I’m from the West Midlands so I have memories of our examples as a young child. They were so distinctive. The sound of them! They screamed like a banshee!
I'm Indonesian and I watched your videos for quite sometime. I maybe only 21, but here in Indonesia, lots of bus enthusiast known as Busmania, sometimes talk about the double-decker bus that once in service in some big cities of Indonesia. As far as I know, the B55 first come to Indonesia as a help from British Gov. in early 1980s, along with some Atlanteans and bunch of Olympian. They have the Alexander body, and as far as I know, both the AV and RV. They were send to differet cities, but mostly in Java island, which were Jakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, and Bandung. Some say that a couple units made it's way to Medan in Sumatra and Makassar in Sulawesi. In Jakarta, they were operated by PPD (Perusahaan Pengangkutan Djakarta), a city bus company owned by Special Capital City of Jakarta province and the rest was operated by DAMRI (Djawatan Angkutan Motor Republik Indonesia), a national bus company which has many main office in every province and some even have more than 1 main office that located in different cities in 1 province. But, despite having good reputation, they are not having long service career, because the British aid only giving short supply of spare parts, so by mid 1990s, one by one was taken out of service and their stripped for spare parts for the remaining buses. The last Javanese city that uses double-decker bus was Surabaya, in mid-1990s, and most of them were second hand from Bandung, Semarang, and Jakarta. The B55 last better than the Atlantean and Olympian because they come in huge number. Sad story though. And as far as I know, none was survived even the 3-axle variant. Glad you bring the B55 video into your channel, even though I never rode in one of these.
Hello! Thank you so much for the additional information on the B55 in Indonesia! I often wonder about the history of buses in this part of the world, but info isn't always easy to get. It would have been great if one was preserved, especially the 3-axle version. Those were quite impressive! Thank you very, very much for watching my videos from Indonesia, much appreciated!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein Well, as far as I remember, the remaining 3-axle B55 as far as I remember is 1 in Hong Kong. I remember searched it in 2019, so, I don't know what the state of it today. The buses history in Asia is unique. I should say, but, there's not much about it, because it just bought, used, and then throw away, either scrapped or used in another job such as employee's bus in factories/plants/mills. I know a little bit history of buses in Indonesia, particularly big buses, from 1980s to roughly nowadays, because, it is an Indonesian habbit of not counting vehicles as part of national history, so there's little information about it which causing speculations among bus enthusiasts.
The ailsa "scream" a noise from my childhood through early adulthood, from the original 1975 delivery to the last ones running around well into the stagecoach era, & the early 2000s they've really good hill climbers and had a decent turn of speed too, i have early memories of them overloaded with 90 plus passengers - (many of them kids) on a scorching summers day climbing mains brae, (a steep hill) in Aberdour en route for the famous Burntisland Games, fathers with the picnic bags, women with the seats and kids on thier knees and the luggage rack full of folded prams. Great times in the 70s
Fantastic video Jeffrey and your information is spot on! As I'm from Dundee I spent over 20 years travelling on these buses and loved every minute on one! The TD07 engine was a powerful unit and the Ailsa could really move when the pedal hit the metal!
Awesome video Jeffery. I grew up near the Volvo plant in Irvine. I also had the privilege of driving most of the Ailsas in the picture at 3:29 when I worked at Clyde Coast Coaches. The Ailsa was my favourite next to the Leyland Atlantean. Great times.
These Ailsas were a common sight here in Glasgow, I travelled on them regularly in the 1990's. Sitting downstairs at the back there was so much room compared to a rear-engined bus. An interesting video. Thanks Jeffrey 👍
Excellent video. I remember these in Sheffield, we nicknamed them "screaming Ailsa's", as the noise they made going up steep roads was something else!!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein As always, you are very welcome, and we'll done. Actually, I had meant to add that my husband tells me that his uncle worked for a small local company at the time that this bus was introduced and they got hold of one to try it out. They were impressed with it, but couldn't see where it could operationally fit in with their fleet of largely Leyland Atlantian double deckers so they stuck with what they knew.
Good Evening from Scotland Jeffrey, as well as being a Wikipedia Editor I'm a volunteer at Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust. As well as public facing duties I do a lot of work in our archives, which exist in a building built as the gym for the Glasgow Corporation Transport boxing club. Stewart J Brown is a frequent visitor, especially when researching something to do with Glasgow. I'm sure the addition of the Citybus to the book would be the publisher's idea, these days Stewart gets to write exactly what he wants by running his own publishing company. Mention has been made of Derby 71 already,this was planned in 1975 to be the first of many low height AIlsas, but the build took much longer than anticipated, it had a very untidy internal layout and it initially failed licencing for service because there wasn't quite enough headroom at the front. By 1977 any orders for the lowheight Ailsa had been cancelled. The majority of Alexander RV bodies had peaks at the front, but the Greater Glasgow production batch of 15 had the traditional rounded look to fit in with the Atlantean fleet. GGPTEs engineeering director moved on to become General Manager at Tayside at around the time they switched to Ailsas, and was later to return to Strathclyde as General Manager. The Mk2 had a stronger version of the drop-centre rear axle but the main difference was a raised driving position, some of the buses you've credited as Mk2 are Mk1. THS273M was the bus sent to Thailand and also the bus shown in Citybus, Hong Kong colours, when its Volvo TD20 failed it had a Leyland O600 shoehorned in as a replacement. When Dr Westwell was about to leave Tayside, the 50 seater single decker was being built by Ailsa Bus as a demonstrator, by the time it was finished he had moved, so it arrived in Glasgow in blue, looking a little out of place. It ran well for Strathclyde on services with height restrictions but was a much rougher bus for passenges than the Leyland National. It was destroyed in the Larkfield Garage fire in 1991. After that fire which destroyed around 100 buses Tayside lent a large number of their dual door Ailsas not only were they painted orange and black on the front but had a large board fitted to prevent use of the centre doors reading "This Is Not A Door No Entry" shades of Rene Magritte.
Hello Stephen! Thanks again for all of your knowledge in your comments - it's all very interesting to read it! I wish I could put lots more info into these videos, but it's often impossible to cover everything. As for the book, if I recall correctly, I believe Stuart J. Brown had made a comment on the Amazon page for it, stating the publisher made that decision, as you mention. A lot of reviewers were critical that half the book was on the Citybus. I have lots of Mr. Brown's books! Thanks very much for watching again!!
i used to ride those buses going to and from work, the noise made it sound really growly, i also have to say, you pronnouncing the scottish towns, citys and regions of scotland is perfect. EDIT:- i contacted an old family friend, they used to make chassis for that bus at the long gone volvo plant in irvine ayrshire, they also made export chassis for buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles.
Another terrific video, Jeffrey! I travelled on these a lot, especially whilst in my late teens and well into my 20s. They served the Edinburgh to Mayfield and Edinburgh to Penicuik routes, along with a few other Midlothian destinations. I remember them as being quite large and goodness me....they were loud! I also remember them as being relatively fast, especially climbing up hills.... perhaps that was the turbo effect? Anyway, thanks again for another brilliant video!
Hello! Very glad you liked the video!!! Thanks for your memories of riding the Ailsas, it's always very interesting to hear these accounts! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Great video, it brought back a lot of memories! I used to drive the London ones out of Potters Bar garage, just outside north London, in the late 80s. We had three types: Number 1... The three experimentals, V1, V2 and V3. These were the most modern of the bunch but the automatic gearboxes often lurched as you pulled into bus stops, so the passengers got the impression you were a bad driver. V3 was the most interesting, the back door was blocked off at that point in time, though I do remember being impressed seeing it parked outside Leaside HQ in 1986 before it has been converted, not realizing I'd be driving it not long after that! Number 2..... A small batch of ex- South Yorkshire VanHool-McArdle bodied examples. These were a bit lumbering, very ugly and not in the best of condition, but they were ok to drive. Passengers often remarked that they thought they were bigger buses than normal, as the interior seemed a bit more roomy than the standard London Metros. Number 3..... Ex West Midlands Alexander-bodied examples from 1975. This was the biggest batch, along with some identical ones from the same fleet that went to Harrow Buses. These had semi-automatic gearboxes and, when they weren't breaking down, they were actually great fun to drive. Very rapid and handled almost like a sports car (when no passengers were on, of course!). One particular one was V22, which was nicknamed "The Whistler" amongst drivers, as that particular one had a very loud whistly engine indeed, which the mechanics could never cure. All the London ones in the photos in this video I used to drive regularly. Ultimately they were pretty unreliable though, having already reached the end of their working life before they even arrived in north London, so many of us drivers spent our shifts drinking tea in the canteen and playing snooker waiting for a working bus to become available!!!
Hello! Really glad you liked the video and that it brought back good memories! And thanks for all the additional info on the London Ailsas very interesting to read! Thanks very much for watching!!
