Bendy Buses

[Plain Talker 11]

The modern bendy buses are used a lot in York, they look very slick and streamlined at the side of the old ones, one thing I can't understand, the engines are in the rear portion, I wonder which wheels they drive? The original MAN and Leylands were like a conventional single decker with a trailer pulled by the front unit.

I think the York buses operated by First Bus, are Volvo's with a Wright body.

 

The York ones are called the "FTR".

 

There are a few, belonging to first West Yorkshire, working the number 4 route in l**ds.

[NigelT 10]

Don't get excited about the bendy buses in York - they are a nuisance to other road users because they are too big and often block 2 lanes at traffic lights. They are known locally as "purple slugs" and the "ftr" they painted on them soon became known as "free travel for residents" because they put the driver (he's called a "pilot""!!!) where he couldn't sell tickets, so they rely on machines which are ..er.. unreliable, or put on a conductor (remember them?!) to sell tickets, thereby doubling their manning costs at a stroke. Sheer genius! Stick to your double deckers, Sheffield - they're a lot better.

P.S Didn't a bendy-bus also get stuck on the roundabout, when there was one, at the junctions of Townhead/West/Leopold/Church Street back in the '80s as well? Couldn't go forwards and couldn't go backwards - don't know how they resolved that one?!

[wolfstalin 10]

I know this is an old thread so haven't read it all, but here my additions\corrections to post number seven from Andy.

 

Eight Bendy Busses were leased by the PTE in 1981 from Mann of Germany. Four went into service on the city Clipper rout number 500 and 501 for Christmas of that year. Four were held at East Bank RD Garage and were taken apart by Leyland Daf personnel.

 

Leayland had on a number of occasions attempted to build an articulated bus bus failed to make the bit in the middle work with the transmission. They had tried a number of time to get hold of a Mann vehicle but had been refused and the 'deal' with the PTE was their last but successfully attempt to do this.

 

After they had satisfied that they had come up with the right reverse engineering solution the Mann busses were sent back to Germany and 12 Leayland daf vehicles were sent to Sheffield to replace them on basically a free lease for five years.

 

Unfortunately they hadn't quite fixed the problem and they had to be sent back to be fixed but returned abut 2 years later as I remember.

[little malc 10]

Re the Leyland buses, we thought they were very poor at the side of the MAN vehicles, they were basicaly a lash up of a Leyland National with a trailer added.

They used to "droop" slightly in the middle, and when going round Leopold island would "ground" in the concertina area, altogether a very poor alternative.

[wolfstalin 10]

I don't know why they didn't fix it but that was a big difference between the two, even in that shot of the leyland coming into pond st you can see the bend drooping on the force of the bus breaking to go around the corner, the man version had a hydraulic lift in the center on both halves that kept both in line with each other but the leyland had nothing simply nothing as if the problem didn't exist

[speeder 10]

When the law was changed they were used on the 56 service (Wybourn) i cant remember them on stocksbridge services.

 

They were used on the X57/8? service which ran through the estates, I remember catching them home from my dads to Wharncliffe Side, used them mainly at weekends and evenings, when there were not enough passengers for a double decker

[alexander874 17]

The  South Yorkshire Transport Museum has at least one of each of the "Clipper" name plates that were named by local schools.

[TimeBandit52 10]

I was informed that they were taken out of service because the law at the time said that passengers were not allowed to travel in an articulated vehicle. 

[drolnhoj 15]

1 hour ago, TimeBandit52 said:

I was informed that they were taken out of service because the law at the time said that passengers were not allowed to travel in an articulated vehicle. 

You may be right but I thought it was because they couldn't charge people for travelling in articulated vehicles. Hopefully our local historians will clarify.