140-430: The Seddon Pennine RU was a rear-engined single-decker bus built by Seddon Diesel Vehicles/ Seddon Atkinson between 1969 and 1974. Seddon Diesel Vehicles were, like Atkinson Lorries, ERF and Motor Traction Ltd (Rutland), a commercial vehicle producer who bought-in and assembled proprietary components. Robert and Herbert Seddon were sons of a Salford butcher who in 1919 subsequent to World War I demobilisation bought
280-499: A Commer with charabanc and van bodies, using it during the week for goods transport and at weekends to run excursions from Salford. Initially a further partner was a family-friend, a dairyman by the name of Foster, so the business was initially a partnership. Foster & Seddon also reconditioned vehicles and ran a bus service from Swinton (Lancs.) to Salford, which was subsequently sold to Salford Corporation, and held an agency for Morris Motors vehicles. In 1937 Robert Seddon spotted
420-545: A 150 bhp unit in 1957, and 180 and 240 bhp units in 1966 and 1970, respectively. In 1958, following a change in Construction & Use Regulations, Atkinson offered a glass-fibre clad cab (which became known as the Mk I cab) as a replacement for the previous coachbuilt hardwood and metal cab on standard production models; it featured twin fixed wrap-around windscreens rather than the traditional flat opening glasses but retained
560-433: A 21 ft overall length. At the 1952 Earls Court Commercial Motor show marks 10 and 11 featured vertical Perkins (P6 80 bhp or R6 107 bhp) engines mounted underfloor (when competing underfloor-engined buses used horizontally oriented engines). Although Bedford were to have success with such a layout between 1970 and 1987 the marks 10 and 11 sold poorly, with Seddon, Charles H Roe , Duple and Plaxton bodies on
700-419: A 6x2 'Chinese Six' tractor and fitted with an uprated Gardner 6LXB engine to enable it to meet the legal requirement for 6 bhp/ton after 1973, whereupon the well-known Atkinson enthusiast and archivist, Michael Deuchars, named it 'Buccaneer'. A replica grille plate was made in a similar fashion to those on factory vehicles and was saved by an enthusiast prior to the closure of the company. In 1965 Atkinson opened
840-459: A Gardner 6LW engine. A 1066A would have had a ten-ton payload, to 6x4 layout and an AEC (seven-seven) powerplant. During the 1950s as well as the already-existing suffix for engine-type, prefixes H, M and L (for heavy, medium and light duty frames) were adopted, the Alpha had a second prefix P (for passenger) Thus an early Alpha could carry the code: PL745H (H used for horizontal Gardner engines) By
980-481: A Leyland style 'pedestal' gear change with which the other two were built. Sunderland 48 was the last Atkinson PSV constructed and is preserved, as is no.46. Ironically, the last Seddon PSV design, the Pennine 7 , had much more in common with the Alpha than with most previous Seddon bus chassis. However, these three buses had the unusual combination of vacuum-assisted brakes and air-operated Self-Changing Gears gearbox. This
1120-587: A PSV is understood to have been new to Lytham St. Annes STJ847L which was withdrawn by East End Coaches, Clydach in South Wales in late 2000. East End bought several RUs between 1980 and 1991 from Burnley, Fylde and Darlington. In 1997 it still operated Fylde STJ847/50L, Darlington WHN462/3/8M and had WHN466/7M and RHG314K as spares donors. A fire in 1999 destroyed WHN463/6/7M and damaged STJ850L and only STJ847L continued in use. Both Fylde ones, WHN462/8M and RHG314K were disposed of in spring 2001, STJ847L for preservation,
1260-613: A bewildering range for which Roman numbers were adopted when the firm became Seddon Diesel Vehicles Ltd in 1950) the Mark 7P. This was a short-wheelbase version of the established theme with four-cylinder Perkins engine and up to 28 seats available within a 21 ft overall length. At the 1952 Earls Court Commercial Motor Show marks 10 and 11 featured vertical Perkins (P6 80 bhp or R6 107 bhp) engines mounted underfloor (when competing underfloor-engined buses used horizontally oriented engines). Although Bedford were to have success with such
1400-482: A bus chassis, a surprising number were used for interurban services, among these were the three ordered by GG Hillditch for the Halifax JOC. These (315-317, MJX15-17J) carried Plaxton Derwent II bodies with 45 full-coach seats on a flat floor with a three-step entrance to the front platform and then a further transverse step into the saloon, thus the entrance was more like a Bristol RELH than an RESL. Styling on these three
1540-525: A bus to their specification. This was called the Atkinson Alpha, the first entering service in August 1951. The Alpha range featured a horizontal Gardner engine (four, five and six-cylinder versions were offered), a choice of constant mesh and synchromesh gearboxes from David Brown, and either a lightweight or medium-weight frame. As events turned out, after the initial two batches for North Western in 1953/54 –
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#17328815410711680-402: A commercial vehicle producer who bought-in and assembled proprietary components. Robert and Herbert Seddon were sons of a Salford butcher who in 1919 subsequent to World War I demobilisation bought a Commer with charabanc and van bodies, using it during the week for goods transport and at weekends to run excursions from Salford. Initially a further partner was a family-friend, a dairyman by
1820-542: A comparable payload. Like Maudslay and ERF, Seddon Motors Ltd were allowed to continue producing commercial vehicle chassis for sale during World War II when many more-established makers such as Leyland Motors , the Associated Equipment Company and direct-competitor Albion Motors had all of their productive capacity diverted to the war effort. In 1948 Seddon Motors Ltd moved to the Woodstock Works,
1960-543: A fibreglass replica of the Atkinson radiator outline with the 'Big A' device centred upon it. Both were available until 1970 but ceased prior to both the launch of the new model range in October 1970, and the merger with Seddon. Notable Atkinsons of the era were a fleet of 6x6 gritters built in 1962–73 on the orders of various U.K. highway authorities for use on the motorway network. These had Cummins NH engines installed, rather than
2100-582: A former shadow factory in Oldham and were able to expand production from one or two a week to more than ten. At this point they introduced their first passenger chassis the Mark IV. The 26 ft mark IV and 27 ft 6in mark VI were sales successes at home and overseas. Coachbuilders for these chassis included Plaxton and a number of smaller concerns, Seddon also built their own coachwork for these models, mainly for export. Subsequently, Seddon also produced (amongst
2240-472: A frustrated export chassis, to a shorter wheelbase and 27 ft 6in overall length, was bodied by Plaxton to its then-new Highway outline at the orders of a Wakefield dealer, Comberhill Motors who registered it as NHL127 and sold it to Simpson of Rosehearty. After North Western were discouraged by the British Electric Traction group from purchasing Atkinson Alphas the company sought sales in
2380-695: A gap in the commercial vehicle market for low-tare diesel-engined lorries and commenced to build his own vehicle out of proprietary units, much of the drawing work being done on his own kitchen table. This was a 6-ton gvw forward-control lorry chassis with a 6-cylinder Perkins indirect-injection diesel engine. It was first shown at the Scottish Motor show at Kelvin Hall , Glasgow in 1938. Like Maudslay and ERF, Seddon Motors were allowed to continue producing commercial vehicle chassis for sale during World War II when many more-established makers such as Leyland Motors ,
2520-472: A grand total of about 545 Atkinsons had been built. The final years were made possible by a cancellation fee from Manchester Co-op Society, which had ordered a hundred wagons. The Frenchwood and Freemason's Row factories closed with the end of the steamers, though the Kendal Street factory remained for repairing and servicing existing wagons. Edward Atkinson died in 1932 and a year later the firm he co-founded
