Hello to both of you guys that are so entertaining, thanks. I remember the first time I drove a 7.5ton truck, such a dream to drive something that hisses whilst braking:-)
I was Apprenticed as a coachbuilder at Wadham Stringers in Waterlooville Hampshire in the late seventies,I remember the staff drivers driving the bare chassis back from Dennis in Guildford with trade plates on,in an exposed drivers seat,and wearing a warm jacket and motorcycle crash helmet,what a sight,I moved one in the yard once and it wheel spinned,oh shit!
They were Dennis Dominator bus chassis at the time basically a copy of the Damiler / Leyland Fleetline or Falcon, the Leyland National had a unitary construction, however it was not popular (expensive to fix crash damage and local authorities and operators at the time had local body builder like your employer) and once they lost the captive market of nationalised National Bus that the bus was designed for and owned shares in the factory, they launched Leyland Lynx which was originally conceived as a conventional (with chassis) Leyland National for export markets.
I drove one of the first Leyland National buses for the Northern bus Company based at Winlaton Depot. They were a breath of fresh air after driving the old style buses with crash boxes. They were great to drive, light controls and easy to handle. Great buses. The happiest days of my life.
Leyland Nationals still in service on the railway. LEV1. LEV2 and R3 were experimental single car Leyland National rail buses on motorised wagon chassis tested in the late 70's and early 80's. These led to production versions as Pacers and Skippers and a bogied version that became Class 153. Many were exported to see service in countries such as USA, Ireland and Iran. Class 153 and Class 142 are still in service on Britains Railways.
Well done on 30,000 subscribers Ian , thanks for the great content - And thanks for this great Leyland National video - more of these in future please !
Great video for celebrating 30,000 subscribers! Thought the roads looked familiar - Selby by pass, then A19 and past our old pub 'The Wheatsheaf!' I agree with you, bus suspension's got no more comfortable!
Wahey! Congrats on the 30k. The sounds of that National took me right back to my school days. Especially the crashing, clattering over bumps and the slow gearchanges.
Congrats on 30,000 subscribers. You deserve all of them since you sacrificed so much to produce the best possible videos for us despite having so many other prior commitments. Hubnut has been my favorite TH-cam channel for sometime now and I've bought merchandise and donated cash whenever I could to help the channel. I work in IT so I'm not a huge fan of Patreon due to their previous lack of security on their data handling but will continue to give through PayPal. Once again, thank you for all you do and im excited for this channel's future. Pschouuuuu!
My secondary school bus was one of these, green and white, it was very loud and rattled like a washing machine full of ball bearings. Thanks for taking me back and congratulations.
Congratulations. Glad I found this channel, so educating and unlike anything anyone else does here on the Tube. Truly unique, keep doing what you're doing. Until the next milestone.
STAY ABOVE 50!!!!!! Listening to the noises...sound of the engine and the rattle of the windows... Brings back memories of my youth Brilliant video Ian
Congrats at Wow! 30,000! Your gimbal is always nodding in agreement. I made a strange movement with my head when hearing Michelotti designed it. I love buses. I've had three Michelotti designed cars.
I love this! My dad was a bus driver and used to drive Leyland Lynx Mark 1's and 2's, Optare Metroriders and my favourite, the Volvo Ailsa B55-10 which would rumble and rattle at idle on cold mornings. Loved the sheer noise of the things too and was really saddened when they were removed from service. The bus company (Cardiff Bus) does hold a rather enormous heritage fleet with all of these (and many more) in there which is awesome as there are still some in absolutely amazing shape!
Great videi. I remember driving the Leyland National mk1. It was nippy but really heavy on fuel. Inching along in traffic would soon see you run out of air pressure. I would still rather have one today than the Enviro 400's we use.
Wonderful. I went to school everyday on a Leyland National. I do miss the sound of the original engine on those buses, and seem to remember the plumbs of diesel smoke which kids of my era were subjected to breathing in for many hours a week at bus stops all around the UK!
Arriva Midlands did until 2002 - www.flickr.com/photos/eagle50043/6675397035 and again briefly as "recently" as 2007 with the Chase Bus takeover - www.flickr.com/photos/mcw1987/5061447483/in/photostream
WOW!!!!! Mr Hubnut really excells with this Leyland National 10351B!! This is Marvellous!! Nice to hear the pause between the gear changes!! Well Done Mr Hubnut!
I’ve driven plenty of these in service, both leyland and Volvo powered. The Volvo ones are quite quick,BUT the gearbox was never intended to handle that much power, so careful gearchanges are needed. In winter, the heat comes from vents in the ceiling...but heat doesn’t sink, it rises so your feet freeze!
Volvo B58s and even the B10M came with the same gearbox as an option. Engines were variants of the turbo charged 9.6l with a lot of power and torque for their size.
@@smiffy1071 here in Australia we had them. Canberra had a large fleet of so equipped B58s (at least two received Voiths later on) with the CAV electric mono control gear changer on the right side of the steering stalk instead of the left. I think they ordered them because they had used the same gearbox on their AEC Swifts prior to the Volvo order. A private company had two B10Ms with this gearbox but with a different looking selector to the usual CAV with the red light -they were the only two I know of though. All the others with various operators had manuals and ZF 4 and 5HP500 "Ecomat" series and some even had Allison automatics from new. The B10M was a big seller in Australia.
@@smiffy1071 There was one former Canberra Leyland National 10.9m Australian length doing school runs in Sydney's north shore of an afternoon about that time still with a 510 along with an AEC Swift 760 and Leopards. The one you saw at Hobart would have been one of their former 10.3m ones. They had 60. MTT Hobart also operated B58s. Not sure of the gearboxes on them though.
