Fleetline Festival
On the occasion of Wumpty Twenty we can excuse James Munro for indulging in news of Fleetlines and the like. We perhaps forget that all of these "new" buses are actually older than he is.
SDA757S - Leyland Fleetline / East Lancs - West Midlands PTE 6757 (James Munro)
6757 was submitted for Test during August gaining a successful pass. Prior to submission, work had been carried out on several steering ball joints, which were replaced. A body pillar fault was also rectified, along with an electrical fault that caused the interior bells to stop working.
JOV613P - Daimler Fleetline / Park Royal - West Midlands PTE 4613 (Roger Hodson)
4613 was also submitted for Test during August. An air valve required replacement and the rear brakes were adjusted. The underside received a fresh coat of silver paint prior to its successful pass.
NOB413M - Bristol VRT / MCW - West Midlands PTE 4413 (James Munro)
The underside of 4413 received a further steam clean during August, which was followed by a fresh coat of silver paint. Another water leak developed during the steam-cleaning trip, and the rectification work required a bad language session! This was mainly due to the space - or lack of - between the bulkhead and the water pipe running across the back of the engine. However, the work seemed worthwhile when 4413 attended Showbus, winning the class for the best 1970s vehicle on display.
NOC600R - Leyland Fleetline / MCW - West Midlands PTE 6600 (WMBPS)
6600 is owned by the West Midlands Bus Preservation Society and is currently residing at the Museum. Kevin Hill has just completed a full repaint back into original WMPTE livery. Preparation for Test has now commenced, and once completed 6600 will return to WMBPS's base at Bewdley.
KOX780 F - Daimler Fleetline / Park Royal - Birmingham CT 3780 (BaMMOT)
3780 has recently received a repaint, retaining the BCT livery previously applied. The repaint was carried out by Kevin Hill and financed by several Museum members. Thanks must be expressed to all parties who donated money to this project.
WDA835T - MCW Metrobus / MCW - West Midlands PTE 6835 (BaMMOT)
Work has continued on 6835 in recent months; this has mainly been carried out by Andrew Wiltshire. The cab area has received a repaint and the dashboard has been refitted. The lower deck seat frames have now all been repainted and the offside lower deck seat frames have since been refitted.
TVP898S - Leyland Fleetline / MCW - Travel West Midlands 6898 (Andy Walcott)
6898 was one of the last Fleetlines to operate for Travel West Midlands, and also featured on the last day of Fleetline operation - 1 November 1997. 6898 was unique in appearance, having retained the WMT grey livery and was clearly overlooked on many occasions for repainting into what became the standard red, blue and silver livery. TWM disposed of 6898 shortly after the last Fleetline day, when it passed into the hands of a preservation group.
6898 was dry stored for a number of years in Northampton, residing in the same building as 6757 and 3913 for some of this time. During late 2005, 6898 was initially sold to a group who planned to convert it into a playbus. Work had commenced on removing the seats. However, the bus was saved once again for preservation and a set of seats were sourced and then fitted.
In June 2006, Museum member Andy Walcott purchased 6898 to continue its preservation. Since acquiring 6898 a replacement road spring has been fitted to the front nearside, as a broken top leaf was identified on the original one. Andy plans to retain 6898 in the grey livery, together with the blue seating trim that was fitted to a number of Fleetlines during the early-to-mid 1990s.
Work is currently being carried out in preparation for an annual Test.
WDA956T - Leyland Fleetline / MCW (WMPTE single-deck conversion) - Travel West Midlands 1956 (Martin Lowry)
During the summer months a minor air leak was detected in 1956, which has since been rectified. 1956 was in attendance at both Burton and Aston Manor rallies earlier this year.
James Munro
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
