THE EXPERIMENTAL SCANIAS 1461-1462 AND PRESERVATION OF SCANIA 1461 (FWH 461Y)

With the eventual demise of the Fleetline and Atlantean chassis due Greater Manchester Transport were conscious that they would need to look at developing their Standard body to fit newly developed rear engined or mid engined chassis and embarked upon a fleet number series in which to put these which very much mirrored the original EX experimental series used by their predecessors SELNEC.

The fleet number series chosen was the 14xx series. This series started off when the Bristol VRT's ordered by North Western delivered to SELNEC Cheshire had been renumbered, They were delivered as 400 to 424 but were renumbered shortly after to 1400 to 1424.

Therefore, in 1974, Greater Manchester Transport took a proving quantity of ten of the new experimental Metropolitain Double Deckers and numbered these in the series 1425 to 1434.

They were followed over the years by the following purchases:-

There are no Metropolitans in the batch 1425 to 1434 still existence and the two Foden NCs, 1435 and 1436, have both been scrapped.  We understand there is still a prototype Dennis Dominator 1439 in existence but we have not been keen to pursue this on the basis that we have 2001 (B901 TVR) the first production Dennis Dominator.  It is also understood that one of the Volvo Ailsas 1448 is still in existence but the price being asked by the owner is out of our reach.  We already have 1451 in preservation, the prototype Leyland Olympian, and 1472 the remaining  Dennis Falcon V and consequently in recent times we have concentrated on looking at the Scanias.  Initially the first two delivered were Scania BR112 DHs in 1983 with the usual circumstance of a further five being taken on board of the N113 DRB chassis eight years later in 1991.  Of the two metal framed bespoke vehicles built in 1983, 1462 had been scrapped some while ago due a cracked chassis problem leaving 1461 in existence and we made contact with its owner, David Forrest of Liverpool Motor Services in Long Lane, Aintree, Liverpool.  In fact the bus which is chassis number 1802093 and body number 2166 had been delivered new to Greater Manchester Transport on 1^st April 1983  transferring to Greater Manchester Buses Limited on deregulation on 26^th October 1986, passing onto GM Buses South on 1^st April 1994 and then to Stagecoach who painted it in white/striped livery.

Thereafter it passed to Fleet Sales of St Helens 12 years after deregulation to the day.  On 26^th October 1998 it was sold to Black Prince on the same day.  They sold it on to John Cherry at Aintree Coachlines on 20^th January 2002 with him selling it on to David Forrest at Liverpool Motor Services on 1^st February 2003. 

We made contact with David Forrest shortly after his acquisition of the vehicle and he gave us a commitment at that time that when his use for the bus came to an end we could take possession of it in order to ensure its preservation and we kept in regular contact thereafter.  It came out of service with Liverpool Motor Services on 31^st March 2004 when its current tax expired.  Due to a problem with the exhaust which needed some work on it for it to be re-MOT�d the decision was taken that it would be released for preservation.  As a consequence arrangements were put in place for the vehicle to be collected as it was, on Wednesday 30^th June 2004. 

Very kindly David Forrest did not want to sell the vehicle to us to recoup the monies he had spent on rectifying it and keeping it in service and was happy to donate it to the SELNEC Educational Trust, in recognition of the importance of the vehicle and our keen interest to ensure that it, along with the other key vehicles, replicates the design and development of bus transport in the Greater Manchester area.  Our thanks go to David Forrest and Liverpool Motor Services for the kind gesture in donating the bus to us. 

Two members of the SELNEC Preservation Society travelled by train to Long Lane, Aintree on Wednesday afternoon, 30^th June 2004, to collect the vehicle and drive it back to our premises in East Manchester.   It behaved particularly well causing us no problems whatsoever on the drive back, although it did sound a little noisy due to the exhaust problem.  It really is in excellent condition with very little having been changed from its days in Greater Manchester.  The lower deck seats however have been re-moquetted in red with the upper deck having a selection of various Greater Manchester styles.  The bus is now secure and we will look at potentially returning it to its original condition later in the future.

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