I was a truck mechanic at a Leyland dealer in the 70's, the 510 engine was a disaster as you know, a funny story here. I was traveling from my home town to work one morning, my car was broken down so I caught the bus as you do! It was a Leyland national that was rattling like f--k & smoking like a bonfire, I said to the driver "it's going to break down" as the 510 had a real problem with (amongst many others} the injection pump couplings that broke up. After the journey had started the driver stopped at the town center, picked up more passengers & pulled away again, just as he changed gear a massive series of bangs & rattles, the pump coupling got scared of the dark & came out from under the bus which stopped straight away, it rolled across the pavement straight through the plate glass window of the local Woolworth's door, shattering it completely, glass everywhere, it was funny! (no one injured} I was late for work! That's it, the National was a good looking bus with some great concepts but suffered from the lack of development like many British products of the era.
I most certainly am one of your 30,000 subscribers, and was most certainly blown away by this video. The Leyland National is such a throwback to my childhood too, along with the Bristol VR. Keep up the excellent work. I absolutely love your channel....!!
I'm a hgv driver, I have hated the way that semi autos have came in over the past 20 years, they are horrendous to drive, half hour wait between gear changes and no fine control when reversing etc, the job is nowhere near as much fun as it used to be with an Eaton twin splitter.
I was born in 1984 and Thamesway used these and the following generations for years. Took me back to riding to school. Well done Hub Nut on 30k. Very much deserved. I know how you like older, rarer vehicles but if you ever wanted to see inside a modern DAF CF I've done a small tour about the one I was in yesterday, only if you want to have a look of course.
In my days driving these in service, we found that resting the palm of the hand on the top of the handbrake made it easier to locate the various gear positions. It was good to see nicely timed pauses when changing gear.
I used to live 2 miles from the factory where they were made near Workington . Often used to see them on test drives as well as going to school on them in the 1970s . Brought back memories : happy days !
Congrats on 30k keep on going being yourself with original content. Your vids are really factual and I can imagine are inspiring more people to jump on the hub nut way of life and get their own projects top work
Hi, my child hood memories of this bus growing up in the 70's is very vivid. I went to Bogner Reigis back in the seventies . Coach down to London then train down to Bogner. On way back the National Express coach wasn't able to leave Brent Cross because the front door wouldn't close. So we sat for Two hrs waiting for a back up bus. And when it arrived it was a Leyland National. We stupidly sat at the back window and my mum was cursing the noise of this engine clang away. It sounded worse than normal. Bristol Re was my fouvorite. Great vid
If Ian was going to drive a bus, was it ever going to be anything else other than a Leyland National? What a superbly appropriate video to celebrate this amazing milestone, many congratulations!
Wonderful! I remember the smoke that used to belt out the back of the Nationals around south Bristol back in the 90’s. The operator was called “Sky Blue” but the sky was black behind the bus. Irony!
Well done Ian,always look forward to watching your content,when it pops up,,its nice to watch a channel(is that what we call it)..that relates to past vehicles, that we can all relate too,good or bad,, once again well done.
I was always happy to discover the next bus I was due to drive had a Volvo B10 engine fitted. They made the job so much easier compared to anything Cummins offered Dennis for their buses.
I used to maintain these as an apprentice with WMPTE one of my favourite buses. Very light front ends, many of these buses were involved in front end accidents having failed to turn corners in the wet, with so little weight up front. The 510 produced some ear shattering noise with the engine covers open on road test 😁 ... ahhh the memories.
Marvellous. You seem to be right at home there; if you’re ever in North Essex you can come and have a go in some of ours. Oh, and can you cover a school run next week?!
Congrats on the 30k mate! Proper gearchanges there Ian, you should be proud, 2 second delay is needed due to the gearbox having bands in it which became brittle with fast changes. I own several preserved buses including a Volvo B10L which has the same engine in as JIL, scarily fast and you would've taken a while to get put of that layby if it still had a 510 in and the noise would've been horrendous as all 510 Nationals were...
Lee Hobson my dad used to drive A.E C pre select and Bristol re Gardner sem -i auto also Bristol mw 5G with crash box he said he used to give a bit more time to smooth out the ride or it could be jerky or it could be damaging on the gearbox with straight through gear change like an automatic.
Great video Ian!! Congrats on your subs thoroughly deserved. Ah!!! The B10M engine you cant beat it the noise and the speed!!! My school bus was a 1980 Leyland Leopard was a brilliant and fast coach with the 0.680 engine in. Sounded awesome too. But the best bus has to be the Bristol VR with the might 6LXB engine
Most Leopards were either governed or had usless engines, but we had one in the South Wales valleys as a coach and it went like a rocket - keeping to 70 going up hill that was unusual
CONGRATS ON 30,000 SUBSCRIBERS!! Perfect way to celebrate i love that you do old buses too im a major fan of them loving your content as always here's to plenty of more subscribers!!
Anyone else notice, this is the first time HubNut has got behind a vehicles WHEEL and it hasn't broken down Within 20 minutes ;) Bravo Bravo Ian ...................................
Congrats on the 30K subs. I've yet to hit 1K. Giovanni Michelotti designed most of the post-war Triumph cars with the exception of the TR6 (Karmann), TR7 (Harris Mann who also did the Allegro and Princess) and the Acclaim (a Honda design). I remember the Leyland National busses. They were on every street corner back then.
Congrats. I signed up this week ... Great content Mr Hubnut :) These national buses were also used as a base for British rail class 141 trains too.... Virtually the same to look at !
@@jamesheath4845 Don't you believe it, they are going to paint a few in their original colours for the last few months of service, spotters are trying to get photos of the entire fleet before they retire, The National Railway Museum has ear marked a set for their collection and there are bound to lots end up on preserved railways as ideal off peak trains.
Wow really.... Well I guess a design that crossed over to two forms of transport is quite unique. Though I do remember travelling on the train version back in the 80's and err ... well let's just say it was interesting!
trevor hartley When I was a bus driver the slogan was, An empty bus is a happy bus😂🤣 I passed my test in a Leyland Atlantean. I loved the big chunky metal steering wheel. It was so easy to drive.
Neil Wilson strangely enough, even though I came to loath most passengers, I hated quiet routes as I felt I wasn't fulfilling a purpose. I got more satisfaction seeing more bums on seats knowing the bus was fulfilling its potential and the general buzz of a busy route.