The Ailsa that Strathclyde rebuilt as a saloon after a low bridge accident was subsequently sold to Black Prince in Leeds. Unfortunately, it then emerged that it had never been recertified as a single-decker, which would have involved submitting it for a tilt-test to prove it was stable to 35 degrees. As a double-decker it was only required to tilt to 28 degrees (though in single-deck form it ought to have easily passed a new test), but the cost of getting it tilted went well into four figures so the bus was scrapped.
Hello! Very interesting about Ailsa rebuilt to a single-decker!! I thought I saw a photo of it in Black Prince livery! Too bad it wasn't saved - it looked very unique! Thanks very much for watching!!
Very interesting, very few, if any, of these buses were in evidence in Greater Manchester, where I live. By the mid 1970s, nearly all the buses in our area had become one man operated, with rear engines (some single deckers had engines under the floor near the rear). This was an interesting experiment, but because of the logistics and design of this bus, it was almost inevitably doomed to failure, as previous attempts had been. Nice to see some photos of Strathclyde (Glasgow area) in the fluorescent red/orange livery. You certainly couldn't miss them, the colour was so bright. Excellent article again, Jeffrey.
Nice video, but no mention of the distinctive whistle from the engine. I remember the SYPTE vehicles, I was a passenger on them regularly, loved the noise and the (I think) self changing gearboxes that always seemed to be a bit out of sync leading to interesting gear changes! I also remember how powerful they seemed.
@@justinhamilton497… yeah … and made worse when the planet gears in the diff were wearing out. The speed at the time was so impressive from a relatively small engine albeit turbocharged.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! I did hear a whistling from the inside of a preserved Ailsa on another video, but wasn't sure if it was normal, or if it was from age and wear and tear!! Thanks very much for watching!!
The turbocharger made a pretty loud whistling noise. I guess that was because with so small a swept volume, the engine relied heavily on its turbocharger - quite possibly to make half the total power! The suspension was rather harsh too. Combined with the engine and transmission noises, it made for a relatively poor passenger experience. The upside was that it was a good performer and evidently reliable too. I'd suggest that the use of a small-volume diesel with a huge turbocharger, in pursuit of maximum power for minimum weight, was evidence of lessons learned from the Guy Wulfrunian, in which the weight of the engine seems to have been the root of most of the evils.
We had at least one Volvo running on the 77/77a out of Stockwell Garage - the rear doored example. The LT staff magazine made mention of it being the first LT bus Since the Routemaster to have a drivers cab with an external door.
They were definitely really hot in the summer and as you'll see, the sliding cab windows were tiny. Some were only fitted with one small cab window so the Maidstone drivers did have a point.
Hi i'm viatron from Sheffield once again, I remember one thing about the VOLVO AILSA B55 double deck bus were this very strange whistling sound when it's in gear via many bus enthusiast though it was the turbocharger mounted on the engine, but it wasn't in many cases. But was in fact the very special & slightly unusual rubber drive belt what is driving from the gearbox to the alternator which it has teeth & interlock on both teeth drive pully wheels situated under the lower deck saloon floor of the Mk.l versions & it's something similar to the very famous GUY WHISTLE from the exposed clutch & flywheel at the front such as the GUY ARAB Mks,l, ll, llll, lV & V variations. Thank for your co-operation on this very special VOLVO AILSA B55 bus subject from David Viatron Esquire of crookes in Sheffield England.
Hello Mr. Viatron, Esq.: I'm very happy you liked my video!! And thanks so much for the additional info on the Ailsa, very interesting!! Thanks very much for watching!!
I remember reading years ago that they were very liked by their operators. On an opposite vein, it would be good ti see a feature on the Volvo B59, a rear pancake engine single decker built between 1970 and 1979. It utilised an A frame front suspension setup that was considered very advanced for the time. Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide bought many all having the ageing ZF Busmatic 2 speed. Volvo didn't really sell a rear engine single deck offering again until the 1990s with the B10B series, they relied on the very popular B10M mid underfloor engine chassis for bus sales. From memory they offered a short lived B10R as their rear engine bus in the early 1980s.
AIlsa Bus tried to sell the B59 against the Leyland National and the Metro-Scania, but there were no takers, and at five years old VEB566L was running school contracts in the remote West Highlands of Scotland.
In the part of Scotland where I started life (Fife) there were tonnes of these Volvo Ailsa B55. I, personally loved them and that's really where my love for Volvo buses began, because the Volvo B55 was quality compared to other double deckers.
Hi Jeffrey! Great video again. I’d nearly forgotten about these buses. I live in north west London and for a very brief period, these ran on the 114 route. I distinctly remember the whistle from their engines - presumably the turbocharger. Never heard a bus like it! Then we got orange Northern Counties Leyland Olympians on that route in the early 90s and they lasted many years. All the best!
Excellent again Jeffrey, another bus that I have had extensive experience of driving. A very good bus indeed. It was a bus like the Seddon Pennine Albion Lowlander and the Albion Viking a bus designed in conjunction with the Scottish Bus Group
The reason for the name Ailsa was dropped was although the bus was named Ailsa after the small island Ailsa Craig off the Ayrshire coast we also had a mental institution in Ayr called Ailsa Hospital and Volvo didn’t want to be thought of being associated with it.
Thanks Jeffrey another great potted history of a bus that was interesting and innovative. Now we never saw these Volvo's in North Wales, that engine noise was also available in the Volvo F86 truck, drove more than a few of those.
GGG300N was converted to a sliding drivers' door that could be locked open in hot weather, but the other 18 mk1 kept hinged doors. All of the Mk3 ordered by Strathclyde had sliding doors though.
Greater Manchester Transport bought 3 Northern Counties bodied Ailsas for evaluation and when withdrawn after around 8-10 years use the trio passed to our local municipal operator Lancaster Cty Transport. I reember their great acceleration and distinctive scream of the turbocharged engines, great buses.
Interesting. I always enjoy watching your latest bus videos. I've had little experience of this type, they weren't popular in West Yorkshire. I remember Black Prince Coaches of Morley had a few tired looking second hand examples in the 1990s. They ran them on the number 88 service between Leeds and Bradford. I rode them on very few occasions and found them rather unpleasant. The rear seating downstairs was disconcertingly low compared to other double deckers, where seating in this location is often elevated. The bouncy suspension coupled with draughts and rattles, probably due to their age and poor maintenance and the aforementioned seating arrangement made for a rather uncomfortable, yet interesting experience.
Hello! I'm really happy you enjoy watching my videos!!! And thanks for your memories of the Ailsa - always very interesting to read these accounts! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Superb presentation again Jeffrey .....was aware of these but they were not common to my area ....the SYPTE Van Hool bodied ones were particularly attractive vehicles... Rode on a West Midlands preserved one last year at Willenhall... absolutely flew ...and screamed too ...wonderful vehicles ... PS any chance of doing a video on the GM New Look buses ? Coming from England i find them fascinating....but know very little about them ..
Hi Jeffrey, I lived in Derby at the time when they ran many Ailsa's. I'm surprised you didn't mention the unique low height one they had new in 1977, fleet no 71, RTO 1R. Bought for and predominantly used on the two Derby to Burton-on-Trent routes, one of which had a low bridge. It had a good turn of speed! It is now preserved and registered TRR 814R.
Hello! Thanks for the additional info about RTO 1R. It looks like I missed that one - it's sometimes impossible to get everything into these videos!! Thanks very much for watching!!
SYT's Ailsas got sold to London in the mid 80's after de-regulation and they later bought by Black Prince coaches of Morley. It took Black Prince so long to resurrect V3 so by that the time it was ready they were running Scanias so V3 became a celebrity reminder of the previous fleet. V3s rear door was remove whilst in London and it was only put back in when it was bought for preservation which was covered by Bus and coach preservation magazine over 10 years ago.
The Dennis Jubilant and Leyland Victory 2 both specifically design for Hong Kong Market also have the same concept of the chassis design in somehow just have the higher floor to meet the requirement of Hong Kong hilly operating environment and fun fact most of them fitted with Alexander body as well. I remember rode Volvo-Ailsa of CMB of Hong Kong few time when I was young, with only 8 of them in the fleet, sadly though most of them withdrawn from service due to caught fire for some reason.
I remember Boro line Maidstone examples. They screamed around on account of their relatively small engines- 6.7L instead of the unusual 10.5 to 11.1L units found in most contemporary 'deckers. Thing is, my experience of them was rather unpleasant. They were noisy; crashy and- the Maidstone & District guys had a point- smelled strongly of diesel fumes; particularly in the lower saloon! It was less bad to sit upstairs! 😂
National Bus used M&D to carry out comparative tests of several different makes. The Ailsa didn't score very highly among passengers, drivers or engineers.
