ETO452C Leyland Atlantean PDR1A with Metro Cammel Weyman Bodywork
Chassis No.L40453 Body No. Not allocated.
452 is a 14ft 2.75 inch high Leyland Atlantean built with a 6ft 1 inch headroom in the lower saloon and 6 ft in the upper. It is an early example of the Nottingham 'Standard' with interchangeable windows, seats and doors. As with other early Atlanteans it is fitted with a Daimler Fleetline gearbox and transfer box.
It was new in October 1965 (Licence applied for on 23rd of September 1965). As shown in this view it was built to seat 76, H45/31F format, being rebuilt by Seddon in February 1971 (rebuild no.RB848) to a 72 seater entrance/ separate exit layout H45/27D. The bus recieved two repaints during its time with Nottingham. Then in March 1981 with the imminent arrival of the new Leyland AN68's it was renumbered 52.
Withdrawn and stored at Parliament Street depot in May 1981 its initial disposal was to Smiths of Alcester, near Stratford on 15th of May 1981 for £650+Vat, being collected on 29th of May 1981.
Life at the Fire Services College !
By September 1985 the vehicle had passed to the Home Office for use with the Fire Service at their Moreton In The Marsh training college. For over a decade the bus remained a runner, being driven onto the training ground when required and garaged undercover at other times. Despite showing interest in 452 on several occassions since 1991 by the time of our visit in October 1998 it had become centrepiece in a mock up RTA incident, having been rolled onto its side and righted again, several times. Despite this the majority of the structure remained undamaged so the decision was taken to acquire the vehicle for preservation. At the same our founder member, Simon agreed to take the Massey bodied Leyland PD2 484EFJ originating with Exeter as part of the deal.
Getting her back to Nottingham
Following one final excercise in terms of righting the bus using airbags and after remedial bodywork involving many many cable ties the bus was ready to make its journey back to Nottingham. With the team of Bob Yarnell, Mick Conroy and myself, Simon Lowings and the use of the ex Trent AEC Militant wrecker (at that time all part of the Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre at Ruddington) the bus was towed back at a rapid 30mph !
452 prior to the return journey to Nottingham
On arrival back at the NTHC the vehicle was registered contrary to agreement to a third party on behalf of the centre. It is quite ironic that this vehicle led directly to the establishment of the Notts & Derby Heritage Transport Group, latterly Nottingham Heritage Vehicles. After seeing a vehicle of such local significance being left to decay our new group spent a further 6 years attempting to reacquire it.
452 pictured at Ruddington alongside the now destroyed Last Albion Lowlander LNN89E and the former Trent Daimler Fleetline RCH518F, also acquired by ourselves.
Rescued for a second time !
On the 11th March 2006 452 was removed from Ruddington by ourselves to a secure yard in Derbyshire for work to commence. This was achieved with the assistance of HCR Commercial Recovery of Hucknall.
Work commences
Since acquisition a little over a year ago, and despite the demands of other projects we have to date managed to rebuild the entire roof structure where required, which involved fitting new roof sticks as the original ones were buckled.All lower saloon panels have been removed to enable the replacement of the steel floor rail and side structure bar along both sides of the vehicle. To enable this intensive work to be carried out it has been necessary to remove the lower saloon flooring.
Replacement of framework
Along with replacing much of the steel structure we have also rebuilt the vehicle to its original front enrance layout. This has been quite a mammoth task owing to the quality of the conversion carried out by Seddon in the 1970's. As you can see from the image shown none of the original structure was assumed to be rot free - all areas were checked, treated and where necessary replaced.
Returned to single door layout after 26 years !
Now that the nearside is structurally complete (except for the rear end) we have moved onto rebuilding the stairs - or rather removing them to recreate in their original position immediately behind the driver. The nature of the conversion to dual door has meant that the main electrical loom requires resighting within the vehicle as it currently runs where the staircase should be ! This work should keep us busy for many months yet !
Mechanical overhaul
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