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Oxford Bus Company Leyland Olympians 1982 - 2003
Where are they now? Oxford Bus Company retired their last remaining Leyland Olympian on Friday 3rd October 2003. The vehicle in question was fleet number 223, which made its final journey on route 2A during the afternoon peak. Commenting on the withdrawal of the type, Oxford Bus Company Commercial Manager Phil Clark said "it is sad to say goodbye to such a loyal and reliable bus - but in the modern world of easy-access, low-floor, air conditioned buses with low emissions, the Olympian is now out of place; but we will miss them." The list below details the last reported location of the above buses, but this may change and I do not always receive instant reports of each vehicle's movements. I welcome any contributions that help to keep this list complete and up to date; please e-mail me if you have any information you feel will be useful. Thanks to Keith Hamer, Graeme Wilson and Malcolm Crowe for their reports.
201 - Mr G Wareham, Oxford (Preservation) 202 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 203 - Brylaine Travel, Boston 204 - Jeffs, Helmdon 205 - Confidence, Leicester (via Worths, Enstone) 206 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 207 - Jeffs, Helmdon (scrapped) 208 - Thames Travel, Wallingford (scrapped March 2007) 209 - Jeffs, Helmdon 210 - Jeffs, Helmdon (scrapped following accident) 211 - Jeffs, Helmdon 212 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 213 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 214 - Oxford Bus Museum (Preservation), via Woottens, Chesham 215 - Straffords Coaches, Minera, Wrexham 216 - Worths, Enstone 217 - Charlton Services, Charlton-on-Otmoor 218 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 219 - T Price & Son, Wrexham (via Straffords Coaches, Minera, Wrexham) 220 - Worths, Enstone 221 - Confidence, Leicester 222 - Fords Coaches, Althorne 223 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 224 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 225 - Arriva, Southend-on-Sea 226 - Arriva, Aylesbury 227 - Woottens, Chesham (via Arriva, High Wycombe) 228 - Arriva, Southend-on-Sea 229 - Arriva, Southend-on-Sea 230 - Arriva, Aylesbury 231 - Arriva, Luton 232 - Arriva, Aylesbury 233 - Simonds Coaches, Hayes (Accident Damaged - Acquired for Spares) 234 - Arriva, Aylesbury 235 - Arriva, Luton 236 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 237 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham (Via Weavaway Travel, Newbury) 238 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham (Via Weavaway Travel, Newbury) 239 - Hedingham Omnibuses, Sible Hedingham 976 - Rennie's of Dunfermline (via Beeston's, Suffolk) 977 - Rennie's of Dunfermline (via Beeston's, Suffolk) 978 - Jeffs, Helmdon 979 - Mr M Harris, Prenton, Birkenhead (via Beeston's, Suffolk) 980 - Brylaine Travel, Boston 999 - Mr G Wareham, Oxford (Preservation) 1822 - Fairbrother, Warrington 1823 - Fairbrother, Warrington 1824 - Western Greyhound, Newquay (via Peacock, Eston, Cleveland)
Re-Registrations 203 - XAZ 1315 (ex VJO 203X) 215 - ACZ 7668 (ex BBW 215Y) 219 - ACZ 7669 (ex CUD 219Y) 980 - XAZ 1412 (ex TPD 124X)
Oxford & High Wycombe Olympians In Camera To Reduce Loading Times This Page Uses Thumbnail Images. To View An Enlarged Version Please Click On The Image And Use The Back Button On Your Browser To Return To This Page. Fleet Numbers are in bold.
Leyland Olympian ONLXB/1R \ ECW VJO 201X seen at the Oxford Bus Museum with Bristol VRT \ ECW HUD 476S behind.
Leyland Olympians ONLXB/1R \ ECW VJO 204X, WWL 212X and BBW 213Y seen in National Bus Company red during 1988.
A 'victim' of new deliveries and seen here losing its Park & Ride vinyls is 209, leaving the Oxford fleet in June 1999 after nearly 20 years service. (Photograph by Malcolm Crowe).
BBW 214Y seen resting outside its former home in Cowley Road during October 2004.
A number of ECW-bodied Leyland Olympians were used by Oxford Bus Company for Park & Ride routes. BBW 217Y is seen turning out of Queen Street into St Aldates in June 1999 (photograph by Malcolm Crowe).
212, 218 and 219 are seen here when still hard at work on Park & Ride routes during 1999 (photographs by Malcolm Crowe).
This view shows 212 posed for a publicity photograph at Florence Park prior to entering service in 1982.
