London Buses-Leyland Titans in Welling & Bexleyheath 1999
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- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- Another bus vid now, Leyland Titans in South East London. Taken in 1999 just before they were due to be withdrawn we see them at work in Welling and Bexleyheath with the odd NV as well. If you liked the video please subscribe to my channel, there are lots more transport & quirky vids to upload!
Love the sound of a Gardner !!! Best engine ever- sound better than any of the Dennis products or optares or the mans. The Gardner engine was ultra reliable and is it any wonder that many are still in use- even on today’s fairground rides for generating power and in fairground transport. Although man Mercedes volvo and scania seem to be taking over in fairs. Have to say though some are very impressive such as Abie Danters Scania 4 axle 144 530 V8
Yes, gardners are good, solid engines. I've had many a happy day driving Titans & Metros around, all Gardner powered....
In the 2000s the Plaxton Presidents are now being used on all London Central routes and sometimes brand new Enviro 400s which is normally for the 486 occasionally appear aswell
In 2004 some Marshall Capitals on the 244, 469 and B16 got replaced by Plaxton Pointers from London General which the London General logo got replaced by the London Central logo on all of the newer Dual Door versions and some older Single Door versions which kept the London General logo on it and some from New Cross Bus Garage which were painted black underneath in place of the mediam grey just like some of the Marshall Capitals did and the older Plaxton Pointers were introduced on the B11 which has been won from Arriva Kent Thameside and Some Marshall Capitals are staying at Bexleyheath to mainly work the B12 and the spare often on the 244 and other routes
this is my area. Takes me back. I was in year 11 then and used to take the 89 to Bexleyheath every morning :)
I have film of Titan's at Hornchurch and Upminster. A friend of mine goes crazy over it, like you he grew up in that area and it takes him right back.
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus you should have done more of the titans in north london, east london which we never knew there were in different area of north London instead of the bloody Root masters !! 🤪😂😈
You are just spoiling me with another Great video.😁
Had me looking carefully to see if any of these went to Liverpool. MTL and GTL.
Have driven most of the Glenvale Titans.
Very popular buses at Gillmoss depot.
Then Stagecoach took us over and got rid of the lot.
We had a Titan running day before they all came off,and i got to drive T1 which came up for the road show.
I think we had them longer than LT had them.
Thanks for another excellent trip down memory lane👍
I aim to please! LT had Titan's from around September 1978 until Go-Ahead at Camberwell finished with theirs around 2005 time (not forgetting Blue Triangle used theirs on TFL routes as well, the 185 in particular had a lot when they ran that route) so that would be about 27 years. I'm not sure when the first Titan's went to Merseyide but i was still bashing & filming them in around 2002/03. I remenber driving T1 when it was on loan to Blue Triangle for rail replacement in 2007, it is now owned by the former owner of BT who owns 'The London Bus Company' (amongst other things like the Epp-Ong railway). I have some East End Titan's at work in the late 80s which i will get up at some point.
The Leyland Titans have been scrapped in February 2007 and the Volvo Olympians have been used as training buses and moved to other operators outside london such as Arriva, FirstGroup and Stagecoach
The Titans went long before 2007. Some probably got scrapped and others sold on to smaller operators ie Blue Triangle and Sullivan Buses for instance.
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I know that Blue Triangle ran them on East London replacement routes and, when they picked it up, they ran them on route 248 between Romford and Cranham until they could get hold of a low floor replacement. Beyond that, I still see T1 occasionally but ISTR large numbers went north.
Leyland Titans were also used by Blue Triangle Rainham on route 474 - from Canning Town Hermit Road to East Beckton District Centre and vice versa.
The Volvo Olympians can be seen on a variety of double decker routes from Bexleyheath Bus Garage as well including the 89, 229, 401 and the 422 as they didn't stick to their prescribed routes like the 51 and the 492 like other bus garages did
Thanks for the info.....
I used to go on the Leyland titans to bexleyheath on the 89 when i was little when it was going to Lewisham station nd i used to go on the Volvo Olympians which is normally used for the 51 and the 492 aswell to bexleyheath on the 89
Back in 2002/03 i drove the 185s and had mostly Titan's on it with just the odd Metrobus and used to have meal reliefs at Lewisham quite regularly. Lovely buses to drive were the Titans even though they were at the end of their careers.