Happy memories of these blasting up the hill out of Birkenhead Woodside. Love how they went from a clattery tick-over to a turbocharged scream at full revs.
10:40 better than VW solution isn't it? Besides scientifically there is a direct relationship between diesel mpg power and emissions. Want less emissions then without filters you have to reduce power. Nice bus.
Nice one HubNut love the Nationals. I remember them on my local service when I was kid with Midland Red in Kidderminster in the early 80's, When my family moved to Glasgow the Scottish Bus Group was at that time reliant on the Leyland Leopard with Alexander Y type bodies as their single deck fleet with the Daimler/Leyland Fleetline as their double deck. As these single deckers was being discontinued some SGB companies tried the National 2's the SGB buses had a big red dial to operate the turning signals instead of a stalk on the steering column.
Having driven buses for over 20 years i have never driven a National on the road. I can imagine that lovely volvo engine makes for easier work over the original Leyland lump. Great video once again 👏👏👏
HubNutBus! Reminds me of the National a local firm (Koncept Travel) had only about 10 years ago, which still had a Leyland 510 engine. Oddly, the owner said school kids actually preferred it to his modern coaches.
Absolutely fantastic Ian. A fitting tribute to all of us in your loyal and trusty 30K group. I enjoyed my Yorkshire journey in the Leyland National and it brought back good childhood memories for me as well. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to the 60K celebration!
That'll be the 142 and previous rail buses staring with the LEV 1, all originally having TL11 engines and SCG Gearboxes which weren't the greatest success and were late replaced with a Cummins - Voith setup. I do believe that the 142's were only based on the National in terms of build and weren't just a National railbus. The rail underpinnings being based on the BREL HSV, prototype high speed freight bogie. The 141's were exported to Iran (no wonder they have a dislike of westerners!), alough I believe none are now in service. Nearly all Pacers have now been retired, with either scrapping or preservation being their fate, though I believe a few are/were temporarily still in use in wales under a temporary derogation from accessibility standards.
I've driven Buses for a living and getting experience is the key. I used to give tips to those who had never driven anything bigger than a car before. Always stick as close to the middle/right of your lane lessening the chance of hitting things on the left and making oncoming traffic avoid you.Even though the Bus has a commanding view of the road these same beginners seem to wear blinkers and came to a complete stop at every intersection before looking at oncoming traffic even if they had really good views to their right. So anticipation, know the size and limitations of the vehicle and assume everyone will cut in front of you.
Back in the day I drove a National in service around Halifax, it still had the original Leyland engine & performed well up the Halifax hills. Being a bus enthusiast I would prebook it with the output dispatcher it when on early turns as there was only this one in our fleet.The engine & gearbox made great sounds & it had the same bangs & rattles as this example you were lucky enough to drive. It was great fun getting paid to drive one for a shift !! That wood would have been the ticket machine mount.
Wow, I just found this! I've always thought it's one of the best looking buses ever. And very cool to see a National in action, because I sort of missed out on my experience with such a vehicle. An industrious Finnish importer of British vehicles managed to sell one to my grandad, who owned and ran a mid-sized bus company in Central Finland. It was the first and subsequently the only Leyland National to be shipped to Finland (and one of the very few in Northern Europe). It was quite an exotic sight among the buses with Scania, Volvo or Mercedes-Benz chassis we had here at the time. A few mechanical issues aside, the biggest problem with the National in service here was that it does tend to get quite cold in Finland during the winter, and the blown-air heating was indeed contained in the roof pod, as mentioned in this video. Now, as we all know, warm air tends to rise. By the time winter temperatures hit minus 20 degrees Celsius or even lower, the driver probably tried his best to keep the interior warm, but this only meant that the faces of the passengers were burning while their feet were absolutely frozen. Not ideal. The Leyland entered the fleet in 1974 and it was gone less than 3 years later, sold on to serve as a transport for a football club. And it was back to local coachbuilding excellence and good ol' Scania chassis for my grandad. I got to run and play as a kid among the buses in the depot for a big part of the 1980s, but was too late to catch the British oddity in the fleet that was the Leyland National. At least now I had the chance to ride on one virtually.
They were exported in varying numbers in Europe and beyond. Never knew Finland got one. Moscow had a solitary unit for trial as well as a Dutch operator with 25. St Etienne in France had 10, Australia had about 250 altogether with various operators some assembled in Aust. Jamaica, Trinidad took some and the biggest single export order of 450 LHD versions went to Caracas. A few survive in (attempted?) preservation.
Never thought much about old buses before, but watching this I found myself thinking, 'I want one'. Probably a testament to the quality of the video, and the obvious joy Ian showed driving it.
Hi hubnut, hats off to you for having a go at the leyland national bus there great fun remember them back when I went to school and I went on to drive them. I also drove meny others from a ford that had the engine right next to you to an ace with it in the middle to the bigger brother of the national the leyland tiger with a six speed manual and boy did that thing fly, keep up with any of your Volvo of the day. Did that for 25 ish years so driven quite a few even a Bedford, boy what a nightmare that was but we’re talking 30 plus years ago so sheds back then, keep up the great work and I’m a hubnut subbi, markUK
Well done on the 30k subs, my late father in law used to drive the National and I for a while maintained them. The 500 series fixed head engine, also known as the headless wonder, was very problematic that said if you got a good one they were quite good. Unfortunately there were a lot of bad ones. I can remember taking failed engines back to the factory in Leyland and being unloaded in a yard full of returned engines. I'm almost sure that some were retrofitted with Gardner HLX engines and some with Cummins engines but I'm not sure which type.
I remember seeing these around Reading as a kid in the 90's. I always thought about going on one as they seemed to be quite rough vs the newer buses, but that was always the charm. I never got the chance though as they never did a route that we needed. But now I feel like I have, thank you. Congratulations on the 30k subs! Edit; I did happen to get a model of one at Christmas from Reading Transport as my step father used to work for them.
Hub Nut on my home patch! I drive those roads nearly every day. Fun fact, the power station he refers to as Drax is actually Eggborough. Drax can be seen in the distance towards the start of the video. Great to see him in my neck of the woods though.