214 seen undergoing mechanical overhaul in May 2001.
BBW 214Y, CUD 222Y and CUD 223Y seen resting in Wycombe Bus Station while on loan to Wycombe Bus during November 1999. (Photograph by Malcolm Crowe).
Seen here in service with Oxford Bus Company is CUD 221Y. The coach front was fitted following an accident in the mid-1990s. (Photograph by Malcolm Crowe).
The last Olympian in service with Oxford was the penultimate ECW
bodied version, 223.
Epsom, June 1992 - CUD 224Y is seen working for Oxford Bus. This Olympian was one of the last to leave the fleet in October 2003.
Delivered to Oxford Bus in 1988, E229 CFC was one of a batch of five Alexander bodied Leyland Olympians (E225-9 CFC) for use on Park & Ride services. These buses were the last new Leyland Olympians for Oxford to be fitted with Leyland Hydracyclic gearboxes. When production of the Hydracyclic gearbox ceased in 1988, the ZF gearbox (built under licence by Leyland Bus) became standard. Voith transmission was available as an option. These Olympians were transferred from Oxford to High Wycombe when new Dennis Tridents arrived in 1999. E229 CFC was selected to receive Thames Valley livery as part of the anniversary events in the town. (Photographs by Malcolm Crowe).
E225 CFC, E227 CFC and E228 CFC seen ready for use in High Wycombe during August 1999. (Photograph by Malcolm Crowe).
E227 CFC in service with Wycombe Bus Company.
During the early 1990s they could often be seen working relief services on the 190 Oxford - London service! This photograph shows G230 VWL on the M40 in August 1991. Photograph by Malcolm Crowe.
Although used Leyland Olympians and Tigers joined the fleet in later years, G235 VWL was the last new Leyland to enter service with Oxford Bus. This batch were also the only Olympians operated by the company to feature the ZF automatic gearbox, which became standard when production of the Hydracyclic gearbox ceased in 1988. Today G230-5 VWL can be found earning their keep with Arriva the Shires.
Ex Harwell (UKAEA) Leyland Olympian ONLXB/1R \ ECW FWL 781Y (239) is seen here working the 90 service in October 1993. 236-9 were all transferred to High Wycombe with the Wycombe Bus Co during October 1995. They were first numbered 1778-1781 at WBC but soon reverted to their original numbers, 236-239. In 2000 they were withdrawn and today are in use with Hedingham & District Omnibuses. They may be still in service with Hedingham with 236 based at Tollesbury and 237-9 based at Clacton.
Ex-London Country Leyland Olympians ONTL11/1R \ Roe TPD 108X (976)
& TPD 121X (979) working in High Wycombe during 1999. These
buses were later replaced by newer ex-Park & Ride Olympians from the main Oxford
fleet.
PWL 999W was one of the prototype Leyland Olympians and was used as a Leyland demonstrator in Singapore. On its return to England it was acquired by City of Oxford Motor Services, who refurbished and certified it. PWL 999W was a regular performer on the Pear Tree- Following almost two years hard work in High Wycombe, 999 did return to see service in Oxford as a Q-Buster shortly before being withdrawn. This vehicle is now in preservation. (Green Park & Ride photograph by David Root - Oxford Bus Page)
These vehicles had been ordered by Southern Vectis, but were diverted to Alder Valley North after completion but before delivery. They were to become the final ECW-bodied double-deckers to operate the London services, originally by Thames Valley, since the days of the Bristol K-type. Following privatisation of the National Bus Company, the whole batch passed to The Berks Bucks Bus Co in December 1987. The vehicles later became part of City of Oxford’s Wycombe Bus fleet, as shown by this photograph of D823 UTF (1823). All three Leyland Olympian Coaches left High Wycombe in 2002.
The last surviving Leyland Olympians in Oxford were all from the batch numbered 201 to 224 and dated from 1982-3. Having benefited from being overhauled and painted in current livery, the last example remained active until October 2003. Seen resting at the Oxford Bus Company depot in Cowley Road are 221, 222, 224 and 214, which all formed part of the final batch of survivors.
Oxford Olympians With New Owners (Photographs by Malcolm Crowe, Michael Wootten and Daniel Stazicker)
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Credit & Debit Cards Accepted Members of the Confederation of Passenger Transport Route One Awards - Shortlisted for Coach Operator of the Year 2007 National Express Approved Operator Intalink Members Showbus Award Winners Member of the Buckinghamshire County Council Next Bus Project
Copyright © 1999 Woottens Luxury TravelThis Page Was Last modified: January 02, 2010 |
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