THE 14XX SERIES OF PROTOTYPE/EXPERIMENTAL VEHICLES

After SELNEC (South East Lancashire/North East Cheshire) Passenger Transport Executive was formed on 1^st November 1969 and incorporated the fleets of the 11 local council operations in the North West towns surrounding Manchester, being Ashton, Bolton, Bury, Leigh, Manchester, Oldham, Ramsbottom, Rochdale, Salford, SHMD (Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley & Dukinfield) and Stockport, they clearly appreciated there was difficulty in any exchange of body or chassis parts.

Consequently they embarked upon designing and adapting and having delivered a Standard double deck vehicle for the whole region and the first prototype was built in 1970, being EX1 (PNF 941J) which is preserved by the SELNEC Preservation Society.  This is a Northern Counties bodied Leyland Atlantean PD1A/1R and was shortly followed by five others of similar designation, EX2 - EX6.  Then Northern Counties bodied 15 Daimler Fleetlines, 10 with single door layout and five with dual door layout, being CRG6LXB chassis and these were numbered EX7 - EX21. 

The EX fleet number represented the word �Experimental� and once trials of these vehicles had concluded then production double deck Standard vehicles commenced in a new fleet number series, 7001 which ran right the way through to 7960 with further vehicles commencing at 8001 onwards, eventually concluding at 8765.  When the time came for the experimental vehicles EX1 - EX21 to be integrated into the ordinary fleet they were going to be renumbered 9001 to 9021 but eventually they were slotted into fleet number series of the areas in which they ended up, EX1 - EX6 becoming 5466 to 5471 in the Ashton series, EX7 - EX16 becoming 6245 to 6249 in the Rochdale series and 6395 to 6399 in the Bury series and EX17 - EX21, the five dual door vehicles, becoming 6250 to 6454 in the Rochdale series.

As the SELNEC PTE developed and they considered other vehicle acquisitions, in particular single deck vehicles of which there was not bespoke standard being built specifically for the company, they took on board a number of vehicles designated in the EX experimental series as follows.

By the time Greater Manchester Transport was formed on 1^st April 1974 the fleet profile had and continued changing.  The Northern Western Road Car Company had been added or the majority of it had on 4^th March 1972 and that upon formation of Greater Manchester Transport the Wigan fleet was also absorbed on 1^st April 1974 and thereafter on 1^st January 1976 LUT was acquired and fully integrated on 1^st April 1981.

Greater Manchester Transport from 1^st April 1974 remained loyal to the standard vehicle although by then it was in Mark 1A form with a redesigned front and curved windscreen and the interest in dual door vehicles had been  abandoned with all double deckers being single door layout.  However, it was clear that the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline would not be available forever.   Indeed they had been in production in early form since 1959 and 1962 respectively and the technology with rear engined and under floor chassis was progressing.  Although in 1979 and 1980 it looked as if separate chassis production with independent body builders might come to end with all vehicles being of integral or semi integral off the peg designs as are cars, lorries and other vehicles, with the introduction of the Leyland Titan and MCW Metrobus, this did not happen. GMT did buy small quantities of these vehicles, being 15 Leyland Titans, 4001 to 4015, and 190 MCW Metrobuses, 5001 to 5190.  These were placed in main fleet series as they were intended to be operational vehicles and originally it was intended they would be delivered in larger numbers had it not been for supply problems, particularly with the Titan. 

That development aside however, Greater Manchester Transport were conscious that they would need to look at developing their standard body to fit newly developed rear engined or mid engine 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 numbered shortly after to 1400 to 1424.  

Thereafter in 1974 Greater Manchester Transport had taken a proving quantity of ten of the new experimental Metropolitan Double Deckers and numbered these in the series 1425 to 1434 as no further Bristol VRTs were ordered by Greater Manchester Transport.  No further double deck Metropolitan BR111s were ordered as these in fact proved very costly to run and very unreliable and were disposed of within seven years.  However, when Greater Manchester Transport looked at adapting its Northern Counties standard body to fit some of the new chassis that were being developed they continued to use the 1400 series and the first two vehicles to be delivered were an experimental arrangement between Foden and Northern Counties producing the Foden NC.

In fact in total after a half vehicle experiment was built only six of these vehicles were ever put into production, two of which were delivered to Greater Manchester Transport and were numbered 1435 and 1436.  The remaining four went to West Yorkshire, Derbyshire, PMT and the West Midlands.  

