Carlyle II - Sherpa Minibus Demonstrator - ( D275 OOJ )

Halifax 119 - Daimler CVG6 - (GJX 331)

GJX 331: Daimler CVG6 Roe H37/28R 1956

Daimler had been one of three manufacturers (the others being Bristol and Guy) sanctioned to build double deck chassis during the Second World War. The utility wartime model, the CW, was to evolve into the postwar CV series in 1946, and variants of the CV continued in production until the closing years of halfcab production in 1968.

The main options were the CVG5 (Gardner 5LW engine) and CVG6 (Gardner 6LW or 6LX engine), plus in the earlier years the CVD6 (Daimler CD6 engine) and CVA6 (AECA173 engine). The CV series featured the Daimler standards of fluid flywheel and pre-selector gearbox, though in the latter years of production there was a synchromesh option. In 1950 Daimler had also introduced the so-called "new look" front with concealed radiator, initially to the requirements of Birmingham City Transport.

Apart from a handful of pioneer buses in the early years before the First World War, Halifax did not have any Daimlers in its fleet until 1951 when six of the rare CD650 model joined the Corporation fleet. CVG6s were ordered for 1954 and 1956, those for the Corporation having Roe bodies and those for the Joint Omnibus Committee having MetroCammell bodies. The Roe bodied vehicles featured teak framed lower decks but alloy framed top decks.

GJX 331 was the last of the 1956 CVG6s and entered the Corporation fleet in November that year as fleet number 19. In 1958 it was renumbered as 119. In 1971 it was transferred into the joint Omnibus Committee fleet which resulted in a further fleet number change to 304. With the amal-gamation of the Halifax and Todmorden joint committees it became part of the Calderdale joint Omnibus Committee fleet in September 1971. In 1972 it was once again renumbered as 384 and on passing to the West Yorkshire PTE in 1974, it gained its fifth fleet number as 3384. It was withdrawn from PTE service in October 1974 and stored for some years as a potential preservation candidate and eventually sold in March 1981 to a Halifax preservationist, being  kept for a time at the Tameside Transport Collection in Ashton. In November 1984 it was acquired by the West Yorkshire Transport Museum and subsequently restored. It was acquired by Keighley Bus Museum from the administrators of Transperience in September 1998 with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Science Museum PRISM Fund and Bradford Metropolitan Borough Council.

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D275 OOJ : Freightover Sherpa 374D Carlyle B20F 1987

The minibus revolution began in 1984 when the entrepreneurial Harry Blundred introduced the first batch of 16-seater Ford Transits to the streets of Exeter, the start of a process that was to see many entire urban bus networks converted to minibus operation. Although usually associated with the deregulation and privatisation era, the first Exeter conversions took place 2 years before deregulation and 2 years before Harry Blundred led the management buy-out of Devon General, the first National Bus Company subsidiary to pass into private ownership.

Early examples of this new wave of minibus were generally 16-seat conversions based on the Ford  Transit van. As demand outstripped the availability of Transits, its rival the Freightrover Sherpa became increasingly popular. By 1987, the success of the minibus in generating additional passengers led to demand for bigger and better minibuses, in a trend that was to eventually culminate in the midibus. Initially, this trend took the form of larger vans such as the Mercedes and the development of coachbuilt bodies in place of van conversions.

Carlyle had been set up by the Midland Red Omnibus Company as a converter and coachbuilder in 1983. It converted the initial batch of Ford Transits for Exeter and had progessed from Transits to Freightrovers in 1986. It was privatised in 1987 when along with the other NBC engineering functions it was sold to Robert Beattie’s Frontsouce Ltd, though it was soon the subject of a management buy-out. Its first coachbuilt bodies appeared in 1987, and the body number C2.002 of the Museum’s example shows it to be the second such vehicle built.

D275 OOJ has however a somewhat unusual history, having seen very little active passenger carrying service. When new it was, not unexpectedly for an early production vehicle, used as a Carlyle demonstrator. During the latter part of 1987 it is known to have spent periods on loan to Midland Red North, Grampian Regional Transport, Cumberland and South Wales. Those duties over, it was sold to the Department of Transport and used to train and test vehicle inspectors. In this role, it was deliberately rigged with various mechanical faults for the trainees to identify.

In November 2003, the Vehicle and Operator Standards Agency (as that branch of the Department of Transport had become) kindly offered the vehicle to Keighley Bus Museum. Since arrival, it has undergone safety checks to ensure that its deliberate defects have been corrected.