AQUISITION OF 3277 (D277 JVR) - THE LAST OF THE ORIGINAL EX-GMT/GMB NORTHERN COUNTIES BODIED LEYLAND OLYMPIANS 3001-3277 AND THE LAST OF THE 39 COACH SEATED EXPRESS LIVERIED VARIANTS

We have tracked the design and development of the Standard body applied to Atlanteans and Fleetlines over the years and we have done so also with the Northern Counties application of the Standard body to the Leyland Olympian.  We have also since 1987 secured for preservation a number of Standard Atlanteans and Fleetlines that depict the various design changes and in recent times have done so with �Standard� Leyland Olympians.  This started with the first prototype 1451 (NJA 568W), although it has to be said that this is probably the only non-standard Standard in that most of structure was a off one arrangement to get it ready in time for the Commercial Vehicle Motor Show in 1980.  It does not really therefore look much like a Standard vehicle, in fact from some angles it looks more like a Park Royal bodied Leyland Titan.  That aside we next have 3001 (ANA 1Y), the very first production Standard Olympian which was exhibited at the 1982 Commercial Vehicle Motor Show, and which has a TL11 engine (as with 1451).

Next we chose to preserve 3030 (A30 ORJ) because this shows certain early design changes, has a Gardner engine and is also one of only ten of these vehicles fitted with a Voith gearbox.  Thereafter in order to pursue our interest in 01 vehicles and the continuing design and developments of the Standard body applied to the Leyland Olympians as set out in Section 3 of this newsletter we have secured 3101 (B101 SJA) and 3201 (C201 CBU), a post 3123 vehicle.  We also secured 3225 (C225 CBU).  In order to finish off the tracking of the design changes on the Olympian we needed one of the 39 coach seated express liveried vehicles in the batch 3239-3277.  Consequently we chose 3277 as it represents the end of this batch and the last of the early Standard Olympians with square grills, etc., 3001-3277 built prior to the 28 F-Reg Olympians being delivered (3278 to 3305).  In fact from this batch we have 3279 the second of the batch (F279 DRJ) and the last of the batch 3305 (F305 DRJ) albeit this still has the damage from when the upper deck was burnt out by vandals in February 2005. 

We therefore have been in contact with Stagecoach for some time about securing 3277 and it was rather curiously one of the last two of the batch in service operating for Stagecoach Manchester, coming out of service on 30^th October 2006 with 3234 coming off at midday and 3277 at the end of the day.  Thereafter the following day, 31^st October 2006, both of them went to the training fleet and were used as supplementary training vehicles due to the high volume of trainee drivers being coached at the time, but were simply allocated these duties by the application of L-plates.  They were not converted in any way or painted in the training fleet livery.

Consequently, we had hoped that we might secure 3277 for preservation once its temporary use in the training fleet had come to an end, but then there was a debacle when UK North were taken off the road by the Traffic Commissioner on 15^th January 2007, leaving Stagecoach Manchester to have to supplement the vehicle deployment on the main Magic bus routes in and out of Manchester.  This occasioned a number of vehicles coming back into service on 15^th January 2007 which included 3234 but luckily not 3277.

3277 consequently remained in the yard at Hyde Road whilst the vehicle requirements were assessed and upon receipt of further vehicles cascaded from other fleets we were advised by Stagecoach Manchester on Wednesday 28^th February 2007 that 3277 was now surplus to their requirements.  Consequently a discussion took place about purchasing the vehicle for its net book value and tyres at cost and once this had been done the V5, MOT and CIF were collected on 4^th April 2007 and the bus was taken on a road test.  Members then visited the Hyde Road Depot of Stagecoach Manchester on Bank Holiday Monday, 9^th April 2007, in order to collect the bus and to take it to our storage premises in East Manchester. 

Rather than restore this vehicle to its as new Express liveried condition in pantone 162 with brown, red and orange stripes which would make it look very similar, except for its front and rear lower deck panels, to our restored Metrobus 5320 (D320 LNB), we may put it back in the GM Buses South Express livery which had a considerable proportion of blue paintwork.  A decision is yet to be taken although it is interesting to note that 3277 was the last coach seated Express liveried Olympian delivered to GMT/GMB and 5320 was the last coach seated Express liveried Metrobus delivered to GMT/GMB.

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