Mid-70s, 'Eastern Counties' red with the original clattery engine, the pod on the roof.. and I'm a teenager again. Until then, all the buses were Bristols - mostly Lodekkas and REs. Bristol remained the double-decker bus of choice, but these were about for a long time - outlasting Eastern Counties certainly. And congrats on reaching 30,000 subscribers but in all fairness, it's no surprise. This is a very interesting channel full of diverse interest, served up in a relaxing and unpretentious style. It has become a 'go-to' for me on a daily basis.
Served my time with Crossville fixing these. Happy memories , used to be able to change the gear box in about 2hrs putting a frame inside to lower it down .
I remember driving this for SBC in Oslo Norway. It was fitted with heat threads in the front windscreen and a 400hp (I was told, but this is questionable) Leyland diesel that really got the passengers hanging on for life through the bends. They tended to fog up though in sub-zero temperatures. This was in 1977, so may have been a later model. But it looked the same both in and outside.
I'm an Old Bus Enthisiast (OBE) too. I have been known to drive a former Midland Red D9, an ex West Brom Daimler with a Pre Selector gearbox and a few trolleybuses. I think the Leyland 510 was a fixed head unit. Congratulations regarding the 30K subscribers.
Congratulations Ian! 1973 Remember that year well! 16yrs old and a gift from my dad a Puch VZ 50 sports moped, which got part exed after replacing 3 sets of main bearings on mum's kitchen table, for a brand new Yamaha FS1E, which I run in according to manufacturers advice, after which it achieved 55mph chinning the tank, oh my reckless youth. Now residing on the "Oisle of Woight" as the locals say, my home for the last 15yrs, although the Solent has got to be the most expensive piece of water to cross in the world! Escapee from North London, my home for most of my life apart from a short stay in Milton Keynes for couple of years, some time ago. You drove that bus with an air of confidence, admirable.. Great channel. Keep up the fettling!
That lump sounds great!!! The old coach engines had the same assuring sound.Raw ,proper diesels.Don't start me on the old RR eagle diesels as used by Leyland in their tractor units back then! Your channel is nostalgic heaven to men of a certain age that like oily hands! Brilliant.Len.
Oh yeah, and the brakes are interesting, you get no feel so press harder, and harder, till it throws you through the windscreen! The rack and pinion at the time was the largest rack and pinion set ever made... this was the first bus ever to undergo crash testing. Crashed it into a concrete block , and after the engine was still running!
Congratulations Ian, I’m proud to be a member of the HubNut 30K club. You have handsomely rewarded us 👍🏻
Brilliant video I wonder what the next mile stone holds in store. I reckon a bin lorry you could clean your garage out 😂😃😆😁👍👏
Lol or a road sweeper 😃
Yes, yes, a Dennis would be good.
There's no TH-camr out there who deserves 30k subs more than you Ian. Absolute joy to watch, keep up the good work!
I know, complete creep 🤣🤣🤣
My name is Robert Dunn, and I approve this bus.
Also, congrats on the milestone!
Thank you! Sorry for hiding your shirt...
Hello to both of you guys that are so entertaining, thanks. I remember the first time I drove a 7.5ton truck, such a dream to drive something that hisses whilst braking:-)
@@splatmanhooha4264 you must be very short on thrill's in you're life 🤭😂😂
@@Jademyheart pffft, you don't know what you're missing 😂
@@splatmanhooha4264 Im a heavy goods driver, I drive for a living.....
I was Apprenticed as a coachbuilder at Wadham Stringers in Waterlooville Hampshire in the late seventies,I remember the staff drivers driving the bare chassis back from Dennis in Guildford with trade plates on,in an exposed drivers seat,and wearing a warm jacket and motorcycle crash helmet,what a sight,I moved one in the yard once and it wheel spinned,oh shit!
They were Dennis Dominator bus chassis at the time basically a copy of the Damiler / Leyland Fleetline or Falcon, the Leyland National had a unitary construction, however it was not popular (expensive to fix crash damage and local authorities and operators at the time had local body builder like your employer) and once they lost the captive market of nationalised National Bus that the bus was designed for and owned shares in the factory, they launched Leyland Lynx which was originally conceived as a conventional (with chassis) Leyland National for export markets.
Wadham Stringer mostly did the 'Welfare' Police and Armed services bodies on the Dennis chassis.
Congratulations ian! You deserve the subs and more with all the effort you put in. Keep it up
fastfiatjames t Spot on James👍🏼 here's to many more subs.
Driving a bus is an art form, driver sitting ahead of the front wheels is a strange sensation. Great vid 👍
Especially noticeable when going over large speed bumps
I drove one of the first Leyland National buses for the Northern bus Company based at Winlaton Depot. They were a breath of fresh air after driving the old style buses with crash boxes. They were great to drive, light controls and easy to handle. Great buses. The happiest days of my life.
"Get em buses out" Butler! 😂 We've had holiday and mutiny on the buses! Now we have "Hubnut on the buses"
I travelled often on this exact Pennine bus , many moons ago. Mainly Settle to Skipton (North Yorks). great vid! Well done for 30k....well deserved.
So many memories of a mischievous childhood spent traveling on those fantastic buses.
.A well deserved milestone. I hope Hubnut lives for many years. My favourite TH-cam channel.
Leyland Nationals still in service on the railway. LEV1. LEV2 and R3 were experimental single car Leyland National rail buses on motorised wagon chassis tested in the late 70's and early 80's. These led to production versions as Pacers and Skippers and a bogied version that became Class 153. Many were exported to see service in countries such as USA, Ireland and Iran. Class 153 and Class 142 are still in service on Britains Railways.
Well done on 30,000 subscribers Ian , thanks for the great content - And thanks for this great Leyland National video - more of these in future please !
Great video for celebrating 30,000 subscribers! Thought the roads looked familiar - Selby by pass, then A19 and past our old pub 'The Wheatsheaf!' I agree with you, bus suspension's got no more comfortable!