2660-407: A layout between 1970 and 1987 the marks 10 and 11 sold poorly, with Seddon, Charles H Roe , Duple and Plaxton bodies on the few known examples. The mid-1950s mark 16 was a 21 ft long bus with a Perkins P4 on the front overhang and the mark 17 was a six-cylinder-engined chassis to similar layout. The mark 18 of the late 1950s, mainly sold to Australia and New Zealand, with local coachwork. It had
2800-526: A lower profile and narrower cab (with a correspondingly lower grille) than do the other two. Meanwhile, the cabin of the 400 is mounted higher up than on the 300, necessitating a bigger front bumper with integrated headlights and different wheelwells. The 200 became the first "Truck of the Year", in 1977. The 200 and 300 both used International diesel engines, with the 300 having a 7.64 L (466 cu in) inline-six with 194 hp (145 kW). The larger 400
2940-487: A mainly cream version of the Sunderland livery and were to B45D layout. Like Doncaster Corporation's slightly later Leyland Royal Tiger Cubs they were purposely designed for the 'intermediate' length and had a wheelbase of 18 ft. They were numbered 46-48 and registered WBR246-8. The first initially was fitted with a constant mesh gearbox, but was swiftly refitted with a direct-air operated Self-Changing Gears unit, featuring
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#17328815410713080-489: A new unified range was presented with modern steel tilt cabs designed by Ogle developed together with Motor Panels . This consisted initially of the 400 series range, followed by the Seddon-based 200 Series in 1976 and then the 3-axle rigid 300 Series - higher numbers corresponding to a higher weight rating. The Atkinson works manufactured the heavier 400 series while Seddon's Oldham plant built all three lines. The 200 has
3220-404: A number of smaller concerns, Seddon also built their own coachwork for these models, mainly for export. Subsequently Seddon also produced (amongst a bewildering range for which Roman numbers were adopted when the firm became Seddon Diesel Vehicles Ltd in 1950) the Mark 7P. This was a short-wheelbase version of the established theme with four-cylinder Perkins engine and up to 28 seats available within
3360-564: A parcel delivery service) was registered in its own right as Pennine Coachcraft Ltd (wholly owned by Seddon) in 1960. From 1966 (with mark numbers climbing into the high twenties), Seddon decided to simplify its nomenclature, wagons were henceforth to be identified as (for example) 16–4 with the first number being the gross vehicle weight and the second the number of wheels. Bus chassis were to be known as Seddon Pennine Mark (x). The first buses using this system produced were for Bermuda and were Seddon Pennine Mark 3, they are believed to be similar to
3500-551: A peak load of just over 40 which was being run by a pair of 32-seat 1950 Guy Arab III half-cab single deckers due for overhaul. Initially he approached Guy with the replacement specification, but they said they were not prepared to build a mere two buses to his detailed requirements, so he went to Atkinson. Sunderland 30-1 (GGR230-1) were the result, bodied in 1958 by Charles H Roe to FB41F layout and 8 ft wide by 30 ft long box-dimensions; they had constant-mesh gearboxes and four-cylinder 80 bhp Gardner 4LW engines. The route
3640-657: A production facility in Australia, at Clayton in Victoria. This factory produced similar models to those in the UK until 1977 when the new owners, International Harvester, decided to move production to their existing plant in nearby Dandenong and concentrate on a new model, the F4870 which was a premium customisable vehicle based on their successful T-Line series. This turned out not to be as successful as hoped, possibly due to its price differential from
3780-445: A quiet life, working peak hour extras and select coach hires. It seems an irony that two early Harrington Cavaliers were exclusively to transport the blind yet this coach, finished in navy blue with scarlet flashes, was able to assault the senses of the sighted for one of the longer operational lives of its type, actually outlasting the two similar bodies Widnes/Halton had on Leopards. Hyndburn 38 may have been an aesthetic disaster, but it
3920-423: A seven-ton payload, four wheels and a Gardner 6LW. Assuming somebody would have wanted a pantechnicon with a dropped-frame at that time from Walton-le-Dale, it may have been a D746. Relaxation of legally allowed length and widths resulted in further suffix letters: The first two Sunderland buses were L644LWs (lightweight frame, six tons, four wheels, 4LW engines, long wheelbases, wide-track). The New Zealand survivor
4060-463: A short-wheelbase Pennine Mark 4 but with Perkins P6 or 6-304 engines or an integral development of the Mark 17 model of similar layout. From the middle 1950s, Seddon had been almost absent on the home market for bus & coach concerns. A sole mark 19 using many AEC Reliance components in a Seddon-sourced frame with Harrington body being sold in 1960 to Creamline Coaches in Hampshire. But following
4200-409: A short-wheelbase Pennine Mark 4 but with Perkins P6 or 6-304 engines or an integral development of the Mark 17 model of similar layout. From the middle 1950s, Seddon had been almost absent on the home market for bus & coach concerns. A sole mark 19 using many AEC Reliance components in a Seddon-sourced frame with Harrington body being sold in 1960 to Creamline Coaches in Hampshire. But following
4340-602: A single-door 51-seater was the company's first 11m vehicle and was bought in July 1972 for its Helensburgh town service. It was sold in late 1977 to Dodds for spares and, its career described as 'troubled', was reported in process of being scrapped by January 1978. Rotherham's nine 44-seat Plaxton Derwents were its last single deckers, they entered service in late 1972, replacing 1963 AEC Reliances, and were withdrawn by SYPTE on expiry of their certificates of initial fitness. Glynne S Pegg recalled two of them failing him on journeys to work in
Seddon Pennine RU - Misplaced Pages Continue
4480-567: A thermostatically-controlled heat-exchanger and reversible fan drive was announced but this was never made available to customers. The Pennine Coachcraft body was a jig-built aluminium-framed structure similar to that of the standard body fitted to the Pennine 4. It was directly attached to the Pennine RU chassis frame, saving further cost and weight. Although this body was intended as the standard offering, other coachbuilders' products could be fitted. In
4620-474: A three-seat cab. The platform body had a trap in it so the (Gardner 4HLW) engine could be seen to. Sentinel, Albion, Guy and Dennis had also done the same but not as reliably because they did not use a Gardner. Atkinson merged with Seddons of Oldham late in 1970. The last "true" Atkinson, a Defender 8-wheel rigid bearing chassis number FC29941, was built at Atkinson's Walton-le-Dale works in 1975. It went to G & B McCready of Newcastle-under-Lyme and carried
4760-464: A variety of different final drive ratios, was just ahead of the power pack and a very short drive shaft was fitted with resilient rubber-based joints. Originally on the long-wheelbase version a similar arrangement was employed but with the engine further from the rear of the frame. Conventional leaf springs were used, but the spring shackle-pins were fitted with polyurethane bushes, which would not require greasing and so reduce maintenance costs. The braking
4900-454: A vertically mounted Perkins P6 80 bhp engine on the rear overhang. There was also one mark 20 with a Henry Meadows 550 cubic inch horizontal rear-engine exported to Greece and the mark 25P a normal control 18-seat personnel-carrier based on the mark 25 integral parcel van. The bodybuilding business, not only on Seddon and other manufacturer's buses but building lorry cabs and parcel vans for customers such as Manchester Corporation (who ran
