I've set up this page dedicated to images of PRV buses found "Around the World" that I hope visitors to this website will supply. So do you have some photos of PRV buses in non-UK locations? There are no prizes, no catch and no gimmicks! Just the immense pleasure and kudos of having your snaps displayed here! I will be pleased to credit you. And who knows, someone might wish to buy a print from you!
Please remember this website is for nostalgia and is not-for-profit!
(See also the page dedicated to Routemasters Around the World)
So to begin this page, two images by courtesy of Basil Hancock of RM 1708 with RT 3708 (and M450) at Tempe Bus Museum in Sydney, Australia on 25 July 2004 during their celebration of RM50.
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Björn
Forslund
kindly sent in his photograph of the only remaining Park Royal bodied AEC Regal in
Sweden; built in
1952 this AEC Regal Mark IV was restored during the 80's by the Linjebuss company but was eventually donated to the the Svenska Omnibusföreningen (Swedish Omnibus
Association) after Linjebuss was bought by Connex in the
90's. The photo, ©Björn
Forslund, was taken at the Swedish 100 year celebration of the first regular bus
service at Malmkoping in 1999; at that time it was still was owned by Linjebuss/Connex company.
Björn advises that, during the 1950s, about a hundred AECs were imported to Sweden. Approximately seventy were pre-built in the UK with PRV bodies and the rest were bodied in Sweden. The majority (about eighty), including all the PRV bodied buses, went to the Linjebuss company. However, when Sweden converted to right hand traffic¹, almost all AECs were scrapped. A few survived for some years converted for other duties and, since the mid 60's, one of them (No. 506) has been "resting" at a former scrap-yard in Varmland, near the Norwegian border; however, after an accident, 506 was rebuilt with a Swedish Arvika body.
PRV-bodied Regal Mk III:s were running on the Linjebuss
Company's international routes in Europe. The first opened in 1946 to Basel;
then Paris, Rome, Prague and more cities followed. It was at a time when most of the continental infrastructure
had been destroyed by bombing and by the Germans. For international duty, there were two drivers, alternating
three hours each at the steering wheel in a glass sealed cabin to reduce noise in the passenger compartment. A hostess took care of the
passengers and could communicate with the driver via an intercom. Distances could be up to about 500 km/day
with the nights spent in hotels. However, by
the mid fifties, air travel had expanded and the long distance bus routes became
unprofitable. Mr Johnson, the visionary main owner of Linjebuss, had an idea of
an operation similar to the Greyhound Lines in the US, but due to restrictions (and protection) it was never
realised.
There were two kinds of Regal Mk
III's; one type had the steering column to the left and entrance doors on both sides
at the rear; these were intended for the international routes (¹right hand traffic).
The other type, with a
slightly simpler interior, had the steering column to the right (normal for Sweden at that
time) These buses were intended primarily for routes in Sweden (and charter of course), but they were also used on international
duties if needed.
In the mid fifties, the AEC's were replaced by a special new kind of frameless longliner designed by Linjebuss together with Volvo and ASJ bodyworks; many ideas however were copied from the AEC vehicles.
Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Greater Stockholm Transport Board) operated Leyland Panther single-deckers and Atlantean double-deckers bodied by Park Royal. The single-deckers were in service between 1967 to about 1984 (double-decker operation ceased in 1976).
Photos ©Dick Hallström
Of the single-decker Panther; 200 were delivered in 1967 to replace many buses and trams that were scrapped due to the conversion to right hand traffic¹. The Panthers operated routes in central Stockholm and in the southern suburbs. The last Panther was scrapped in 1982 but one is preserved at the Spårvägsmuseum (Stockholm Tramway Museum).
50 Leyland double-deckers were also delivered in 1967, mostly running on ex-tramway lines in the town centre. They were supposed to have the same seating capacity as a two-car tramway set but on some routes passengers didn't use the upper floor, and on other routes it was vice versa (there were problems with inappropriate activities on the upper deck during evenings & weekends). So, together with forty German Büssing double-deckers, all Leylands were scrapped after only 9 years. Fortunately three Leylands are preserved in running condition; one at the Spårvägsmuseum (Stockholm Tramway Museum) and two at the Svenska Spårvägssällskapet (Swedish Tramway Association).
¹(On September 3rd 1967 Sweden changed from driving on the left to right hand traffic - Högertrafik).
Please visit the Svenska Omnibusföreningen (Swedish Omnibus Association) website where you will find links to photos and descriptions of their preserved buses (Ed; in Swedish but the Google toolbar translator solves the issue for those like me!).
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The following analysis was kindly given by Malcolm Tennant (a member of the Management Committee of the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond, near Dunfermline).
Malcolm's perception of this vehicle was that it had a striking resemblance to a 1954/5 AEC-PRV Monocoach of SMT (by then officially renamed Scottish Omnibuses Ltd.).
He commented: The SMT livery layout (of light green lower panels with darker green wings and cream roof, waistband and wheels ) seems to be echoed here. Only the absence of the "SMT Diamond" fleet emblem on the side and the "not-quite-as-I-remember-them" rear end causes doubt in my mind. I recall that SOL Monocoaches had twin side-opening doors to the boot, rather than a lift-up flap, and the number plate aperture doesn't seem quite right. However, as Scottish Omnibuses purchased the first six production Monocoaches (MC3RV001-6) and then 50 more in 1954/5, this may have been one of the first batch pictured prior to delivery (and presumable modification).
Now a further analysis by Neil Fraser (please see his AEC site) has confirmed that it is indeed a Reliance.
Neil has suggested that the "mystery bus" is an AEC Reliance MU3RV008, a very early production chassis, with Park Royal body number 39147. In Nov 1955 this vehicle was an exhibit at the Scottish Motor Show and was in Scottish Omnibus livery. It was later registered HSD 473 and sold to Hogarth, Ardrossan, t/a Clyde Coast Services.
So is the mystery now solved! It is certainly an AEC Reliance and a UK Coach after all. And if anyone has any further information then I'd be pleased to hear from you.
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