased 45 in 1994/95. Various other operators would purchase smaller fleets, the T2 is still manufactured in Argentina as the L710 and the LO915 chassis for minibus applications. Media related to Mercedes-Benz T2 at Wikimedia Commons
5.
Iveco Daily
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The Iveco Daily is a large light commercial vehicle produced by Iveco since 1978, it was also sold as the Fiat Daily by Fiat until 1983. Unlike the more car-like unibody Fiat Ducato, the Daily uses a ladder frame typical of heavier commercial vehicles. The first series Daily was offered two models, the 35 and the 50. The larger one had load capacity up to 17 m³, in 1985, a turbodiesel version named TurboDaily was introduced. An Alfa Romeo badge engineered version was sold as the Alfa Romeo AR8, the Daily has no other connection with the Transit. The second generation was facelifted in 1996, it only slightly exterior-wise. The 59-12 and 59-13 models were launched, all-wheel-drive variants were also made available. The Turbodaily name was dropped as all came with Unijet technology. Two new versions were released, Agile, with automatic gearshift, and CNG, also two new load classes were introduced, Daily 65 and Daily 28. The Iveco Daily was made Van of the Year for the year 2000, originally there were models with three engine options, all of type 8140 of 2.8 liters. A variant was a diesel with 66 kW, but they rarely sold. Another had turbocharger, intercooler and 78 kW, the last variant gave 92 kW and had common rail injection. Shortly after receiving the largest engine variable geometry turbocharger and an output of 107 kW, at this time, the old 8140-engine was completely replaced. The motors up to 88 kW had five-speed gearbox, while the powerful engines also available with a six-speed gearbox. The model could also be obtained with electronic / hydraulic controlled manual gearbox, the fourth generation was designed by Giugiaro and arrived to markets in the middle of 2006. Its available as, Van, cabin cruiser, Combi, Minibus, Agile, the minibus is also commercialized with the Irisbus brand. Certain models with engines have been sold as the Iveco EcoDaily in some European markets. For the first time since the year 2000, a version of the Daily is available starting from 2007
6.
Plaxton Pointer
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The Plaxton Pointer is a single-decker bus body manufactured during the 1990s by Plaxton and latterly built by Alexander Dennis. With the launch of the Dennis Dart in 1989, Plaxtons subsidiary Reeve Burgess made the Pointer body on the short 8.5 m chassis. Launched in 1991, at 2.3 m wide, this proved popular with many operators, the modular nature of both chassis and body meant for various permutations in length, with 8.5 m,9.0 m and 9.8 m variants being manufactured. The Pointer became the most successful midibus body, the Pointer was also available with Volvo B6 chassis. This redesigned Pointer bodywork was built on the Volvo B6LE, one for the UK. The low floor Plaxton Pointer 1 and the Plaxton Pointer 2 have a rounded dome with a double-curvature windscreen. Not long after, the received an all-new lower front end design, and alterations to the rest of the body - the Pointer 2 was born. This was also available in a range of lengths to suit individual needs -9.3 m,10.1 m,10.7 m,11.3 m Super Pointer Dart, and after 3 years of production, the 8.8 m Mini Pointer Dart. The 11.3 m Super Pointer Dart is considered as a full-sized single-decker bus, in 1998, the Mayflower Group, owner of Alexander Coachbuilders, took over Dennis. The future of the Pointer at that time appeared uncertain as it was thought the Dart may be solely bodied by Alexander. As a result, Plaxton built two Pointer bodies on the Volvo B6BLE chassis known as Bus 2000, but the project was scrapped when Mayflower also purchased Plaxton, forming TransBus International. Certain design features of the scrapped Bus 2000 project have since used on other designs. With the collapse of TransBus in 2004 and subsequent restructuring by the administrators, Plaxton, as Pointer production had been transferred to the former Alexander plant at Falkirk, it became an Alexander Dennis product. Plaxton, once again an independent company, signalled its return to the bus market by developing the Centro on VDL, in August 2006 Alexander Dennis launched the Enviro200 Dart as a replacement for the Pointer Dart. Alexander Dennis Henlys Group PLC List of buses Plaxton Media related to Plaxton Pointer at Wikimedia Commons Alexander Dennis Pointer product website - Web archive
7.
