EARLY REAR-ENGINED SINGLE-DECKER
Reg No: NJW 719E - new 1967
Operator: Wolverhampton Corporation
Chassis: Daimler Roadliner SRC6
Engine: Cummins 9.63 litre V6-200
Gearbox: Semi-automatic
Body: Strachans 54 seats
Driver only operation spread to towns and cities in the early 60s to reduce staff shortages and costs. Driver only double-deckers were not permitted until 1967 so single-deckers had to do the job. Existing underfloor-engined buses had high entrance steps causing operators to call for designs with rear engines under the floor thus maximising capacity, often with a standee area.
Most of these early designs were unreliable including the Daimler Roadliner, introduced in 1964. The powerful Cummins V6 engine drove a conventional rear axle. Transmission comprised a fluid flywheel and semi or fully automatic gearbox. Air brakes were standard while the suspension options were air, rubber or leaf springs. A Perkins V8 engine was later offered. So immediate were the problems that beset the type that orders soon began to be cancelled and the model was dropped after the Leyland Group takeover of Daimler. Roadliners generally ran only short lives with their original operators and are now very rare.
Wolverhampton Corporation bought six in 1967, specifying Cummins engines and rubber suspension. They passed with the undertaking to WMPTE in 1969 and 719 was one of the last when withdrawn in 1975. It was sold to Heyfordian of Oxfordshire and on again to Brutonian of Somerset. It entered preservation in September 1981 and passed to the museum on 1 March 1983. It is now back in its original Wolverhampton livery but its restoration would not have been possible without the help of Cummins who, at no charge to the museum, completely rebuilt the engine to first class condition.
