1939 buses serving LMS stations around West Riding/Lancashire

[ianLMS]

Good afternoon,

I am looking for help with picking the right 1/76 scale bus for my layout.

 

I am hoping to find a single deck (omnibus?) that would have served LMS stations in the West Riding/Lancashire area around late 1939. I have read LMS Road Vehicles and it looks like that by the early/mid 30's, LMS had pretty much passed on their fleet to their coorporation partners, so by 1939, you probably wouldnt see LMS liveried buses in the area i am modelling (I also havent been succesful in sourcing a suitable model of the buses they owned either). 

 

I have seen some nice EFE Leyland Tiger TS8's with various liveries including West Riding and Yorkshire which were introduced in 1938. Would one of these be suitable or can someone point me in the right direction? I dont mind building a kit if there is one available or re-painting a model if needs be. 

 

Thank you

Ian

[Cwmtwrch]

I don't mean to be unhelpful, but your question is very difficult to answer; at that time in the area you refer to there were several major company operators [some part owned by one of the railways, some not], a lot of smaller operators, a considerable number of municipal operators and one or two which didn't fit any of those categories, such as joint boards, some of which also included the railways. The part railway owned ones, or a joint board with railway involvement, might [or might not] operate from a station forecourt if convenient, the others would only use stops on the public highway.

 

The railways sold their bus company interests to Tilling and British Automobile Traction [itself jointly owned by Tilling and BET] in 1929-31 [dates vary for different bus companies], and also bought interests in some T&BAT companies, after which the railways maintained a shareholding equal to that of T&BAT, but all operation was in the hands of the bus companies, with all vehicles in the relevant bus company livery. Repainting would have been complete before 1939.

 

If you can decide on a specific local area, it would at least narrow down the possibilities. Vehicle details are generally not too difficult to find for the larger fleets, but may be impossible for smaller ones. Alternatively, you could make up a fictional local operator, in which case you can make you own choices which no-one can criticise ;-).

[PhilJ W]

The principle operator in that area would be Ribble. Their fleet was mostly Leyland so the TS8 would be a good choice. Also the earlier Titan double decker from EFE would also be suitable as these would still have been in service at that time. Almost any Leyland bus would be suitable as they were the local manufacturer.

[ianLMS]

Thank you both for the reply. As i am not modelling a specific station, i think the Leyland would work. Not sure if they did a Ribble livery. Will do some more research. Appreciate the help.

 

Thanks

Ian

[Moxy]

I haven't found a model TS8 in Ribble livery, but here are some pictures of various real Ribble TS7's & TS8's

 

All photos fromFlickr, copyright of their original owners is acknowledged

 

1949 bodied TS8

 

Preserved TS8

 

Preserved TS7

 

Ribble was part of the Tilling BET Group until nationalisation, so if you can find a model with similar BET Group livery, it is probably simpler to rename/renumber it. 

Transfers are available from Fox Transfers https://www.fox-transfers.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=ribble

and Sunrise Transfers http://sunrisetransfers.com/cat/part021.html

Edited May 27, 2022 by Moxy
Correction of parent company

[PhilJ W]

33 minutes ago, Moxy said:

I haven't found a model TS8 in Ribble livery, but here are some pictures of various real Ribble TS7's & TS8's

 

All photos fromFlickr, copyright of their original owners is acknowledged

 

1949 bodied TS8

 

Preserved TS8

 

Preserved TS7

 

Ribble was part of the Tilling Group until nationalisation, so if you can find a model with similar Tilling Group livery, it is probably simpler to rename/renumber it. 

Transfers are available from Fox Transfers https://www.fox-transfers.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=ribble

and Sunrise Transfers http://sunrisetransfers.com/cat/part021.html

Ribble was a BET company not Tilling.

[PhilJ W]

EFE made a TD1 double deck in Ribble colours.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175275693479?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338268676&toolid=10044&customid=CjwKCAjw7cGUBhA9EiwArBAvopvHQnXFXVFjZoTRCGtUcZi8bIqKTYekb3wGuH-DN6BL6qj735HSRBoCnj0QAvD_BwE

Though this is a 1931 model.

[PhilJ W]

It appears that the EFE TS8 was not made in Ribble colours, only the TD1.

[Moxy]

37 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Ribble was a BET company not Tilling.

 Thanks Phil.  I knew it was one or the other.  Couldn't find my Ribble books at the time.  I have updated my previous post.

[ianLMS]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

It appears that the EFE TS8 was not made in Ribble colours, only the TD1.

I wonder if this was a re-liveried model using decals??

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/X8VTrtNwub7pLZvt7

 

 

[PhilJ W]

1 minute ago, ianLMS said:

I wonder if this was a re-liveried model using decals??

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/X8VTrtNwub7pLZvt7

 

 

Either that or its a very rare model.

[ianLMS]

Looking at the cream line, it looks hand painted and you can see a feint raised area around the Ribble name. The model number used refers to the Western model, so my guess it was re-liveried. 

 

I will do the same!

 

Ian

[PhilJ W]

11 hours ago, ianLMS said:

Looking at the cream line, it looks hand painted and you can see a feint raised area around the Ribble name. The model number used refers to the Western model, so my guess it was re-liveried. 

 

I will do the same!

 

Ian

I have an EFE model with a 'wonky' cream line. It was purchased brand new.

[ianLMS]

I purchased an Anbrico kit so can do whichever livery i chooe with or without a wonky line!!

[Cwmtwrch]

15 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

The principle operator in that area would be Ribble.

True for much of central and northern Lancashire, less so for southern Lancashire because of North Western Road Car, Lancashire United and various municipals, not least MCTD. Not true at all for the West Riding, where Ribble's  presence beyond the border was negligable.

[Butler Henderson]

Ribble served Skipton; it depends what part of the huge West Riding is being referenced which included parts that today are in Lancashire as well.

[ianLMS]

Thank you all for the info and for my layout, i have decided on the Ribble livery for the bus. It sits well with the area i am portraying and i ordered the Ribble gold Fox transfers at the same time as buying the kit. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by ianLMS

[ianLMS]

The completed Anbrico kit of the Leyland TS8. Although probably not entirely accurate livery or even bus type for Ribble, i like it. 

 

I used microscope slide covers for the glass which was tricky, and some dont fit exactly right, i do think it looks better that the plastic they provide. Hope u like it!! I had to make the front glass split pane and window wiper out of .33mm nickel silver.