Wahey! Congrats on the 30k. The sounds of that National took me right back to my school days. Especially the crashing, clattering over bumps and the slow gearchanges.
That was a trip down memory lane! I must have driven many, many 10s of thousands of miles in Nationals - some good, some bad.
Congrats on 30,000 subscribers. You deserve all of them since you sacrificed so much to produce the best possible videos for us despite having so many other prior commitments. Hubnut has been my favorite TH-cam channel for sometime now and I've bought merchandise and donated cash whenever I could to help the channel. I work in IT so I'm not a huge fan of Patreon due to their previous lack of security on their data handling but will continue to give through PayPal. Once again, thank you for all you do and im excited for this channel's future. Pschouuuuu!
My secondary school bus was one of these, green and white, it was very loud and rattled like a washing machine full of ball bearings. Thanks for taking me back and congratulations.
Congratulations. Glad I found this channel, so educating and unlike anything anyone else does here on the Tube. Truly unique, keep doing what you're doing. Until the next milestone.
STAY ABOVE 50!!!!!!
Listening to the noises...sound of the engine and the rattle of the windows...
Brings back memories of my youth
Brilliant video Ian
Congrats at Wow! 30,000!
Your gimbal is always nodding in agreement.
I made a strange movement with my head when hearing Michelotti designed it. I love buses. I've had three Michelotti designed cars.
I love this! My dad was a bus driver and used to drive Leyland Lynx Mark 1's and 2's, Optare Metroriders and my favourite, the Volvo Ailsa B55-10 which would rumble and rattle at idle on cold mornings. Loved the sheer noise of the things too and was really saddened when they were removed from service. The bus company (Cardiff Bus) does hold a rather enormous heritage fleet with all of these (and many more) in there which is awesome as there are still some in absolutely amazing shape!
Great videi. I remember driving the Leyland National mk1. It was nippy but really heavy on fuel. Inching along in traffic would soon see you run out of air pressure. I would still rather have one today than the Enviro 400's we use.
Wonderful. I went to school everyday on a Leyland National. I do miss the sound of the original engine on those buses, and seem to remember the plumbs of diesel smoke which kids of my era were subjected to breathing in for many hours a week at bus stops all around the UK!
There are a few videos on here of them starting up in the 80s etc, fill your boots, I have😀
Congratulations!
Trent Barton in Derby used these buses right up to the 00s
Trent and Kinch in Loughborough also .
Stagecoach chesterfield area too!
Arriva Midlands did until 2002 - www.flickr.com/photos/eagle50043/6675397035
and again briefly as "recently" as 2007 with the Chase Bus takeover - www.flickr.com/photos/mcw1987/5061447483/in/photostream
th-cam.com/video/bHcSHnKjWfc/w-d-xo.html Leyland National in Service in 2009!
WOW!!!!! Mr Hubnut really excells with this Leyland National 10351B!! This is Marvellous!! Nice to hear the pause between the gear changes!! Well Done Mr Hubnut!
I’ve driven plenty of these in service, both leyland and Volvo powered. The Volvo ones are quite quick,BUT the gearbox was never intended to handle that much power, so careful gearchanges are needed.
In winter, the heat comes from vents in the ceiling...but heat doesn’t sink, it rises so your feet freeze!
Volvo B58s and even the B10M came with the same gearbox as an option. Engines were variants of the turbo charged 9.6l with a lot of power and torque for their size.
@@jamesfrench7299 I thought b10 and b58 were mostly zf boxes both manual and auto.
Must say I’ve never heard of a self changing gears box in a b10....
@@smiffy1071 here in Australia we had them. Canberra had a large fleet of so equipped B58s (at least two received Voiths later on) with the CAV electric mono control gear changer on the right side of the steering stalk instead of the left.
I think they ordered them because they had used the same gearbox on their AEC Swifts prior to the Volvo order.
A private company had two B10Ms with this gearbox but with a different looking selector to the usual CAV with the red light -they were the only two I know of though. All the others with various operators had manuals and ZF 4 and 5HP500 "Ecomat" series and some even had Allison automatics from new. The B10M was a big seller in Australia.
@@jamesfrench7299 cool!
Thanks for that, while on my travels back in 2003, I spotted a national in Hobart... I was surprised to say the least!
@@smiffy1071 There was one former Canberra Leyland National 10.9m Australian length doing school runs in Sydney's north shore of an afternoon about that time still with a 510 along with an AEC Swift 760 and Leopards.
The one you saw at Hobart would have been one of their former 10.3m ones. They had 60.
MTT Hobart also operated B58s. Not sure of the gearboxes on them though.
I was a truck mechanic at a Leyland dealer in the 70's, the 510 engine was a disaster as you know, a funny story here. I was traveling from my home town to work one morning, my car was broken down so I caught the bus as you do! It was a Leyland national that was rattling like f--k & smoking like a bonfire, I said to the driver "it's going to break down" as the 510 had a real problem with (amongst many others} the injection pump couplings that broke up. After the journey had started the driver stopped at the town center, picked up more passengers & pulled away again, just as he changed gear a massive series of bangs & rattles, the pump coupling got scared of the dark & came out from under the bus which stopped straight away, it rolled across the pavement straight through the plate glass window of the local Woolworth's door, shattering it completely, glass everywhere, it was funny! (no one injured} I was late for work! That's it, the National was a good looking bus with some great concepts but suffered from the lack of development like many British products of the era.
Nice work Hubnut - thoroughly deserved.
I most certainly am one of your 30,000 subscribers, and was most certainly blown away by this video. The Leyland National is such a throwback to my childhood too, along with the Bristol VR. Keep up the excellent work. I absolutely love your channel....!!
I am a current coach and bus driver and even our newest Volvos don"t change as nice as that does thats computers for you lol.
I'm a hgv driver, I have hated the way that semi autos have came in over the past 20 years, they are horrendous to drive, half hour wait between gear changes and no fine control when reversing etc, the job is nowhere near as much fun as it used to be with an Eaton twin splitter.
