2012 – Issue 4 of 4

£2.50
00
NEWSLETTER 39 – OCTOBER 2012
Our AEC Swift at a photo-shoot at Penarth Esplanade on 08.09.12. (Tudor Thomas)
This issue features Andrew Wiltshire’s article on the Cardiff Olympians. Also
included is the second part of Arthur Hughes experiences on the Merthyr to
Cardiff service in the 1930’s along with reports of local events and photographs
from Bus & Coach 2012.
1 1
1

This unusual view of Caerphilly 32 at Ebbw Vale proves that we did paint the roof! And below
on 9 th June 2012, Cardiff 464 on the 96 passes our depot amidst our rally preparations.
(Tudor Thomas / Paul Hamley))
2

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
As we draw to the end of the 2012 rally season it is good to look back and see what we have
accomplished during the year, also to look forward to 2013 and the plans we already have in place.
We continued our road runs with a July trip out on freshly MOTed Caerphilly 32 and the last in
August on Western Welsh Cub 1370. Paul Burgess who had driven the previous three runs was
himself unable to attend therefore Alan Jones drove us to the South Wales Trolleybus Project
facility. There, we were able to see the progress on 243 and 262, which were at one time in store
at Barry Depot.
The Depot had a couple of open days in conjunction with Vale Council events, for both the Barry at
War and Tall Ships we ran buses to Barry Island via the Depot. During August we attended the
Brislington rally with PAX and Caerphilly 32, the stall making some money as well.
Our Bus & Coach rally at Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre was lucky with the weather with a dry day
from beginning to end. The CTPG took 9 buses from our fleet to Merthyr including the AEC Swift
and Newport Atlantean which both passed MOT’s in the weeks before the rally. The Swift also
went out on the Saturday for a photo shoot with Bus & Coach Preservation magazine. The article
appeared in the October released edition. Thanks for 512’s successful running can be placed
mainly on Bob Sparks who refused to be beaten by the countless setbacks this bus has given over
the long and short term. Buses were mainly full for the Merthyr road runs though there seemed to
be spare seats as the afternoon went on. This was another successful rally raising £1500 for Group
coffers, well done everyone who helped out.
On the vehicle front we have our largest running fleet ever and there is also potential for others to
be running next year, but there is a limit on how many we should sensibly insure each year.
Therefore next year we may have to rotate the running fleet as others become available. Looking
forward to 2013 we hope to have 856 completed in time for the Barry Rally also OUH 177G which
has been largely rebuilt by Martyn Evans. Potentially, we also have the National Welsh Olympian.
Unfortunately we are having trouble with the Jones Cub overheating again and investigations are
on-going into the cause which hopefully is not the head gasket again. Caerphilly 3 is now the main
bus receiving attention from the bodywork crew and is looking all the better for it. 434 is also
sitting higher following the tempering of the back springs which have been very weak for many
years.
During the summer we passed on the National Welsh Duple Caribbean coach after investigation
found a large number of mechanical defects which were beyond our means to resolve. This coach
is now with a fitter who has the capabilities to restore the bus and in return we received a new set
of tyres for OUH. Also Cardiff 397 arrived at Barry having spent many years at a gliding club,
unfortunately it came with a seized engine which rather put the bus at a disadvantage and it was
decided to use it for spares for our other Bristol VRT.
As I write this PAX has been despatched to the painters to return to the original blue Bedwas &
Machen livery (does anyone have a B&M blind and fleet lettering?). Western Welsh coach OUH
107 is expected shortly, so there will be plenty to look forward to in 2013!!
Please feel free to come along and help out at the Depot during the winter months, there is still
plenty of work going on!
Mike
Tel: 07733 302242
Email : mikeystrad73@btinternet.com
Also keep up to date on our Facebook page
3

CARDIFF BUSES;
The Leyland Olympian…….…..better than a VR by far!
Fleet numbers: 501 to 519
551 to 567
Registration numbers:
Chassis type:
Engine type:
Brakes:
Gearbox:
LBO501X
RBO502-510Y
A511-519VKG
B551-559ATX
C560-567GWO
Leyland ONLXB/1R
Gardner 6LXB 10.45 litre 150bhp
Air
Leyland G2 hydracyclic 5-speed
Wheelbase:
16ft 3in (4.95 metres)
Overall length:
31ft6 5in (9.60 metres)
Suspension:
Air
Body manufacturer:
East Lancs, Blackburn
Seating layout: H43/31F (501-519)
CH43/27F (551-567) (as new)
Overall height:
14ft 6in
14ft 1in (551 to 567)
Unladen weight:
9905kg
Years built: 1981 to 1986
Depot allocation as new: Sloper Road
Dates of withdrawal: 1997 to 2000
In the great scheme of things in the early 1970s, British Leyland was set on rationalising
their UK range of passenger vehicles. The plan would be that bus manufacturing would
be centred around one saloon type vehicle, the Leyland National, and one doubledecker,
that had still to be developed.
The three current double-deck models of the time, the Leyland Atlantean, Leyland
Fleetline and Bristol VRT would all be swept aside and replaced by the B15 project. The
B15 was a highly sophisticated integral constructed bus, to be built on one production
line using experience gained from the Leyland National. British Leyland had a monopoly
grip on the industry, and the customer would have minimal choice and would effectively
have to take the standard product. This was a very blinkered attitude by British Leyland,
which would damage its already poor reputation. Many bus operators large and small
did not want an integral vehicle and were very uneasy with the sophisticated nature of
the B15. London Transport on the other hand gave the project its full support and the
B15 emerged in 1978 as the Leyland Titan.
4

