Blue Line (Samuel Morgan) Ltd.
1943
Guy Arab II
Roe H31/25R

Yet another Independent bus operator from the Doncaster area, the Samuel Morgan part of the name is from a take over in 1930, Samuel Morgan operated under the name of Gwen Motors.
The above bus was not new to Blue Line it was originally owned by Sunderland District and was number 176 in there fleet until 1961 when purchased by Blue Line. Of course with a build date of 1943 it would of had a utility body, not sure who built the original body but it was rebodied by Roe in 1953, if you know leave a comment. 
Blue Line also owned Reliance who they took over in 1949 and carried on running it under its own name they also had an ex Sunderland District Guy Arab II registration FPT 207.

I can remember the 2 old guys known as 205 & 207. One had a conventional 4 speed Westlinghouse crash gearbox the other a so called Chinese gearbox where 1st gear was where 3rd should be and 2nd where 4th should have been this could cause all sorts of gear grating if you forgot which bus you were driving.

David A Oglesby

I know the feeling only too well David – the two Guy Arabs that we had at Samuel Ledgard (JUA 762/3) had the "back to front" gearboxes and often caught out the less interested among the driving staff.  They were fitted with dark maroon knobs on the gear levers – a somewhat optimistic method of alerting drivers, especially in the dark !!

Chris Youhill

I think I read somewhere on the net that the above bus came to a sorry end, on its side in a field, having got too close to the ditch at the side of the road, no one injured.

Spencer

London Transport also had a a sizeable number of austerity Guys with both reverse and conventional gearbox ‘gates’. If my memory serves me right, they got over the problem by sawing 2-3 inches off the non-standard gear levers. No problem in the dark, but whether the drivers got backache from bending to the left with every gear change is not recorded!

Chris Hebbron

19/10/11 – 16:15

Regarding Spencer’s note above, here //www.flickr.com/photos/8755708@N07/4423130081/in/photostream/ is a set of pictures showing the accident and recovery operations. It was the end of it’s life but reading that the others like it were withdrawn in 1968 and noting that the Honda Cub moped carries a 1967 registration, it probably only hastened it’s demise by a short time. There are some nice pictures in the series contained in the link.

Richard Leaman

21/10/11 – 06:45

I was once a member of the now defunct Spenborough Bus Enthusiasts Club in Cleckheaton and we organised a trip in a similar Roe bodied Guy Arab of Yorkshire Woollen District to view the Blue Line Arab. Somewhere along the way in Doncaster a wrong turning was taken and a low railway bridge was encountered which entailed a long reverse manoeuvre. I recall the drivers name was David Rothery last heard of at East Yorkshire Motor Services. I wonder if anybody else can remember the trip. It was in the early 60s.

Philip Carlton

13/04/20 – 07:51

FPT 207 and probably 205 were built with Picktree utility bodies.

Duncan Robinson

15/04/20 – 06:33

Wouldn’t the body builder have been Pickering of Wishaw, near Glasgow rather than Picktree, who I think only worked post-war on buses for Northern General and associated companies? Looking at one of the entries under the Picktree bodywork entry, it’s stated that the firm was founded on 6th Sept 1947, lasting as a coach builder till c.1954, but continuing until later in the car business. Pickering was one of the designated body-builders of WWII, although not one of the major participants. Their bodies were not renowned for being a long-lasting product, even if many utilities could be suspect in durability!

Michael Hampton

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

Yorkshire Woollen District
1943
Guy Arab II 6LW
Roe H56R

Here is a a good shot of a Guy Arab II going about it’s business in the Yorkshire mill town area of Dewsbury. The 6LW after the make and model means that this bus had a Gardner 8.4 litre 6 cylinder diesel engine there was only one alternative at the time a Gardner 5LW 7.0 litre 5 cylinder diesel engine. This bus had a straight forward four speed crash gearbox and a vacuum assisted hydraulic braking system, the original body on this bus would have been of a utility style, all very basic but then it was built during wartime. It was rebodied around 1953 there is more on that subject and an excellent comment for the reason why here.

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12/08/12 – 07:29

Please could anyone tell me what year Central Works Savile town closed as I worked their from 1973 to 1978

Ray

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22/10/12 – 16:56

In answer to Ray’s question, when did YWD Central Works Dewsbury close, the time was August 1983 when the entire operation, including staff was transferred to Belle Isle at Wakefield. The function was then combined with the West Riding central works. A new machine shop and fuel injection-"pump" shop was then established as previously all fuel injection work was carried out at the Dewsbury site. I too worked at YWD, and started work there as an apprentice fitter in July 1963

David Howram

 
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