That's Volvo i shift? They ate an automated manual. Different animal.
I was born in 1984 and Thamesway used these and the following generations for years. Took me back to riding to school.
Well done Hub Nut on 30k. Very much deserved.
I know how you like older, rarer vehicles but if you ever wanted to see inside a modern DAF CF I've done a small tour about the one I was in yesterday, only if you want to have a look of course.
Pennine Motor Service of Gargrave and Skipton, sadly ceased trading in May 2014.
In my days driving these in service, we found that resting the palm of the hand on the top of the handbrake made it easier to locate the various gear positions. It was good to see nicely timed pauses when changing gear.
So well deserved Ian, Best motoring channel on You Tube 👍
I used to live 2 miles from the factory where they were made near Workington . Often used to see them on test drives as well as going to school on them in the 1970s . Brought back memories : happy days !
Congrats on 30k keep on going being yourself with original content. Your vids are really factual and I can imagine are inspiring more people to jump on the hub nut way of life and get their own projects top work
Currently attempting to persuade the other half to go with something old and interesting rather than a newish box.........
@@jeffhughes1318 fairplay apart from my mk4/5fiesta that I'm trying to make good I went to the dark side and bought a brand new hyundai
@@jeffhughes1318 Surely your old enough and interesting enough for her ?
Hi, my child hood memories of this bus growing up in the 70's is very vivid. I went to Bogner Reigis back in the seventies . Coach down to London then train down to Bogner. On way back the National Express coach wasn't able to leave Brent Cross because the front door wouldn't close. So we sat for Two hrs waiting for a back up bus. And when it arrived it was a Leyland National. We stupidly sat at the back window and my mum was cursing the noise of this engine clang away. It sounded worse than normal. Bristol Re was my fouvorite. Great vid
Congratulations on 30k subs, roll on 40k......Lovely bus 🚌 real character.
If Ian was going to drive a bus, was it ever going to be anything else other than a Leyland National? What a superbly appropriate video to celebrate this amazing milestone, many congratulations!
Congrats on the 30,000 subs. Only recently discovered your channel & I'm so glad that I did. Keep up the great work
Wonderful! I remember the smoke that used to belt out the back of the Nationals around south Bristol back in the 90’s. The operator was called “Sky Blue” but the sky was black behind the bus. Irony!
Just remembered the British rail class 142 "pacer" train 🚉 was built with a few bodies of this bus 🚍
The MCW Metropolitan buses were something I grew up with in Reading.
These buses were awesome, but the Leyland Nationals were good too.
Well done Ian,always look forward to watching your content,when it pops up,,its nice to watch a channel(is that what we call it)..that relates to past vehicles, that we can all relate too,good or bad,, once again well done.
I was always happy to discover the next bus I was due to drive had a Volvo B10 engine fitted. They made the job so much easier compared to anything Cummins offered Dennis for their buses.
congrats you deserve it, I wish I had your energy and enthusiasm but alas I am getting on a bit lol
I can understand why HubNut is popular. He is comes across as good bloke, and that is nice to see whether your interested in old cars, or not.
The national along with the fleatline were the mainstay of travel west midlands brings back memories
Fleetline
I used to maintain these as an apprentice with WMPTE one of my favourite buses. Very light front ends, many of these buses were involved in front end accidents having failed to turn corners in the wet, with so little weight up front. The 510 produced some ear shattering noise with the engine covers open on road test 😁 ... ahhh the memories.
Marvellous. You seem to be right at home there; if you’re ever in North Essex you can come and have a go in some of ours.
Oh, and can you cover a school run next week?!
Joke... (but they’re back here next week).
Schools back Tuesday here.
@pmailkeey nah you didn't really, cos he said; "next week"😩
If you’ve got a proper National or lynx I can drive I’ll happily do a days work in it!
Rarer than a National: I’ve got a B21; part National, part RE, part Tiger. Not quite ready for a day’s work yet though.
I Remember "nipping into town" on these as a kid of a Saturday morning.....Well done on 30K !!!
Congrats on the 30k mate!
Proper gearchanges there Ian, you should be proud, 2 second delay is needed due to the gearbox having bands in it which became brittle with fast changes.
I own several preserved buses including a Volvo B10L which has the same engine in as JIL, scarily fast and you would've taken a while to get put of that layby if it still had a 510 in and the noise would've been horrendous as all 510 Nationals were...
Lee Hobson should be a 10 second delay
@@tomlowe8563 how do you work that out?
Lee Hobson my dad used to drive A.E C pre select and Bristol re Gardner sem -i auto also Bristol mw 5G with crash box he said he used to give a bit more time to smooth out the ride or it could be jerky or it could be damaging on the gearbox with straight through gear change like an automatic.
@@tomlowe8563 I was taught on Nationals to use a 2 second delay between changes, the box is completely different to a pre selector
Leyland Nationals. Yep. Brings back memories of my youth. Ribble buses had loads! The out of line steering wheel would have got on my nerves though!
Great video Ian!! Congrats on your subs thoroughly deserved. Ah!!! The B10M engine you cant beat it the noise and the speed!!! My school bus was a 1980 Leyland Leopard was a brilliant and fast coach with the 0.680 engine in. Sounded awesome too. But the best bus has to be the Bristol VR with the might 6LXB engine
Can't beat a Gardner!
Most Leopards were either governed or had usless engines, but we had one in the South Wales valleys as a coach and it went like a rocket - keeping to 70 going up hill that was unusual
CONGRATS ON 30,000 SUBSCRIBERS!! Perfect way to celebrate i love that you do old buses too im a major fan of them
loving your content as always here's to plenty of more subscribers!!
Anyone else notice, this is the first time HubNut has got behind a vehicles WHEEL and it hasn't broken down Within 20 minutes ;)
Bravo Bravo Ian ...................................
Congrats on the 30K subs. I've yet to hit 1K. Giovanni Michelotti designed most of the post-war Triumph cars with the exception of the TR6 (Karmann), TR7 (Harris Mann who also did the Allegro and Princess) and the Acclaim (a Honda design). I remember the Leyland National busses. They were on every street corner back then.
