Hello From 5185 HA

[DickyOB]

Hi. My name is Dicky and I have just bought a Leyland Leopard Willowbrook 1963, reg number 5185 HA. I had no knowledge of the history of the bus other than South Cambridge council turn her into a mobile workshop and rest room. So I am very pleased to find this site and my bus listed on your site in the historic fleet. I thought I'd let you know how she's doing and what she’s been up to.
She was painted, quite nicely by the last owner some 25 or 30 years ago and then just sat in a barn until last summer when the sale of the barn forced a move. She was then parked up on a Cricket pitch and used as a changing room, where I saw and brought her. With battery’s and a air leak on the pressure control valve fixed... well, slowed, she was able to drive to her new home at my friends farm, back in a barn, just a couple of mile away. not that I would drive the bus on the road if it was not legal but she could have done. She is now in the dry again and awaiting the new stage in her life. She is in pretty good shape and drives stops very well. Of course she will need a good going over before a MOT but first I need some windows to get her water tight and the control valve, maybe someone could put me in touch with the right person to help there.

I'm a truck mechanic by trade but only work on new stuff so this will be a learning experience for me. If anyone has some advice that would be great.

One important question I have is how many of these busses are left and would it be a crime to turn her into a mobile home. I have this mind when I bought her as she is quite a way off being a bus again with most of her seat missing and half of the luggage rack on one side. I know if there is a donor bus out there that has seats but is too far gone to save this could be a possible future for her. I’m sure there are some that may have strong views on this but that’s why I ask before I decide what to do. It would not be for me as a bus but I will enjoy getting her ready for the road first before taking any next step and pass her on to her next life.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I hope you enjoy the pictures sorry its a mess just there are taken as is

20171123_123732.jpg

IMG-20171123-WA0000.jpeg

20170803_171449.jpg

20170803_171444.jpg

20170803_171532.jpg

[AdamH]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Your post was a big surprise to me as I was under the impression the only LS18 left is the one at The Transport Museum. Their example looks in good shape from the outside but I believe it has no seat as it is a rescued camper conversion. I’m told it also has very bad chassis rot and is unlikely to ever see the road again, so if you can get an MOT yours will be unique.

Thank you very much for posting the photos, without them I would have thought April 1st had come early!

Adam.

[DD12]

Hi Dicky - Great surprise thank you !

It's a pity I haven't won anything big on the lottery because I would love to have this preserved and restored as a bus rather than a mobile home -
- I'm very fond of the LS18s.

I shall email someone at The Bus Museum, Wythall to make sure he sees your post - they might be very interested in seeing your vehicle before you make any changes !

[943KHA]

Glad to see that it still survives. Many years ago, I suspect around the turn of the millennium some of our members from the Museum went to look at it whilst still in the care of Cambridge CC. Somehow after that it went off the radar. Looks good especially in the cab department. Notice that it is still on DVLA's system so that is promising!

[MattW]

Looks fantastic!
I'm sure there's plenty to be getting on with though!

[AdamH]

Re: The History of 5185HA.

I guess if you are not from around these parts the history of the vehicle in the website database will be mostly meaningless to you, with the various allocation codes. So I will explain in more detail...

New (6/63) as type LS18A to Birmingham & Midland Motor OC Ltd. (Midland “Red”), Birmingham as F/No 5185. To service (6/63) – DH. RY (11/64). Fitted for one-man operation (12/68). Reseated (4/71) to B53F layout. Reclassified (4/71) to type LS18. u (9/76). LN (10/76). u (4/77). HD (11/77). Withdrawn (3/78).
Passed to South Cambridgeshire District Council (5/79) as mobile workshop.

Type LS18A means it was a "Dual-Purpose" vehicle, which was basically a bus fitted with coach seats for use on long distance work. It would have had 48 seats rather than the 53 that were found in the regular bus versions (type LS18). Also, as a dual-purpose vehicle it would have been painted with a black roof.

To service (6/63) – DH. Tells us it entered service at Digbeth depot (DH) in June 1963. Digbeth was one of the companies largest depots, located right in the heart of Birmingham City Centre. It would have had a busy life there!

RY (11/64). Shows it was moved to Rugby Depot (RY) in Noverber 1964. This was another busy depot and is still in use today, now owned by Stagecoach and home to a lot of their Megabus operations.

Fitted for one-man operation (12/68). This means it was modified to be used without a Conductor. So the driver would have got a ticket machine and cash tray etc.

