Central Scottish - The Fleet

The Fleet

At its formation in 1932, Central SMT inherited a varied collection of vehicles. However, Leyland Motors Ltd quickly became the preferred supplier for new buses. Although there were also some Albions, new buses purchased in the 1930s mainly comprised Leyland Lion, Tiger and Titan models, including a number of secondhand Titans. During World War 2, when Leylands were not available, the fleet received a rare (for Scotland) Bristol K, as well as the ubiquitous utility Guy Arabs and Daimler CWs.

Between the end of the war and the early 1960s, Central overwhelmingly favoured double deckers. Some pre-war Leyland Tigers were rebodied as such in the late '40s (notably including some 3-axle Tiger TS7T chassis which were rebuilt to 2-axle Titan TD4 specification). New Leyland Titans continued to be bought until 1960, but the first Bristol Lodekkas arrived in 1955 and soon became the preferred choice, the last new examples being delivered in 1967. Other double deckers bought in this period were a solitary AEC Regent in 1946, some Guy Arab IIIs in 1951-52, and Albion Lowlanders in 1962-63. The takeover of Laurie of Hamilton brought an assortment of Leyland Titans (including former London Transport RTLs), and a rebodied Guy Arab, but most notable were a pair of early Leyland Atlanteans. These were the first rear-engined double deckers to operate for the Scottish Bus Group.

Central tried various types, of rear engined double deckers, but found that none were to their satisfaction, and double deckers declined as a proportion of the fleet. The Atlanteans were sold in 1969, and a prototype Bristol VRX, operated from 1966, was returned to the manufacturer when a batch of 20 Bristol VRTs arrived, also in 1969. The VRT was not popular in Scottish Bus Group fleets, and all were sold to the National Bus Company in exchange for late-model Lodekkas in the early '70s. A batch of 35 Daimler Fleetlines was delivered in 1971, but these were exchanged for single deck Leyland Leopards from other SBG companies in 1975. However, Volvo Ailsa B55s (30 purchased in 1978-79) and Dennis Dominators (51 in 1978-83) eventually found favour. When Central inherited Scottish Omnibuses' Airdrie operations in 1985, the Fleetlines and Leyland Olympians based there were not wanted by Central and were retained by Eastern Scottish. However, the last double deckers purchased by Central were in fact 10 Leyland Olympians, delivered in 1986.

Relatively few single deckers were purchased in the 1940s and '50s. There were Leyland Tigers and Guy Arab IIIs in the late '40s/early '50s, followed by some Guy Arab UFs. The first Leyland Leopards first arrived in 1961, but a milestone was the delivery of the first batch of Leopard PSU3 models in 1964. With 53 seats, a standee Leopard had almost as many seats as an early-postwar double decker, and they quickly became the standard Central SMT bus. By 1983 some 400 Leopards had been purchased new, as well as a number of secondhand examples from within the SBG. After the Leopards, Central standardised on the Leyland Tiger, with 83 buses delivered between 1982 and 1987. There were also 45 Leyland Nationals in 1978-81 and 15 Dennis Dorchesters in 1983-84. Additional Leyland Nationals and some Seddon Pennine 7s were inherited with Airdrie depot.

A small dedicated coach fleet was maintained intermittently. Between 1955 until 1978 Bedfords with Duple coachwork were bought (along with 5 Albion Vikings in 1966, which were quickly transferred to Highland Omnibuses). The last Bedfords were sold in the early '80s, and for a time there were no coaches. However, in 1984 a secondhand Leyland Tiger coach and a former Western SMT Seddon Pennine 7 which had been fitted with a wheelchair lift arrived, and 5 of the Dennis Dorchesters delivered that year were to coach specification. A second Leyland Tiger coach was inherited from Scottish Omnibuses' Airdrie fleet, and some of the Airdrie Seddons also had coach bodywork. Two Volvo B10Ms were acquired from Newton of Dingwall in 1985, and 10 new Tigers coaches were bought in 1986-87.

A few minibuses were operated from the early 1970s onwards. These were successively Bedford VAS, Ford A-series and Leyland Cubs. In 1986-87, a fleet of 31 Dodge S56 were purchased for competitive services in the south of Glasgow.

Even within the Scottish Bus Group, Central had a reputation for conservatism in its vehicle specifications. Examples of this included:

• the specification of cutaway rear entrances on some of the underfloor-engined Guy Arab UFs, when front or central entrances were far more common for such buses;
• the continued purchase of PD1 model Leyland Titans after most other operators had switched to the more advanced PD2, and later of PD2 models when other SBG subsidiaries had gone over to the larger PD3 model;
• the early disposal of successive models of rear-engined double-deckers in the 1960s and '70s;
• continuing to specify manual synchromesh gearboxes on its Leyland Leopards until 1979, by which time automatic gearboxes were the norm across most of the UK bus industry.