Dennis Dart
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The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker bus chassis that was manufactured by Dennis in Guildford, England. More than 11,000 were produced during 18 years of production, most were purchased by United Kingdom operators, although examples were sold to the North America, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Dennis Dart was conceived when Hestair Group decided to produce a bus between a minibus and a full-sized single-decker and it was launched in 1988 and was originally offered with the Duple Dartline bodywork. It was 2. 3m wide and was available in the length of 9m. It was powered by a Cummins 6BT engine and coupled to the Allison AT545 gearbox and this model was sold to London Buses and to some operators outside London. Soon after it was launched, Duple was sold to Plaxton, Plaxton decided not to acquire the design rights of the Duple Dartline and it was sold to Carlyle Works, who continued producing the bodywork from 1991. Production passed to Marshall of Cambridge in 1992 who bodied five Darts to this design, in 1993, Marshall updated the design to the C36 and later, the C37. In 1990, Wadham Stringer became the builder to body the Dart with a body called the Portsdown. In the same year, Wright bodied the Dart with the Handybus, in early 1991, Plaxton launched the Pointer. Later in 1991, East Lancs bodied the Dart with its EL2000, in the latter half of 1991, Alexander launched the Dash. Another contender entering the market at the time was the Northern Counties Paladin. Initially, it was built with a design of a barrel shaped windscreen with quarterlights and it was phased out when Plaxton bought Northern Counties in 1995. In 1995, Dennis launched a version of the Dart, the Dennis Dart SLF. It was 2. 4m wide and initially offered in lengths of 9. 2m, 10m and 10. 6m, the driveline of the step-entrance Dart was retained, although some early examples were fitted with Eaton manual transmission. It was initially offered with the low floor version of the Pointer and it was also offered with a wide variety of bodies, namely the East Lancs Spryte, UVG Urbanstar, the Wright Crusader, Alexander ALX200, Marshall Capital, Caetano Nimbus and MCV Evolution. Some Dart SLFs with Alexander ALX200 bodies were delivered to the North America, in 1997, the Dart SPD was launched with the length of 11. 3m. It has a powerful engine and a more heavy duty Allison World Series B300R gearbox. Originally offered only with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork this larger bus was later offered with other such as East Lancs, the Alexander ALX200
8.
Leyland Motors
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Leyland Motors Limited was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. It gave its name to the British Leyland Motor Corporation formed when it merged with British Motor Holdings, British Leyland later changed its name to simply BL, then in 1986 to Rover Group. Leyland Motors has a history dating from 1896, when the Sumner and Spurrier families founded the Lancashire Steam Motor Company in the town of Leyland in North West England. Their first products included steam lawn mowers, the companys first vehicle was a 1. 5-ton-capacity steam powered van. This was followed by a number of steam wagons using a vertical fire-tube boiler. By 1905 they had begun to build petrol-engined wagons. The Lancashire Steam Motor Company was renamed Leyland Motors in 1907 when they took over Coulthards of Preston and they also built a second factory in the neighbouring town of Chorley which still remains today as the headquarters of the LEX leasing and parts company. In 1920, Leyland Motors produced the Leyland 8 luxury touring car, parry-Thomas was later killed in an attempt on the land speed record when the car overturned. Rumours that a chain drive broke were found to be incorrect when the car was disinterred late in the 20th century as the chains were intact, at the other extreme, they also produced the Trojan Utility Car in the Kingston upon Thames factory at Ham from 1922 to 1928. Three generations of Spurriers controlled Leyland Motors from its foundation until the retirement of Sir Henry Spurrier in 1964, Sir Henry inherited control of Leyland Motors from his father in 1942, and successfully guided its growth during the postwar years. Whilst the Spurrier family were in control the company enjoyed excellent labour relations—reputedly never losing a days production through industrial action, during the war, Leyland Motors along with most vehicle manufacturers was involved in war production. Leyland built the Cromwell tank at its works from 1943 as well as medium/large trucks such as the Leyland Hippo, after the war, Leyland Motors continued military manufacture with the Centurion tank. In 1946, AEC and Leyland Motors worked to form the British United Traction Ltd, in 1955, through an equity agreement, manufacture of commercial vehicles under licence from Leyland Motors commenced in Madras, India at the new Ashok factory. The products were branded as Ashok Leyland, donald Stokes, previously Sales Director, was appointed managing director of Leyland Motors Limited in September 1962 originally a Leyland student apprentice he had grown up with the company. In 1968 Leyland Motor Corporation Limited merged with British Motor Holdings to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation, BMH brought with it into the new organisation more famous British goods vehicle and bus and coach marques, including Daimler, Guy, BMC, Austin and Morris. The Leyland diesel engines were used in Finnish Sisu and Vanaja lorries and buses in 1960s, the BLMC group was difficult to manage because of the many companies under its control, often making similar products. This, and other reasons, led to difficulties and in December 1974 British Leyland had to receive a guarantee from the British government. This division was split into Leyland Bus and Leyland Trucks in 1981, Leyland Trucks depended on British sales as well as export markets, mainly commonwealth and ex-commonwealth markets
9.