Michelotti also had a hand in the Scammell Routmam/Handyman/Trunker cab.
@@essexpeter6116 He did indeed.
You were celebrating 30k subscribers. Watching this video 3 years after and you have 107k now. What an achievement Ian.
Relatively new to the channel, but Congratulations on 30k!
Love to drive a Leyland National, always loved the sound of those engines and the way the body leans over when cornering!!!
Congrats. I signed up this week ... Great content Mr Hubnut :)
These national buses were also used as a base for British rail class 141 trains too.... Virtually the same to look at !
I somehow doubt there will be the same level of nostalgia for pacer trains as there is for these nationals :-)
@@jamesheath4845 Don't you believe it, they are going to paint a few in their original colours for the last few months of service, spotters are trying to get photos of the entire fleet before they retire, The National Railway Museum has ear marked a set for their collection and there are bound to lots end up on preserved railways as ideal off peak trains.
Wow really.... Well I guess a design that crossed over to two forms of transport is quite unique.
Though I do remember travelling on the train version back in the 80's and err ... well let's just say it was interesting!
There's a pacer with National II front languishing in the USA. It was sent as a demo.
Orange colour makes it look like an Italian bus.. appropriate !
Michelotti did great work...
most bus drivers will tell you it's a great job if you didn't have to pick up passengers try a leyland leopard much better drive
Or a Leyland tiger
Leyland leopard Noooooooooooooooo
What about an AEC Swift with 760 engine out the back. I've driven three.
trevor hartley When I was a bus driver the slogan was, An empty bus is a happy bus😂🤣 I passed my test in a Leyland Atlantean. I loved the big chunky metal steering wheel. It was so easy to drive.
Neil Wilson strangely enough, even though I came to loath most passengers, I hated quiet routes as I felt I wasn't fulfilling a purpose. I got more satisfaction seeing more bums on seats knowing the bus was fulfilling its potential and the general buzz of a busy route.
Yes fond memories of the Leyland National in Crosville colours. Great stuff
Happy memories of these blasting up the hill out of Birkenhead Woodside.
Love how they went from a clattery tick-over to a turbocharged scream at full revs.
10:40 better than VW solution isn't it? Besides scientifically there is a direct relationship between diesel mpg power and emissions. Want less emissions then without filters you have to reduce power. Nice bus.
Nice one HubNut love the Nationals. I remember them on my local service when I was kid with Midland Red in Kidderminster in the early 80's, When my family moved to Glasgow the Scottish Bus Group was at that time reliant on the Leyland Leopard with Alexander Y type bodies as their single deck fleet with the Daimler/Leyland Fleetline as their double deck. As these single deckers was being discontinued some SGB companies tried the National 2's the SGB buses had a big red dial to operate the turning signals instead of a stalk on the steering column.
Remember getting on these Leyland Nationals to go to school back in the day, but I always prefered the Bristol VR with the Gardner engine.
I'm not a fan of the national, the Bristol VR is a joy to drive though but with a bit less visibility.
I thought the Bristol were slow and bland myself!
Congratulations Mr Hubnut, much deserved and I hope the next 30K comes quickly!
Here's to the next 30k! Keep on t(r)ucking Ian.
Having driven buses for over 20 years i have never driven a National on the road. I can imagine that lovely volvo engine makes for easier work over the original Leyland lump. Great video once again 👏👏👏
I was a coach driver in the early 90's for only about 7 months, had to leave as I began to hate people...🤔...😡
HubNutBus! Reminds me of the National a local firm (Koncept Travel) had only about 10 years ago, which still had a Leyland 510 engine. Oddly, the owner said school kids actually preferred it to his modern coaches.
Ah shame it doesn’t have the original engine but interesting vid.
Absolutely fantastic Ian. A fitting tribute to all of us in your loyal and trusty 30K group. I enjoyed my Yorkshire journey in the Leyland National and it brought back good childhood memories for me as well. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to the 60K celebration!
*cough*
A body of a Class 144 "Pacer"
*cough loudly*
That'll be the 142 and previous rail buses staring with the LEV 1, all originally having TL11 engines and SCG Gearboxes which weren't the greatest success and were late replaced with a Cummins - Voith setup.
I do believe that the 142's were only based on the National in terms of build and weren't just a National railbus. The rail underpinnings being based on the BREL HSV, prototype high speed freight bogie.
The 141's were exported to Iran (no wonder they have a dislike of westerners!), alough I believe none are now in service.
Nearly all Pacers have now been retired, with either scrapping or preservation being their fate, though I believe a few are/were temporarily still in use in wales under a temporary derogation from accessibility standards.
I've driven Buses for a living and getting experience is the key. I used to give tips to those who had never driven anything bigger than a car before. Always stick as close to the middle/right of your lane lessening the chance of hitting things on the left and making oncoming traffic avoid you.Even though the Bus has a commanding view of the road these same beginners seem to wear blinkers and came to a complete stop at every intersection before looking at oncoming traffic even if they had really good views to their right. So anticipation, know the size and limitations of the vehicle and assume everyone will cut in front of you.
Back in the day I drove a National in service around Halifax, it still had the original Leyland engine & performed well up the Halifax hills. Being a bus enthusiast I would prebook it with the output dispatcher it when on early turns as there was only this one in our fleet.The engine & gearbox made great sounds & it had the same bangs & rattles as this example you were lucky enough to drive. It was great fun getting paid to drive one for a shift !! That wood would have been the ticket machine mount.
Before even watching this i know i am so envious of you driving this despite it having a volvo and not a leyland. Congrats on subscribers.
Wow, I just found this! I've always thought it's one of the best looking buses ever. And very cool to see a National in action, because I sort of missed out on my experience with such a vehicle.
An industrious Finnish importer of British vehicles managed to sell one to my grandad, who owned and ran a mid-sized bus company in Central Finland. It was the first and subsequently the only Leyland National to be shipped to Finland (and one of the very few in Northern Europe). It was quite an exotic sight among the buses with Scania, Volvo or Mercedes-Benz chassis we had here at the time.
