A BIG RED BUS TAKES OVER FROM A LITTLE RED BUS
The little red bus was painted grey when it arrived at the museum in September 1980, A few weeks earlier we hadn’t even known of its existence. We had been to look at an ex-East Midland Saro-bodied Leyland Tiger Cub (ORR 330) and although it was internally complete and most ‘original’, it was rejected on account of its engine and other major units having being earlier removed.(With the benefit of hindsight perhaps a regrettable decision.) Mr. Bevan, one of the brothers who owned the well-kept Soudley Valley fleet of coaches and buses, suggested that instead the museum acquire WDF 569, their 41-seat dual-purpose Leyland Tiger Cub. The bus had been purchased new, entering service on 6 May 1959, and was due for replacement very soon. Private hire duties aside, most of its 21 year service life had been local in nature, running into and around Cinderford and Gloucester.
We were immediately tempted, especially as no BET-spec. body of the period could be seen at Wythall. Additionally, the attractive Willowbrook body remained more or less as when it left the factory, save for the loss of its maroon, red and cream livery in favour of grey and red. Mechanically, a slightly more powerful 0375 engine had been fitted in lieu of the similar 0350 unit.
We went away to consider the matter, a decision to proceed with the acquisition soon being forthcoming. At the time, there were other priorities for the Trust and, apart from a clean now and again, nothing was done with ‘569’ for over ten years.
In 1991, a sum of money was guaranteed to the Trust, to be used for the professional rebuild of one of the exhibits. We worked out that a body overhaul of the Soudley Valley Tiger Cub could be tailored to closely match the budget figure and towards the end of the year restoration work began in earnest.
Tony Robinson, then working on our electric vehicles, suggested a suitable craftsman with whom he had once worked for some years. Ken Melhuish had been in the bodybuilding business all of his working life, his first employment at the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon works at Smethwick. Ken was happy to undertake the work on the basis of one day a week.
The rear end of ‘569’ was tackled first, the whole lot dismantled until only the roof dome remained. The structure was in poor condition and its restitution included the preparation of new bodybearers, the fabrication and fixture of new steel throughout, a new boot floor and replacement of the saloon floor up to the rear axle. The one-piece wrap around glass fibre rear panel required some repair especially at the corners. Once all was back in place, the boot door was reframed, reskinned and with the benefit of new hinges, rehung. A disturbing proportion of the budget had already been spent.
With some apprehension, all of the bodyside panels were removed, the exposed structure being not too bad. The stress panels needed only patch weld repair in some areas, most of the pillars requiring the replacement of the bottom 30cm or so of each. While Ken prepared new hardwood pillar inserts and repaired or replaced the other hardwood sections (at waistrail and floor levels), Tony cut out all of the wasted metal, fabricated new pillar section and undertook all of the welding work. This done, Ken prepared and fitted new aluminium panels throughout and all of the associated straps, etc. The rear offside emergency door was in reasonable condition; after reskinning and the provision of new hinges it was rehung.
The front end was also enclosed by a one-piece glass fibre wrap around panel which, over the years, had been beefed up by the addition of support pieces. Once removed, the panel was weak, even flimsy. In those days, we did not have the expertise or facilities to repair glass fibre of this size, so the panel was sent to the bodyshops of a well-known Midlands bus operator for assessment. Luckily for us, and the budget, it was considered to be capable of satisfactory repair and strengthening. Furthermore, once finished it was used as the basis of a mould to create a brand new panel to benefit another preserved Willowbrook-bodied Tiger Cub that was bereft of this essential part of the structure.
Meanwhile, the steelwork had been repaired and almost the entire hardwood framework renewed, notably below the windscreens, at the base and at both corners. Once the front panel was back in place, it was time to repair and refit a copious quantity of decorative trim, a feature of this body design. It took some time and Ken did a fantastic job, some of them being a long way past their best. One major structural job remained, that of the entrance/exit step area. In distressed condition, the whole lot was stripped out and rebuilt using new materials.
Now approaching the end of 1993, only the finishing touches remained. The roof level J-strip mouldings were straightened, repaired and refitted; the platform doors rebuilt and all rubbers replaced; new rubbers fitted to the boot and emergency doors; the rear bench seat supports renewed; and the door furniture fitted.
Whilst Ken, with occasional help from Tony, undertook the bulk of the work, museum volunteers also played their part. Peter Murphy assisted, particularly early on when the rear end was found to be such a disaster area; John Richards spent hours stripping paint from the roof and other areas; and Fred Withers took care of the all-important hospitality side of things and made Ken feel welcome - and after that carried on talking to him one day a week for two years. Fred’s good at that! Paul Gray managed the project, organising payments, the supply of materials, rechroming, etc. and sometimes did a bit of work on the bus too.