I always liked these buses in the West Midlands and they operated from many garages in the West Midlands PTE area, the one problem they had was that unlike the fleetlines and Metrobuses in the West Midlands fleet to change the front,side and rear number box if changing routes, where as the Fleetlines and Metro buses where all the driver had to do is open the door to his cab inside the bus and go and wind the numbers up, on the Alsas the driver had to climb out of his cab on to the road, walk round to the pasenger entrance door, get on the bus and then wind the side, front and rear number blind, I believe all the driver could do from the cab was change the destination blind, this led to the situation, especially when the WMPTE took over the Midland Red Routes in the West Midlands area and when the Alsas were transfered to ex Midland Red Garrages to upgrade their buses, both the side and rear numbers boxes being left blank by the ex Midland Red Drivers with just the front number box and destination box being used. This the WMPTE frowned on this as it expected a full destination being shown at the front and the front, side and rear number boxes showing the correct destination number, so to get over this the WMPTE instaled electronic number blinds so that at the push of button the front, side and rear number boxes could be changed with out the driver leaving his cab leaving the destination blind as the only one for the driver to change manually. After retirement from West Midlands Travel they went to all parts of the Country, London Transport and Northern and Scottish opertors before a lot came back to the West Midlands under preservation with the electronic number blinds being removed and the original fabric type number's being put back into the number blinds.
Very enjoyable story of this type of bus. I used to live near Plumstead London Transport bus garage in the 80s and used to go inside to look at the Routemasters. I noticed in the corner V3 and thought what an oddity. Doors at extreme ends and engine up at the front. I wasn't sure I liked it, preferring the classier vintage models. Wondered what happened to it. Didn't like the sccoped frontal shape and odd roof curves, strange in many ways. The Saviem SC10 (french design) had an engine up at the front underneath the driver, like this Ailsa, powered by MAN, that was a success. Nice little documentary.
Just my opinion but I think from a bus enthusiasts point of view that while it is important to preserve Routemasters and indeed the more the merrier it is very important to preserve very rare buses such as the FRM(front entrance rear engined Routemaster and the Ailsa with the two staircases and front and rear doors to mention just a couple. When one of a kind buses are gone they are gone for good and to the people that realise this and preserve them well done !!
'Technical innovations' or 'Technical Issues!' Oh Thanks for responding to my email to you the other day in reference to a video suggestion that you could do on the British bus series.
The only time i ever got on an Ailsa in service was a Derby (by that time Arriva Derby) one that was on short term loan to Arriva Fox County and used on a school time extra service. I've also ridden a West Midlands one and V3 in preservation
There was also the fact that the Van Hool McArdle bodies on the Alisa were top heavy in that they initially failed the tilt test. This required the removal of seats on the front nearside. Then there was the Alisa 1 that fell off the boat at I think Bristol docks (please correct me as I’m old and memory failing). It was sent back to Volvo and became a Volvo 2. By the way … I thought that it was originally the Alisa AB57? … before becoming the B55. I’m sure that my engineering manuals were all stamped AB57. Many in preservation including the lone surviving Scottish VHM Alisa which was on your video and a couple of SYPTE examples. The Scottish example was one of two for SYPTE that was diverted to the A1 Scottish bus group. It was preserved along with a SYPTE example before returning to Scotland. A damn fine bus and great to drive.
Hello! Thanks for the additional information! The comment on the Van Hool sound like the Wulfrunians that had to have its front seats removed from the top deck as well! Thanks very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I used to visit Glasgow regularly in the 1980s and 1990s when I was working (now retired), the colour of those Strathclyde buses was so bright (it was fluorescent), you could see them coming from quite a distance away. They were a contrast to Glasgow city's own buses, which were coloured green, white and yellow.
What is with the bizarre destination blind windows on some of these busses? They seem designed to give as little information in the smallest format possible! The London format (as seen on Routemasters, Fleetlines, Titans, Olympians, etc.) looks so much easier to read and understand.
Hello! Oh yes, that is so obvious about the destination blinds - looks like it tried to be stylistic more than practical!! Thanks very much for watching!!
The WMPTE versions had a destination blind similiar to London in that they had a 4 track number blind at the front, side and back and at the front a large destination bling containing a 2 track layout with the upper blind being the ultimate destination and the lower blind being the Via destination eg West Bromwich top, Via Smethwick in the lower box which could be read from quite a distance
I have really got into your video's Jeffery, long may they continue! Totally off-topic, love the Scania 80 Demonstrator tractor unit from B&W Motors @ 1.46.
Hello! I'm really happ you like to watch my videos, and I hope to continue doing them for you guys!! Thanks very much for watching and for the compliment!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein B&W Motors started out as Bradbury and Wedge in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. There is a recreation of their garage at the Black Country Living museum (other museums are available!) which also by chance has......buses and coaches! I have spread the word about your excellent video's.
According to sources, the B55 demonstrator (registered in the UK as THS 273M) that was exported to Bangkok was also the very prototype that was exhibited in the 1973 Scottish Motor Show. Bangkok was not interested in that B55 and THS 273M were then purchased by Citybus of Hong Kong (at that time was called City Buses) and became their first bus. It ended up receiving a Leyland O.680 engine and got a new nose before it was scrapped in 1989.
Hello! Thanks for the additional info on THS 273M! I thought I may have read something about it being exported, but was not sure. Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks for the video! I love this bus, although only rode on it just once - it was one of the 7 dual door 2-axle examples operated by CMB in Hong Kong.
When THS 273M got its Leyland engine, the first few rows of seats on the upper deck got removed in order to compensate for the added weight over the front axle. This move was similar to the Wulfrunian.
The Scottish Bus Group double deck buses mainly had triangular style 2 tier destination blinds, a long standing trait of SBG double deck buses, SBG was made up of Highland Scottish in Red & Grey livery that covered the Scottish Highland & Islands, Northern Scottish in Yellow & Beige livery that covered Aberdeen & the Grampian region, Central Scottish in Dark Red & Beige livery that covered northern & eastern Glasgow all the way down to South Lanarkshire, Fife Scottish in Red & White livery that covered the Fife region, Midland Scottish in Blue & Beige livery that covered north east Glasgow towards Stirling, Falkirk all the way to Dundee, Eastern Scottish in Green & Beige livery that covered Edinburgh & South East Scotland & Western Scottish in bright Red and Beige livery which covered South West Glasgow and South West Scotland. When bus deregulation was introduced 4 new SBG companies were formed Kelvin Scottish original livery in Blue & Grey, later on in 2 tone blue and yellow which took over Central Scottish’s North Glasgow & Midland Scottish’s North East Glasgow areas, Clydeside Scottish in Red & Yellow livery that took over Western Scottish’s northern area along the southern firth of Clyde and south west Glasgow area, Strathtay Scottish in Blue & Orange livery that took over the Dundee area of Midland Scottish and Tayside area of Fife Scottish & Lowland Scottish in Green & Yellow livery that took over the Scottish Borders area of Eastern Scottish. Its also interesting to know Clydeside, Kelvin, Strathtay & Perth City Transport bought from London several Routemasters after deregulation
After deregulation Western Scottish & Clydeside Scottish merged in 1989 but keeping their separate identities later on separating again. Clydeside Scottish after privatisation became Clydeside 2000 and scaled back their operations by closing 3 depots due to local government changes. Eventually by 1996 Arriva had taken over Clydeside and became Arriva Scotland West. Arriva was sold in 2011 to McGill’s who now serve the former Clydeside area, Western Scottish in 1997 along with AA motor services was acquired by Stagecoach following Stagecoach’s purchase of A1 buses in 1995 initially keeping Western Scottish & A1 separate identities until 2010 and is now known as Stagecoach Western Scotland. Highland Scottish was later split into Highland Country owned by National Express covering the western Highlands and Highland Bus & Coach owned by by Inverness coach firm Rapson’s eventually buying out National Express, maintaining separate identities until 2008 when the Rapson’s group was bought by Stagecoach becoming Stagecoach Highlands, Northern Scottish became Stagecoach Bluebird in 1992 becoming Stagecoach’s first SBG acquisition. Strathtay Scottish was purchased by Yorkshire Traction in 1991 and in 2005 Stagecoach purchased Strathtay, Fife Scottish also was purchased by Stagecoach in 1991. In 2008 Strathtay & Fife merged to become Stagecoach East Scotland. Eastern Scottish was renamed SMT and was purchased by the GRT group in 1994, GRT was formerly Aberdeen municipal services and became FirstGroup in 1997, Lowland Scottish was also purchased by FirstGroup in 1999, Midland Scottish was in 1990 renamed Midland Bluebird following GRT’s purchase of Midland Scottish, following Lowland’s purchase, FirstGroup merged Midland Bluebird, SMT & Lowland into First Edinburgh. In 2022 FirstGroup sold First Edinburgh to McGill’s becoming McGill’s Scotland East. Lastly Kelvin Scottish & Central Scottish. In 1989 Kelvin Scottish merged with Central Scottish to become Kelvin Central Buses, in 1994 KCB was purchased by Strathclyde’s Buses which was formerly Strathclyde PTE buses also keeping separate identities until 1997 when FirstGroup bought KCB & Strathclyde’s Buses to become First Glasgow. Just now following the 2019 Transport Act in March 2024 SPT the current incarnation of Strathclyde PTE have voted to introduce a franchise system across Glasgow & west of Scotland similar to London & Manchester bus services with SPT setting the timetables & fares.
