Lothian Atlantean GSC 659X SVBM Lathalmond

Following on from Brian, Calum Melrose has a run about site in Atlantean 659 now she was back to full health. This time running her up to the top shed and back down to shed 92. After this she was put away for the say as the site was opening to the public and visitors. The bus was put away before the first group arrived and Graham and Calum set about cleaning the years of grime from her lower deck.

[@kennethdougall5141]

I drove this bus in service,makes me feel old, you new drivers have missed out on driving these buses,all the best lads ,good to see some preserved buses👍😁

[@Express502]

Singapore had these wonderful buses and listening to this brings back wonderful memories of my childhood riding them. I love the "fart" sound of the brakes which I think is unique to the Atlantean.

[@colinramsay9462]

Sounds bloody brilliant 😊👍🏻

[@jamesfrench7299]

Probably the loveliest sounding Atlantean I've heard apart from that strange hissing sound.
Should have left it with the bare metal look and applied clear over it.
It had the Mad Max apocalyptic look going 🙃.

[@StevieO1974]

Hellfire!!! :)

[@PolosLatinos]

The sound is a bit different than the one of the Atlanteans AN68 Singapore used to have. Common point: automatic gearbox that sounds almost like a manual 😂

[@scatmancraig1974]

Great video. I hadn't realised that Lothian Atlanteans were fully auto. Do they have the later style gear selector on the right line a National and Olympian? Also, am I right in thinking that Lothian specced all their Atlanteans without power steering?

[@cptvhiltz]

Hi Craig the bus does indeed have the later black CAV gear selector and LVA45 logicbox, just as you say same as the National and Olympian. Earlier buses has the black selector in the cab but still used the older CAV G2 logicbox. The LVA panel is a genuine Lothian one which features the non sequential downchange modification which makes it far smoother to drive over the standard CAV panel. Lothian didnt spec power steering on any of their Atlanteans. The drivers certianly had a bit more work to do over other companies buses.

[@lucythemoggy1970]

Is it hydra cyclic gearbox?

[@cptvhiltz]

5 speed pneumocyclic with LVA45 gearcontrol system.

[@jamesfrench7299]

So you keep the foot down? I've never seen a system quite like this.
Seems to work well.

[@hertsbusandtraingeek7824]

Fully automatic, the hiss is the sound of the system kicking in to allow a smooth gearchange

[@scatmancraig1974]

@@jamesfrench7299 It's essentially the same Pneumocyclic semi-automatic transmission as fitted to Atlanteans, Panthers, Leopards and most Nationals, but with a fully automatic control system added to automate the gear changing. You can hear the sneezing of the throttle dip valve which stops the gears slamming straight through. Earlier systems didn't have the dip valve and did slam straight through, presumably to the eventual demise of the gearbox.

[@cptvhiltz]

@@scatmancraig1974 Hi Criag, the bus has an air thottle so the dip valve is located in the saloon under the back seat. In the video the seat is up, thats why you hear the sneeze clearly. Older Atlanteans had a cable or mechanical rods linkage for the throttle. On those buses the dip valve was on the engine right next to the fuel pump so you would never hear it over the engine noise. It was there doing it thing thou.