5040-492: A year later in May 1972, a creditable performance for a new factory unit which was also engaged in a batch of 100 Perkins V8-engined Pennine 4 for Kowloon Motor Bus and a large number of smaller orders, as well as converting double-deck buses to dual-door for such undertakings as Merseyside PTE and Nottingham City Transport. The final RU to be delivered to a new customer was equipped with a Chloride sponsored battery-electric driveline and
5180-493: A year or so, but the heavy weight, high fuel consumption, poor braking performance and high purchase cost of the Royal Tiger led North Western's management to seek an equivalent to the nationalised sector's Bristol LS bus, with lightweight construction and a Gardner engine horizontally oriented and mounted underfloor. Not impressed by the heavyweight Gardner-engined Guy Arab and Daimler Freeline they approached Atkinson asking for
5320-559: Is given as an L644XLW (extra-long, around 33 ft long). The final three Alphas were coded PM746HL, viz: passenger, medium-weight frame, six-tonne payload, four wheels, Gardner 6HLW engine, long wheelbase. Later Atkinson codes included T3246RR for a 32-ton GCW Borderer with a Rolls-Royce Eagle engine. A Rolls-Royce-engined Borderer was T3446RR220 or T3446RR280 The work with the Alpha was also taken into Atki's mainstream wagon business, there were Atkinson customers, particularly breweries, who ordered underfloor engined Atki wagons, enabling
5460-553: Is long-gone and of the twenty operators who took the Seddon Pennine RU new, only one, Reliance of the North Riding survives in a recognisable form. Seddon Atkinson Seddon Atkinson Vehicles Limited , was a manufacturer of large goods vehicles based in Oldham, Lancashire , England, was formed after the acquisition in 1970 of Atkinson Vehicles Limited of Preston by Seddon Diesel Vehicles Limited of Oldham. In 1974,
5600-509: The Associated Equipment Company and direct-competitor Albion Motors had all of their productive capacity diverted to the war effort. In 1946 Seddon Motors Ltd moved to a former shadow factory in Oldham and were able to expand production from one or two a week to more than ten. At this point they introduced their first passenger chassis the Mark IV. The 26 ft mark IV and 27 ft 6in mark VI were sales successes at home and overseas. Coachbuilders for these chassis included Plaxton and
5740-640: The British Transport Commission , a situation which lasted until 1965. One of the most loyal Bristol customers up to 1948 had been the North Western Road Car Company of Stockport , who had until 1941 been jointly owned by Tilling and British Electric Traction (BET), after 1941 it was transferred to BET control. After the North Western's last Bristols were delivered in 1950, the company took Leyland Titans and Royal Tigers for
Seddon Pennine RU - Misplaced Pages Continue
5880-664: The Guy Arab bus; Atkinson lorries sanctioned by the Ministry of Production for sale to civilian hauliers for the duration were fitted with the AEC '7.7 litre' unit (which actually displaced 7.58 litres). Nationalisation of the road haulage industry in 1948 affected Atkinson as many of their customers were private sector general hauliers who were nationalised, but British Road Services bought rigid-eight Atkinson Lorries alongside similar products made by state-owned Bristol Commercial Vehicles . During
6020-840: The Leyland Tiger Cub and, from 1959, the Leyland Leopard as its major competitors throughout its life, even though they were built under the same ownership from 1962 onwards. After production of the Reliance ended, Leyland offered ZF synchromesh as an option for the Leopard, although the Volvo B58 and other imported buses later won a number of customers' orders. In Australia, Canberra Bus Service purchased ninety-two 470s and twenty-eight 505s while Brisbane City Council purchased three 470s and forty 590s. McVicar's Bus Service , Sydney operated
6160-700: The 'Knight Of The Road' badge between the early 1950s and late 1970. Originally a firm of steam-wagon repairers and manufacturers, founded in 1907 in Preston, Lancashire , Atkinson & Co. evolved into Seddon Atkinson Vehicles Ltd through a succession of mergers. Atkinson & Co. was founded in the Frenchwood district of Preston , the cotton town and administrative capital of Lancashire , by two of five brothers, Edward Atkinson (1880–1932) and Henry Birch Atkinson (1882–1921) with assistance from their brother-in-law George Hunt (1870–1950). The real and effective beginning of
6300-438: The 1950s hauliers began to ask for more powerful engines – at the time, Gardner only offered engines for road-vehicle applications with a maximum output of 120 bhp. In response, in the early 1950s Atkinson trial-fitted a Daimler 650 cubic inch engine rated at 150 bhp in a rigid-eight (8-wheel, non-articulated) chassis. Later, Rolls-Royce and Cummins engines were offered alongside Gardner units; Gardner responded with
6440-506: The 1954 Earls' Court Commercial Motor Show two Atkinson double-deck buses were exhibited: one was a chassis, the other carried a 60-seat centre-entrance double-deck body by Northern Counties to the order of the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Transport (and Electricity) Board . This bus (UMA370) is preserved by the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester and is also of interest as
6580-408: The 1960s but a final home market order came from Sunderland Corporation in 1962 for 1963/64 delivery. The three buses concerned looked like buses from a different age to previous Atkinsons as they carried Marshall bodies of 33 ft length and 8 ft 2 ½ in width to the then-new BET-group outline, with double curvature front and rear screens and peaked roof-domes at either end. They were finished in
6720-418: The 200's 135 hp (101 kW) International engine, although this was changed to a 148 hp (110 kW) Perkins motor following the termination of Seddon Atkinson's relationship with International. The 401 also received an improved interior, the changed grille, and a much improved gear linkage. The Motor Panels trucks had severe rust problems, forcing the introduction of a new anti-corrosion package in
6860-527: The Crosville order was more surprising as, apart from a pair of Commer/Harrington minibuses in 1964, Crosville had exclusively ordered Bristol chassis and Eastern Coach Works bodies for its bus fleet from 1950. Crosville's Pennine RU were all to 36 ft length, the order broke into two sub-batches of fifty, half were single door with 47 coach seats for long limited-stop journeys and half were 45 seat dual-door buses for intensive urban operations. Crosville had taken
7000-468: The Doncaster Pennine bodies included rivets falling out and frame-fractures above the exit door. John S Hinchliffe singles out Huddersfield no 45 (XCX245J) as "the only one that stopped in a straight line, was smooth to drive, had positive steering and gave a smooth ride". Even though, as pictured, the offside fog lamp of this bus is missing and there is a prominent fracture-line in adjacent regions of
7140-490: The Doncaster and Rotherham Fleets, and upon purchasing Lancashire United on 1 January 1976 Greater Manchester Transport found its fleet of RU climbing from one to fifty-one. The strangest case of all was that of the original demonstrator which went to Green Bus Service of Rugeley from 1971 until 1974 when Midland Red took them over. Midland Red sold it to a dealer and it was purchased for the enlarged Lancaster operation. Thus out of
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#17328815410717280-615: The GRXI (for Gardner, Rear-engine 11 metres. This latter in Roman numerals). These differed from the RU only in having 180 bhp Gardner 6HLXB engines, ZF power steering and Wadham Stringer Vanguard B45D bodies, a further six were optioned, but the Ward Brothers' company went bankrupt before these could be built. And, despite its ugly-duckling appearance, Hyndburn 38 was one of the longer-lived examples of
