BIG CAT KICKS OFF BIG YEAR
The arrival of ex-Midland Red LS18 class Leyland Leopard 5212 at Wythall on 18th December is a good start for our celebration of Midland Red centenary year 2004. This was an important class of buses, totalling 100. Seventy-five had Willowbrook bodies, the remainder by Weymann; eighty had standard bus finish whilst twenty were dual-purpose with black roofs. 5212 is a bus-finished Willowbrook example and is thus typical of the majority.
The LS18s were very comparable to the earlier LD8 double-deckers - also Leylands, of course and also 100 strong in numbers. All these Leylands enjoyed an excellent reputation in a fleet largely consisting of Midland Red’s own products. Ironically, the LS18 was the only production class of Midland Red single-decker to carry BMMO badges on the front!
5212 was new in December 1962, being one of several LS18s allocated to Birmingham Digbeth garage, at a time when Digbeth had over thirty LD8s, including 4031 which ran from there all its Midland Red life. Digbeth regulars were 5173/5/7/95/8, 5200/12/39 and these eight transferred to WMPTE at Moseley Road garage, reopened when the PTE acquired Midland Red’s local services in 1973. Moseley Road was a temporary arrangement until the services could be integrated and the buses reallocated. In due course the Leopards moved to Yardley Wood, a former BCT garage with a fine Leyland tradition. Yardley Wood was by then operating a new fleet of Leyland-engined Fleetlines but, in the past, had included many PD2s like 1685 on its allocation, not to mention Atlanteans and the odd Olympic. Like most of the ex-Midland Red stock, 5212 soon gained a coat of blue and cream paint. The ex-Digbeth Leopards were joined by most of the LS18s acquired by WMPTE from Stourbridge garage at Yardley Wood, which thus gathered a considerable number of the class. While Leopards crept onto a number of former BCT city services, their main stamping grounds were the routes around Solihull, including the services to Wythall, formerly run by Digbeth. Despite a change of ownership, 5212’s connection with our parish stretches right across its long service life.
5212 was withdrawn in 1978 and the Omnibus Society and PSV Circle lists its disposal to Wolverhampton Wanderers Association Football Club in April 1979, passing to someone called Roberts of Stourport around 1981. Its subsequent movements will take a bit of sorting out but BaMMOT acquired it from Tamworth enthusiast Mike James who in turn had recently obtained it. We had to retrieve 5212 from Hastings where the owner previous to Mike James had stored it. The full story is a saga in itself but suffice it to say that it two visits to Hastings were necessary. Phil Ireland, Kevin Hill and Alex Potts first visited to get the bus mobile and ready to be transported; a job that took all day. A week later saw Phil and Kevin make the trip again to drive the bus on to the low-loader that would bring it back to Wythall. The next morning Kevin arrived at the museum early (7:30 a.m.) only to find the low-loader already parked outside!
These long Leopards were bought by a number of operators, particularly Midland Red’s sister companies in the BET group. They were more usually found with the handsome curved windscreen, known as the BET screen, which was later adopted widely on other bus designs. Some commentators have claimed the flat windscreen glasses to be a Midland Red specification. This is not true; the earliest 36-foot Leopard buses for all BET operators had the same styling, the curved screen entering quantity production in 1963. Today, of course, the flat glass version is extremely rare.
So why wasn’t a Leopard snapped up 25 years ago when they were being withdrawn? Good question. At the time new Leopards were still entering service, the older ones were not regarded as an exclusive Midland Red design, and the priority was to gather a representative collection of BMMO products of all ages. The opportunity thus slipped by - to obtain 5212 now is a real stroke of luck.
The priority will be to get 5212 in a sufficiently tidy state to become an unexpected addition to our centenary line-up of Midland Red buses.
Malcolm Keeley with additional notes by Phil Ireland
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
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