Great to see an American talk about the Volvo Ailsa built in Irvine, thumbs up from an Ayrshire lad. Been on the MK2s and MK3s growing up in Glasgow. These were popular with Scottish fleets. A1 buses was a local independent bus company operating as a co-operative between local coach companies in Ayrshire before being absorbed by Stagecoach
I've got a book which is all about a North Manchester driver/conductor's career when working at the Queen's Road bus depot (still working), one part lists all the buses which were garaged at the depot in 1967. Only one Albion single decker features in the list (the Aberdonian), from around the mid 1950s, all the rest of the vehicles were Leylands, Daimlers or Crossleys (based in Gorton, East Manchester). By the end of 1967, all the Crossleys, by then 20 years old, were scrapped. Crossley had stopped making buses by the end of the 1940s.
Rode these when I was a kid miss them. The B10L that replaced them were awful. Surprised you never mentioned the open top conversion Tayside did. There was a few Axelxander boddied Bristol VR that looked almost identical to the Ailsa to the casual observer.
Nice buses i really liked the Tayside ones another vehicle Ireland never had apart from building some in Dublin. The peaked Alexander ones would have suited A Belfast Corporation Transport style livery. I think the Guy Victory's where more like the earlier Guy with their Gardener 6LXB in the front. None off them where sold in these Islands.
The snag with the Ailsa was that it was an answer to a question that people had stopped asking - the unreliability of early rear-engined double deckers led some bus engineers to want to return to traditional front engined designs, but this was impossible with one-man operation. - hence they got Volvo to re-imagine the Wulfrunian, only better!. However, by the 80s the next generation of rear engined deckers were coming out which were much better engineered than early Atlanteans or Fleetlines, so there really wasn't a role for the Ailsa, though as you say Scottish operators loved a bus that was made in Scotland! I only had a couple of short rides on an Ailsa, but it struck me as being rather crude from a passenger point of view. You mentioned the Volvo Citybus - I actually rode on one of those earlier in the year at a rally - it was seriously impressive - very powerful and very comfortable, smooth riding experience!
@@timbounds7190 Actually the re-imagining was entirely the work of Ailsa Bus, Volvo only really started to input their engineering with the Mk3. One of the key people was Norman Watson who designed the perimeter frame with central spine as a lighter stronger alternative to the traditional ladder frame. The founder of Ailsa Truck and Ailsa Bus was Jim McKelvie who had been a haulier in Renfrewshire with a mainly Leyland Albion fleet, and had also ran a select holiday tour coach fleet in the 1940s and 1950s. He was looking to become a truck dealer and approached Leyland who turned him down. Just at that time Volvo were looking to sell to the UK so Ailsa Truck was formed, named after the Ailsa Craig rock in the firth of Clyde. Jim McKelvie also formed Stonefield Vehicles to build a cross-country light truck to Norman Watson's designs.
Hello! Thanks very much for the added info abou the Ailsa, and why it was designed the way it was! Very interesting!! The Citybus sounds like quite and awesome bus! Thanks very much for watching!!
The Ailsa wasn't popular with my passenger transport executive, Tyne & Wear PTE, they only had three, GCN1 - 3N, they didn't last long before been sold off
Lessons learned that is very good to see. Offcourse it is still slightly less succesfull than whole lot of others but for what it was it sounds like it did allright
Thank you again! As a kid I went on those Guys. especially THE 1891!The word that comes to mind is "Throbbing". So noisy and seemingly inefficient! Cheers1
th-cam.com/video/L5EyJQXXJCg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OMOoKevsMKUOE6VJ&t=282 - They were the only independent operator of the Alisa Volvo at the time, whilst Premier had that one, SYPTE had a fleet of them on N reg - started numbering at 401 I remember.... Always comfy buses and a bit different to the Leyland Atlantean we used to have - before the Denis Dominators with Alexander bodies
Hello! Thanks for the added info, I will check out the video. Yes, I could imagine they were definitely different from the Atlanteans! Thanks very much for watching!
I don't think the Ailsa branding was removed on all the later models. Have a look at this Merseyside Pte one. Licence plate identifies it as a 1983 model. m.th-cam.com/video/xMs1fHGn5ls/w-d-xo.html
Much better bus but less cute! And interesting fact: both named with women names! Wulfrunian after lady Wulfrunian, and Ailsa is and old English name (don’t confuse with Alice/Alisa)
@@JeffreyOrnstein I was used to driving Daimler Fleetlines and Leyland Olympians, they were comfortable to drive. I don't think a front engine on a front engine bus is really a good idea. From my experience with Volvo I did not think they made very good buses for town work, they seemed better on long distance work.
![AEC Swift and Merlin Bus Story: No Magic for London Transport [UK Bus History]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rZwwR06wyoM/mqdefault.jpg)
![AEC Swift and Merlin Bus Story: No Magic for London Transport [UK Bus History]](/img/tr.png)
![The Leyland Olympian Story: Out of Many Buses, ONE! [UK Bus History]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tp6RfLiTpj0/mqdefault.jpg)
I’m from the West Midlands so I have memories of our examples as a young child. They were so distinctive. The sound of them! They screamed like a banshee!
Hello! Thanks for your memories of the Ailsa - always very interesting to hear!! Thanks very much for watching!!
I'm Indonesian and I watched your videos for quite sometime.
I maybe only 21, but here in Indonesia, lots of bus enthusiast known as Busmania, sometimes talk about the double-decker bus that once in service in some big cities of Indonesia.
As far as I know, the B55 first come to Indonesia as a help from British Gov. in early 1980s, along with some Atlanteans and bunch of Olympian. They have the Alexander body, and as far as I know, both the AV and RV. They were send to differet cities, but mostly in Java island, which were Jakarta, Semarang, Surabaya, and Bandung. Some say that a couple units made it's way to Medan in Sumatra and Makassar in Sulawesi.
In Jakarta, they were operated by PPD (Perusahaan Pengangkutan Djakarta), a city bus company owned by Special Capital City of Jakarta province and the rest was operated by DAMRI (Djawatan Angkutan Motor Republik Indonesia), a national bus company which has many main office in every province and some even have more than 1 main office that located in different cities in 1 province.
But, despite having good reputation, they are not having long service career, because the British aid only giving short supply of spare parts, so by mid 1990s, one by one was taken out of service and their stripped for spare parts for the remaining buses. The last Javanese city that uses double-decker bus was Surabaya, in mid-1990s, and most of them were second hand from Bandung, Semarang, and Jakarta. The B55 last better than the Atlantean and Olympian because they come in huge number.
Sad story though. And as far as I know, none was survived even the 3-axle variant.
Glad you bring the B55 video into your channel, even though I never rode in one of these.
Hello! Thank you so much for the additional information on the B55 in Indonesia! I often wonder about the history of buses in this part of the world, but info isn't always easy to get. It would have been great if one was preserved, especially the 3-axle version. Those were quite impressive! Thank you very, very much for watching my videos from Indonesia, much appreciated!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein Well, as far as I remember, the remaining 3-axle B55 as far as I remember is 1 in Hong Kong. I remember searched it in 2019, so, I don't know what the state of it today.
The buses history in Asia is unique. I should say, but, there's not much about it, because it just bought, used, and then throw away, either scrapped or used in another job such as employee's bus in factories/plants/mills.
I know a little bit history of buses in Indonesia, particularly big buses, from 1980s to roughly nowadays, because, it is an Indonesian habbit of not counting vehicles as part of national history, so there's little information about it which causing speculations among bus enthusiasts.
The ailsa "scream" a noise from my childhood through early adulthood, from the original 1975 delivery to the last ones running around well into the stagecoach era, & the early 2000s they've really good hill climbers and had a decent turn of speed too, i have early memories of them overloaded with 90 plus passengers - (many of them kids) on a scorching summers day climbing mains brae, (a steep hill) in Aberdour en route for the famous Burntisland Games, fathers with the picnic bags, women with the seats and kids on thier knees and the luggage rack full of folded prams.
Great times in the 70s
Hello! Thanks for your memories of the Ailsa! Sounds like they can deal with anything thrown at them!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Fantastic video Jeffrey and your information is spot on! As I'm from Dundee I spent over 20 years travelling on these buses and loved every minute on one! The TD07 engine was a powerful unit and the Ailsa could really move when the pedal hit the metal!
Hello! I'm really very glad you liked the video!!! Thanks very much for your memory of the Ailsa and thanks very much for watching!!
6:57 That was my childhood bus route.
I think most Sheffielders have fond memories of the Ailsa - they were different to the buses we’d had before.
Hello! Thanks for the memory of the Ailsa in Sheffield!! Thanks very much for watching!!