A few mechanical issues aside, the biggest problem with the National in service here was that it does tend to get quite cold in Finland during the winter, and the blown-air heating was indeed contained in the roof pod, as mentioned in this video. Now, as we all know, warm air tends to rise. By the time winter temperatures hit minus 20 degrees Celsius or even lower, the driver probably tried his best to keep the interior warm, but this only meant that the faces of the passengers were burning while their feet were absolutely frozen. Not ideal.
The Leyland entered the fleet in 1974 and it was gone less than 3 years later, sold on to serve as a transport for a football club. And it was back to local coachbuilding excellence and good ol' Scania chassis for my grandad. I got to run and play as a kid among the buses in the depot for a big part of the 1980s, but was too late to catch the British oddity in the fleet that was the Leyland National. At least now I had the chance to ride on one virtually.
They were exported in varying numbers in Europe and beyond.
Never knew Finland got one.
Moscow had a solitary unit for trial as well as a Dutch operator with 25.
St Etienne in France had 10, Australia had about 250 altogether with various operators some assembled in Aust. Jamaica, Trinidad took some and the biggest single export order of 450 LHD versions went to Caracas. A few survive in (attempted?) preservation.
Never thought much about old buses before, but watching this I found myself thinking, 'I want one'. Probably a testament to the quality of the video, and the obvious joy Ian showed driving it.
Hi hubnut, hats off to you for having a go at the leyland national bus there great fun remember them back when I went to school and I went on to drive them. I also drove meny others from a ford that had the engine right next to you to an ace with it in the middle to the bigger brother of the national the leyland tiger with a six speed manual and boy did that thing fly, keep up with any of your Volvo of the day. Did that for 25 ish years so driven quite a few even a Bedford, boy what a nightmare that was but we’re talking 30 plus years ago so sheds back then, keep up the great work and I’m a hubnut subbi, markUK
Well done on the 30k subs, my late father in law used to drive the National and I for a while maintained them. The 500 series fixed head engine, also known as the headless wonder, was very problematic that said if you got a good one they were quite good. Unfortunately there were a lot of bad ones. I can remember taking failed engines back to the factory in Leyland and being unloaded in a yard full of returned engines. I'm almost sure that some were retrofitted with Gardner HLX engines and some with Cummins engines but I'm not sure which type.
I have so many fond memories of LN5 in service for Pennine Motor Services. My Dad was a driver for Pennine for many years. Great video!
I remember seeing these around Reading as a kid in the 90's. I always thought about going on one as they seemed to be quite rough vs the newer buses, but that was always the charm. I never got the chance though as they never did a route that we needed. But now I feel like I have, thank you.
Congratulations on the 30k subs!
Edit; I did happen to get a model of one at Christmas from Reading Transport as my step father used to work for them.
non roof pod nashers were known as b series. love the national. even looks modern today, a true urban bus
Yay it was the bus I said about, cool. Sounded great as a kid. Congratulations on the big 30.
Hub Nut on my home patch! I drive those roads nearly every day. Fun fact, the power station he refers to as Drax is actually Eggborough. Drax can be seen in the distance towards the start of the video. Great to see him in my neck of the woods though.
Great video, Ian. I lived in Leyland at the start of the 70's and remember the chassis being test driven through the town.
Mid-70s, 'Eastern Counties' red with the original clattery engine, the pod on the roof.. and I'm a teenager again. Until then, all the buses were Bristols - mostly Lodekkas and REs. Bristol remained the double-decker bus of choice, but these were about for a long time - outlasting Eastern Counties certainly. And congrats on reaching 30,000 subscribers but in all fairness, it's no surprise. This is a very interesting channel full of diverse interest, served up in a relaxing and unpretentious style. It has become a 'go-to' for me on a daily basis.
Served my time with Crossville fixing these. Happy memories , used to be able to change the gear box in about 2hrs putting a frame inside to lower it down .
I remember driving this for SBC in Oslo Norway. It was fitted with heat threads in the front windscreen and a 400hp (I was told, but this is questionable) Leyland diesel that really got the passengers hanging on for life through the bends. They tended to fog up though in sub-zero temperatures. This was in 1977, so may have been a later model. But it looked the same both in and outside.
The old tachograph head takes me back to some of the older trucks I drove when I passed my class one in 1995.
I'm an Old Bus Enthisiast (OBE) too. I have been known to drive a former Midland Red D9, an ex West Brom Daimler with a Pre Selector gearbox and a few trolleybuses. I think the Leyland 510 was a fixed head unit. Congratulations regarding the 30K subscribers.
Congratulations Ian! 1973 Remember that year well! 16yrs old and a gift from my dad a Puch VZ 50 sports moped, which got part exed after replacing 3 sets of main bearings on mum's kitchen table, for a brand new Yamaha FS1E, which I run in according to manufacturers advice, after which it achieved 55mph chinning the tank, oh my reckless youth. Now residing on the "Oisle of Woight" as the locals say, my home for the last 15yrs, although the Solent has got to be the most expensive piece of water to cross in the world! Escapee from North London, my home for most of my life apart from a short stay in Milton Keynes for couple of years, some time ago. You drove that bus with an air of confidence, admirable.. Great channel. Keep up the fettling!
That lump sounds great!!! The old coach engines had the same assuring sound.Raw ,proper diesels.Don't start me on the old RR eagle diesels as used by Leyland in their tractor units back then! Your channel is nostalgic heaven to men of a certain age that like oily hands! Brilliant.Len.
Oh yeah, and the brakes are interesting, you get no feel so press harder, and harder, till it throws you through the windscreen!
The rack and pinion at the time was the largest rack and pinion set ever made... this was the first bus ever to undergo crash testing. Crashed it into a concrete block , and after the engine was still running!
Mr HubNut was so much concentrated on driving the old bus that he did not even noticed those wonderful pantograph wipers !
Glorious. It sounds so different to the Leyland unit. I remember riding on them in 1972 - the very bollocks of the dog.