A handful of other operators showed an interest in the Titan and ordered small numbers
including Reading, Southend and most of the PTEs. Cardiff opted for a single example for
evaluation and it was intended to become 53 (WTX53T). Delivery would be in
December 1978, as a single door model. However by the autumn of 1978 it was
becoming clear that no delivery date whatsoever could be given for this bus. In fact
apart from London Transport, only Reading (2), West Midlands PTE (5), Greater
Manchester PTE (15) and China Motor Bus (1) had received any Titans. Both West
Midlands and Greater Manchester had in fact placed much larger orders but these were
duly cancelled. The loss of West Midlands was to be particularly painful as they never
went back to Leyland for double-deckers again. The National Bus Company didn’t get
any of its intended order either, that were ultimately destined for Maidstone and
District. But worse was to come for the Leyland Titan.
The Titan production line was originally going to be at Southall, but the former AEC
plant was closed down and production began at the Park Royal plant in West London.
Industrial disputes took hold as Leyland proposed the introduction of unskilled labour
alongside the skilled workforce. This was never resolved and orders were becoming
delayed for important customers like London Transport, and other customers stood
little chance of getting a look in! In 1979 British Leyland announced that it was to close
the troublesome Park Royal factory and move production to ECW at Lowestoft, but this
never got past the drawing board due to similar objection from the Lowestoft
workforce. Production then moved to Workington in Cumbria in 1981.
As a consequence of the delivery fiasco, Cardiff took a Titan demonstrator on loan in the
spring of 1979. It materialised as single-door 52 (FHG592S) fitted with a Gardner 6LXB
engine. It was put to use for the comparative trials with a Tayside Volvo Ailsa, the
Dennis Dominator (51) and MCW Metrobus demonstrator TOJ592S.
As early as 1977 British Leyland was looking at producing a separate chassis based on the
Titan model, as it was clear that many National Bus Company and Scottish Bus Group
fleets would have a requirement for a low height vehicle, an option that did not come
with the integral Titan. This development took much of the Titan technology and
developed it into a separate chassis form designated Leyland B45 and capable of being
bodied by an outside contractor. It was also capable of taking a low-height body and
thus in theory would appeal to many NBC fleets.
This chassis appeared in 1980 as was christened the Olympian in the October in time for
the Motor Show. The two prototypes had been fully tested and an initial healthy order
book was a sign that it had been accepted by most operators including the NBC.
The standard engine would be the Gardner 6LXB with Leyland Hydracyclic transmission.
The Leyland TL11 and 6LXCT would initially be offered as an option, that only a few
operators would take up. It would be available with a wheelbase of either 16ft 3 in or
18ft 6in with an overall length of 31ft 5in or 33ft 8in.
Built in Bristol at the Brislington works, the Olympian production began in early 1981.
It was to be an instant success story with many orders flooding in from all sectors of the
industry including overseas customers. This would see the PTEs specifying large batches
right down to independents ordering just a pair of chassis.
5

The Olympian was to become Leyland’s successor to the Bristol VRT within the
National Bus Company. A tri-axle version was then launched in 1981, being aimed at the
overseas Far Eastern market.
LBO 501X pictured when quite new in January 1982
The entire former Bristol Commercial Vehicles factory at Brislington was then
earmarked for closure which duly occurred in late 1983. The last Olympian chassis
rolled off the production line in the October. Assembly then moved to the Workington
plant and continued there until 1987. In 1985 a new engine the Cummins L10 was
offered and soon became standard in place of the ageing Gardner product. Bodywork
was up to this time had been supplied by a variety of builders including Eastern Coach
Works (ECW), Alexander, Northern Counties (NCME), Roe, Optare, East Lancs,
Marshall and finally Leyland (using jig-built kit bodies after the ECW factory closed
down). The ECW, Roe, Optare and Leyland bodies were very similar in design. ECW
also built a stylish coach body on the longer chassis suitable for long distance services.
The Lowestoft plant of ECW was the next closure victim in early 1987.
A new Olympian production line then commenced at the Farrington Works site at
Leyland in late 1985 and continued until 1990, when a return to Workington saw
production re-commence at the former Leyland National plant. The Olympian was
taken on board by Volvo when they took over Leyland vehicles in 1988, and was
subsequently developed further as the Volvo Olympian featuring a Volvo engine.
Production was subsequently moved to Irvine in Ayrshire during 1993.
6

By 1998 sales of this popular chassis had started to wane as newer low-floor doubledeck
models became available. Production of the Volvo Olympian finally came to an end
in 1999.
As an export model, the Olympian was probably one of the most successful double-deck
models ever, and many examples could be found working in Hong Kong and Singapore.
In 2010 The Olympian can still be found hard at work in most areas of the UK, although
the earlier Leyland built examples are getting harder to find.
A512 VKG pictured at Sloper Road in June 1988
Olympians in Cardiff
Following evaluation of various types of vehicle, on 6 July 1979 an order was placed by
Cardiff for 72 double-deckers as follows:
Chassis:
body:
1981/82 18 Volvo B55-10 NCME
1982/83 9 Volvo B55-10 NCME
“ 9 Leyland B45 East Lancs
1983/84 9 Volvo B55-10 NCME
“ 9 Leyland B45 East Lancs
1984/85 18 Leyland B45 East Lancs
It is believed that the initial cost of each Olympian chassis was £25,000, but no doubt this
increased with subsequent orders. It should also be noted that an extra East Lancs body
was also ordered at this time.
7