7420-562: The Pennine 4 it followed the same market-driven philosophy. Viz: offer the same major features as the most in-demand model but cut out most of the complexity, some of the purchase price and offer it for sale quickly and cheaply with the choice of in-house Pennine Coachcraft bodywork. The market leader was in the rear-engine single-deck segment was the Bristol RE and Seddon decided to use similar mechanical units, notably Gardner engines and Self-Changing Gears semi-automatic transmission. Whereas
7560-672: The Pennines, commencing its career in Halifax. The second prototype was to the 36 ft length with 45 seats and dual doors. It was exhibited at the 1970 Commercial Motor show at Earls Court in the livery of Crosville where it was overshadowed by the debuts of the Leyland National and the Metro-Scania ; it was then registered ABU451J and served as a demonstrator across Great Britain. Initial list prices complete with body started at £6,200 which
7700-445: The RE a straightforward T-drive layout was employed. The rear end of the 10.45-litre Gardner 6HLX (the 8.6 litre 6HLW was optional) was mounted below and hard against the rear cross member on the short version, driving directly via a fluid flywheel into a Self-Changing Gears 4 or 5-speed direct-operating epicyclic gearbox, air-operated with electrical control. The Eaton spiral-bevel rear axle, to
7840-401: The RE used a gently ramped frame on bus variants. Seddon decided to use a straight frame using 8in channel longitudinals and mainly tubular cross-members which was oriented to rise from front to rear at about 5 degrees from the horizontal. Wheelbases offered were either 16 ft 6in for 33 ft coachwork or 18 ft 6in for 36 ft bodies. Instead of the complex drive-line arrangement of
7980-730: The RU took the Pennine body, all in long single-door form with 51 bus seats; these were Garelochhead Coach Services (1), Dodds (AA Service) Troon (2), Grahams Bus Service of Paisley (1), and Reliance of Sutton on the Forest, North Yorkshire (2). When the second National Bus Company order table was published on 30 July 1970 tabulating orders for subsidiaries in 1971 the biggest surprises were two orders each calling for 100 single-deck buses. Midland Red (whose last home-built BMMO bus had just been delivered) ordered 100 Ford R192 with 45-seat Plaxton Derwent II bodies whilst Crosville ordered 100 Seddon Pennine RU complete with Pennine Coachcraft bodies. Arguably
8120-498: The RU were headed by Lancashire United Transport (LUT) of Atherton who took delivery of fifty over 1970-1. These had a special version of the Plaxton Derwent II body supplied only to this operator featuring flat rather than curved windscreens, deleting peaks on front and rear domes and having glazing and general appearance similar to Plaxton's previous (1958–66) Highway bus body. They also had front-mounted radiators, specified by
8260-455: The RU, bodied AEC Swifts , Daimler Fleetlines , Leyland Atlanteans and Leyland Panthers, but the largest number of home-market Pennine bodies on third-party chassis had gone on Bristol RE LL and RESL, with Reading Corporation being the largest customer with 28 bodies to its own outline on a short-wheelbase version of the RELL. The majority of customers for the RU also took the Pennine body. This
8400-474: The South Yorkshire PTE were, lacking the electrical-charging and cell-care infrastructure installed in a Manchester garage as part of the project, able to get even less use out of the thing than Greater Manchester who tried to employ its advertised 100-mile range by using it sporadically on one morning and one afternoon peak-time journey on routes 202/3. It was out of service by 1976. Although conceived as
8540-657: The Sterling zone, and an example survives as a mobile home in New Zealand. In the United Kingdom sales of this Atkinson bus amounted to three: one batch of two for a municipal operator and a further frustrated export chassis. Norman Morton, the General Manager of Sunderland Corporation Transport from 1953 to 1968, looked for efficiency-savings wherever they could be found. He had a route with a peak vehicle requirement of two, and
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#17328815410718680-532: The U.K., via Comberhill Commercials of Wakefield . A different design of glass-fibre cab, launched in prototype form at the 1966 Commercial Motor Show, and named View-Line, had a deep single-piece main windscreen with wrap-around quarter glasses. The prototype had three separate chrome radiator grilles, but lacked the character of the exposed radiator models. Thereafter, although the Krupp Cabs, introduced in 1969, and View-Line cabs had concealed radiators, they carried
8820-467: The brand name was incorporated into the mainstream Iveco catalogue. The Oldham manufacturing facilities were shut down in 2004, and the offices were closed at the end of 2006. Recent Seddon Atkinson vehicles were readily identifiable from other Iveco products because of the company's former Atkinson logo, a large letter 'A' within a circle, usually in chrome (or chrome-effect) on the radiator grille. The circular Atkinson logo dated from 1937, supplemented by
8960-515: The breed; it and its more bus-like batch-mates enduring in service until 1984 when they were replaced by the only short-wheelbase examples of the Dennis Falcon HC, which derived some of its features from the Bristol RE , but unlike the earlier Falcon H had a driveline closely resembling that of the Pennine RU. The direct replacement for number 38, the coach seated example, was recently reported to still be working on Malta . The last RU to run as
9100-521: The bus (like Lucas battery-electric Seddon Midi EX62 XVU364M which followed in 1975) was not a success. The Silent Rider project alone cost £100,000 at mid-1970s values, promotional tours to Sheffield and Chicago , Illinois , United States may have been prestigious for the Executive and for the manufacturers of vehicle and batteries, who were both major employers of voters in the PTE area, but Cook County Transit and
9240-506: The buses could not pull-up in a straight line. In the Classic Bus reader poll for the worst bus of all time the RU failed to make the top ten but J. Whiteing summarises the type thus: 'Provided they started they would run and run, but stopping was a case for hope and prayer.' The Pennine bodies were found to be rather too light and tended to crack around the chassis mounting points, whilst the dual-door versions also had localised fractures around
9380-528: The business until it in turn became part of Iveco , the last lorries under the Seddon Atkinson name were built in Oldham in 2004. Bus and coach production having ceased in 1983 when the last Pennine 7 models were delivered. The Seddon Pennine RU (for rear-underfloor, the location of the engine) was launched in 1969 as a competitor in the market for rear-engine single deckers. Although a very different product to
9520-414: The business until it in turn became part of Iveco . The last lorries under the Seddon Atkinson name were built in Oldham in 2004, bus and coach production having ceased in 1983 when the last Pennine 7 models were delivered. Originally the 1 January 1971 merger did not affect the lineup, with Seddon and Atkinson continuing to manufacture their old truck ranges in their respective plants. In 1975, however,
9660-676: The cabin. In 1985 Seddon Atkinson held about five per cent of the British truck market. AEC Reliance The AEC Reliance was a mid-underfloor mounted engined single-decker bus and coach chassis manufactured by AEC between 1953 and 1979. The name had previously been used between 1928 and 1931 for another single-decker bus chassis. Two prototypes were completed in 1953, one with Duple coach bodywork and one with Park Royal bus bodywork. Production vehicles entered service from 1954. The last Reliance entered service in 1981. Following successive changes to Construction & Use regulations,
9800-484: The central works at Chester. Crosville did allocate some dual-purpose RU to its South Cambrian division in 1975 but they were not popular, finding themselves allocated to non-service work including swimming bath contracts before they were returned across the border in 1976. By 1981 Crosville had started to fit some 6HLX engines from Seddons it had withdrawn on expiry of their certificates of initial fitness into its Mark 1 Leyland Nationals. The Garelochhead bus, 106 (CSN716K)
