BusTalk

[mac]

This is my bus I bought for preservation April 2009.
It was fresh out of service after being in use for 31 years on public service!
Its a 1978 Leyland Atlantean AN68 11.1 litre diesel 5 speed semi automatic.
High capacity 86 seater double deck bus.
I bought it from a small time operator in Deri, South Wales after it had been used on school runs for the past 8 years.
It was brand new to the then, Tyne and Wear Transport PTE as fleet number 276.
Tyne and Wear transport was the local major bus operator at that time.
My dad was also a driver for Newcastle Busways in which T&W transport became in deregulation of the bus companies in 1986 and indeed drove this very bus in service.
That was 1 of the reasons for purchasing the Vehicle.
The other reason was it cost me £600 to buy.
Registration number: SCN276S.
A few emails, phone calls and 2 trips to Deri in South Wales and now the proud owner of this:








Bought it from a company in south wales who had 6 of these they were disposing of after the local council decided double deckers couldnt be used on school runs so they were replaced with coaches.
This particular bus is a 1978 Leyland Atlantean and was new the the Tyne and Wear PTE as bus 276.
It still had its private plate on when I bought it but ive had its original plate reinstated as the plan is restore it to its original condition and colours etc and take to classic shows.
I used it on sunday for my sons 10th birthday, we took him and all his mates to Hexham park in it for the day

We also drove it up to the Stagecoach depot at Byker and kindly asked them to put it through the wash... Which they did!









Got a couple pictures of the bus from the metro centre show (03/05/09).
Earned its 1st attendance plaque and also recieved some donations from members of the public to help towards having the damaged panels replaced and the bus painted into Newcastle Busways livery.





Ive been to the Barnsley bus scrapyards for various parts.
Ive decided to convert the bus back to fully automatic transmission as the current semi auto setup isnt very good. Ive had a couple drivers mistaken reverse for 5th gear and thats not good when ya doing like 30mph!!
Also it should make the bus a bit more original as it was fully auto when new.
I have bought another warning light panel as the original setup was faulty so I bought another unit and refurbished it.









Thats the bus so far, hope you like it!

[Cyberider]

Nice bus, Mac! Thanks for sharing and welcome to BusTalk.

[Mr. Linsky]

mac,

I'll second Cyberider's motion in welcoming you to BusTalk and say that we very much look forward to your valuable input especially from the other side of the pond.

Great pictures, and it wouldn't surprise me if I haven't ridden on at least one of those LD's in my many sojourns to the Isles.

Thanks for sharing, and looking for more photos.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY