Halifax Corporation Transport and Joint Omnibus Committee
1954
Daimler CVG6
Roe H33/25R

This bus is a ‘CV series Daimler the ‘V’ stands for Victory meaning the chassis was built after World War II whereas the preceding series ‘CW’ was for chassis built during the War when the ‘W’ stood for war.
As this bus is a ‘CV’ series it had what was called a ‘Birmingham Tin Front’, similar to the previous K.H.C.T. AEC  Regent III. If it had been a CS/CC series built 1955 onwards the radiator would of been different, and would then of been called a ‘Manchester Front’. Is there a Tin/Fibre Glass front expert out there that can sort out this radiator business once and for all. When does a ‘Birmingham’ become a ‘Manchester’.
There is a link to a video of a preserved Halifax Daimler ‘CV’, all be it two years younger than this bus here please note the difference in the destination boxes from the bus in this photo and the one in the video, more on that at a later date.

A full list of Daimler codes can be seen here.

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The Manchester front is the one with the headlamp mounted on the wing, the bonnet itself being narrower than the Birmingham version. It took a Mancunian to realise that short drivers couldn’t see the nearside wing on a Birmingham front so they were forever bashing things! 
The Birmingham front was also fitted to Crossleys, Guy Arabs and AEC Regent IIIs, whereas the Manchester type only ever appeared on Daimlers. There are two versions of the Manchester front, as CVG6s had a tapering front chassis frame with a 7′ 6" front axle. CVG6-30s, CCGs & CSGs and the last few CVG6s all had straight frames and 8ft axles, hence a wider front.

David A Jones

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29/05/11 – 07:51

Sadly these buses weighed a ton more than the mark III Regent and had 112bhp engines in lieu of 125bhp of the mark III as a result they had a lot of trouble, many were fitted with Leyland O.600 units and later 95 had a 6LXB Gardner whilst 93 had a turbo charged Daimler. So 95 became CVG6LX, 93 CVD6, most of the others CVL6 some retained the 6LW mainly the 116 etc group used on the flatter shorter corporation services.

Christopher

Lincolnshire Road Car Company
1958
Bristol MW5G
ECW DP41F

Another photo taken in Scarborough coach park of a Bristol ‘MW’ series single decker but this time in the fleet of the Lincolnshire Road Car Company Ltd. This vehicle was classed as ‘dual purpose’ meaning it was a bus with ‘nearly but not quite’ a coach standard of interior. I do like the paint work on this bus the step in the cream ¾s way down the side makes a big difference. 
The ‘5G’ after the ‘MW’ in the ‘MW’ series letters above means that this bus had a Gardner 5HLW engine which was a 5 cylinder 7.0 litre horizontal diesel engine. If the ‘MW’ had been followed by ‘6G’ it would of had a Gardner 6HLW engine which was a 6 cylinder 8.4 litre horizontal diesel engine. As far as I know only these two engines were available with the ‘MW’ series, meaning no Bristol engine, if you know different let me know.

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Although as you rightly state, the Bristol MW was only available with the Gardner 5HLW or 6HLW engine, one was fitted experimentally with a Bristol engine, but never operated in service as such. This was an early MW chassis bodied by ECW with a bus shell, and it was returned to Bristol Commercial Vehicles as a test-bed vehicle. The engine was in itself experimental – being a horizontal version of the BVW 8.9 litre unit and known as the BHW. In 1963, the MW6B (as it would have been known) was re-engined with a Gardner 6HLW unit. Its body was then completed to 45-seat bus layout, and it entered service with Red & White as their U1563 (228JAX). Another BHW-engined Bristol test-bed vehicle appeared in 1963 in the shape of a prototype RELH chassis fitted with an ECW coach shell. Whether this was fitted with the engine from the MW I do not know, as apparently Bristol had built several BHWs for experimental use. The engine in the RELH6B test vehicle also had a turbocharger fitted to increase power. However, the BHW engine never entered production, and later the vehicle (chassis number REX003) was given a Gardner 6HLX engine and its body fitted out to full 47-seat coach specification. It then entered service with West Yorkshire as its CRG1 (OWT241E) in 1967.