The Leyland Titan ordered by Cardiff in 1978, it would appear was never cancelled with
Leyland, and duly appeared as a B45 Olympian chassis. This was bodied by East Lancs in
the autumn of 1981 using the extra body mentioned above. It was delivered to Cardiff
on 4 December as fleet-number 501 (LBO501X).
This was the first East Lancs bodied Olympian to be built, and featured a new style of
body. The livery was orange and black with a narrow white band and the fleet-name and
coat of arms was in black between the wheel-arches. The bus was designated an
ONLXB/IR by Leyland but in fact had a 6LXC2 engine when built. The East Lancs body
seated 74 and featured orange/gold/black moquette seating on the lower saloon with
brown vinyl on the top deck. It was fitted with a tachograph and entered service the day
it was delivered, but for a few hours only. It was then set aside for attention.
In December 1980 the final order for eighteen Olympians was reduced to seventeen
vehicles and at some stage after this it was split into a batch of nine, followed by one of
eight for 1985/86 delivery.
The next eighteen Olympians
The first nine of the main order for Olympians would be numbered 502 to 510 and due
for delivery in August 1982. This was later put back to a more realisitic “before” 31
March 1983. They would be very similar to 501 in most respects. The first to arrive
were 502/4/7/10 delivered between 21 January and 4 February 1983. These four buses
carried an experimental livery which included black window surrounds and looked very
smart. 502 was the first to enter service on 1 February, the last of the batch delivered
was 508 on 16 March, and this entered service on 22 March. They carried registrations
RBO502-510Y. Olympian 503 differed slightly from the other eight as it had moquette
covered seats on the top deck and it was the intention to make this bus available for
private hire work. The others had brown vinyl seats on the top deck with hard “vandal
proof” seats to the rear. In addition four buses, 502 to 505 were fitted with
tachographs.
The second batch was due from East Lancs in December 1983. Just prior to this a
number of changes had been made to the final seventeen vehicles which we would have
expected to become fleet numbers 520 to 536. Nine of these were now due in October
1984 as low-height buses fitted with tachographs. The final eight were due by October
1985 as standard height buses (520 to 527), and no tachograph would be fitted.
Olympian 513 arrived on 23 December 1983 registered A513VKG. The last one to
arrive was 517 on 3 February. The batch was registered A511-519VKG and the first into
service was 513 on 11 January. The last were 515/7 on 4 February and, unlike 501 to
510, all were delivered without Leyland badges. All nineteen Olympians settled into
service on most city routes and were also regular performers on the service 30 to
Newport. The experimental livery on 502/4/7/10 was deemed not to be a success and
all four were given standard fleet livery between May and August 1984, being dealt with
in numerical order.
The third batch of Olympians, now nine buses and due in 1984, was allocated fleet
numbers 551 to 559 (B551-559ATX). With the exception of 556, all were delivered
between 12 December 1984 and 28 January 1985. They featured standard bus bodyshells
(as per 501 to 519), but to an overall height of 14 ft 1in.
8

High backed dual purpose seats were fitted for 43 on the top deck and 27 in the lower
saloon. The seats themselves were finished in brown and white moquette. The vehicles
carried a modified livery of orange with white applied from below the upper deck
windows to the bottom of the lower deck windows. The original plan was to use them
on services 28,29,30,32 and 36 and private hire.
B556 ATX pictured on the 112 service at Heath in Sept. 1989.
Entry into service saw 552 to 554 appear on route 36 from 1 February 1985 with
551/5/7-9 following them in the March. 556 were eventually delivered to Cardiff in
March. Prior to this it had been used by its bodybuilder East Lancs, to convey delegates
to the Annual Municipal Transport Managers Conference at Blackburn between 4 and 6
March. Initially Olympians 551 to 559 tended not to stray from the duties for which
they were originally intended.
Yet another change of plan saw the fourth and final batch of Olympians emerge as low
height buses too. The eight vehicles would now be numbered 560 to 567 with matching
C560GWO etc registrations. Their lower saloon would be capable of being fitted with
tables resulting in a lower seating capacity. It is not known if this modification was ever
executed at any time. 567 arrived in January 1986 delivered in all over white as the basis
for an overall advert livery. The other seven arrived by the end of March and carried the
same livery as the first batch. Entering service alongside 551 to 559, they also started to
appear on the new services 307/308 (Cyncoed to Penarth) from 17 March 1986.
9

In March 1990 it was decided to upgrade an Olympian, to comply with DIPTAC
specifications, which were intended to assist disabled persons travelling on the vehicle.
The bus was then intended for use on the tendered 112 (Ely-Heath Hospital-
Trowbridge). The vehicle selected was 510 and it received lower entrance steps, new
“non-slip” grab-rails, a larger luggage pen and was subsequently down-seated to H43/29F.
I would like to thank Mac Winfield, Dave Thomas, Mike Taylor, Peter Smith, Anthony
Brewer, John Jones, Roger Davies and the PSV Circle for their assistance with this
article.
Andrew Wiltshire April 2012
(Better by far than the Bristol VR – Better by far than the Volvo Ail-Sar. At least it rhymes!
Part two of Andrew’s article featuring liveries and disposals will appear in the next edition.
All photographs courtesy of the author.)
JULY ROAD RUN;
---------------------------------------
On the reasonably dry evening (for 2012) of 18 th July we took our former Caerphilly
U.D.C. Leyland PD3 GNY 732C No. 32 out for its first group road run. The bus
performed excellently with Paul Burgess driving. It ran quietly and with less effort than
most 47 year olds.
We drove through the Vale to stop at the quiet town of Llantwit Major where some of
the group walked to one of the local pubs. We then returned via the same route.
EBBW VALE CLASSIC BUS SHOW & FAMILY FUN DAY;
On a sunny Saturday 21 st July, four buses travelled from Barry Depot to Ebbw Vale for
the above event. Caerphilly 32 led the way with Pontypridd 8 and Western Welsh 1370
behind. By the time they arrived at Ebbw Vale our Clipper 143 had already arrived.
This new event was held at Bethcar Street, the pedestrianized section of the town
centre. Although attracting only about a dozen buses there was a good atmosphere with
family shoppers milling around the vehicles. Some children had never seen a double deck
bus before especially one with a side gangway as in Caerphilly 32.
Quite a few local people were convinced that 32 was an old “Edmund’s of Rassau” bus
being a similar shade of green. There are still fond memories of that firm in the town
over 20 years since the firm was taken over by National Welsh. One lady said, “Their
buses were old, but they never let us down!”
Local Councillors seemed pleased with the support for this enjoyable event and it may
be repeated next year.
10