I thought Stagecoach Selkent and East London have withdrawn their Titans in 2001
Yes, i'm sure they had gone but other operators brought them. The 185s had been worked by Durham Travel but their bus operation ran out of money, the recievers were called in and operations finished at 16.00 one afternoon! All the buses were pulled in off the road while Blue Trainagle was brought in to cover the route using whatever buses they had available including ex Stagecoach & Lodon Central Titans!
A year later the Leyland Titans were withdrawn from service in favor of the newer Low-Floor Plaxton Presidents and the Volvo Olympians were still in service untill 2006
Why did these Volvo Olympians had single doors in london? they normally have dual doors in london
I was always intrigued by the skinny rear hubs on the Titan/Olympians compared to the Nationals/Leopards/Tigers.
They look to be AEC derived.
Some Leyland trucks used them as well.
89 was my local route no as a child and Deanes ran Nationals and 33ft Swift 505s and 36ft heavy Swifts with 760 engines among others, on this little suburban route.
Leyland took over AEC and it was they & Park Royal who built the first 250 Titan's, so it all fits together.
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus The first lot were actually manufactured at the Southall Plant before closure in 1979? I do know it quietly ceased to be AEC by 1977 and essentially became a Leyland facility, though still using AEC technology.
@@jamesfrench7299 Yes, the first 250 were built there. When LT committed to buying more Leyland move production to Workington, the first 13 or so built there had varying amount of parts from AEC at Southall!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus that's incredible. Thanks for the fun facts!!!
10 years later the route 469 which was going to bexleyheath got replaced by route 99 which is operated by Selkent using existing ALX400 bodied Dennis Tridents and sometimes Scania Omnicitys which is normally for the 51 and the 96
Excellent! More bus stuff always welcome.
I have quite a lot more but they don't seem to get as many viewers as the railway vids. I will keep uploading though, especially if a certain type proves popular.
some Volvo Olympians occasionally appear on all London Central routes in Bexleyheath aswell untill the Plaxton Presidents arrive in 2000 if the Titans have gone in for service, used as training buses and if the Titans are being withdrawn
Which areas of London were the Titans usually to be found and also the Metrobuses? Are any left in London today. They lasted much longer than the DMS Fleetlines. Add the 1125 Titans and 1440 Metrobuses, that is 2565 buses, almost the same number of DMS Fleetlines, 2646 and Routemasters, 2760.
There were more Metros than Titans. To begin with the Titans worked in Tower, Forest and Selkent Bus Operating Districts, Metros in the rest of London. With route tendering losses vehicles were moved around more in order to replace Routemasters plus some bus districts were abolished and garages moved into different ones which might involve a swap of buses as well......crazy times the 1980s.....
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus very interesting to know
This was the year before the Plaxton Presidents begain to replace older buses mainly Titans and Volvo Olympians NVs on the on the 89, 229, 401 and the 422 but the Volvo Olympians NVs were still going strong on the 51 and the 492 and some of the Titans are still used as spare buses for all routes in Bexleyheath and some Titans are being used as Training Buses
5 years later the Marshall capitals were painted black underneath the red and the buses on route 428 were painted red at the same time
both Leyland Titans and the Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympians were both replaced by newer Low Floor Plaxton Presidents in 2000
Yes, i'm sure the Titans went first but then they got around to the newer step-high vehicles.
Would you have any for footage for other parts of Kent Dartford, Crayford, Bexleyheath, Welling, Belvedere, Swanley, Orpington in the 80's??
I have some footage of RM's on the 53's in Woolwich and Plumstead plus more Titans in SE Lon
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus You mean also in Kent as Dartford, Swanley, Bexleyheath etc are in Kent-When could you upload them??
@@mikekaraoke I am away from home until mid July (making some new bids!) but will make it soon as I'm away working at the Great British Beer Festival in early August! (I get around a bit!)
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Yea no problem, So when do you think you could upload some 80's footage from them part of Kent-If your home mid July maybe late July?
Where you from :-)
We are now in mid Sept, Haven't heard from you, How was the Great British Beer Festival last month :-)
Ah 89 bus still use it occasionally
This is great!! I love such clips - the more they age the greater they become. I spotted several Marshall Darts in the background as well - would you have any clips of those as well by any chance? Thank you
At the time i was really only interested in the ex London Transport vehicles and so chased them. At one time i only really went after Routemasters as they were being withdrawn rapidy in the mid to late 80s, and shift work meant only a limited amount of time to do things. Now, of course i wish i had done more...such is life!!!
