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MANCHESTER IN THE 1970s
Here,
in Rochdale
Town Centre, long before the Bus Station was opened, is 3571, an
ex-Manchester
Leyland PD2 with Burlingham body. It still carries SELNEC
fleet-names
although the picture was taken in August 1974, when Greater Manchester
Transport had been in existence for several months. The bus is on
service 17 to Manchester, jointly operated by GMT's Rochdale and Queens
Road garages.
At the
other end
of the service 17 route, in Cannon Street Manchester, stands 6203, an
ex-Rochdale
AEC Regent V with Weymann bodywork. The huts at the back are
there
for the construction of the ill-fated Arndale Centre.
SELNEC
(and later
GMT) inherited some single-decks from Rochdale. These were mainly
needed because of a very low railway bridge on former Rochdale service
1 (GMT 461) to Castleton via Deeplish. A few other lightly-loaded
routes were also run with single-decks, including the Littleborough
"local"
services and service 444, an hourly route between Bamford (the posh end
of Rochdale) and an estate of council flats at the other side of the
previously
mentioned bridge. This was one of the early conversions to
one-man
operation at Rochdale. AEC Reliance 6025, also with Weymann
bodywork,
stands in Rochdale Town Centre..
Away
from Rochdale, and a picture taken before the 1974-77 period to which
the
other pictures belong, but showing a bus in Manchster Corporation
livery.
2010 is a Leyland Atlantean with Manchester's unique style of bodywork
for one-man operation. The bus is standing in Piccadilly.
The
second Foden
for my web page, and a rare vehicle indeed ! 1435 was,
unfortunately,
in this position at the back of Hyde Road garage for a good portion of
its life, and did not see much use on the road. Taken by GMT for
evaluation purposes during a period when British Leyland had a virtual
monopoly on bus production, it is bodied by Northern Counties.
Whereas
Dennis, who also went back into bus production about this time, has "
made
it" as an important manufacturer, Foden did not succeed as a bus
producer.