9940-426: The centre exit door. Jim Sambrooks of Doncaster Corporation and South Yorkshire PTE recalled a Doncaster engineering foreman saying "If it's a Seddon it's a dead 'un." Again referring to the unlikelihood of pulling up in a straight line, he also recalled the first batch had car-type handbrake levers which disintegrated in use; later upon becoming a fitter he discovered that the brake adjusters (of two different sorts on
10080-527: The company fell into the hands of his brother Edward. At this time, new ideas and designs were constantly being tried out while production rose to a peak of some three wagons per week, and the total labour force rose to well over a hundred and fifty. Edward Atkinson had a glorified view of steam and did not acknowledge the warnings when sales began to slow down in the mid-1920s. Leyland Motors sold their steam remnants to Atkinson in 1926, followed by Mann in 1929. There seems to have been various family rivalries at
10220-424: The company publicity officer at the time. The most famous of the range were two-axle tractor units carrying the name 'Borderer'. Three-axle rear-steer tractor units carried the name 'Leader', and were designed to meet eagerly anticipated increases in permitted gross weights (although no increases were actually forthcoming until May 1983). Three-axle haulage chassis carried the name 'Searcher'. Four-axle chassis carried
10360-486: The company was in 1907, when the partners decided to capitalise on the need for local engineers to make temporary or permanent repairs to the increasing number of 'pullcars' and private motor vehicles on the road. By 1912, the organisation had moved to premises in Kendal Street and the number of employees had grown to twenty. In the same year a second, smaller repair centre was opened in Freemason's Row, Liverpool , to cater for
10500-438: The different batches) were virtually inaccessible, that spring shackle-pins often needed to be knocked out which was equally difficult, that topping up the fluid flywheel was "nigh-on impossible" and only done when a bus developed gearbox-slip, and that in order to remove the engines for overhaul, Doncaster engineers actually had to cut-away the rear cross member and bolt in a removable piece of girder once they had done. Problems on
10640-522: The direct air-operated Pneumocyclic transmission at the time. Neither Guy nor Daimler had a two-pedal transmission and AEC had only just exhibited theirs on the prototype AEC Routemaster . As well as an underfloor engined single-deck and a front-engined double-deck, Atkinson also produced a front-engined single-deck bus chassis, this being to a similar layout to the Bedford SB but of more durable construction. It sold well to Atkinson export markets, mainly in
10780-399: The drawing work being done on his own kitchen table. This was a 6-ton gvw forward-control lorry chassis with a 6-cylinder Perkins indirect-injection diesel engine. It was first shown at the Scottish Motor show at Kelvin Hall , Glasgow in 1938. Since it weighed under 2.5 long tons (2,540 kg) unladen, it was allowed to travel at 30 mph (48 km/h) unlike most other trucks with
10920-760: The early months of 1970 Huddersfield Corporation also had short, dual-door versions in service with H registrations (thus registered prior to 1 August 1970), Lancashire United were the third customer to get H-registration examples, their first twenty. Huddersfield were to take 22 and Doncaster 25. Other municipal customers included Accrington Corporation (5), Blackburn Corporation (6), Halifax Joint Omnibus Committee (3), Burnley, Colne and Nelson JOC (20), Darlington Corporation (8), Lytham St Annes (6), Morecambe Corporation (6), Rotherham Corporation (9) and Southampton Corporation (5). Accrington and Blackburn took East Lancashire bodies on theirs, Halifax and Rotherham chose Plaxton Derwent II bodies as did Huddersfield for its final two and
11060-402: The enormous volume of steam traffic using the docks. Very soon the company made something of a name for itself in the north of England as quality repairers, and the growing number of operators brought new business from far and wide. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, demand for internal road transport grew considerably, the nation finding itself desperately throttled by the inadequacy of
11200-488: The event three other makes of bodies were fitted to the RU, Plaxton used a steel-reinforced hardwood structure whilst East Lancashire Coachbuilders and Charles H Roe both used steel-tube framing. The initial prototype TBU598G, registered in March 1969, carried a Pennine Coachcraft 41 seat dual-door body on the short-wheelbase version of the chassis and Seddon demonstrated it to a number of municipal and company fleets mainly in
11340-476: The few known examples. The mid 1950s mark 16 was a 21 ft long bus with a Perkins P4 on the front overhang and the mark 17 was a six-cylinder-engined chassis to similar layout. The mark 18 of the late 1950s, mainly sold to Australia and New Zealand, with local coachwork. It had a vertically mounted Perkins P6 80 bhp engine on the rear overhang. There was also one mark 20 with a Henry Meadows 550 cubic inch horizontal rear-engine exported to Greece. The Mark 23
11480-459: The field they also bought the 17th century Frenchwood House, with the intention of using it partly as their offices and partly as their personal quarters. By 1918 the Atkinsons had built up a competent team of engineers and salesmen as well as an enthusiastic and loyal labour force, and were producing wagons competitive in both price and performance. Henry Atkinson died suddenly in 1921 and consequently
11620-621: The firm was acquired by International Harvester , which sold it in March 1984 to the Spanish group Enasa which made it a subsidiary of Pegaso . In 1990, it became part of Iveco which used the brand for various types of specialised vehicles in the United Kingdom. The range of models produced included EuroMover , Pacer and Strato , which are aimed at refuse collection, recycling and construction operators. Iveco announced its decision to manufacture Seddon Atkinsons in Spain in 2005, and shortly afterwards
11760-515: The first Atkinson six-ton four-wheel steam wagon was produced in Kendal Street and became an instant success. The market enjoyed a short boom period following the Armistice and the Atkinsons, realising the potential, purchased a five-acre site of land near their homes in Frenchwood, on which they intended to erect a new and enlarged factory, solely designed for the production of steam wagons. Together with
11900-506: The first double-deck bus with an electrically controlled direct-acting epicyclic gearbox, this Self-Changing Gears (SCG) unit was fitted by Atkinson after delivery but before entry into service as the SHMD board's drivers (who were used to pre-selective transmissions on the fleets' standard Daimlers) did not want to use the originally installed David Brown constant-mesh unit. The un-bodied exhibition chassis, which featured semi-automatic transmission,
12040-733: The first of which were rare rear-entrance underfloor-engined buses – the senior management of the BET group removed Atkinson, Guy and Daimler from their list of preferred suppliers. Around the same time, Leyland dropped the purchase price of the Tiger Cub . North Western then took Tiger Cubs and AEC Reliances for their single-deck needs for the rest of the 1950s. Atkinson's management then decided that although Daimler and Guy were publicly offering Gardner-engined double-deckers, and some influential (mainly Scottish) customers could purchase AEC Regents with that make of engine, they would also enter this market. Thus at
12180-528: The fleet's collection of the type in one place. The single-door half of the Crosville batch were initially allocated to long distance Anglo-Welsh services. Numbers of other RUs though used on bus services were fitted either with Seddon's design of individual semi-coach seat, as on the 47-seat Crosville examples, or other designs of luxury seats, whilst some of the Huddersfield ones were delivered seatless and had Roe coach seats removed from AEC Regals absorbed with