71 Prince of Wales road , screaming engine flat out!
@@freddiebozwell7049 That’s the one!! 👍. Engine trying its best to get up Park Grange Road! Just don’t try having a conversation!
Awesome video Jeffery.
I grew up near the Volvo plant in Irvine.
I also had the privilege of driving most of the Ailsas in the picture at 3:29 when I worked at Clyde Coast Coaches.
The Ailsa was my favourite next to the Leyland Atlantean.
Great times.
Hello! Very happy you liked the video!! Great that you drove them! Thanks very much for watching!!
Wasn't expecting a GVVT shout out from an American guy lol
LOL, anything is possible! Thanks very much for watching!!
These Ailsas were a common sight here in Glasgow, I travelled on them regularly in the 1990's. Sitting downstairs at the back there was so much room compared to a rear-engined bus. An interesting video. Thanks Jeffrey 👍
Hello! Very glad you liked the video! And thanks for the memories of the Ailsa in Glasgow! Thanks very much for watching!
Another cracking video Jeffrey. Always a treat when one of your videos pops up
Hello! Really glad you like my videos!! Much appreciated!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Excellent video. I remember these in Sheffield, we nicknamed them "screaming Ailsa's", as the noise they made going up steep roads was something else!!!
Hello! Glad you liked the video! Thanks very much for watching!
Another wonderful, informative and well researched video from Jeffrey. He is so engaging in his telling of these subjects. Excellent.
Hello Melanie! Really happy you liked the video and thanks so much for the compliment, much appreciated!!! Thanks very much for watching again!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein As always, you are very welcome, and we'll done. Actually, I had meant to add that my husband tells me that his uncle worked for a small local company at the time that this bus was introduced and they got hold of one to try it out. They were impressed with it, but couldn't see where it could operationally fit in with their fleet of largely Leyland Atlantian double deckers so they stuck with what they knew.
The ailsa was definitely a scottish favourite. So glad we still get to see them here in Glasgow. 😊
Lucky you that you still are able see the Ailsas!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Good Evening from Scotland Jeffrey, as well as being a Wikipedia Editor I'm a volunteer at Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust. As well as public facing duties I do a lot of work in our archives, which exist in a building built as the gym for the Glasgow Corporation Transport boxing club. Stewart J Brown is a frequent visitor, especially when researching something to do with Glasgow. I'm sure the addition of the Citybus to the book would be the publisher's idea, these days Stewart gets to write exactly what he wants by running his own publishing company.
Mention has been made of Derby 71 already,this was planned in 1975 to be the first of many low height AIlsas, but the build took much longer than anticipated, it had a very untidy internal layout and it initially failed licencing for service because there wasn't quite enough headroom at the front. By 1977 any orders for the lowheight Ailsa had been cancelled.
The majority of Alexander RV bodies had peaks at the front, but the Greater Glasgow production batch of 15 had the traditional rounded look to fit in with the Atlantean fleet. GGPTEs engineeering director moved on to become General Manager at Tayside at around the time they switched to Ailsas, and was later to return to Strathclyde as General Manager.
The Mk2 had a stronger version of the drop-centre rear axle but the main difference was a raised driving position, some of the buses you've credited as Mk2 are Mk1. THS273M was the bus sent to Thailand and also the bus shown in Citybus, Hong Kong colours, when its Volvo TD20 failed it had a Leyland O600 shoehorned in as a replacement.
When Dr Westwell was about to leave Tayside, the 50 seater single decker was being built by Ailsa Bus as a demonstrator, by the time it was finished he had moved, so it arrived in Glasgow in blue, looking a little out of place. It ran well for Strathclyde on services with height restrictions but was a much rougher bus for passenges than the Leyland National. It was destroyed in the Larkfield Garage fire in 1991.
After that fire which destroyed around 100 buses Tayside lent a large number of their dual door Ailsas not only were they painted orange and black on the front but had a large board fitted to prevent use of the centre doors reading "This Is Not A Door No Entry" shades of Rene Magritte.
Hello Stephen! Thanks again for all of your knowledge in your comments - it's all very interesting to read it! I wish I could put lots more info into these videos, but it's often impossible to cover everything. As for the book, if I recall correctly, I believe Stuart J. Brown had made a comment on the Amazon page for it, stating the publisher made that decision, as you mention. A lot of reviewers were critical that half the book was on the Citybus. I have lots of Mr. Brown's books! Thanks very much for watching again!!
i used to ride those buses going to and from work, the noise made it sound really growly, i also have to say, you pronnouncing the scottish towns, citys and regions of scotland is perfect.
EDIT:-
i contacted an old family friend, they used to make chassis for that bus at the long gone volvo plant in irvine ayrshire, they also made export chassis for buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video, and my pronunciation :) Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeffery for another good one. Always something different to learn about.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video!! Thanks very much for watching again and again!!
Another terrific video, Jeffrey! I travelled on these a lot, especially whilst in my late teens and well into my 20s. They served the Edinburgh to Mayfield and Edinburgh to Penicuik routes, along with a few other Midlothian destinations. I remember them as being quite large and goodness me....they were loud! I also remember them as being relatively fast, especially climbing up hills.... perhaps that was the turbo effect? Anyway, thanks again for another brilliant video!
Hello! Very glad you liked the video!!! Thanks for your memories of riding the Ailsas, it's always very interesting to hear these accounts! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Jeffrey
Many thanks, always look forward to your videos. They are always interesting and very well researched.
Hello! I'm so happy you look forward to my videos!!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Great video, it brought back a lot of memories! I used to drive the London ones out of Potters Bar garage, just outside north London, in the late 80s. We had three types:
Number 1... The three experimentals, V1, V2 and V3. These were the most modern of the bunch but the automatic gearboxes often lurched as you pulled into bus stops, so the passengers got the impression you were a bad driver.
V3 was the most interesting, the back door was blocked off at that point in time, though I do remember being impressed seeing it parked outside Leaside HQ in 1986 before it has been converted, not realizing I'd be driving it not long after that!
Number 2..... A small batch of ex- South Yorkshire VanHool-McArdle bodied examples. These were a bit lumbering, very ugly and not in the best of condition, but they were ok to drive. Passengers often remarked that they thought they were bigger buses than normal, as the interior seemed a bit more roomy than the standard London Metros.
Number 3..... Ex West Midlands Alexander-bodied examples from 1975. This was the biggest batch, along with some identical ones from the same fleet that went to Harrow Buses. These had semi-automatic gearboxes and, when they weren't breaking down, they were actually great fun to drive. Very rapid and handled almost like a sports car (when no passengers were on, of course!). One particular one was V22, which was nicknamed "The Whistler" amongst drivers, as that particular one had a very loud whistly engine indeed, which the mechanics could never cure.
All the London ones in the photos in this video I used to drive regularly.
Ultimately they were pretty unreliable though, having already reached the end of their working life before they even arrived in north London, so many of us drivers spent our shifts drinking tea in the canteen and playing snooker waiting for a working bus to become available!!!
Hello! Really glad you liked the video and that it brought back good memories! And thanks for all the additional info on the London Ailsas very interesting to read! Thanks very much for watching!!
The Ailsa that Strathclyde rebuilt as a saloon after a low bridge accident was subsequently sold to Black Prince in Leeds. Unfortunately, it then emerged that it had never been recertified as a single-decker, which would have involved submitting it for a tilt-test to prove it was stable to 35 degrees. As a double-decker it was only required to tilt to 28 degrees (though in single-deck form it ought to have easily passed a new test), but the cost of getting it tilted went well into four figures so the bus was scrapped.
Hello! Very interesting about Ailsa rebuilt to a single-decker!! I thought I saw a photo of it in Black Prince livery! Too bad it wasn't saved - it looked very unique! Thanks very much for watching!!
Very interesting, very few, if any, of these buses were in evidence in Greater Manchester, where I live. By the mid 1970s, nearly all the buses in our area had become one man operated, with rear engines (some single deckers had engines under the floor near the rear). This was an interesting experiment, but because of the logistics and design of this bus, it was almost inevitably doomed to failure, as previous attempts had been. Nice to see some photos of Strathclyde (Glasgow area) in the fluorescent red/orange livery. You certainly couldn't miss them, the colour was so bright. Excellent article again, Jeffrey.
Hello! Glad you liked the video and thanks for relaying your memories of the Ailsa! Thanks very much for watching!!
Nice video, but no mention of the distinctive whistle from the engine. I remember the SYPTE vehicles, I was a passenger on them regularly, loved the noise and the (I think) self changing gearboxes that always seemed to be a bit out of sync leading to interesting gear changes! I also remember how powerful they seemed.
There was also a distinctive whine from the rear axle which could match the engine on the decibels!
@@justinhamilton497… yeah … and made worse when the planet gears in the diff were wearing out. The speed at the time was so impressive from a relatively small engine albeit turbocharged.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! I did hear a whistling from the inside of a preserved Ailsa on another video, but wasn't sure if it was normal, or if it was from age and wear and tear!! Thanks very much for watching!!