A seventh Foden chassis was built but this was bodied by East Lancs for South Yorkshire.  These Foden NCs did not prove popular and 1435 and 1436 were withdrawn before their normal vehicle life of 13 years expired. 

Next Greater Manchester Transport turned its attention to the Dennis Dominator chassis and purchased two of these under DD110 configuration in 1980, 1437 and 1438 and a further two in 1981 under DDA136 configuration, 1439 and 1440.  This experiment of prototype vehicles did lend themselves to an order for production vehicles being an initial order of 30, 2001 to 2030, in 1984 followed by a further ten, 2031 to 2040 in 1990.  It was intended to increase the proving quantity of Dennis Dominators before production vehicles were ordered which was to run to eight up to 1445, hence why the next fleet number that was used was 1446 with a one off Volvo Ailsa B 55 secured in 1980.  Also this year a prototype Bristol Olympian chassis, the fifth made was secured by Greater Manchester Transport and Northern Counties adapted its standard body to fit it which required a considerable amount of work as the length of the chassis meant having to use different bays, different style windows and an entirely different approach and 1451 really does not look at all like other Standards built before or after.  Number 1451 was used because it was intended that there would be five Volvo Ailsas taken as a proving quantity in total.

In fact 1451, along with 1446 appeared at the Earls Court Commercial Vehicle Motor Show in 1980, along with recently delivered MCW Metrobus 5031.  In 1981 two further Volvo Ailsa were delivered, 1447 and 1448, but the expected additional two did not appear therefore leaving a gap in the fleet numbers 1449 and 1450.  Also Greater Manchester Transport did not secure any further prototype Leyland Olympians other than the single vehicle 1451 but they had decided this was the way forward.  Daimler Fleetline production had come to an end as had Leyland Fleetline production beyond it.  Leyland Atlanteans were not in keeping with European specifications and were eventually phased out and replaced by the Leyland Olympian.  Consequently, after just two years with one prototype, 1451, orders started to be placed for Leyland Olympians to be delivered in main production batches starting a new fleet number sequence of 3001 with ANA 1Y being the first vehicle appearing at the Commercial Vehicle Motor Show in 1982. 

This eventually led to 304 further production Leyland Olympians being built and delivered to Greater Manchester Transport and its successor Greater Manchester Buses over the years.  In fact the last 60 Leyland Atlanteans, 8766 to 8835, were cancelled in favour of more Olympians.

When Greater Manchester Transport turned its attention again to other potential chassis developments not wanting to be constrained just to the Leyland Olympian they did so by looking again at the Scania chassis which had now moved on and was available as a freestanding chassis as opposed to a semi-integral unit as had been the case with the Metropolitans 1425 to 1434.  Also it had become obvious from previous allocation of fleet numbers that Greater Manchester Transport were unsure as to what number of proving quantities the might need hence why they had gaps between 1441 and 1445 and 1449 and 1450.  They decided therefore as it was unlikely they would take more than ten of a proving quantity thereafter to start each new experimental batch of 1400 vehicles at the appropriate �one� hence why Leyland Olympians started at 1451 and now having turned their attention back to Scanias these started at 1461.  In the event only two were delivered in 1983, 1461 � 1462, although, curiously, in 1990 this did not lead to an order for production vehicles in a main fleet series but a further five experimental vehicles carrying on where the earlier fleet numbers had left off, 1463 to 1467.  In 1984 Greater Manchester Transport took delivery of three of the experimental Dennis Falcon Vs, 1471 to 1473.  In fact in total only six Dennis Falcons double deck vehicles were ever built.  These GMT vehicles proved to be particularly unreliable and more out of service than in service for most of their operating lives.  

Finally, in terms of experimental vehicles in the 1400 series Greater Manchester Transport turned its attention to the Volvo Citybus, having a proving quantity of three of these delivered in 1986, 1481 to 1483.  These after evaluation did lead to an order for production vehicles but only ten of the B10 type, 7001 to 7010, being delivered in 1990, the same year 1463 to 1467 were delivered and, for that matter, 2031 to 2040, these being the 25 last Standards referred to in Item 9 in this newsletter. 

Hence the last three experimental vehicles in the 1400 series were 1481 to 1483.  Now matters were moving on in that after deregulation on 26^th October 1986 an entirely different approach to public transport has developed in the private sector which would not see the research and development of bespoke bus design that had been prevalent over the previous 16 years since the formation of SELNEC on 1^st November 1969. 

 The full list of the 1400 series is shown below.

Acquisitions

SELNEC Preservation Society have acquired the following 14xx series Prototype/Experimental Vehicles for preservation:

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