This is a hand finished model of an “O” bus that my brother recently got for me. It was made by a gentleman who lives somewhere in North Yorkshire. It looks quite authentic with the spattering of mud along the sides and rear. Also detailed is the address of the General Manager and Engineer, WC Wilson, whose department was in Church Road. Presumably that was in the new Council Offices. Has anyone any idea of the capacity of these buses and what was engine and horsepower?
Photographs and details courtesy of Fred Starr.
Picture Stockton Archive 
Never heard conductors referred to as clippies! Wasn’t it only for conductresses?
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I remember the introduction of these buses taking over from the open platform buses; this had the effect of stopping you either jumping on after the bus had moved off or jumping off between stops if the bus stopped at traffic lights. Most people were not happy! I think I recall correctly that the gear box was a box/lever next to the steering wheel and the drivers would carry a pencil in their left hand to pop into a slot allowing them to jump two gears; i.e. to jump say second to fourth. At first they still had clippies but later became OMO? Does this “gentleman who lives somewhere in North Yorkshire” do this for a living?
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Had a lot of fun with Semi and fully Automatic gear boxes Graham. The first I drove was a Lanchester Car, change lever on the steering wheel and you put it in the next gear you wanted first then kicked down on the change pedal. I also drove a Daimler Bus with semi automatic box not as smooth but still a good change.
In the Army most armoured vehicles were auto or semi auto Wilson gear boxes, all had fluid flywheels and no clutch. The Infantry lads would come in with their clutches gone on the Saladin and Saracen armoured cars they would say as they could not get any gears. I would say park it up and come back tonight? the looks I got, change a clutch in a few hours? When they left I would say to a fitter give it twenty five and a run round. The change mechanism on the gear box had self tightening nuts on each belt, if the change pedal (not a clutch) was not hit hard enough it did not self tighten so no gear change.The fitter kicked it down hard 25 times and it was fixed.
The driver would come for his vehicle all fixed and ready to go, thus us REME miracle workers got an accolade, “they can change a clutch in a couple of hours” we all have our secrets.
Some Automatics have a pressure switch on the base of the gear box as the pressure rises it flicks into another gear. The total strip down of those boxes was a bit of a pig, each sun and set of planetary gears had to be correctly assembled and shimmed and we did it in the field.
Frank.
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it is a Leyland Atlantian with a park royal body I have the model I got it from Hattons in Liverpool model number 18107 its the 0 service from Norton green to North Ormesby I used to travel to work on one from Tithebarn Road, Hardwick to the town when I worked at Hugils forge on Church Road they change colour in 1967 to Aqua Blue when they became Teesside Municipal Transport TMT for short before that they used Leyland PD2 Backloaders because I went to school on one when I lived in Bickersteth Street and later 97 Tithebarn Road, Hardwick. I now live in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex enjoying the sea air
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Aqua blue, is that what they called it? It was hideous! The old green was lovely.
I lived on the route of the 19 Billingham to Stockton and the 11 to Middlesbrough (for the speedway on Thursdays).
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Fred, it all depends on Rev set up for engine, the leyland 0600 type could be from 145 HP at 1500 RPM to 150HP at 2000 RPM. Bus engines were normally set at 2000RPM where as heavy Trucks would be 1500RPM.
The Atlantans were rear chassis engines cross mounted on the chassis and had many faults they would over heat, connecting pipes from front to rear corroded leaving stranded buses having to be towed back to the Depot.
Depending on the body set up between 70 to 80 Passengers could be carried and for ICI works buses often more.
As with all things Leyland poor planning and production lost them sales to Volvo Mercedes and even Fiat trucks and busses. Driving a Volvo F12 after driving a Leyland was like going from a banger to a Saloon, 9 hours in a F12 you could go dancing the same time in the Leyland put you into recovery mode and then along came Scania, “Oh Boy” a drivers truck at last.
Frank.
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WC Wilson probably taught most of my era to swim in the old baths
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His son Alan was in my class at Richard Hind Juniors and often arrived a few minutes late with very wet hair having been taken by his father for swimming lessons
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The busses were Leyland Atlanteans, and pioneered the rear – engine designs along with Daimler and Bristol Motors. I remember re-painting a Dinky or Corgi model into these Stockton Corporation colours for my eldest son. Don’t know whose loft it will be stored in now, but it will be somewhere.
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The bus look like a Bristol VTR with a transverse Gardner engine with a Voith gearbox.
It does not look like a Leyland Atlantan
Or a Daimler Fleetline as the engine bay
Does not protrude our from the rear of the bus.
Not sure of the seating capacity about 90.
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The bus looks like a Leyland Atlantean. Middlesbrough ran similar looking buses but these were Daimler Fleetliners. I’m sure if you Google these you’ll find something on them. Apparently Middlesbrough had problems with their buses, one of which I was involved with. I worked at the Stockton garage and because Middlesbrough were short of buses I was sent over to try and fix them. The problem was the failure of the bus speedo. The speedo was driven by a transducer mounted on the gearbox of the rear mounted engine. This transducer was only inches away from the rear wheel and directly in line with the spray in wet weather. In winter , as you know, it was mainly salt water and it found it’s way inevitably into the widget. Salt water and electrics mix very well and in a short time (pun intended) the transducer failed, along with the speedo. There s more to this story(obviously). I believe the problem was solved BT fitting a waterproof flexible drive to the gearbox which ran up under the rear seat to where the transducer was now mounted, safe and dry and well away from the salt spray. Hoping this is of some interest.
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I so remember the 0 bus and the 7 & 7A I think the bus became the 37 bus later on.
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In part of 1970 I was a bus conductor in my “gap year” from Ripon College of Education. It was Teesside Municipal Transport then, with turquoise buses. I worked at the Middlesbrough Garage, and as a Stockton lad I used to go places in the town I had never been to before in the job. This route was 36 and 39, and I think it started from North Ormesby. The route was nicknamed “the drag” as it followed virtually straight main roads all the way with little deviation. Don”t think the drivers liked it.
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B registration Leyland Atlantean I went to work at Stockton Corporation Transport when I was 18 in 1965 as a clippy (Conductor). I probably worked on this bus. They were first used on the “O” service Norton to North Ormesby, known by the staff as the “Drag”. Little did I know when I left in 1967 at 19 years, to venture into the wider world and have a career in the police, that I would retire and return to the same depot 30 years later, becoming a driver for Stagecoach until I finally retired as an OAP.
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