The turbocharger made a pretty loud whistling noise. I guess that was because with so small a swept volume, the engine relied heavily on its turbocharger - quite possibly to make half the total power!
The suspension was rather harsh too. Combined with the engine and transmission noises, it made for a relatively poor passenger experience. The upside was that it was a good performer and evidently reliable too.
I'd suggest that the use of a small-volume diesel with a huge turbocharger, in pursuit of maximum power for minimum weight, was evidence of lessons learned from the Guy Wulfrunian, in which the weight of the engine seems to have been the root of most of the evils.
We had at least one Volvo running on the 77/77a out of Stockwell Garage - the rear doored example. The LT staff magazine made mention of it being the first LT bus Since the Routemaster to have a drivers cab with an external door.
Hello! Very interesting about hte cab door! Thanks very much for watching!!
Superb, again, Jeffrie. Thank-you!
Hello John! Really glad you liked my video again! Thanks very much for watching!!
Great video again, Jeff. ❤🎉🏴
Hello! I'm so happy you enjoyed the video! Thanks very much for watching!!
They were definitely really hot in the summer and as you'll see, the sliding cab windows were tiny. Some were only fitted with one small cab window so the Maidstone drivers did have a point.
Hello! Oh yes, I really wondered about that small cab window!! Really odd! Thanks very much for watching!!
I remember the three London versions of this bus which remained unique to London. Thanks Jeffery for another well researched video.
Hello! Very glad you liked the video! Yes, those were quite a unique bus for London!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Hi i'm viatron from Sheffield once again, I remember one thing about the VOLVO AILSA B55 double deck bus were this very strange whistling sound when it's in gear via many bus enthusiast though it was the turbocharger mounted on the engine, but it wasn't in many cases. But was in fact the very special & slightly unusual rubber drive belt what is driving from the gearbox to the alternator which it has teeth & interlock on both teeth drive pully wheels situated under the lower deck saloon floor of the Mk.l versions & it's something similar to the very famous GUY WHISTLE from the exposed clutch & flywheel at the front such as the GUY ARAB Mks,l, ll, llll, lV & V variations. Thank for your co-operation on this very special VOLVO AILSA B55 bus subject from David Viatron Esquire of crookes in Sheffield England.
Hello Mr. Viatron, Esq.: I'm very happy you liked my video!! And thanks so much for the additional info on the Ailsa, very interesting!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks for the Introduction! Really like it! Classical Model it's
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
I remember reading years ago that they were very liked by their operators.
On an opposite vein, it would be good ti see a feature on the Volvo B59, a rear pancake engine single decker built between 1970 and 1979. It utilised an A frame front suspension setup that was considered very advanced for the time. Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide bought many all having the ageing ZF Busmatic 2 speed.
Volvo didn't really sell a rear engine single deck offering again until the 1990s with the B10B series, they relied on the very popular B10M mid underfloor engine chassis for bus sales. From memory they offered a short lived B10R as their rear engine bus in the early 1980s.
Hello! I will look into the B59 for a future video, I think there are preserved ones in Australia! Thanks very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein Not enough.
AIlsa Bus tried to sell the B59 against the Leyland National and the Metro-Scania, but there were no takers, and at five years old VEB566L was running school contracts in the remote West Highlands of Scotland.
@@StephenAllcroft they were a hit in Australia. Adelaide had 307 and they were in service for 25 years.
Jeffrey, Excellent review. Please keep them coming.
Hello! I'm really happy you liked the video!!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Yet another great video Jeff 😊 keep up the good work 👏
Hello! Really happy you liked the video! Thanks very much for watching again!!
In the part of Scotland where I started life (Fife) there were tonnes of these Volvo Ailsa B55.
I, personally loved them and that's really where my love for Volvo buses began, because the Volvo B55 was quality compared to other double deckers.
Thanks Jeffrey, another well researched and interesting video, much appreciated 🤙
Hello! Really glad you liked the video, and thanks for the compliment! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Hi Jeffrey! Great video again. I’d nearly forgotten about these buses. I live in north west London and for a very brief period, these ran on the 114 route. I distinctly remember the whistle from their engines - presumably the turbocharger. Never heard a bus like it! Then we got orange Northern Counties Leyland Olympians on that route in the early 90s and they lasted many years. All the best!
Hello! Really happy you liked the video! And thanks for your memories of the Ailsa in London! Thanks very much for watching!
Excellent again Jeffrey, another bus that I have had extensive experience of driving. A very good bus indeed.
It was a bus like the Seddon Pennine Albion Lowlander and the Albion Viking a bus designed in conjunction with the Scottish Bus Group
The reason for the name Ailsa was dropped was although the bus was named Ailsa after the small island Ailsa Craig off the Ayrshire coast we also had a mental institution in Ayr called Ailsa Hospital and Volvo didn’t want to be thought of being associated with it.
Hello! Very glad you liked the video! And thanks for the reason behind the name!! Thanks very much for watching!!
They definitely tried all the different combinations, thumbs up great video
Hello! Really glad you liked the video again, and yes, they tried many combos on this one!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeffrey another great potted history of a bus that was interesting and innovative. Now we never saw these Volvo's in North Wales, that engine noise was also available in the Volvo F86 truck, drove more than a few of those.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Glasgow Council bus drivers had them fit a second small window beside the driver, to increase air flow due stuffy conditions on their Ailsa volvo's
Hello! Oh, that's interesting about the small second window by the driver! Thanks very much for watching!!
GGG300N was converted to a sliding drivers' door that could be locked open in hot weather, but the other 18 mk1 kept hinged doors. All of the Mk3 ordered by Strathclyde had sliding doors though.
Greater Manchester Transport bought 3 Northern Counties bodied Ailsas for evaluation and when withdrawn after around 8-10 years use the trio passed to our local municipal operator Lancaster Cty Transport. I reember their great acceleration and distinctive scream of the turbocharged engines, great buses.
Hello! Thanks very much for relaying your experience with the Ailsa! Thanks very much for watching!!
Great video, Jeffrey 👍
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Loved the graphics
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the way I created the video! Thanks very much for watching!!
Interesting. I always enjoy watching your latest bus videos. I've had little experience of this type, they weren't popular in West Yorkshire. I remember Black Prince Coaches of Morley had a few tired looking second hand examples in the 1990s. They ran them on the number 88 service between Leeds and Bradford. I rode them on very few occasions and found them rather unpleasant. The rear seating downstairs was disconcertingly low compared to other double deckers, where seating in this location is often elevated. The bouncy suspension coupled with draughts and rattles, probably due to their age and poor maintenance and the aforementioned seating arrangement made for a rather uncomfortable, yet interesting experience.
Hello! I'm really happy you enjoy watching my videos!!! And thanks for your memories of the Ailsa - always very interesting to read these accounts! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Superb presentation again Jeffrey .....was aware of these but they were not common to my area ....the SYPTE Van Hool bodied ones were particularly attractive vehicles...
Rode on a West Midlands preserved one last year at Willenhall... absolutely flew ...and screamed too ...wonderful vehicles ...
PS any chance of doing a video on the GM New Look buses ? Coming from England i find them fascinating....but know very little about them
..
Hello! Really glad you liked the video!! I may do a GM New Look video in the future!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Hi Jeffrey, I lived in Derby at the time when they ran many Ailsa's. I'm surprised you didn't mention the unique low height one they had new in 1977, fleet no 71, RTO 1R. Bought for and predominantly used on the two Derby to Burton-on-Trent routes, one of which had a low bridge. It had a good turn of speed! It is now preserved and registered TRR 814R.
Hello! Thanks for the additional info about RTO 1R. It looks like I missed that one - it's sometimes impossible to get everything into these videos!! Thanks very much for watching!!
SYT's Ailsas got sold to London in the mid 80's after de-regulation and they later bought by Black Prince coaches of Morley. It took Black Prince so long to resurrect V3 so by that the time it was ready they were running Scanias so V3 became a celebrity reminder of the previous fleet. V3s rear door was remove whilst in London and it was only put back in when it was bought for preservation which was covered by Bus and coach preservation magazine over 10 years ago.
Hello! Thanks for the additional information on V3, very interesting! Thanks very much for watching!
The Dennis Jubilant and Leyland Victory 2 both specifically design for Hong Kong Market also have the same concept of the chassis design in somehow just have the higher floor to meet the requirement of Hong Kong hilly operating environment and fun fact most of them fitted with Alexander body as well. I remember rode Volvo-Ailsa of CMB of Hong Kong few time when I was young, with only 8 of them in the fleet, sadly though most of them withdrawn from service due to caught fire for some reason.
Hello! Thanks for the additional info about the Ailsas in Hong Kong, very interesting!!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Nice to see South Yorkshire buses there. Though I have no recollection of this particular type. Thanks for the video though.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! Thanks very much for watching!