AUGUST ROAD RUN;
Being unable to use a bus from Mike Walkers collection, this time we travelled on
Western Welsh 1370 from our depot collection. Driven by Alan Jones, over 30
members and guests set out on a nondescript night and headed for Wentloog Levels,
between Cardiff and Newport, to visit the Cardiff & South Wales Trolleybus
Preservation Group workshops. Driving through Cardiff Bay, we arrived about 8pm and
were greeted warmly by Keith Walker.
Cardiff 243 (Paul Hamley)
A new addition at the premises is 861 NHT, Alan Smith’s ex Bristol convertible Lodekka
(with its lid on) which looks like it needs a bit of attention. Work continues on the two
Cardiff vehicles, and 243 looks splendid inside, with work continuing on the outside. 262
has had an excellent platform and staircase rebuild, but work is on hold on the Bradford
vehicle.
We were treated to tea and biscuits by the Trolleybus group, which, with the sudden
inclement weather outside, was very welcome. We arrived back in Barry about
10.30pm. (P. Hamley)
11

NOW WE ARE TWENTY 1992 – 2012:
The CTPG was formed in March 1992 for the purchase and repatriation of Cardiff
Leyland Titan XUH 368. The AEC Swift, MBO 512F, was to follow in July 1992. The
founder members were headed by Julian Brinkworth and as membership increased the
group was registered for charitable status in July 1997.
Glyn Bowen was co-opted as rally secretary for the first Bus & Coach Wales 1994 at
Barry Island. Glyn had much experience of organising vehicle rallies having organised the
Historic Commercial Vehicle Club (later Society) rallies at Cardiff from 1976 to 1988
and later the Taff Vale Rally at Merthyr in 1991. He became Chairman of CTPG in 2001
following the enforced retirement of Julian due to ill health. With 35 members, regular
meetings were commenced and a newsletter was produced by Steve Morgan.
Also in 2001 negotiations were begun with the Vale of Glamorgan Council over the
possibility of securing the former bus depot at Barry. This was to take another 7 years of
struggle before we were successful.
Bus & Coach Wales continued to be held at the Barry Island coach park annually through
1995 to 1999, the Stagecoach sponsored 2000 rally transferring back to Cardiff City
Centre. No rally was organised in 2001, but then the Cardiff Transport Centenary event
was staged at the City Centre in 2002. The CTPG moved their vehicles from storage at
Newport to Wenvoe Quarry early in 2003 and after three years moved again to Watts’
yard at Bonvilston. Mike Taylor was appointed Chairman at the 2004 AGM, monthly
meetings continued and newsletters became quarterly.
At Barry Waterfront, a small transport event was held in 2001 but the CTPG was not
involved with this. In 2003, the Barry Festival of Transport was organised at Hood Road
by the Vale of Glamorgan Railway with help from the Vale of Glamorgan Bus
Preservation Group (now dormant). This was repeated in 2004 and 2005 and the CTPG
did well with their sales stand. The following year, the CTPG stepped in at short notice
to help organise due to the previous organisers group dropping out. The event has
been held by CTPG each year since, with assistance of the Vale of Glamorgan Council,
but by 2009 the Vale of Glamorgan Railway had gone and the event became entirely
CTPG. This event has since grown in size and popularity. The Cambrian Railway
Company, the new owners of the Barry Tourist Railway has run a train service since the
2010 event.
Meanwhile, Glyn Bowen organised an event in 2004 for the Trevithick Bicentenary
Festival followed in 2005 by the Merthyr Tydfil Vintage Bus Show organised for CTPG by
Robert Price.. The following year the name changed to Bus & Coach Wales, an event
that has continued to grow annually, which since 2008 has been led by Mike Taylor.
The CTPG Barry Depot was formerly opened by the Leader of the Vale Council in
August 2008 and since that time it has gradually filled up with buses, some owned by the
group and others renting garaging space. Under cover at last the group has been able to
expand and gain recognition. The membership currently stands at 115.
12

WESTON RALLY;
Sunday 26th August saw a small group of members heading to Weston-Super-Mare on
Richard Johnson’s Royal Blue MW. After a comfortable journey, we met the traffic
heading into the resort (it was a Bank Holiday Sunday), with queues everywhere. On
arrival we parked up with the other visiting vehicles in a large parking area, next to a
Thamesdown RE, and were soon joined by the Swansea group's cut down Routemaster.
After looking at a large variety of vehicles, including a stunning line up of half cab Bristols,
I caught the car park link Solo back to the main depot (at least 200 yards – too far to
walk), and looked around the numerous stalls that were inside the building, along with an
FLF up on a vehicle lift, and two old Crosville Bristols which are long term restoration
projects. Then it was a ride on a Bath Services Lodekka (969EHW) to the Grand Pier,
where it was then a trip on an open top VR of Crosville (ex Bristol Omnibus dual door)
to Sand Bay. This was preceded by a First open topper working their service, also to
Sand Bay, until Birnbeck Pier when the VR overtook it. The same situation occurred on
the way back, where both vehicles travelled in convoy giving prospective customers a
choice (just as Maggie’s de-regulation intended!).
The former Cardiff open topper 360. (Could we have this at Barry please?)
All services were running late because of the traffic, so whilst waiting by the Grand Pier
for an open topper on the service to Uphill, I was joined by Tudor Thomas, and we got
on 891VFM, the open top FLF, a genuine Crosville vehicle. Mike and family were already
on the vehicle, and we all rode together to Uphill. On return to the Grand Pier, we
found ex Cardiff 360, but were unable to travel on it as it was due to depart at 1600 on
a 2 hour round trip to Burnham on Sea, and unfortunately we were due to leave within
the hour. After a quick refreshment stop, and watching 360 depart from the balcony of
Wetherspoons, we travelled back to the depot sitting on leather seats on the splendid
ex-Bournemouth 1949 Tiger, with the bus practically to ourselves. (P. Hamley)
13

