Ribble Motor Services - Double Deck Coaches

Double Deck Coaches

Ribble were leaders as regards the introduction of double-deck coaches, after the Second World War when demand was very heavy for express services - the single deck coach with the engine at the front would seat 35 passengers. In the early fifties Leyland introduced the Royal Tiger underfloor coach, which increased the number of passengers to 41.

However, Ribble went one step further and introduced the 'White Lady' double-deck coach. Painted in coach livery, these lowbridge buses had 49 seats (Ian Allan abc Ribble 2nd. Edition 1952); and were used on Blackpool and Morecambe services. There were two batches of 'White Lady' 1201 - 1230 with Burlingham 5 bay window arrangement downstairs bodywork; and 1231 - 1250 with East Lancs bodywork with a very attractive four bay window arrangement.

The initial batch were downgraded to red liveried service buses in the mid fifties, and were mostly to be found round Dalton-in-Furness and Ulverston depots. The East Lancs double deck coaches operated as such into the sixties.

Throughout the Fifties the "White Ladies" ran on all the major express and limited stop services out of Lower Mosley Street, Manchester. In particular they served the routes due north including X3 & X13 to Great Harwood, X23 Clitheroe, X43 Skipton and Colne, X53 Burnley, and X66 Blackburn. The upper deck configuration of a sunken side aisle with four seats all together on one side was an unusual combination. (source - personal first hand experience and Ian Allan Ribble Buses & Coaches 3rd & 4th editions, 1953 & 1956).

Motorways were developed in the late 1950s – in 1958 the M6 Preston Bypass was the first motorway in the UK. Arrangements were in hand for a totally new double deck coach, based on the Leyland Atlantean, 50 reclining seats, toilet and plenty of room for luggage. Christened 'Gay Hostess', these coaches were a common sight on the M6 and the M1 in the sixties. One was at the opening of the M1, and Ribble milked the publicity for all it was worth.

The 'Gay Hostess' operated into London's Victoria Coach Station, and stood out from all the other operator's vehicles - their application of the cream and maroon red was carefully applied, to give a coach of distinction. When introduced in the sixties, these vehicles were icons of the bus industry; yet during the winter months the majority were laid up for six months delicensed (Ribble Allocation Lists 1960's).

Ribble had fifteen, but their sister operation Standerwick had 22. All were transferred to Standerwick/Scout to operate on Motorway express services. Only one 'Gay Hostess' is in preservation. but costs and time appear to be excessive to get the vehicle back into an as new condition, as the vehicle pioneered so much for Ribble/Standerwick and coaching in general.

On the Ribble homeground, in the early sixties, another generation of 'White Lady' was about to emerge, this was the 59 coach seat body on a Leyland Atlantean chassis; twenty of these were built. As the journeys would be shorter, no toilet facility was carried. These 'White Ladies' survived into National Bus ownership, but eventually they were downgraded to service buses.