12320-426: The four sectors purchasing RU, this bus served in three of them and briefly gave NBC a second RU operator. Drivers generally found handling on Seddon RUs vague, and steering imprecise. Geoffrey Hillditch refers to 'a most peculiar feeling' when driving one. Steering bushes, axle thrust pads and king pins were less durable than they should have been, adding to steering troubles, whilst unbalanced front wheels could cause
12460-462: The front fibreglass panel. Huddersfield's 21 Pennines were all built as dual-door vehicles but were converted by the manufacturer to single-door, in the case of 51 after only nine months in service, while this was done Huddersfield were lent a fully automatic Pennine VI Interurban demonstrator, which they used on service to Oldham. Mr Hinchliffe sums up his experience of the type by saying they were 'reliable' but 'not popular due to their inability to hold
12600-400: The high twenties), Seddon decided to simplify its nomenclature, wagons were henceforth to be identified as (for example) 16-4 with the first number being the gross vehicle weight and the second the number of wheels. Bus chassis were to be known as Seddon Pennine Mark (x). The first buses using this system produced were for Bermuda and were Seddon Pennine Mark 3, they are believed to be similar to
12740-511: The independent market, producing lightweight bus and coach demonstrators. A large independent which did buy some was Lancashire United Transport and SHMD bought some Alphas to go with their double-decker. The most successful fruit of Atkinson's bus-sales effort was with Venture Transport (Newcastle) Limited, of Consett, County Durham. Between 1946 and 1948 Venture had replaced the majority of its pre-war fleet with 35-seat Willowbrook-bodied Daimler CVD6's. No further buses were bought by Venture over
12880-512: The last of its 593 Bristol Lodekkas in 1968 and was concentrating on renewing its single-deck fleet, which at the time still included a few half-cab Bristol L-types, it did not order its first VRs until 1972. It ordered 288 REs between 1964 and 1973, calling for them in every year but 1970. Seddon started delivering this (joint) record order for complete buses in April 1971 with 46 delivered with J plates (i.e. prior to August) and completed it just over
13020-539: The maximum length of the Reliance was increased twice from the original 30 feet: firstly, to permit an overall length of 36 feet from 1962; and later, to permit a length of 39 feet. Various AEC engines were fitted during the chassis's production, including the 7.7-litre AH470, 8.1-litre AH505, 9.6-litre AH590, 11.3-litre AH691 and 12.4-litre AH760. Transmissions fitted to the Reliance include an AEC synchromesh gearbox , AEC Monocontrol semi-automatic epicyclic transmission, and ZF 6 speed crash-gearbox. The Reliance had
13160-766: The metropolitan areas already had passenger transport executives but these were established in the two metropolitan Yorkshire counties (which together comprised the majority of the historic West Riding ) thus South Yorkshire absorbed the Rotherham and Doncaster RUs and West Yorkshire the Halifax/Calderdale and Huddersfield vehicles. Outside the metropolitan counties, local government changes caused some fleets to merge (e.g. Lancaster with Morecambe & Heysham, Blackburn with Darwen) while others were renamed, Burnley, Colne and Nelson becoming Burnley & Pendle and Accrington changing title to Hyndburn. Independent customers for
13300-453: The mid-1950s Alphas had pre-prefixes depending on whether they had overdrive constant-mesh (C, for coach) or direct-drive synchromesh gearboxes (B, for bus) hence BPL745H for the first 18 Venture examples, the last six being CPL745H. The double-decker had the unique frame-code D. Whether that stood for double-deck or dropped frame is not clear, but the PD746 designation given to the two built showed
13440-467: The mid-eighties. This period also marks the beginning of the recession which killed off many of the companies which had been buying Seddon Atkinson's trucks. In 1984, International Harvester sold Seddon Atkinson to Enasa of Spain, to make up for a planned Spanish I-H engine factory which had failed to materialize. Sales of Seddon Atkinsons dwindled through the 1980s. Both the 400 and 401 series received heavy complaints over insufficient rust protection on
13580-582: The more basic T-Line. It did, however, remain in limited production until 1989. In 1948 Bristol Commercial Vehicles had been nationalised as part of the Tilling Group . Thanks to a Conservative-sponsored amendment to the Transport Act 1947 (designed to make sure British Railways ' locomotive and rolling stock works did not compete with the private-sector) Bristol found itself legally unable to accept orders for its bus chassis outside fleets wholly owned by
13720-406: The more popular Gardner power units, due ostensibly to the use of steel in their construction, which didn't suffer salt corrosion to the same degree as the alloy-constructed Gardners. Early examples had AEC engines. From 1968 the standard Mk I glass-fibre clad cab was revised, with stronger ash framing, larger dimensions and wider, deeper windscreens. The traditional Withnell-tubed, exposed radiator
13860-450: The name 'Defender'. Three-axle heavy haulage tractor units carried the name 'Venturer'. The two-axle haulage chassis were never given an official name, but were originally planned to carry the name 'Raider'; however factory grille plates were never produced for this model, and company literature never referred to the proposed name. It was at this time that the famous 'Knight of the Road' badging
14000-447: The name of Foster, so the business was initially a partnership. Foster & Seddon also reconditioned vehicles and ran a bus service from Swinton (Lancs.) to Salford, which was subsequently sold to Salford Corporation, and held an agency for Morris Motors vehicles. In 1937 Robert Seddon spotted a gap in the commercial vehicle market for low-tare diesel-engined lorries and commenced to build his own vehicle out of proprietary units, much of
14140-441: The next half decade. In 1954 Atkinson lent Venture TTC882, a HV Burlingham bodied 44-seat bus which met with the approval of Venture's management and orders ensued for twenty-four vehicles delivered in three batches from 1955 to 1957 with differently styled B45F or DP41F Willowbrook bodies. Over the rest of the 1950s small numbers of Alphas were sold to other independent operators. The Alpha continued to be listed without sales into
14280-532: The operator and unique to their RUs. As well as being fitted to the fifty RU which were dual-door 40-seaters on short chassis, the same body went on two batches of Bristol RESL6G, twenty B42D in 1967/8 and ten DP41F in 1973/4. Subsequently LUT (and other outliers such as the Calderdale Region of West Yorkshire PTE) were prevailed upon to take the standard version of the Derwent II. Other independent customers for
14420-486: The radiator grille, and in the 1960s models were sold under the trade names Silver Knight (tractor unit), Gold Knight (rigid tipper or tanker) and Black Knight (rigid freight chassis), as well as the 'Weightmaster' range of lightweight chassis. A small number of left-hand-drive Atkinsons were built for export to mainland Europe in the late 1960s, with pressed-steel cabs bought from Krupp after that company had ceased commercial vehicle production. Most were sold eventually in
14560-415: The railways to offer a complete transport network. Some method of local delivery and collection was needed to supplement the services of the railway companies, and with most of the existing steam wagon manufacturers turning their resources over to munitions production, demand increased further. The Atkinsons, shrewd observers at any time, decided to experiment by making a wagon of their own design, and in 1916,