I remember Boro line Maidstone examples. They screamed around on account of their relatively small engines- 6.7L instead of the unusual 10.5 to 11.1L units found in most contemporary 'deckers.
Thing is, my experience of them was rather unpleasant. They were noisy; crashy and- the Maidstone & District guys had a point- smelled strongly of diesel fumes; particularly in the lower saloon!
It was less bad to sit upstairs! 😂
National Bus used M&D to carry out comparative tests of several different makes. The Ailsa didn't score very highly among passengers, drivers or engineers.
Hello! Thanks for the info on how it was to ride an Ailsa, very interesting! Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeffery!
Hello! Really glad you liked it! Thanks very much for watching!!
I always liked these buses in the West Midlands and they operated from many garages in the West Midlands PTE area, the one problem they had was that unlike the fleetlines and Metrobuses in the West Midlands fleet to change the front,side and rear number box if changing routes, where as the Fleetlines and Metro buses where all the driver had to do is open the door to his cab inside the bus and go and wind the numbers up, on the Alsas the driver had to climb out of his cab on to the road, walk round to the pasenger entrance door, get on the bus and then wind the side, front and rear number blind, I believe all the driver could do from the cab was change the destination blind, this led to the situation, especially when the WMPTE took over the Midland Red Routes in the West Midlands area and when the Alsas were transfered to ex Midland Red Garrages to upgrade their buses, both the side and rear numbers boxes being left blank by the ex Midland Red Drivers with just the front number box and destination box being used. This the WMPTE frowned on this as it expected a full destination being shown at the front and the front, side and rear number boxes showing the correct destination number, so to get over this the WMPTE instaled electronic number blinds so that at the push of button the front, side and rear number boxes could be changed with out the driver leaving his cab leaving the destination blind as the only one for the driver to change manually. After retirement from West Midlands Travel they went to all parts of the Country, London Transport and Northern and Scottish opertors before a lot came back to the West Midlands under preservation with the electronic number blinds being removed and the original fabric type number's being put back into the number blinds.
Hello! Very interesting info about changing the destination signs!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Very enjoyable story of this type of bus. I used to live near Plumstead London Transport bus garage in the 80s and used to go inside to look at the Routemasters. I noticed in the corner V3 and thought what an oddity. Doors at extreme ends and engine up at the front. I wasn't sure I liked it, preferring the classier vintage models. Wondered what happened to it. Didn't like the sccoped frontal shape and odd roof curves, strange in many ways. The Saviem SC10 (french design) had an engine up at the front underneath the driver, like this Ailsa, powered by MAN, that was a success. Nice little documentary.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video and interesting story about seeing V3 at the garage! Thanks very much for watching again!!
Just my opinion but I think from a bus enthusiasts point of view that while it is important to preserve Routemasters and indeed the more the merrier it is very important to preserve very rare buses such as the FRM(front entrance rear engined Routemaster and the Ailsa with the two staircases and front and rear doors to mention just a couple. When one of a kind buses are gone they are gone for good and to the people that realise this and preserve them well done !!
Absolutely! One-of-a-kind buses need to be somehow preserved! Thanks very much for watching again!!
'Technical innovations' or 'Technical Issues!' Oh Thanks for responding to my email to you the other day in reference to a video suggestion that you could do on the British bus series.
Hello! LOL, I guess it was supposed to be technical innovations at first, but...you know what then happened! Thanks very much for watching!!
The only time i ever got on an Ailsa in service was a Derby (by that time Arriva Derby) one that was on short term loan to Arriva Fox County and used on a school time extra service. I've also ridden a West Midlands one and V3 in preservation
Hello! Thanks for relaying your memories of the Ailsa! Thanks very much for watching!!
There was also the fact that the Van Hool McArdle bodies on the Alisa were top heavy in that they initially failed the tilt test. This required the removal of seats on the front nearside. Then there was the Alisa 1 that fell off the boat at I think Bristol docks (please correct me as I’m old and memory failing). It was sent back to Volvo and became a Volvo 2. By the way … I thought that it was originally the Alisa AB57? … before becoming the B55. I’m sure that my engineering manuals were all stamped AB57. Many in preservation including the lone surviving Scottish VHM Alisa which was on your video and a couple of SYPTE examples. The Scottish example was one of two for SYPTE that was diverted to the A1 Scottish bus group. It was preserved along with a SYPTE example before returning to Scotland. A damn fine bus and great to drive.
Hello! Thanks for the additional information! The comment on the Van Hool sound like the Wulfrunians that had to have its front seats removed from the top deck as well! Thanks very much for watching!!
The Glasgow buses were really nice and looked very good in Trans Clyde livery. They could move as well.
Yes, the Glasgow ones in that livery looked great! Thanks very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I used to visit Glasgow regularly in the 1980s and 1990s when I was working (now retired), the colour of those Strathclyde buses was so bright (it was fluorescent), you could see them coming from quite a distance away. They were a contrast to Glasgow city's own buses, which were coloured green, white and yellow.
What is with the bizarre destination blind windows on some of these busses? They seem designed to give as little information in the smallest format possible! The London format (as seen on Routemasters, Fleetlines, Titans, Olympians, etc.) looks so much easier to read and understand.
Hello! Oh yes, that is so obvious about the destination blinds - looks like it tried to be stylistic more than practical!! Thanks very much for watching!!
The WMPTE versions had a destination blind similiar to London in that they had a 4 track number blind at the front, side and back and at the front a large destination bling containing a 2 track layout with the upper blind being the ultimate destination and the lower blind being the Via destination eg West Bromwich top, Via Smethwick in the lower box which could be read from quite a distance
I have really got into your video's Jeffery, long may they continue! Totally off-topic, love the Scania 80 Demonstrator tractor unit from B&W Motors @ 1.46.
Hello! I'm really happ you like to watch my videos, and I hope to continue doing them for you guys!! Thanks very much for watching and for the compliment!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein B&W Motors started out as Bradbury and Wedge in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
There is a recreation of their garage at the Black Country Living museum (other museums are available!) which also by chance has......buses and coaches!
I have spread the word about your excellent video's.
Another great video!
I know you've 'done' the FRM but how about covering the Routemaster in all its other guises in the near future? Thanks!
Hello! Very happ you really liked the video!! I'll look into the Routemaster for a future video!! Thanks very much for watching!!
According to sources, the B55 demonstrator (registered in the UK as THS 273M) that was exported to Bangkok was also the very prototype that was exhibited in the 1973 Scottish Motor Show. Bangkok was not interested in that B55 and THS 273M were then purchased by Citybus of Hong Kong (at that time was called City Buses) and became their first bus. It ended up receiving a Leyland O.680 engine and got a new nose before it was scrapped in 1989.
Hello! Thanks for the additional info on THS 273M! I thought I may have read something about it being exported, but was not sure. Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks for the video! I love this bus, although only rode on it just once - it was one of the 7 dual door 2-axle examples operated by CMB in Hong Kong.
When THS 273M got its Leyland engine, the first few rows of seats on the upper deck got removed in order to compensate for the added weight over the front axle. This move was similar to the Wulfrunian.
Tayside Buses in Dundee had some great examples.....they had an open top one....WTS272T.
Oh, I might not have known about the open-top Ailsa! Thanks very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein Thanks......bit of a bus spotter as a kid....still am.
The Scottish Bus Group double deck buses mainly had triangular style 2 tier destination blinds, a long standing trait of SBG double deck buses, SBG was made up of Highland Scottish in Red & Grey livery that covered the Scottish Highland & Islands, Northern Scottish in Yellow & Beige livery that covered Aberdeen & the Grampian region, Central Scottish in Dark Red & Beige livery that covered northern & eastern Glasgow all the way down to South Lanarkshire, Fife Scottish in Red & White livery that covered the Fife region, Midland Scottish in Blue & Beige livery that covered north east Glasgow towards Stirling, Falkirk all the way to Dundee, Eastern Scottish in Green & Beige livery that covered Edinburgh & South East Scotland & Western Scottish in bright Red and Beige livery which covered South West Glasgow and South West Scotland. When bus deregulation was introduced 4 new SBG companies were formed Kelvin Scottish original livery in Blue & Grey, later on in 2 tone blue and yellow which took over Central Scottish’s North Glasgow & Midland Scottish’s North East Glasgow areas, Clydeside Scottish in Red & Yellow livery that took over Western Scottish’s northern area along the southern firth of Clyde and south west Glasgow area, Strathtay Scottish in Blue & Orange livery that took over the Dundee area of Midland Scottish and Tayside area of Fife Scottish & Lowland Scottish in Green & Yellow livery that took over the Scottish Borders area of Eastern Scottish. Its also interesting to know Clydeside, Kelvin, Strathtay & Perth City Transport bought from London several Routemasters after deregulation
Hello! Thanks for the great info abou the blinds and color schemes, very interesting! Thanks very much for watching!!
