In all the comments about Todmorden and Halifax buses I notice that there has not been any mention of APT. I recall that the registered office was at the YWD Offices at Saville Town Dewsbury. Perhaps John Stringer could explain what happened to this firm.
Philip Carlton
04/07/13 - 12:19
The National Bus Company formed Amalgamated Passenger Transport - I believe by renaming an existing but dormant company - in 1969 to take over British Railway's interests in the various Yorkshire JOC's. The registered office was the same as YWD's for reasons of convenience.
Todmorden J.O.C. thankfully never applied the NBC logo, in the same way that it had never used the BR 'lion and wheel' emblem, their buses continuing to display either the old LMS crest or BR 'double arrow' alongside their own town's coat of arms up till the end.
APT remained a partner in Halifax and Todmorden JOC's until the merger on 6th September 1971, and in the resulting Calderdale JOC until the WYPTE. take over on 1st April 1974. From then on APT would serve no purpose any more and as far as I know reverted to being a dormant NBC company once again. What happened to it after the break up of NBC. It still figures in company listings on various financial websites usually stating 'no accounts submitted'.
John Stringer
04/07/13 - 17:39
Sometimes local bodies just disappear because their name or in this case their abbreviation is known better nationally with nothing to do with the local meaning. In the 1960s APT was a national chain of independent grocer shops called the Association of Private Traders who had produce with their own logo in shops thus reducing costs because they could order in bulk. When this APT ceased and many of the grocers became SPAR the British Rail board grabbed the abbreviation APT for the Advanced Passenger Train -
Ken Jones
05/07/13 - 06:21
APT was resurrected at Bracebridge Heath for a while as an NBC subsidiary as a regional engineering services company. Based in the old Lincolnshire Road Car central works it operated from September 1981 to October 1984.
Andrew Charles
05/07/13 - 06:22
I read somewhere that APT was a re-naming of the Notts & Derby Traction Co, although I'm certain that APT must have become active before N&D's operations were absorbed by Midland General. I've also read that it was a re-naming of Bells Services Ltd (which had been a dormant UAS subsidiary since the early 1950s[?]). I suppose its possible that there were two APTs: the first, ex-Bells created to hold railway shares in the JOCs; and a later ex-N&D creation, which became active in 1981 when it took over LRCCs Bracebridge Heath central works to act as an in-house central disposal operation for ex-NBC stock. At the present time APT is shown as a dormant company, registered at 172 Buckinham Palace Road (VCS, I presume). As far as JOC representation was concerned, if Huddersfield is anything to go by - where the NBC representatives were the GMs and TMs of YWD and YTC - then it must have been the GM and/or TM of the local NBC subsidiary . . . anybody able to fill in re, Todmorden/Halifax/Calderdale and Sheffield?
Philip Rushworth
06/07/13 - 18:08
Previous contributors have got most of the story right, but it is complicated so I do hope you are all paying attention!
In the 1920s the National Omnibus & Transport Company Limited built up bus operations in various parts of the country including Essex,Bedfordshire, and the West Country. At the end of the decade it was decided that separate subsidiaries would be set up for each area and that there would be shareholdings held by the appropriate railway company. Thus the following companies were incorporated-
Eastern National Omnibus Company Limited
Midland National Omnibus Company Limited
Northern National Omnibus Company Limited
Southern National Omnibus Company Limited
Western National Omnibus Company Limited
Three of those companies are very familiar to those of us of a certain age but the other two require some explanation. Northern National was registered on February 28th 1929 simply to protect the name (there being no operations in the North) and it remained dormant until it was dissolved on February 22nd 1978. Midland National was intended to take over operations in the areas covered by the London Midland & Scottish Railway but it proved impossible to disentangle them from those in the LNER area so all of the Essex and Bedfordshire operations passed to Eastern National.
Thus Midland National (incorporated February 28th 1929 (company No. 237555, I think)) remained dormant until April 8th 1967 when it was renamed Amalgamated Passenger Transport Limited. On January 1st 1969 it took over the British Rail interests in Halifax, Huddersfield, Sheffield and Todmorden Joint Omnibus Committees. These committees were subsequently wound up by March 31st 1974 and the company was renamed Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Traction Company Limited on December 8th 1980 and was then described as an investment holding company.
It was renamed again on February 9th 1987 as Countryside Tours Limited and was finally dissolved in 1988.
Separately from all the above, Bells Services Limited was incorporated on July 17th 1931 with registration number 257864. I forgot to look up it's early history but in 1937 it became a subsidiary of United Automobile Services Limited. It was renamed Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Traction Company Limited on November 29th 1978 presumably to protect the Notts & Derby name as the original Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Company (incorporated by act of parliament on August 11th 1903) had been dissolved on June 21st 1978. East Midland, West Riding and West Yorkshire then became it's shareholders on December 28th 1979. On December 8th 1980 it exchanged names with Amalgamated Passenger Transport Limited (see above) and from September 6th 1981 until October 26th 1984 (or October 31st depending on which source you believe) it operated the former central works of Lincolnshire Road Car Company at Bracebridge Heath, providing engineering services to the industry. It was then dormant until 1988 when it was wound up.
Nigel Turner
09/07/13 - 07:31
Thanks, Nigel, for that. I was planning to write an article on Bells Services for the site . . . but I didn't get very far on before I came up against a question! If I can't resolve the answer for myself, then I may need to post a question of my own. But here's a question to be going on with: why wind up one company, and then rename another to protect the name? why keep dormant companies in existance? - the fact that APT is still with us after all this time is a good example? why swop names between companies? Was it all to do with avoiding liabilities, or creative accounting? (Actually that's quite a few questions, but they're all sort-of linked.) And finally, has anybody ever wondered who came up with the title Amalgamated Passenger Transport, and then wondered what on earth he was thinking about?
Philip Rushworth
24/07/13 - 14:34
Amalgamated Passenger Transport. Anybody else ever put this company's closing together with the closure of Roe bodyworks in Leeds ?
A P T & R O E, mixed up, they make O P T A R E coincidence ?
Mike Norris
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