BUS & COACH WALES 2012;
The CTPG had a record presence at this event held at the Rhydycar Leisure Centre
Merthyr Tydfil on Sunday 9 th September with an amazing 11 vehicles making the journey
from Barry Depot. This is the second premier event organised by the group in 2012 and
again one to be proud of.
On their debut at Merthyr this year were the 1982 Cardiff Volvo Ailsa NBO 407X and
the 1968 Cardiff AEC Swift MBO 512F. Everyone in the group was delighted to see the
Swift out after all these years. Merthyr was probably the furthest it had travelled under
its own power in 20 years -- it had certainly been towed further. Well done to all who
have made this problematic bus reliable once more.
Other buses that travelled from Barry Depot were the Newport Atlantean EDW 68D,
the Pontypridd AEC Regent UTG 313G, the Cardiff Guy open topper ABO 434B, the
Caerphilly Leyland Titan GNY 432C, the Cardiff Bus Optare N143 NTG, the Bedwas &
Machen Leyland Titan PAX 466F, the Red & White Leyland Tiger coach HWO 323, the
Western Welsh Leyland Tiger Cub FUH 370D and the Western National Bristol MW,
EDV 505D.
The vehicle travelling the furthest to the event was the fine 1966 Daimler CVG6 / East
Lancs double decker that Colin Sidaway brought down from Sheffield.
This year we were without the popular brewery tours as the Rhymney Brewery has
relocated to Blaenavon which at about 14 miles away was impractical to visit.
However, for those visitors that liked a tipple, two visits were arranged to the Penderyn
Distillery about 4 miles up on the Beacons.
There were also trips to the ever popular Brecon Mountain Railway at Pant y Scallog
every half hour and six circular tours of Merthyr Tydfil taking in Bethesda Gardens with
the statue of Merthyr boxing legend Eddie Thomas, then passing the head of the famous
200 year old Penydarren Tramroad before following a clockwise route passing the
Hoover Factory, back to the Leisure Centre.
Ominous dark clouds appeared by lunchtime, but thankfully the rain held off until the
evening when all our buses were safely back at Barry.
The group appreciate the support given by the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
and our sponsors, Sixty-Sixty Coaches, the Brecon Mountain Railway, Southern Coach
trimmers and RT Williams Commercials.
The Bus & Coach Wales event gets bigger and better every year with more vehicles,
stallholders and visitors thanks to the work done by Mike Taylor and his team of
volunteers.
Colour photos taken at this event are featured at the back of this issue
14

MEMORIES OF BUS COMMUTING IN THE 1930s- - PART 2;
Another dip into Arthur Hughes memories of his time commuting by bus from Merthyr to Cardiff
in the 1930s. Edited from his 1990 unpublished draft.
The road from Merthyr to Cardiff followed the River Taff on its descent from the hilly
uplands to the waters of the Bristol Channel some 550 foot below. In 1933, the road
was for the most part narrow and winding and took the traveller from the dereliction
that gnawed at the heart of this once thriving town, along a valley compressed on each
side by steep hills, through typical South Wales mining towns and villages down to the
then gentle rural atmosphere of the lower reaches of the valley, before entering the
capital city.
The terminus of the Cardiff bus at Merthyr was in Castle Street in the centre of the
town and forever in the gaze of the nearby town hall. This was a mile from where I
lived. Luckily it was all downhill, and on my way down in the mornings I would usually
see a couple of Merthyr Electric Traction Company’s trams (MET was part of British
Electric Traction Group BET), which operated on two routes, to Dowlais and to Cefn-
Coed-y-Cymmer (which was shortened by all to Cefn). A feature of Merthyr trams was
that they carried coloured route identification boards at each end of the car, yellow
square board for Cefn and red triangular board for Dowlais cars. This was an early form
of identification which dated back to the days when many people were illiterate and was
quite widely used at one time. Many of the trams in use in the 1930s had second-hand
bodies that had been in use in fellow BET companies in the Midlands.
The livery of the trams was the BET dark ivy green and light cream, the trucks being
painted in red oxide and the slatted seats on both decks were painted in dark red. The
trolley poles were not of the completely rotating type and all cars carried a notice just
above the entrances “Swing pole this side only” with an arrow indicating the direction.
The MET proposed to run motorbuses in 1914, but South Wales Transport (another
BET company), who at the time were running bus services at Merthyr caused the
proposal to fail. Merthyr Council were also against the MET proposal as they were firm
believers in the operation of their own bus services. The power to run buses was
obtained in 1920 but was not exercised until 1924.
In addition to the trams, I would usually get a glimpse of what was known as “Davies
Pant Bus”, a rear entrance Thornycroft Cygnet in an overall livery of royal blue. It was
operated by Celia Davies’s ‘Dowlais Motor Transport’, who by this time only had one
bus but ran several haulage lorries including a steamer. The Pant bus ran between
Merthyr and the village of Pantyscallog some 5 miles up in the hills on a two hourly
headway, which meant it spent more time on layovers than it did in service.
With over 12,000 persons unemployed out of a population of some 60,000 in the
Borough, it is little wonder that the only sound to accompany on my downward dash in
the early mornings was the echo of my pattering feet. It was always a welcome sight to
round the corner into Castle St. and see the Rhondda bus awaiting to depart on the 8am
Cardiff service.. The bus crews were a decent lot and once you were regarded as a
regular, they would wait a few minutes, listening for frantic footsteps.
15

