If you can't have what you want... - a photo on Flickriver

The North Western Road Car Company Limited is fading from the memory now, but from the 1920s to the 1970s it was one of the biggest and most famous bus companies in the North of England. Its bus services served a huge swathe of territory from Northwich in the West to the Peak District fringes of Sheffield in the East, and from Rochdale in the North to Matlock in the South.

Its end was brought about because many of its services, and almost all of its most profitable ones, were in the south of Greater Manchester and SELNEC wanted to control these - and was willing to buy the part of North Western that was in its area. What was left after that simply wasn't viable, so North Western's owner the National Bus Company split the remainder up between neighbours Trent, Crosville and Potteries.

For many years, the bus that North Western wanted was a Bristol. Bristols were simple, rugged, reliable and came with the legendary Gardner engine. But after World War II, as part of a complex restructuring of the industry which resulted in much of it being nationalised, the makers of Bristol buses ended up in the public sector: and was specifically prevented from selling buses to private sector companies like North Western.

So North Western turned to other companies such as Leyland or AEC but kept the Bristols that it had bought before supplies ceased, even rebuilding and rebodying in many cases. And perhaps the pain was worsened when Bristol came up with a clever new chassis design, the 'Lodekka', made to pass below lower bridges - many of which were a problem on North Western routes.

But help was at hand: others too admired the Lodekka, including Dennis of Guildford who managed to get a licence to make a version of the Lodekka named the 'Loline'. Not suprisingly North Western was at the front of the queue and bought quite a few including this one, 816, which was photographed when freshly into service.

At last, a deal was done for Bristol to offer buses onto the open market again and once more North Western was first in line, buying 40 Bristol 'RE' single deckers as soon as it could - but that's another story. Meanwhile the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester has two North Western 'Bristol' buses, made in 1938 and 1946, restored and on display. If you'd like to know more about the Museum of Transport Greater Manchester and its collection of vintage buses, go to www.motgm.uk.

© Greater Manchester Transport Society. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited and may result in action being taken to protect the intellectual property interests of the Society.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Manchester / Hulme (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 1960

Tags:

816

Museum

Cheetham

Manchester

www.gmts.co.uk

GMTS

bus

buses

Museum of Transport

GMTS collection

Greater Manchester Transport Society

Boyle Street

Cheetham Hill

M8 8UW

Greater Manchester

heritage

history

Dennis

Loline

NWRCC

North Western

Lower Mosley St

Lower Mosley Street

Lower Mosley

Bus station

East Lancs

RDB816 « less

Sets appears in: • Bus Stations • Manchester more » • North Western « less

Groups appears in: • public transport • Old Photos more » • Buses • Period Photographs of Transportation (pre-1980) • Public Transit • the bus club • Public Transportation • British Buses • White and Black Photography • Bus Pictures • Transport In The Frame • 5000 VIEWS(must have 5,000 views) • Older pics of Manchester • Greater Manchester's buses • It's Grim Up North - Back in the day • Trams & Buses • Bus Group • North of England's Public Transport • Greater Manchester's Buses and Coaches • Buses for everyone • transport of the world • The buses group • vintage buses • Bus UK: East Lancashire Coachbuilders • Beauty of the buses and coaches • Bus UK: Buses, Coaches and Trams of North West England • Classic Buses Before Deregulation (Photos From BEFORE 1986) • Road Transport Through the Years • Classic Half Cab Buses • Bus Operators - Bankrupt, Extinct, Orphan, Former • Bus UK: Bodied in Northern England or North Wales • Bus Shots • Buses UK • UK Bus and Coach • The Bus Spotters • Transport Photography in the UK • Bus U.K. Buses of the 1960s • REAL Buses and Trains in the UK • Classic Transport • North West Bus Scene • Transport World Wide • International BUS Enthusiast™ • Transport 1940s to 1980s • Greater Manchester City Region • UK Bus Pics • Classic postwar town and city Transport • * C L A S S I C - T R A N S P O R T * • Dennis - Bus & Coach • Machines that Moved us • JUST BUSES [NO COACHES] • Buses in the north west • Quality Bus Photos • Buses & Coaches in the North West • 10,000 Views Unlimited 10000 • Buses & Coaches from the swinging sixties • uk buses • UK Bus Photos • 100+ Views of Buses, Coaches & Trams • TRASPORTO PUBBLICO/PUBLIC TRANSPORT • 1000 views: Public Transport • 1,000 + Buses • 10000 views: Public Transport • Bus UK: North Western 1923-1973 • 5,000 + Buses • Buses From Vanished Vantage Points • 2000+ Buses, Coaches & Trams • Transport on the Map « less

Stats: 13,617 views