Why my baby titans not clean and why were the white ribbons still on the titans, our titans in east london took the white ribbons and gone back to red without the white ribbons back in the 80’s
The first 37 or so Titans had whiote upper decks but it was phased out quickly. The late 80s London Buses livery had a white strip around them and i think London Central carried this on.....
@Soi Buakhao The same White ribbons seen on the Volvo Olympians normally used on the 51 and the 492
this is the same time when buses on routes B12, B15, B16, 244 and the 469 were paint grey underneath the red and the buses on routes B11, B13, 286 and the 428 were painted blue and white
I never really kept up with non LT vehicles but eventually everything went back to LT red by decree.
I remember these old beauties. Didn't LT nearly have 1400 of them in London in the 1980's? They were great solid buses in their day.
There were 1125 built new for LT plus ones they brought second-hand (i remember 5 ex Birmingham ones arriving in 1984). It was the Metrobus that had 1440 MkI's and two MkII's. I have driven both and prefer the Titan.
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Oh thanks for correct me. I knew it was one of them that had around that amount and great video by the way. I think I have just been persuaded by this video to get a couple of the EFE models as I grew up with the Leyland Titans,
Love em, Fro,m when i was 11 until the age of 17, i traveled on the Titan B15 (didn't know tats what it was) but i traveled EVERY single day on a choice of 3. The main one, Route number 53 (i think it was 3), It went from Woolwich where i lived next to the Army Barracks, and brought me all the way out to Black Heath where my school was. (is it the 53 route? or 51? i don't think there was a 52 out there).
Then, i have a horrible childhood, so my dad was an alco, and my step mother abused me, we lived in Woolwich, and we always used to get kicked out, So we'd have to get the bus up the road from us, either the 122 or the 161. Which would bring us out to Eltham, where my aunt lived.
Now can someone answer this, When i was young (this is f*cked up lol) i used to favor the 122 over the 161, i always kinda thought the 122 was a nice bus.. like it was the best one, my comfortable bus, because it stopped a LITTLE bit closer to where we were going both ways, but not just because of that, the number 122 on the bus just looked more friendly and nicer to my kids brain than the nasty scary old 161!! anyway.
Can someone tell me when the 161 changed routes? it used to go the same way as the 122, all the way from woolwich, across and up through woolwich common, all the way down over shooters hill, and would go straight up past the train station.
But i noticed someone on a 161, and on plumstead common, it diverged? and seemed to go the back way past a military hospital or something, (brook hospital?)
And only joined back on the 122's route at the top of shooters hill.
That'll tell you how long it's been since i left London and am living in ireland now!
Also one other questions. I remember, ONE of the buses, or maybe 2 that i road on (they were all Layland B15,s i loved them) but one of them had Yellow front doors... what was that for?
The 122 didn't i think it was the 52.
ALSO, when did they get rid of that horrible Yellow orange and black chequered color design on the upholstry of the chairs in the B15s? Thats the ones i remember, remined me of Wasps colors lol.
ONE LAST QUESTION.
Alot of the time, in those B15s, and you often hear it on big trucks when they stop, you hear a big THSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhh noise, like a release of pressure or alot of air or something, what was that? THANK YOU! this trusty bus brought me to safety from an abusive home, it brought me to my place of education. Spent alot of time on those wasp colored seats. And i used to love the sound of the engine. Another thing was, there was a bend in the road near my house, where when the bus went around it, it REALLY f*cking tipped over to one side, and i used to sit on the other side of the bus at the top sepcifically so when he went around this bend, i didn't fall over lol. The faster he went the worse it was, and i used to think my weight would knock it over. Sometimes i got brave as i got older, i'd sit at the front and lean right into the window as it went around the corner lol. Anyway! good old days
i thought buses on route 51 are normally oerated by Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympians
Nice one Soi. Any London Metrobus film?
Yes, i have Metros and will get some up.
Thanks I miss the Titan growl
Interesting comparison with Titans in earlier films, the fleet clearly misses the days of Aldenham overhauls.
