JOHN G LIDSTONE takes a personal perspective on a pioneering PD1
Fate and preservation can be fickle sometimes, cheating the obvious or making the unusual special. Such is the case for a pioneer Leyland Titan PD1, which couldn’t operate the route for which it had been ordered, was taken over by two companies which didn’t need or want extra highbridge buses – and which ended up as a nonstandard Leyland in a fleet of Bristols before being withdrawn, at a time before the preservation movement had become widely accepted.
City Coach Company’s first doubledecker, LD1 (LEV 917), is still with us to this day thanks to far-sighted preservationists led by John Shearman. The vehicle made a remarkable return to passenger service just recently.
City connections
The name ‘City Coach Company’ with a London bus connection most likely conjures up visions of rather majestic chocolate and cream six-wheel pre-war Leyland Tigers or its enigmatic twin-steer Leyland Gnus, making their lengthy way from London’s Wood Green to sunny Southend-on-Sea some 50 miles away. That long slog was well-trod for over 70 years as New Empress Saloons commenced a service linking the two areas on May 27, 1927, City Motor Omnibus Co Ltd (…