14700-423: The registration KVT 604 P. Today it remains with them. Alongside Seddon's facility at Oldham, the Atkinson works assembled the Seddon Atkinson 400 Series and also the first batch of the new 401 model, before closing at the end of 1981. Oldham remained operational until late 2004, when production was moved to Spain. Seddon Diesel Vehicles were, like Atkinson Lorries, ERF and Motor Traction (Rutland),
14840-518: The remainder for scrap. As far as is known, only 2 Seddon Pennine RUs survive: both in preservation, these being former Lytham St. Annes /Fylde Borough Transport 47 STJ847L ( Lancastrian Transport Trust ) and Southampton Corporation 15 BCR379K ( Southampton & District Transport Heritage Trust ). Although the "Silent Rider", was stored for the Museum of Transport, Greater Manchester it was vandalised and found to be beyond economic restoration and reluctantly scrapped. Even more tellingly, Seddon itself
14980-570: The rest took the Pennine Coachcraft option. The final 11 for Doncaster were the only ones with Charles H Roe bodies. Due to central government legislation English and Welsh county and borough council boundaries were changed and from 1974 metropolitan counties were created in England in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Tyne and Wear, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Most of
15120-473: The road'. However the insuperable problem was the proximity of the engine to the rear axle, and on 33 ft versions many different designs of drive-shaft were employed but no effective way was found of insulating the engine and gearbox from road shocks. Crosville had all of its 36 ft models converted with a revised engine and gearbox mounting closer to the rear cross member, allowing a longer universal-jointed drive shaft to be put in place, this arrangement
15260-608: The same week. Lest it be thought the RU was unpopular with everyone, the late batch of eight 11-metre versions supplied to Darlington Transport were well liked by the operator and they tried to commission more from Seddon Atkinson after the end of production, this was not to be and Darlington (whose other single-decks were then Daimler Roadliners and Daimler Fleetlines) instead bought four dual-door Leyland Leopards in 1977, their next two new vehicle orders went to Dennis for single deck Marshall-bodied Dominators , then in 1983 they got Ward Motors Ltd to build them six RU-like vehicles called
15400-426: The steering wheel to wobble. Weight was biased too much toward the rear and this exacerbated handling problems. The polyurethane bushes wore 'alarmingly' and were replaced by traditional (regularly) greased chromium-plated brass units. Springs were not substantial enough. The steering box mountings also needed to be reinforced. Radiator mountings were also initially inadequate and had to be strengthened. The air cleaner
15540-666: The success of the Ford R series and the Bedford VAL and VAM , Seddon decided to make a similar product, to a variety of wheelbases with Perkins engines; as on the competitors, these were vertically mounted on the front platform. This was launched in 1967 as the Pennine 4, which thanks to vigorous marketing became a strong seller worldwide, the largest order being from Kowloon Motor Bus of Hong Kong, who took 100 11-metre versions with Perkins 170 bhp V8 engines and Pennine Coachcraft 47 seat + 42 standing dual-door bodies. A rear-engined derivative
15680-623: The success of the Ford R-Series and the Bedford VAL and VAM , Seddon decided to make a similar product, to a variety of wheelbases with Perkins engines; as on the competitors, these were vertically mounted on the front platform. This was launched in 1967 as the Pennine 4, which thanks to vigorous marketing became a strong seller worldwide, the largest order being from Kowloon Motor Bus of Hong Kong, who took 100 11-metre versions with Perkins 170 bhp V8 engines and Pennine Coachcraft 47 seat + 42 standing dual-door bodies. A rear-engined derivative
15820-403: The takeover of Hanson buses fitted at the Huddersfield works prior to entry into service, this re-using of seats and internal fittings was something of a Huddersfield trait, throughout its existence, sometimes it got entire bodies re-chassied. Only one RU was fitted with a luxury-coach body however, this was ordered by Accrington and delivered to Hyndburn as its 38 (STC986M). This carried one of
15960-419: The three East Lancashire 'Lancastrian' coach bodies built, the only one to 10-metre length. It was an ungainly vehicle with a high ramped floor, carrying 39 Plaxton seats, all forward-facing, Large curved side screens were used on the four main-bays, of a type used on contemporary Mercedes-Benz and Neoplan coaches leading to a parabolic roof contour, but aft of the rear axle flat Willowbrook-pattern bus glazing
16100-444: The time and the firm was undoubtedly in difficulties when Edward Atkinson decided to seek help from mine engineers and Pagefield lorry makers, Walker Brothers of Wigan . Under a new arrangement, Walkers manufactured Uniflow engines for Atkinsons, but by this time very few orders were forthcoming. Edward Atkinson had cancer and was unable to pay any dividends on the preference shares and finally abandoned wagon production in 1929 after
16240-426: The traditional exposed Withnell-tube type radiator. The initial offering was a single headlight model, followed in 1963 by the 'Deluxe' twin headlight model which quickly became an Atkinson characteristic. As orders for the twin headlight model increased, the single headlight version was dropped as an option. From the 1950s many Atkinsons had carried the 'Knight of the Road' trademark device on the upper offside corner of
16380-462: The use of the Knight badge forthwith. This was also consistent with ending the use of the 'Knight' names for the model range. There is one vehicle which assumed a name of its very own after it was modified by one of its owners - John Killingbeck. The vehicle in question is MVD432L, which was originally a T3446C 'Borderer' and survives in preservation. After acquisition by Killingbeck, it was stretched into
16520-415: Was a 'limited-stop' taking workmen from their homes to the docks and back again. The route was not hilly and the stops were few. The bodywork was utilitarian and the livery was mainly drab mid-green with cream window surrounds. The 41 seats were well-shaped and well padded and the wide double-stream entrance-exit just aft of the front wheels was covered by four-leaf double jack-knife doors. Shortly afterwards
16660-499: Was a front entrance front-engined bus for Kowloon Motor Bus and the mark 25P a normal control 18-seat personnel-carrier based on the mark 25 integral parcel van. The bodybuilding business, not only on Seddon and other manufacturer's buses but building lorry cabs and parcel vans for customers such as Manchester Corporation (who ran a parcel delivery service) was registered in its own right as Pennine Coachcraft Ltd (wholly owned by Seddon) in 1960. From 1966 (with mark numbers climbing into
16800-412: Was a merger in 1971 of Halifax, Todmorden and National Bus Company interests.) route 8 from Leeds via Halifax and Todmorden to Burnley. These were replaced on this front-line work after a year, being succeeded by similar-looking AEC Reliances which in their turn gave way to similar-looking Leyland Leopards . When West Yorkshire PTE was formed all three Calderdale RU were moved to Huddersfield, concentrating
16940-488: Was acquired by London garage owner W. G. Allen, whose father had started Nightingale Garage. Allen was chairman of Atkinson Lorries (1933) Ltd and H. B. Fielding was managing director. Allen had effectively run the firm since 1931, and remained in charge until his death in 1949. The formula established in the 1933 reorganisation served the company well and became the basis of most production at Walton-le-Dale (the new factory opened in 1948) thereafter. The production philosophy
17080-399: Was also applied to later long-wheelbase RU as built. To cover for vehicles being modified, Seddon Atkinson lent Crosville the prototype Pennine 7 (UBU72N), which remained with Crosville after the work was done. Unlike their Bristol REs which were cascaded to more remote parts of the company's North Wales hinterland as newer replacements arrived, Crosville's Seddons were generally kept close to