Imperial Motor Services also used our stop on their service via Abercynon to Cardiff,
and at the junction of Castle St. and Glebeland St. we passed the terminus of other bus
routes. One was operated by W.J. Davies, known locally as “Sharky”, (a nickname that
was later inherited by his son D.J. Davies of coachwork fame) who traded under the
name “Wheatsheaf Motors”, which was named after an nearby pub which he owned. His
fleet of three or four buses consisted of small Thornycroft A1 and A2’s getting by under
a rather tatty livery of red and cream. These buses operated on a route to Cefn in an
endless running battle with the trams.
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The other service was that of Red & White which headed up through Dowlais and over
the bleak Rhymney Common to Tredegar. As with almost all this company’s services,
this route was worked by Albion PM28 or PMA28 buses, without which Red & White
appeared unable to exist. Several of those operating in Merthyr were designed with a
rear facing seat behind the front bulkhead seating five unfortunates who had to resort to
it whenever the rest of the seats were occupied and every pair of eyes in the bus were
focused on you alone.
As we set off for Cardiff, we passed the railway station which was built originally broad
gauge by the Vale of Neath Railway for whom I.K. Brunel was the engineer. It is
interesting to note that before the 1923 grouping, the station played host to no less than
five different railway companies, namely the Taff Vale, Great Western (who took over
the Vale of Neath), the Rhymney, the Brecon & Merthyr and the London & North
Western.
Outside the station was the terminus of the joint service to Aberdare worked on a 45
minute headway by Western Welsh (ex. GWR) and Red & White (ex. Aberdare Motor
Services, AMS). The latter also extended northwards five or six trips a day over the
lonely mountain road to Brecon. The vehicle usually seen on the Brecon route was a
Leyland PLSC (inherited from AMS) or one of their Tigers based at Aberdare for the
route to Porthcawl. Prior to these Tigers tackling the Aberdare to Porthcawl route it
was in the hands of an AMS Thornycroft 4 cylinder UB which must have struggled on the
vicious hills and hairpin bends. Phipps Motors of Glyneath also shared the station for
their Hirwaun and Neath service on an hourly headway. This small firm, sporting a
somewhat darkish green and off white livery was a staunch supporter of Thornycroft
buses, though they were not always in the best condition. The firm sold out to Western
Welsh in January 1937.
Prior to 1928, the routes westwards were mostly in the hands of AMS, Phipps Motors
and Dare Valley Motors, but the GWR began to expand their motor services in the area
when they purchased Dare Valley Motors. From January 1928 the GWR deployed some
of their own chocolate and cream livered buses to run in opposition to the existing and
well established operators. Merthyr was given access to Aberdare and Hirwaun by more
frequent services and in addition an entirely new route was opened up, branching of the
existing Aberdare road at the Dynevor Arms and along a narrow, but shorter and
sparsely populated road down the hillside into the Aberdare valley. GWR also ran for a
while in competition with AMS over the lonely mountain from Aberdare and Hirwaun to
Brecon. After a few months the railway company accepted it would be better for all to
agree to run a joint route from Aberdare to Merthyr. Quite a sizable fleet was built up
at Aberdare until July 1929 when the routes were transferred to the newly established
Western Welsh O.C. Ltd. Six months later AMS was absorbed into the Red & White
empire. Merthyr Corporation’s bus services departed from Market Street on journeys
down to Aberfan and Treharris as well as their local town services. It was not
surprising, considering the intransigent stance of Merthyr Council, that no company
based their garages in the town.
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We continue our journey and just after Pentrebach, there was a level crossing leading to
a colliery where an automatic barrier in the shape of a pole was lowered across the road
whenever a train approached. The snag here was that the engine driver could not see
the road clearly, so the pole would start descending quite irrespective of whether or not
any vehicles were approaching. The village of Troedyrhiw came next, and here the two
valley routes of Merthyr Corporation diverged. The Aberfan service, which ran on a15
minute headway, took off to the right and continued along the valley floor, while the
Treharris bus travelled on the high ground on a 30 minute frequency. The Aberfan
service was in the hands of a Bristol “B” type of which Merthyr had six new in 1930, two
were rear entrance and four dual entrance bodies. The seats covered in dark blue
leather cloth were soft and yielding, and until the inevitable conversion to oil engines in
1934, were a pleasure to ride in.
The Treharris Service was the hunting ground of the Leyland Lions, who held sway for
most of the time while I was travelling, save for a few weeks around 1935 when a couple
of Leyland Titan demonstrators with 48 seat low-bridge bodies took over in a vain
attempt to interest Merthyr to purchase them. To many people in Merthyr the sight of a
double deck bus was a curiosity, although it appears that a Mr Harrison had run a Milnes
Daimler open-top double deck for a period before the Great War.
We passed through Merthyr Vale and Mount Pleasant and beyond this misnomer the
road rose even higher above the valley bottom, which is at this point a little more than a
¼ mile wide. The valley contained not only the River Taff, but also a wealth of interest
to transport historians. On the east of the river, were the remains of the Penydarren
Tramroad (1802) side by side with the Taff Vale Railway that replaced it in 1841. While
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to the west of the Taff were the remnants of the long closed Glamorgan Canal opened in
1794, alongside the then still active Rhymney Railway that opened in 1886.
Edwardsville was the next place of habitation and here we forked left to reach Treharris.
A sudden descent brought us into the centre of Treharris at a point known as The
Square. With a population of around 10,000 people it was the first place of any substance
since we left Merthyr. Some of the other bus services seemed to have a different way of
approaching Treharris and this is explained in the map above.
A Cardiff C.T AEC Regal approaching the tight turn to Treharris from Perrot Pitch.
At this place we usually met here an Imperial Motors bus that had journeyed from
Pontypridd, from which town it provided an hourly frequency. Almost anything from
Imperial’s stable could turn up and usually did, but for the most part the usual vehicle
was one of their Albion PMA28 and 28A’s with rear entrance bodies. Dating from 1928-
30, these buses were, by 1933, the worse for wear and sagged in the middle like a sow
about to deliver a litter. They were fairly light vehicles, but had little power and did not
hold the road very well. Another feature of this make at the time was the height of the
steering wheel which would almost tickle the chin of any but the tallest drivers. They
must have been most uncomfortable to drive with the arms held high up in the air with
all the blood draining from the hands.
Imperial’s livery was a dark brown up to the waistline and a dirty cream above, not all
that removed for the LNWR passenger stock. Had these buses been given a thoroughly
good wash, there was no knowing what a change in the colour scheme this would have
made.
We would also meet the buses of Commercial Motor Services (CMS) who had their
garage nearby. In 1933 they operated a small fleet of Dennis Lancet, Leyland Tigers and
19