The budget had, of course, been exceeded and it was therefore a case of ‘569’ being moved to the back of the shed until further funds were made available. Other projects and the on-going development of the museum kept on getting in the way and it was another five years before the bus approached the top of the waiting list.
In terms of cost, the major burdens were threefold - new window rubbers for all but the windscreen glasses, minor attention to the saloon floor and the provision of new linoleum and, last of all, the repaint and writing. A couple of thousand pounds would see the job done.
Kevin Hill was now in control of the work and after a certain amount of filling and flatting to the front-end and rear-end panels, undertaken by Paul Gray, the first of the undercoats was applied. Slowly, mainly on account of weather conditions, the bus gained its immensely attractive deep maroon, bright red and cream colour scheme. Ongoing with this work, the seats were taken out, the interior thoroughly cleaned and then repainted. New red linoleum transformed the whole. Most time consuming with this task was the refitting of the floor treads, especially those concerning the removeable floor traps. This done, the seat frames were repainted and progressively refitted. At this time, the bus was devoid of glass on both sides and at the rear, which had helped speed up the painting procedure.
The window rubbers that had been used by Willowbrook were of unusually complex section. A sample had been taken to our usual supplier and as the section was no longer in production, the quotation was to include not just the rubbers but also a new die. To our surprise, a die was already in existence, having been produced to the order of the Worcester Bus Preservation Group quite recently. The group kindly allowed us to make use of it thus saving the museum a three figure sum of money. As soon as the warmer weather arrived, the glass was refitted and all went well -no paint was marked. Other bits and pieces were gradually going back in place too - the pretty Tiger Cub badge, registration plates, various handles, side, head and spot lights, destination glass and blind, wheel trims and the newly powder-coated steering wheel - and what a difference they all made. Everyone, including early visitors, made lots of favourable comments. Kevin had excelled himself with the paint job, and for that matter, with all the other work on the bus. He did get some help, particularly from Alex and James.
The plentiful exterior decorative mouldings were all lined bright red. Paul Gray began the lengthy task of cleaning and polishing same, while Malcolm Keeley foolishly volunteered to apply about a mile (it required more than one coat) of red lines. This work completed, only the final touch remained - writing. Allan Rushby, the famed signwriter we have used for over ten years, was briefed and he went away to prepare full size layouts for the side logos and boot text, all of which was gold leaf, lined black. The “Soudley Valley Coaches” logo did not conform exactly to any typeface we could find (it was similar to three) but Allan was able to hand draw it, using for reference a colour photograph of the bus when new, taken by Ken Jubb and clearly showing the side logos, and a rear view of an AEC coach once operated by the company. By early in May, Allan had finished the exterior writing save for unladen weight. This information was not on the bus when it was acquired and its application will have to wait until we have taken the bus to be weighed.
Whilst there are still one or two incidentals to do on WDF 569, it was time for Kevin to begin the next topic on the painting list - a big red bus. More precisely, it’s a big red and maroon bus, also adorned with lots of fancy trim that will require cleaning and polishing. (At this point, PG and MRK run away and hide.)
BMMO S21 no. 5868 (JHA 868E) arrived at Wythall in March 1980, the month after it was withdrawn from service by Midland Red. This bus was very much more a ‘local’ one, being allocated new to Malvern in July 1967, where it remained until the garage was closed on 1 October 1976. Bromsgrove became its new home until, nearing retirement age, it was moved to Wellington in March 1979. By the end of the year it had been relegated to engineering floater status and, as noted above, was to run for only a few more weeks.
At the museum, it was soon repainted into its original livery and for a time became a regular performer on open day services, its comfortable semi-coach seats being appreciated. As time went by, 5868 became rather jaded, its paint and brightwork faded and dull; hence its choice for a repaint this year.
At the time of writing, a small number of bodyside panels have been changed and various loose straps/trim refixed. The destination numeral cartridge has been removed for the glassfibre and glass to be modified and thus enable the fitment of a “small” numeral box to the original specification. While Kevin carries on with general preparation for painting, Tony will remove the boot doors for refurbishment and reskinning. With the present belief that the decorative trim will clean up satisfactorily, none will be replaced, although we do intend to renew the associated silver and black plastic inserts.
Once the bus is painted, Allan will be commissioned to carry out all of the writing, the logos and fleet numbers in the less common silver, edged black style. Further progress reports will be forthcoming.
Paul Gray
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
