| Leyland National SNB 312 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Service History | |||||||||||||||||||||
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When London Country was formed in 1970, it inherited a significant number of crew-operated vehicles, mainly double deckers of the RT and Routemaster families. The RTs dated from the 1950s and a number of other vehicles in the initial London Country fleet also dated from this era, notably the RF class. The company was thus faced with the dual priorities of eliminating crew operation and modernising the fleet.
In the Summer of 1977, the tract of Hertfordshire that stretched from Hertford through Hatfield and St Albans to Hemel Hempstead was still served by Routemasters of the "RMC" class. Dating from 1962, they were not as old as some vehicles in the fleet, but they were crew operated. In November of that year, a fleet of new Leyland Nationals appeared at garages in Hemel, Hatfield and St Albans to displace the RMCs. The new batch of Nationals, registered UPB xxxS, joined the fleet of around 300 already in service with London Country at that time. The registration is actually a Surrey one; London Country's head office was in Reigate and all vehicles were registered locally. They were classified as "SNB", which translates as "Short National Bus". By the time they were built, the design of the National had been refined to the "Phase 2" version; the battery crate had been moved to the front of the vehicle, beneath the cab, seats were tan vinyl and the tops of the seat frames and grab poles were in a black plastic-coated finish. External livery was overall National Bus Company leaf green, with a white relief band around the waist, white bumpers and silver wheels. |
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SNB312 Brand-new in St.Peter's Street, St.Albans. Photo ©David Stewart, LOTS |
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SNB 312 was registered UPB 312S. Delivered to Reigate headquarters in October 1977, research shows that she first carried passengers at Godstone garage; apparently the "ministry" insisted that a number of GD's vehicles be taken out of service for repairs, which left them rather short. Godstone contacted Reigate HQ and were able to borrow some of the brand new vehicles there for a few days until their own were repaired. After this brief interlude, 312 joined the allocation of St Albans Garage (SA) in November. She served the City until mid 1987. It is worth mentioning that in October 1986, London Country was split into four companies as a result of deregulation and with a view to eventual privatisation. The SA allocation became part of London Country North East at this time. The North East company introduced a new livery comprising two shades of green and white, and SNB 312 acquired this livery in due course.
SNB 312 moved away from St Albans, going to Stevenage (SV) in July 1987. The next development was the split of London Country North East into two parts from 1st January 1989, the "western" portion becoming Sovereign Bus & Coach, with the garages at St Albans, Hatfield and Stevenage. St Albans Garage closed in January 1989. In March of that year, SNB 312 was transferred from Stevenage to Hatfield(HF). Although there was no actual garage in St Albans, the forecourt of the SA site was an outbase of Hatfield and no doubt 312 revisited her former home on many occasions. While part of the Sovereign fleet, it is believed that 312 was repainted into the Sovereign livery of blue and cream. In November 1989, Sovereign sold some vehicles to County Bus, which was the other company to emerge from the former London Country North East. SNB 312 was included in this deal and moved to her new home of Harlow (HA). Reclassified as "SN 312" and repainted in their green and cream livery, she served County Bus until withdrawal from Ware Garage (WE) in March 1996, latterly as a driver-training vehicle. By this time, County Bus was owned by the Cowie Group (which was later renamed "Arriva") and in July 1996, SN 312 was moved to the Stamford Hill Garage (SF) of Cowie Leaside, home to a number of withdrawn buses. A new phase in 312's life was about to begin..... |
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| Purchase for Preservation | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Early in 1997, I was attending a meeting of the London Omnibus Traction Society (LOTS) at which I was in conversation with the Engineering Manager of Leaside. He asked me if I knew of anyone who might want to buy "County Bus' last National", which was dumped in the corner of Stamford Hill, unloved and unwanted. He did not know its identity, but when I was on the way home, I checked my LOTS fleet book and concluded that it could only be SN 312. The identity seemed familiar and further research confirmed that it was not only a St Albans vehicle, it was one that I had ridden on as a teenager!
A visit to Stamford Hill found me looking at a dust-covered National that was fairly straight but had a number of items modified or removed:- In addition, there were a few panels that needed to be replaced. The livery was still "County Bus" green and cream; inside and out there were still advertisements attached with a Harlow connection. One of the "Town Link" fleet names, used in the Harlow area, was still intact, but the others had been painted out. Mechanically, 312 seemed OK; she started, ran and went into all gears, however the batteries were so flat that removal of the booster battery meant the loss of all electrics! In the end, a deal was done with Cowie Group and SNB 312 (as was) became mine. She was moved out of Stamford Hill with the aid of Blue Triangle Buses of Rainham, who kindly supplied spare batteries and suitable trade plates, and taken to their yard. |
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| The Mystery Photograph! | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Following one of my rare outings with a camera to photograph London Country buses during 1980, I was faced with the problem of taking one last shot to finish-off the film. From my bedroom, I could hear the 361s passing, so I managed to get a rear three-quarter picture of a passing "bus" National. Soon after acquiring 312, I found the picture and had a closer look. I can read enough of the rear number plate to see that it is UPB 3xxS! At that time, SA had SNBs 308, 310, 312 and 313 allocated. There is therefore a possibility that I photographed the vehicle I was later to buy... | |||||||||||||||||||||
| First Rally Appearances | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Blue Triangle steam cleaned and silver sprayed the underside and took her for an MOT test, which she passed. SNB 312 was then ready to make a few rally appearances in as-acquired condition.