They never got Aldenham overhauls! Aldenham shut around 1986, the newest Titans had only just been delivered and the early ones never saw the place apart from accident damage repairs or some repaints. When LT Buses finished proper that's when the general repair regime went downhill big time!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Are you positive about this? I'm sure the very first T's (THX-S & a few WYV-Ts, 1978-79 initial batch deliveries) would have caught the overhaul cycle just before the advent of LRT in June 1984, which led to the setting up of London Buses Ltd/London Underground Limited the following year, and the closure of Aldenham in 1986
Yes, you're correct. I've been digging a bit and some of the early ones did indeed go to Aldenham for overhaul. How many went through i don't know before it all stopped. I remember a Titan at West Ham that flew into the gargae and hit one of the roof supporting coloums. It bent the steel beam and pushed the cab back about 6 inches! That went to Aldenham for repair and that would have been late 1985/early 1986. I remember an RLST RM appearing one weekend having been released from Aldenham and needing some attention at WH before being sent to Battersea so the works was still spitting out buses in this period. A sad end to a great engineering workshops, i only ever went around their twice on the two LT open days in 1979 & 83 but it was quite a spectacular experience!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus Thanks for the confirmation! Yes I was sure that a portion of the initial batch (T1-T250) would have caught the overhaul cycle; that West Ham machine underwent significant bodywork repairs at Aldenham after that event, yes - I've got photos of that somewhere. It was pretty severe! It is extremely sad that the once proud institution that was London Transport no longer exists; Aldenham was a world-class engineering and maintenance setup, the largest in the world; I'm sorry I missed it all. Thanks by the way for your fantastic video documentation and sharing of all this historic material; I'm following most of it and will catch up on others that I've not yet seen. Keep up the bus/train uploads, anything from the 80s/90s is of great interest, any classic M/T/DMS operation is also welcome :) Cheers, Alex
I have some DMS's at work in Central London plus as trainers going into & out of Chiswick Works, some of my earliy filming back in 1985/86. I will get it up at some point. If i remember there were MkII Nationals on Red Arrow's and the odd H class or early L during that experimental period when they tried out several diiferent types of bus. It was 30+ years ago but it doesn't seem like it!
i thought buses on routes 51 and the 492 are normally operated by Northern Counties Palatine bodied Volvo Olympians
The Volvo's were booked but when they were short of vehicles a Titan would do.
Prohaps the Volvo Olympians are being used on the 89, 229 and the 422
How do you send bus routes to different operators? By writing to TFL
We don't! Route contracts are awarded by TfL, normally for 5 years with extensions for good performance. Operators put in a tender which has to adhere to TfL's contract. TfL then decide who has the 'best' tender which doesn't have to be the cheapest! If a particular route is under-performing and TfL gets lots of complaints then it won't be good for that operator come route tendering for any routes in a particular area!
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus if it's an extreme circumstance
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I thought the Titans are replaced by Volvo Olympians on the 492
@@lewisculverwellvlogs9789 Not really sure, at the time i was just chasing the Titan's before they were withdrawn! I know low floor buses were being introduced at this time and companies like Stagecoach were quite happy to replace not so old buses in London as it had other companies to move them off to!
this is the same time when Bluewater opened to the public
Not sure, as i've never been there!
lewis culverwell Yes, Bluewater opened in about April or May 1999?
@@MarineAqua45 It is actually March 1999
باصات لايلند احسن الباصات ليش ماترجعوه صناعته بريطانيه بدل فولقو السويديه
A prefix with black and white number plates 😮
LT had permission to use B&W plates upto 1984. The last MkI Metrobus M1440 had B&W plates and afterthat the Olympians had the more normal white/yellow ones.
Me too now
Never knew the 89 used to go to New Cross Gate???
Some of the 89 was worked by New Cross buses so this one was probably working back to garage for crew change (the 73's did the same when RM operated, would run past Stoke Newington to Tottenham Swan for crew change/running in)
Soi Buakhao thanks, I used to live around Blackheath and I do now vaguely remember the NX journey’s, I wish the 89 would be extended to New Cross, I also recall a few 89’s used to run to Bexley Village in the AM peaks
@@JayJay-nc7pr the 89 doesn't go to Bexley Village that's the 229
Lewis Culverwell I know it doesn’t go there, but some school journeys in the 90s did have some 89’s run to Bexley
Me too, even though I’m from the north side of the river
Jeez A reg
Can you do Buses in Dartford in 2001?
I have never filmed buses in Dartford......
@@SoiBuakhaoRoutemasterbus I ment upload