Thornycrofts on routes from Pontypridd to Treharris and Bedlinog alongside Imperial
Motors, and also from Pontypridd to Blackwood via Ystrad Mynach.
The C.M.S. garage on the main road at Treharris c.1928.
The CMS livery was a rich dark brown and fire engine red which made for an attractive
appearance. Leaving Treharris we re-joined the Cardiff Road at a very sharp junction
that some drivers had to take another bite at to get around. After the Perrot Pitch we
came to Quaker’s Yard at which point we were free to set down passengers as required.
Fiddler’s Elbow, the name given to the sharp bend, also formed the junction with the
road to Nelson and here we would again see the Imperial & CMS service to Bedlinog and
the Red & White Pontypridd to Bargoed service (ex AMS). At this point we were now
in the short unrestricted section of the direct route where both picking up and setting
down was permitted, though no-one used our bus for a short hop, I suspect that no-one
realised that such a thing was possible.
Once more the road had climbed above the valley floor and amid bleak and barren
surroundings we approached the Traveller’s Rest junction. Here the Aberdare road
came in and brought with it a goodly flow of traffic, including the Swansea via Aberdare
to Cardiff service of Imperial and Gough’s Welsh Motorways Aberdare to Cardiff service
on joint half hour headway. We also met up with the local Aberdare to Pontypridd
service maintained by Red & White and Phillips Motors of Penrhiwceiber on ten minute
headway.
In 1933, Imperial’s stock consisted of a very mixed bag of several makes including two
ex. demonstrator Tigers which were reserved, as far as possible, for the Swansea run.
Three massive AEC six wheel Renowns with 38 seat dual entrance bodies produced by
Berw Engineering of Pontypridd were originally petrol but were quickly given 8.8 litre oil
20

engines. However the bulk of the fleet were Albion saloons bodied by Hall Lewis or
Berw, a firm in which the Imperial’s owner, Howell Davies, had financial interest.
Mr. Davies also had other varied interests including a mineral water company at
Abercynon. Most of these buses, as far as I can remember, were rear entrance with 32
seats and a dark brown leather cloth was standard. They were also fitted with the old
tramcar type bell cords that the conductor would tug on to alert the driver. Some of
these Albions were re-engined with Dorman oil engines that were none to reliable.
Tilling Stevens was represented by a single Express model with a Gardner 4LW oil
engine, later to be replaced by a 5LW. At least one or two Leyland Lioness types,
survivors from an earlier period, were still available for service in 1933, but only just.
1928-9 Albions of Imperial Motors with bodywork by Berw Engineering of Pontypridd.
The entire Imperial fleet had a rundown appearance, partly due to the fact that their
garage and open yard lay in the shadow of a thriving coalmine whose dust descended on
all the vicinity. Coupled with this was that the company’s maintenance procedure
appeared to be “Do nothing till it breaks down, then do as little as possible”. In 1932,
Howell Davies was appointed to the board of Red & White and his company was
eventually taken over in January 1937.
Goughs Welsh Motorways of Mountain Ash had a fine well-appointed and carefully
maintained fleet which consisted almost exclusively of AEC Reliance and Regals with
various bodies by Short Bros. and Metcalfe. The reason behind the high standards of this
firm was the fact that they were deeply involved in private hire work and during the
summer months operated coach services on several routes between Cardiff and
Aberystwyth.
Goughs were an enterprising crowd who poked their noses into the Rhondda Valleys,
much to the chagrin of Rhondda Tramways who looked upon this area as their province.
Goughs used to taunt them by touring these areas with one of their best coaches
displaying posters advertising their coaches for hire. By way of an answer, Rhondda had
little to offer other than to cut rates as low as possible, for it was not until 1937 that the
21