SNB 312's first rally appearance was at her home City of St Albans on 8th June 1997, the first and last time in my ownership that she was able to park on the forecourt of St Albans Garage! During the day, a couple of trips were made over the 361 route, which used to be my route home from St Albans and passed my front door; if I ever rode on 312 in service, it would have been on this route.
The June 1997 Rally at St Albans was the fourth such annual event to use the forecourt of SA Garage. They were organised by the late Dave Johnson and his wife Pam in conjunction with the "Save St Albans Garage" campaign. Unfortunately, there would never be another rally on the Garage site, the Garage itself having since been demolished. On a positive note, Dave was subsequently involved in establishing the Three Counties Museum. Other rally appearances in 1997 were connected with 312's allocation to Harlow; the obligatory trip to North Weald along with a one-off event at Harlow Bus Station to commemorate 50 years of Harlow New Town. |
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| A Quiet Period | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Since acquisition in 1997, SNB 312 had lived in one of Blue Triangle's storage barns near Ongar in Essex. After a few appearances in 1997, the following year was very quiet, apart from a trip to the MOT Station, all that 312 did was move from Ongar to a farm just south of Royston, less than 10 miles from home. Finally, in February 1999, she moved into my garden.
At this time, SNB 312 was still very much "as acquired". One of the first tasks was to give the interior a thorough clean. Visits to various scrap yards sourced a few missing items; it was a change to have an enclosed cab, for instance. North Weald was one of the few rally appearances that year, but the restoration process was starting to build momentum. Having been to Mike Nash' yard near to Cobham Bus Museum for some repairs, 312 was kept down there for a few weeks. Thanks to Dave Kriesler at Cobham, the correct pattern front lights were refitted; in spite of the faded County Bus livery, the appearance was much improved! One rally appearance was made in this condition, at the Cobham "Rear-Engined" Rally, at which 312 was actually used in service between Cobham and Woking. In the Autumn of 1999, SNB 312 was taken down to the premises of Hampshire Body & Paint at Eastleigh, for the following work:- When I went down to Eastleigh to collect her, I was astounded at the transformed appearance. At this time, the livery still lacked a white band around the middle, and transfers. |
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| Debut in London Country livery | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The early part of 2000 was spent preparing SNB 312 for her debut in London Country livery. Rather than present her "as new", I have opted to portray her in a late 70s / early 80s condition, the only noticeable difference being black bumpers instead of white.
The planned debut was at the Cobham Bus Museum Rear-Engined Rally on the Spring Bank Holiday Monday 2000. Various parts of the interior had been spruced-up with black paint, the bumpers had also been painted black, a white band had been painted around the middle and a St Albans blind had been fitted. The Sunday before the great debut was a mad flurry of activity, with Jonathan Wilkins and his father on general tidying duty while Rob Knight and I were applying the external transfers (in between thunderstorms!).
Although 312 got to Cobham, she did not return home again as a result of the failure of the electrical connection for fifth gear. If you are going to break down in a bus, Cobham is the place to do it; Dave Kriesler and his son Simon were able to repair the errant wiring and 312 returned home. |
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| Country Bus Rallies | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The Summer of 2000 was not good for SNB 312, with difficulties in passing the MOT test and various mechanical difficulties. Eventually, these were resolve; one positive step was resolving the poor starting problem that had been ongoing for some time; in the end, a copper washer was identified as the culprit!
The latter part of the 2000 rally season saw SNB 312 in intensive use with appearances at Cobham in service in connection with a Classic Car Rally at Woking, in service again at Stanford Rivers near Ongar, further service at the Country Bus Rallies event at Hertford, static display at Showbus at Duxford and finally more use in service at Amersham in October. The Country Bus Rallies event is worthy of further mention; Country Bus Rallies are organised by a small group of members of the RT/RF Register, with the aim of operating old bus routes with suitable vehicles in the London Transport "country" area (which, of course became London Country). The 2000 event at Hertford was the second to take place there; I had mentioned the availability of SNB 312 to the organisers, but noted that she was a little bit more recent than the RT/RF/GS types normally used. In the end, 312 was used on various routes around the area. This has paved the way for further appearances at Country Bus Rallies by 312 and other London Country vehicles of the 1970s and 80s. Although the 2000 rally season for SNB 312 had been marred by mechanical difficulties, the last event of the season at Amersham, (312's first visit there), saw her awarded the Stewart Ivins Memorial Plate, on account of being the best preserved former National Bus Company vehicle at the event! |
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| Getting Better | |||||||||||||||||||||
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SNB 312 was to benefit from a few improvements since her repaint into National green; the front fog lights re-appeared before her rally debut in the new livery, but one feature that was incorrect was the exhaust system. As-built, National exhausts feature a fish-tailed tail pipe on the offside of the vehicle, beneath the side engine cover. 312 had the later style of exhaust with a round outlet under the rear bumper, a modification done on most London Country Nationals from the late 1970s.