Northern Counties (bus manufacturer)
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The Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company was an English builder of bus and coach bodywork based in Wigan. Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company was founded in Wigan in 1919 by Henry Lewis, the Lewis family remained owners of the company until it was bought out over seventy years later. As was common at the time, early products were bodywork for private automobiles, by the early 1920s, the private automobile work had ceased and the manufacture of bodywork for service buses commenced. Bodywork was for single and double deck vehicles. During World War II, Northern Counties was authorised by the government to produce bus bodies to a utility specification, Northern Counties established a loyal client base and reputation for quality construction in the post-war years. Notable clients included local operators SHMD Board, Manchester Corporation and Lancashire United Transport, further afield, Barton Transport and Southdown Motor Services were among a number of regular customers. In 1967, fellow bodybuilder Massey Brothers, located in nearby Pemberton, was acquired, the Massey factory was retained and used as a paint-shop and for final completion of bodywork assembled at Wigan Lane. The Transport Act 1968 merged the municipal corporations of Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport, Rochdale, Bury and Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley, the resulting conglomerate was known as the Southeast Lancashire Northeast Cheshire Passenger Transport Authority, commonly known as SELNEC. SELNEC was faced with a fleet of 2,500 vehicles consisting of a variety of types and manufacturers. Northern Counties worked closely with SELNEC to develop a bus for fleet replacement. The Local Government Act 1972 came into effect on 1 April 1974, a large proportion of Northern Counties production after this time was for the Greater Manchester fleet. In 1975 the company collaborated with Foden, a manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Leyland had merged with traditional rival Daimler and was experiencing production, in the event, only seven Foden NCs were produced, going to Greater Manchester PTE, West Midlands PTE, West Yorkshire PTE, Derby City Transport and Potteries Motor Traction. In June 1983, Greater Manchester Transport purchased a 49% shareholding in the business, in May 1991, Northern Counties was placed in administration. Northern Counties reputation and engineering skills saw it survive these difficult times, in May 1995, it was purchased for £10 million by the Henlys Group, owner of Plaxton. The Northern Counties name was dropped in 1999, and vehicles were badged as Plaxton, in 2000, Henlys entered a joint venture with the Mayflower Corporation, owner of bodybuilder Alexander and chassis manufacturer Dennis. The joint venture was known as TransBus, and vehicles were badged using the TransBus name, on 31 March 2004, TransBus International was put into administration. On 21 May 2004, TransBus International was bought by a consortium of merchant banker Noble Grossart, the new company was named Alexander Dennis
10.
Leyland Tiger
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The Leyland Tiger, also known as the B43, was a mid-engined bus and coach chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1981 and 1992. This name had previously used for a front-engined bus built between 1927 and 1968. It replaced the Leyland Leopard, which had been in production for over 20 years, the Leyland Tiger was released in 1981. Initially only one engine was offered, the turbocharged Leyland TL11, faced with this possibility, Leyland offered Gardner 6HLX-series engines in the Tiger from 1984. To facilitate this, the Tiger chassis had to be modified, although the threat from the Dorchester was successfully warded off, there proved to be a limited market for the Gardner-engined Tiger outside of Scottish Bus Group. A North American engine, the Cummins L10, was made an option by 1987. The Cummins engine was being specified more often from around 1988, and with this engine, Volvo took over Leyland in 1988, and from 1989 the Tiger was offered with the Volvo THD100-series engine. The large majority of Volvo-engined Tigers went to Northern Ireland, at around this time, the TL11 and Gardner options were dropped, leaving only the Cummins and Volvo options available. Like the Leopard, the Tiger was also sold as a bus, usually it would have a downrated engine, and leaf springs in place of the standard air suspension. The Scottish Bus Group bought batches of Tigers usually with Alexander TS-type bodywork and it was also popular with National Bus Company subsidiaries. Shearings purchased many Tigers for use as coaches, the Tiger also proved to be very popular in Northern Ireland, with Ulsterbus and Citybus purchasing 747 between 1983 and 1993. The very last Tiger to enter service did so in Northern Ireland in August 1993, the Tiger was popular in Australia. The biggest customer for the Tiger was Ventura Bus Lines, Melbourne who purchased 65 Tigers over a period from March 1984. Another large purchaser was North & Western Bus Lines, Sydney, premier Illawarra, Wollongong, Rover Motors, Cessnock, Surfside Buslines, Gold Coast and Thompsons Bus Service, Brisbane all built up large fleets of new and second hand Tigers. A number of chassis were bodied as coaches. The last Tiger to be bodied in Australia had been imported in 1984, at least one articulated chassis was built, being bodied by Superior in Australia in June 1987. Leyland Bus was acquired by in a management buyout led by Ian McKinnon in January 1987, just over 12 months later in March 1988 Volvo purchased the business, bringing the United Kingdoms two best-selling coaches, the Leyland Tiger and Volvo B10M, under common ownership. Volvo was aware that Leyland had a following, and that the Tiger had a good reputation