company bought their first coaches. Gough’s vehicles were turned out in a livery of
medium to light red up to the waistline with a pale buttercup colour above, with the
word “Goughs” picked out in yellow scroll. The company was acquired by Red &
White in January 1936 and Billy Gough, son of the founder, was made a Director.
An AEC Regal of Gough’s Motor Welsh Motorways at Merthyr in 1935.
Mr Phillips of Penrhiwceiber was also into private hire work and his only interest in stage
carriage was the aforementioned Aberdare to Pontypridd run in which he was very much
a junior partner. Even so, he hung onto the licence until 1946, long after Red & White
had gobbled up the rest of the opposition. In the early thirties, Phillips had a motley
collection of Thornycroft, Commer, Tilling Stevens and Albion buses which took turns
working the route. Their livery was a slightly blue/green under a rich darkish red
waistband topped by mid-grey which extended up and over the roof, and was a
refreshing change from the usual liveries at that time.
Immediately beyond Traveller’s Rest the road became most hazardous for a short
distance. On the left side there was a stone wall holding back the mountainside and on
the opposite side only a fence made of old railway sleepers protecting a drop of 40 feet
onto the railway track below. When two buses met there was only about six inches
between them as they passed by. After Cylfynydd Common, came the village which
formed the boundary of Pontypridd UDC. Near the Albion Colliery was our last picking
up point, namely Cylfynydd Tram Terminus (there were no trams there as trolleybuses
replaced them in 1930).
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Pontypridd UDC operated the trolleybuses which ran on a single route to Treforest,
some 3½ miles away. The fleet consisted of seven single deck six wheel English Electric
with centre entrance bodies and two double decks, a Guy 59 seat six wheeler and a very
rare bird indeed, namely one of only two Bristol trolleybuses ever built. The seating in
the single decks was unusual in that the front portion held 12 passengers on transverse
seats, while the rear section held 17 on longitudinal seats, tramcar style. All seat were
upholstered, but in the centre vestibule, opposite the door-less entrance, 3 more could
perch themselves on a wooden slatted seat. The livery was a deep royal blue topped by
off white and a light grey roof, none of which stood up to the ravages of coal dust and
the persistent Welsh rain. They had a top speed of 18mph and the bodies stood high off
the ground, while the trolley heads used tramcar collectors with wheels instead of skids
and used to hiss along, giving advance notice of their approach. The Council were keen
to retain electric traction to support the council power station which was supplied by
rubbish carried in their electric dustcarts. In spite of being re-built twice, the single
decks soldiered on until 1947 and were sold to Cardiff Corporation for their Bute Street
route.
About a mile from the terminus the trolleys veered off to the right towards the centre of
Pontypridd, while we continued along the main road via “The Corn Stores” which was
the last picking up point for Imperial services from the Aberdare valley. These buses
were often packed like sardines in the mornings with many passengers standing. The
harassed conductors would stop the Imperial bus from Merthyr and try to adjust the
amount of unseated souls, leaving each bus with more or less the same number of
upright passengers. Matters would be further improved by empty male laps
accommodating female bottoms for the rest of the journey.
At this stage of the journey the road had become quite busy but the bus drivers always
drove competitively, often running neck to neck along a straight stretch of road. In
1933, the Road Traffic Act of 1930 was still young and the spirit of active competition
between rivals had yet to be finally forgotten.
(Maps drawn by Arthur Hughes and photographs supplied by Chris Taylor. Part three describing
Mr. Hughes’ continuing journey from Pontypridd to Cardiff will appear in an issue next year.)
-----------------------------------------
Would this Leyland Cheetah have been a “wise” buy in 1937?
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SEPTEMBER MEETING:
Over 30 members attended the annual joint meeting with the Omnibus Society on 19 th
September. Our speaker was Stephen Wren, Commercial Manager for Stagecoach in
South Wales. Mr Wren reminisced over his five decades in the bus industry beginning
with his youth as a bus spotter in south Devon and his first job in 1966 as a junior clerk
with Western National.
In 1974 he moved to Wales as Senior Traffic Assistant with the Western Welsh / Red &
White Group, firstly at Chepstow and then Ely. He interspersed his talk with a slide
show from his own collection. Mr Wren moved to the sharp end as Operating
Supervisor at Caerphilly during the bus battle with IVL Ltd. which was quite enlightening.
He moved to Porth as relief manager where he stayed through the Rhondda Bus years,
rising to Traffic Manager, then moving to Stagecoach on the takeover in 1997. A keen
preservationist he currently owns an ex. Grey Cars AEC Reliance.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:
-------------------------------------
All meetings will be held at Penarth Conservative Club at 7pm unless otherwise stated.
Wed. 17 Oct.
A Western Welsh Evening with author Colin Scott.
Sat/Sun. 27/28 Oct. Cardiff Model Railway Show at Glantaff School, Bridge Road,
Llandaff. CTPG will provide a bus service on Saturday only.
Sun. 28 Oct.
Swansea Bus Group Running Day at their depot. £5 admission
Wed. 21 Nov. Slide Show TBA.
Wed 19 Dec.
Quiz Night hosted by Chris Taylor.
Wed. 16 Jan 2013. Annual General Meeting. This is your chance to air your
views on what we do and how we do it.
EDITOR’S NOTES;
The mystery bus in issue No 38 was a Canadian
Ford 19B Transit Bus used by BOAC to ferry
passengers from Whitchurch Airport to Temple
Meads and to connect with seaplanes at Poole.
Registered in 1943 at Bristol, it featured a
transversely rear mounted 3.9 litre V8 and had 27
seat bodywork by Brantford of Toronto. Up to
11,000 of these Transits were built between1940-47, but very few reached in the UK.
Discussions on CTPG Facebook page have suggested we rename our enlarged and
improved (?) newsletter. Agreed, that compared with the immediacy of our Website
and Facebook page, any quarterly newsletter will contain mainly outdated news.
Any suggestions can be discussed at our AGM on 16 th January. How about “Journal”?
24

25

About the CTPG
The CTPG lease the former Western Welsh Depot on Broad Street, Barry from the Vale of
Glamorgan Council. The CTPG organises two vehicle rallies each year and holds a monthly
meeting on the third Wednesday of each month at the Penarth Conservative Club. Members
receive a quarterly newsletter and if they wish they can help to restore the Group’s buses, ride on
them and travel to rallies.
The Group aims to preserve representative samples of the buses that ran in South East Wales and
the Valleys, as well as memorabilia and records of the operating companies.
Annual membership of the Group is £20, which runs from the date of joining. Joint membership is
also available for £25.
CTPG Committee
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Secretary
Mike Taylor, 10 Ger Nant Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed CF82 7FE
Phone: 07733 302242
email: mikeystrad73@btinternet.com
Chris Taylor, 31 Heol Wen, Rhiwbina Cardiff CF14 6EG
Phone: 02920 693734
Gayle Alder, 16 Carter Place, Fairwater, Cardiff CF5 3NP
Treasurer Paul Hamley email: squash33@btinternet.com
Membership Secretary
Derek Perry, 11 Countess Place, Penarth CF64 3UJ
Other Non Committee Post Holders
Editor Viv Corbin email: viv.corbin@ntlworld.com
Webmaster CTPG Mac Winfield email: postmaster@ctpg.co.uk
Publicity Officer Tudor Thomas email: tudoralt@cf14.freeserve.co.uk
www.ctpg.co.uk
Published by the Cardiff Transport Preservation Group
(Registered as a Charity No. 1063157)
The opinions and views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Group, its
Committee or the Editor. Every effort is made to give due credit for all photographs and material
used in this newsletter. Should there be any unintended breach of copyright; the Editor must be
informed to enable a correcting acknowledgement to be made.
26

The long awaited AEC Swift owned by CTPG and the much travelled Huddersfield Daimler
brought to Merthyr by Colin Sidaway at B&C 2012. (Martin Bray / Glyn Bowen)
27

Views from Bus & Coach 2012 (Glyn Bowen)
28