The exhaust situation was remedied with the assistance of Rob Knight, who was able to get a fishtail exhaust replicated. With a bit of creative metal work, using angle iron, flexible pipe and some clamps, a reasonable representation of the original design was achieved. The last section of exhaust is slung beneath the gearbox and is quite vulnerable to speed humps - a number of repairs and redesigns have been necessary, but we might be there now. |
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| The hardest working National in Preservation? | |||||||||||||||||||||
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After missing part of the 2000 season, SNB 312 entered 2001 with the intention of working hard! In January, she was used on a free bus service in St Albans, in connection with a model railway exhibition at the Alban Arena, running as route 391, a route that ceased to exist before she was built. At the end of the day, she did a full circuit of the 361 route past my former residence, complete with a full blind display.
In March, 312 travelled across to the BAMMOT Museum at Wythall, carrying a number of members of the Leyland National Group to the Annual General Meeting there.
Rallies at which SNB 312 was in service in 2001 were:-
Static Rally appearances were made at Cobham, Lingfield and Duxford. |
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| More Hard Work in 2002! | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The year that saw the 30th Anniversary of the National got off to a bad start with an unfortunate incident in January while on the way to the Model Railway Exhibition in St Albans, when the metal guard over the fan belt became detached and resulted in a bent fan and a holed radiator. The trip home was made with the aid of a large lorry! Once repairs were accomplished, the replacement metal guard was re-engineered to prevent it going the same way. The opportunity was also taken to repaint the wheels silver rather than grey.
Once again, 312 was busy with free bus services:-
Static rallies attended included Cobham, and Duxford. Of the above rallies, events with a particular focus on "Thirty years of Leyland Nationals" were Cobham, Alton, North Weald and Duxford - I was proud to be able to have 312 on display at these. |
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| Subsequent Developments and Happenings | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| In 2003, SNB 312 benefited from some new number blinds, with numbers in white, numbers in yellow (for GREEN LINE) and a selection of white letters to cover the various alphabetical routes operated by London Country. Other improvements have seen the application of suitable interior posters and notices. Without going into great detail, SNB 312 has continued to fly the flag for the SA Collection at rallies and running days in the London Country area. The Hertford Running Day in June 2003 was notable due to the absence of SNC 168; as a consequence, there were times when 312 was dashing between Hertford and Stevenage trying to cover the duties of both vehicles. Late in 2003, Nick Larkin and Philip Lamb of Bus and Coach Preservation magazine spent a Sunday in the St Albans area getting photos of SNB 312 (and SNC 168) on various local routes, resulting in both Nationals appearing in the January 2004 edition of the magazine, including an appearance on the front cover. The actual cover picture was taken at the stop where I would have alighted from the bus on the 361 route on my way home from St Albans! | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Future Work | |||||||||||||||||||||
| It is becoming apparent that 312 needs a bit of attention to the bodywork; some of the panels over the wheel arches and the top rail above the windscreen have been repaired with filler as a stop-gap measure for a few years, but eventually replacements will need to be fitted. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| On the other hand, she did look smart in this very atmospheric photo taken in St. Peter's Street, St. Albans while on service for the model railway exhibition. If this is your photo, please let us know so that we can give it the appropriate credit! | |||||||||||||||||||||
| A New Home | |||||||||||||||||||||
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SNB312 attended a number of running days and the like during 2004 and 2005, but when it was en route to East Grinstead in April 2006 she developed a minor electrical fault. Nothing too severe, and it drove home again. Subsequently, 312 went to the Cobham area for the electrical repairs, which is where it caught the attention of Andy and Mick of the SNB449 Group. (As an aside, SNB449 was owned by me a few years ago, then passed through various hands before Andy and Mick gave it a home). They had to move 312 down the road a short way, and immediately fell in love with the way it drove. As I had just moved house and had a number of other distractions, it was felt that the best thing was for Andy and Mick to take 312 into their care.
It is fair to say that, in its new ownership, 312 is already looking much better. Look out for SNB312 once the major body repairs are complete. |
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| Allocation History (courtesy of LOTS) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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New 10/77 - RGu, - GD, 11/77 - SA, 2/78 - SAu, 5/78 - SA, 9/79 - GYu, 10/79 - SA, 7/87 - SV, 3/89 - HF, 11/89 - HA, 9/95 - HAu, 12/95 - EM, 3/96 - WEu, 7/96 - SFu, 3/97 - Sold |
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