After deregulation Western Scottish & Clydeside Scottish merged in 1989 but keeping their separate identities later on separating again. Clydeside Scottish after privatisation became Clydeside 2000 and scaled back their operations by closing 3 depots due to local government changes. Eventually by 1996 Arriva had taken over Clydeside and became Arriva Scotland West. Arriva was sold in 2011 to McGill’s who now serve the former Clydeside area, Western Scottish in 1997 along with AA motor services was acquired by Stagecoach following Stagecoach’s purchase of A1 buses in 1995 initially keeping Western Scottish & A1 separate identities until 2010 and is now known as Stagecoach Western Scotland. Highland Scottish was later split into Highland Country owned by National Express covering the western Highlands and Highland Bus & Coach owned by by Inverness coach firm Rapson’s eventually buying out National Express, maintaining separate identities until 2008 when the Rapson’s group was bought by Stagecoach becoming Stagecoach Highlands, Northern Scottish became Stagecoach Bluebird in 1992 becoming Stagecoach’s first SBG acquisition. Strathtay Scottish was purchased by Yorkshire Traction in 1991 and in 2005 Stagecoach purchased Strathtay, Fife Scottish also was purchased by Stagecoach in 1991. In 2008 Strathtay & Fife merged to become Stagecoach East Scotland. Eastern Scottish was renamed SMT and was purchased by the GRT group in 1994, GRT was formerly Aberdeen municipal services and became FirstGroup in 1997, Lowland Scottish was also purchased by FirstGroup in 1999, Midland Scottish was in 1990 renamed Midland Bluebird following GRT’s purchase of Midland Scottish, following Lowland’s purchase, FirstGroup merged Midland Bluebird, SMT & Lowland into First Edinburgh. In 2022 FirstGroup sold First Edinburgh to McGill’s becoming McGill’s Scotland East. Lastly Kelvin Scottish & Central Scottish. In 1989 Kelvin Scottish merged with Central Scottish to become Kelvin Central Buses, in 1994 KCB was purchased by Strathclyde’s Buses which was formerly Strathclyde PTE buses also keeping separate identities until 1997 when FirstGroup bought KCB & Strathclyde’s Buses to become First Glasgow. Just now following the 2019 Transport Act in March 2024 SPT the current incarnation of Strathclyde PTE have voted to introduce a franchise system across Glasgow & west of Scotland similar to London & Manchester bus services with SPT setting the timetables & fares.
Great to see an American talk about the Volvo Ailsa built in Irvine, thumbs up from an Ayrshire lad. Been on the MK2s and MK3s growing up in Glasgow. These were popular with Scottish fleets. A1 buses was a local independent bus company operating as a co-operative between local coach companies in Ayrshire before being absorbed by Stagecoach
Hello! Very happy you liked the video!!! And thanks very much for the memory of riding the Ailsa! Thanks very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeffrey- How about the other scottish built oddity - the Albion Viking that sold little outside Scotland but sold well in Scotland.
Hello! Glad you liked the video! I will look into the Albion Viking!! Thanks very much for watching!!
I've got a book which is all about a North Manchester driver/conductor's career when working at the Queen's Road bus depot (still working), one part lists all the buses which were garaged at the depot in 1967. Only one Albion single decker features in the list (the Aberdonian), from around the mid 1950s, all the rest of the vehicles were Leylands, Daimlers or Crossleys (based in Gorton, East Manchester). By the end of 1967, all the Crossleys, by then 20 years old, were scrapped. Crossley had stopped making buses by the end of the 1940s.
Rode these when I was a kid miss them. The B10L that replaced them were awful. Surprised you never mentioned the open top conversion Tayside did. There was a few Axelxander boddied Bristol VR that looked almost identical to the Ailsa to the casual observer.
Hello! Oh, yes, I missed that open-top one! Thanks very much for watching!!
Nice buses i really liked the Tayside ones another vehicle Ireland never had apart from building some in Dublin. The peaked Alexander ones would have suited A Belfast Corporation Transport style livery. I think the Guy Victory's where more like the earlier Guy with their Gardener 6LXB in the front. None off them where sold in these Islands.
Hello! Oh yes, I could just imagine one of those buses in a classic dark blue and white Belfast livery! Thanks very much for watching!!
The snag with the Ailsa was that it was an answer to a question that people had stopped asking - the unreliability of early rear-engined double deckers led some bus engineers to want to return to traditional front engined designs, but this was impossible with one-man operation. - hence they got Volvo to re-imagine the Wulfrunian, only better!. However, by the 80s the next generation of rear engined deckers were coming out which were much better engineered than early Atlanteans or Fleetlines, so there really wasn't a role for the Ailsa, though as you say Scottish operators loved a bus that was made in Scotland! I only had a couple of short rides on an Ailsa, but it struck me as being rather crude from a passenger point of view. You mentioned the Volvo Citybus - I actually rode on one of those earlier in the year at a rally - it was seriously impressive - very powerful and very comfortable, smooth riding experience!
@@timbounds7190 Actually the re-imagining was entirely the work of Ailsa Bus, Volvo only really started to input their engineering with the Mk3. One of the key people was Norman Watson who designed the perimeter frame with central spine as a lighter stronger alternative to the traditional ladder frame.
The founder of Ailsa Truck and Ailsa Bus was Jim McKelvie who had been a haulier in Renfrewshire with a mainly Leyland Albion fleet, and had also ran a select holiday tour coach fleet in the 1940s and 1950s. He was looking to become a truck dealer and approached Leyland who turned him down.
Just at that time Volvo were looking to sell to the UK so Ailsa Truck was formed, named after the Ailsa Craig rock in the firth of Clyde.
Jim McKelvie also formed Stonefield Vehicles to build a cross-country light truck to Norman Watson's designs.
Hello! Thanks very much for the added info abou the Ailsa, and why it was designed the way it was! Very interesting!! The Citybus sounds like quite and awesome bus! Thanks very much for watching!!
The Ailsa wasn't popular with my passenger transport executive, Tyne & Wear PTE, they only had three, GCN1 - 3N, they didn't last long before been sold off
Oh, that's interesting to hear. Guess they can't be popular everywhere! Thanks very much for watching!!
Interesting that eventually Volvo would take over Leyland Bus, while Alexander would merge with Chassis Builder Dennis
Oh yes, that is very interesting!! Thanks very much for watching!!
Lessons learned that is very good to see.
Offcourse it is still slightly less succesfull than whole lot of others but for what it was it sounds like it did allright
Hello! Oh yes, they sure did learn from the first unsuccessful bus! Thanks very much for watching!!
Those buses had a surprised look about them- possibly because they were not the big duds like the Wulfrunian.
LOL, I guess the buses themselves knew something! Thanks very much for watching!!
I’m sure they had a couple on Merseyside MPTE. never had the pleasure of riding one tho.
Hello! I think Merseyside did have at least a couple of them! Thanks very much for watching!!
Thank you again! As a kid I went on those Guys. especially THE 1891!The word that comes to mind is "Throbbing". So noisy and seemingly inefficient! Cheers1
Hello! Really glad you liked the video and thanks for your memories of the Ailsa! Thanks very much for watching!!
That book goes for £50 on eBay which is a lot for a book with 100 pages, Brown wrote a book on the Dennis Dominator and it is a gross disipointment
Glasgow had a silver one for the queen's jubilee,alway's liked it compared to an atlantian...
Hello! Sounds like that was a nice-looking bus...I guess i missed that one! Thanks very much for watching!!
th-cam.com/video/L5EyJQXXJCg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=OMOoKevsMKUOE6VJ&t=282 - They were the only independent operator of the Alisa Volvo at the time, whilst Premier had that one, SYPTE had a fleet of them on N reg - started numbering at 401 I remember....
Always comfy buses and a bit different to the Leyland Atlantean we used to have - before the Denis Dominators with Alexander bodies
Hello! Thanks for the added info, I will check out the video. Yes, I could imagine they were definitely different from the Atlanteans! Thanks very much for watching!
I don't think the Ailsa branding was removed on all the later models. Have a look at this Merseyside Pte one. Licence plate identifies it as a 1983 model.
m.th-cam.com/video/xMs1fHGn5ls/w-d-xo.html
Hello! Ok, will check it out! Thanks very much for watching!!
Much better bus but less cute! And interesting fact: both named with women names! Wulfrunian after lady Wulfrunian, and Ailsa is and old English name (don’t confuse with Alice/Alisa)
Hello! Very interesting info about the names of the buses!!! Thanks very much for watching!!
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Glad you liked it! Thanks very much for watching!!
I've driven one, not impressed
Ok, sorry to hear it wasn't a good bus! Thanks very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I was used to driving Daimler Fleetlines and Leyland Olympians, they were comfortable to drive. I don't think a front engine on a front engine bus is really a good idea. From my experience with Volvo I did not think they made very good buses for town work, they seemed better on long distance work.