Brendan Smith

 
Photo by ‘unknown’ if you took this photo please go to the copyright page.

County Motors
1945
Guy Arab II
Roe L27/26R

This photo was taken at the Huddersfield terminus and the bus behind is a Guy Wulfrunian probable owned by West Riding. The Wulfrunian was said to be very advanced for the time, but I have read somewhere that the only advanced thing about it was the all round air suspension, lets face it the rather strange layout of the engine and stairs didn’t exactly catch on did it, if you disagree leave a comment.
But back to the County Motors Arab II this bus apparently has been preserved but at the moment I have not been able to come up with a link to a dedicated website, if you know, let me know.
It started life with a wartime utility body but was re-bodied in 1953 by C. H. Roe Leeds and ended up two seats less at the end of it.
Hard to tell which engine this bus had as all Arab IIs had the extended radiator to accept either the six cylinder Gardner (6LW) engine of 8.4 litre or the shorter five cylinder 7.0 litre Gardner (5LW) engine. Although knowing Huddersfield as I do then I think this bus would of handled the surrounding hills much better with the larger 6LW engine, either that or  the driver would have to be very good at changing gear, especially down.

“Anything—pictures or info—on Guy Arabs is fascinating. Greatly enjoyed pictures and comments.
In Reading we had utility Arab 5LWs and 6LWs until 1949-50, when they were sold on. No 27 seemed to be everyone’s favourite. How I wish one had been preserved…!”

Ian Thompson 

“I can confirm that County 70 has a 6LW engine. At the time of re-bodying in 1953 it was fitted with a transmission of contemporary (i.e. Arab IV) design, which makes it much easier to drive than the original twin-plate clutch and sliding-mesh gearbox of the Arab II. This bus is currently in the Dewsbury Bus Museum.”

Peter Williamson

10/02/21 – 07:13

County 70 is preserved and is now semi-restored at the Dewsbury Bus Museum awaiting a full repaint.
Can confirm it is a West Riding Guy Wulfrunian behind. The other advanced engineering on it was that Wulfrunians had disc brakes.

Graham Crawshaw

11/02/21 – 07:17

Graham’s post has drawn my attention to my earlier statement about 70’s transmission. Since writing that, I have discovered that the last Arab IIs to be built had the constant mesh gearbox from new, and so it may be that 70’s transmission is original. Sorry about that.

Peter Williamson

12/02/21 – 06:10

The transmission of the wartime Guy Arab consisted of a twin plate clutch and a four speed sliding mesh (crash) gearbox that dated from the 1920s, in which the gear selector operated from right to left for upward changes. During the summer of 1945 Guy began fitting the Arab with a single plate clutch coupled with its new all constant mesh gearbox, in which, unusually for the time, even first gear had constant mesh engagement. This gearbox, which selected gears in the by then conventional left to right sequence, was designed and developed during the conflict, but pressures of wartime delayed its appearance in service. This transmission proved to be immensely robust and reliable and remained an option right to the end of Arab production.

Roger Cox

12/02/21 – 12:12

I was for a time part-owner of Provincial 55 which has the reverse gearbox. The gear lever was fitted with a red knob rather than a black one to indicate this; I am not sure whether this was an original Guy feature, or fitted by Provincial, but I believe the former. I don’t recall the box as being tricky to master, other that having to remember where to put the stick!

Alan Murray-Rust

13/02/21 – 07:07

My Arab which also has a reverse gearbox has a black knob. Issue with the gearbox is that unlike Leylands or Bristols you have to place the gear lever the others allowing you to use the selector box sides for guidance.

Roger Burdett

13/02/21 – 07:08

The red gear lever knob was originally fitted to the later constant mesh box to indicate the correct left to right sequence. The old Guy gearbox had a black knob. No doubt things got swapped about in the course of time.

Roger Cox

13/02/21 – 07:09

I’ve not met any Guys with the reverse gearbox, but those with the constant-mesh box usually had maroon gear lever knobs. Even the Daimler CCG models, which had the same Guy gearbox, had maroon knobs.

Peter Williamson

14/02/21 – 07:00

London Transport lopped a couple of inches off their reverse gearbox Arabs., compared with the later ones.

Chris Hebbron