Reseated (4/71) to B53F layout. Reclassified (4/71) to type LS18. The coach seats were removed in April 1971 and replaced by 53 standard bus seats. The bus was then downgraded for normal bus work - no more long-distance work. The back roof would have also gone, so now it would have been in overall red livery.

u (9/76). u= Unallocated. This means it did not belong to any depot. This could have been for a number of reasons, but most common was that is was being used as a spare vehicle and would have been sent to whatever depot needed it.

LN (10/76). LN= Leamington Spa Depot

HD (11/77). HD= Hereford depot.

This last one is of interest to me because I worked part-time at Hereford depot before it closed in 2015. Just before Christmas I was in the City for a reunion of former staff and the LS18 type was mentioned, being a favourite of two of the drivers there. They asked if I knew of any ex-Hereford LS18s that had survived and I had to report there were none... I will correct that error when I get a chance!!

Adam.

[DickyOB]

Wow! OK, let me start by saying she's not going to be a mobile home.

I'm very glad I checked with you guys. I have a love for all classic vehicles so would not do anything to such a rare one. If I told you my plan for her I think you'd cry. As when I build a vehicle I do it for practical use with respect but not to save the history. I understand that this maybe a true last one saveable and she has to go back as a bus. The chassis is very good as is the frame and floors, panel work and the drive train. I've never smiled with pure joy as much as when I didn't drive this bus on the road to the farm. The gearbox works a dream the brakes work great and even the lights all work. Feeding the heavy steering with that big wheel was a total joy. She needs some rubber brake pipes and steel air pipes changed. there are some nuts missing from the half shafts, maybe from a tow? as the diff sounds and feels good. tyres are slightly cracked but keep air, The bus is in very good shape. So its still in Cambridgeshire and if anyone want to come and have a look or drive then contact me. no rush or panic she not going anywhere and I will not touch her. Even if you just want to have a look then that’s fine with me. Thank you for the lovely info on her and taking the time to explain all the codes that give her history. It does mean something to me as someone very special to me has lived in the area that this bus worked so through her I am connected to her roots.

[DickyOB]

My girlfriend found this gem for me, a picture of 5185 HA brand new with the black roof, as you mentioned Adam. I told you she was special… http://www.classictransportpictures.co. ... 56373.html

[chason]

What a find and in pretty much driveable condition too! And how reassuring to know that it's in the hands of somebody who not only cares but also sounds as if he knows what he is doing.

I was a Midland Red enthusiast around the heyday of the LS18s and LS18As and I have to say the latter were amongst my favourite vehicles. From new, they were regular performers on the twice daily X91 Hereford to Leicester service, in its time, the longest stage carriage service in the country. They were superb vehicles to travel in and I never missed an opportunity to use it whenever I could or had enough time and spare cash to purchase a Day Anywhere ticket.

I have to say that I was always somewhat reluctant to admit my preference for these vehicles for, as you may know, Midland Red was unique in manufacturing its own vehicles which made up the vast majority of its fleet. Most of my enthusiast friends tended to look down on anything not actually made in its own Carlyle Road workshops but I always felt that the comfort and ride of the LS18As gave them the edge over anything that up to then Midland Red had designed and made.

Congratulations on your acquisition and thank you for sharing your ideas with us. I wish you every success with her.

[AdamH]

To add to the above, Midland Red had been building their own buses and coaches since the early 1920s, and before the war they never bought any new vehicle made by anyone else. During and after the war, difficult times saw the company buy double-deck buses from the likes of AEC, Leyland, Guy, and Daimler, to supplement production of their one double-deck designs, but the single-deck bus and coach fleet was always 100% home built by Midland Red.

By the early 1960s, the company was the second largest bus operator in the UK, behind London Transport, and had a fleet of almost 2,000 vehicles operating across the Midlands. Their factory in Birmingham was struggling to build buses fast enough to meet demand so, for the first time in 40-years (yes, 40!) they placed an order to buy single-deck buses from someone else.

The order was for 100 Leyland Leopard buses with bodywork by Weymann or Willowbrook (50 examples each). Delivery started in December 1962 and the order was complete by August 1963.

After that, Midland Red went back to normal and except for 10 more Leopards in 1967, all future buses were home made. It all came to an end in 1970 as the company was now owned by the Government, and so was Leyland, so the Midland Red production lines closed and Leyland vehicles were bought in vast numbers.

As mentioned above, at the time they were seen as outsiders and overlooked by most enthusiasts, but 55-years later it is defiantly cause for celebration that one has been found!