17220-400: Was available with a range of diesels from Cummins , Gardner , or Rolls-Royce , with power outputs of up to 320 hp (239 kW). The 400 had a chassis which was mostly Atkinson. In 1981 the range was updated and became 201, 301, and 401. A few early 401s were built in Atkinson's Walton-le-Dale plant but then all production was shifted to Oldham. The 201 originally came equipped with
17360-516: Was called the "Silent Rider". It was sold to SELNEC who numbered it EX61 in its experimental series, registering it XVU387M. The Chloride battery pack weighed four tonnes and the vehicle (unladen but for those batteries) weighed 13 tonnes (almost double the unladen weight of the Gardner-powered version) so payload was limited, by the axles fitted, to one tonne which equalled a capacity of B41D + 9 standing and although it featured regenerative braking
17500-466: Was dismantled around the same time. No further Atkinson double-deck bus chassis were built. It is unclear whether Atkinson's early lead in two-pedal bus transmissions has anything to do with the minority shareholding (around 15%) that Leyland Motors held in Atkinson Lorries (1933) Ltd until the firm was taken over by Seddon. Leyland were, by 1954, part owners of SCG but the 1954 PDR1 prototype had
17640-502: Was dropped. When the exhibits were being prepared for the Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court in October 1970, they were fitted with four separate badges on the radiator grille: the 'Big A', the Knight's head, the new model name and the engine manufacturer's badge. The late Frank Whalley recounted that, when Managing Director Peter M Yates saw them, he said that they looked "like fairground lorries" and directed Frank to terminate
17780-499: Was fitted to 69% of RU production (23% carried Plaxton bodies with 4% shares for both East Lancashire and Roe). It sold best in Cheshire (37%, all Crosville), Lancashire (36%, spread between one PTE, one independent, and six corporations, total also including both demonstrators) and Yorkshire (22% over one PTE, one independent and four corporations), the first customer to take delivery was Doncaster Corporation who took their first fourteen in
17920-519: Was full air-operated using Girling wedge-type drum brakes. A spring operated air parking-brake was employed, power steering for the Seddon-designed front-axle was optionally available. Unlike the RE and the Leyland Panther the radiator was not carried at the front but hung from the offside of the chassis in mid-wheelbase, ahead of the rear axle. A combined saloon heating and ventilation system with
18060-402: Was increased to 50%. By the end of 1970 a further 46 chassis had been built, bodied and delivered. Production then rose to a peak of 109 (including the second prototype) in 1971, dropping back slightly in 1972 to 99 then only 13 were delivered in 1973 and six in 1974, so 76% of chassis were built in two years, the municipal market was moving back toward double decks and the rival Leyland National
18200-466: Was located aft of the nearside rear wheel and although this was hard to reach had to be attended-to regularly if engine performance was not to suffer. The main battery switch was also located in a position where it was vulnerable to road splash and had to be shielded, some of the wiring was also 'suspect' sometimes causing fires and had to be re-routed The brakes were unfamiliar to bus engineers who were used to cam-operated brakes and drivers complained that
18340-501: Was not: unlike most RU, a mechanical one (see later). The RU was intended as a municipal bus, and 42% went to Corporation bus fleets, NBC (the Crosville order) took 36%, and independents (mainly Lancashire United) accounted for 20%. The other buses were the two demonstrators and three delivered to PTEs. The formation of the West Yorkshire PTE gave them an instant fleet of 24 with two on delivery, South Yorkshire PTE inherited 34 with
18480-497: Was outselling every other single-deck bus. Production ceased in March 1974 after 274 were completed, the last chassis numerically were numbers 56041/2 which were ordered by Huddersfield and delivered to West Yorkshire PTE in September and October 1974 respectively (registered PVH 452/453M). From 1966-9 Pennine had bodied increasing numbers of rear-engined single deck buses, and by the time body production ended in 1975 they had, besides
18620-428: Was replaced with the more imposing concealed version, which was fitted behind a glass-fibre shrouded metal grille - again carrying the Knight's Head, circular A logo and additional adornments in the form of engine manufacturer plates. This cab featured on the final Atkinson haulage models, announced at the Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court in October 1970, the naming of which originated from an idea by Frank Whalley,
18760-458: Was similar to that of Seddon, ERF , Rutland ( Motor Traction ) and other competitors aiming for value-for-money lorry sales, viz: the assembly of tried and tested proprietary components. A bought-in chassis frame to Atkinson design was generally powered by a Gardner engine, driving through a David Brown Ltd. gearbox to Kirkstall Forge Engineering rear axles. During World War II , Gardner engines were reserved for military applications, excepting
18900-520: Was substantially cheaper than an equivalent ECW -bodied RE, lead times were very good because Seddon had expanded into adjacent premises in order to set up a dedicated bus-production facility. Furthermore, the RU was the first bus chassis designed to meet the requirements of the New Bus Grant announced in the Transport Act 1968 . This government grant initially covered 25% of the first cost of grant-compliant buses used on local bus services, from 1971 this
19040-501: Was the Mark 5 (only one sold in the UK, a 45-seat Van Hool coach) and a version with a turbocharged Perkins 6-cylinder engine mounted at the front but under the passenger floor was the Pennine 6. In 1969 a more concerted effort at the UK bus market resulted in the launch of the Pennine RU . In 1970, Seddon took over Atkinson Lorries to form Seddon Atkinson. In 1974 International Harvester bought Seddon Atkinson, later Pegaso took over
19180-446: Was the Mark 5 (only one sold in the UK, a 45-seat Van Hool coach) and a version with a turbocharged Perkins 6-cylinder engine mounted at the front but under the passenger floor was the Pennine 6. In 1969 a more concerted effort at the UK bus market resulted in the launch of the Pennine RU. In 1970, Seddon took over Atkinson Lorries to form Seddon Atkinson, in 1974 International Harvester bought Seddon Atkinson, later Pegaso took over
19320-469: Was to Mr Hillditch's standard single-deck outline of the time with a large projecting two-line destination indicator above the BET-style double curvature screen, This large and legible advertisement projected from a rounded front dome, with a similar rounded rear-end. These were specified for limited-stop 'trans-pennine' services and in the year after delivery became the 'top-shed' buses for Calderdale JOC (which
19460-428: Was used, offside and nearside emergency doors were fitted. A wide two-leaf entry/exit door was fitted forward of the front axle to ensure grant-compliance, and the front was basically flat with a very large angled flat-glass windscreen surmounted by a peak reminiscent of a British Rail 'Western' diesel-hydraulic locomotive. Luggage was contained in underfloor wheelbase lockers as in contemporary Bristol RE coaches. It spent
19600-425: Was very simple in style, and a system that in its basics, lasted from 1933 to 1975 consisting of a number for weight (initially estimated payload, but after 1964 maximum gross vehicle or gross-train weight) then a second number for wheels and then the number of cylinders, assuming initially vertically mounted Gardner LW series engines. Thus an Atkinson 646 would have been a 6-ton payload 4x2 wagon with four wheels and
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