MPTE 1236

1236 seen in service at the late Paradise Street Bus Station when new

HISTORY

1236 was new in March 1972, it was the 1st of 60 Leyland Atlantean PDR1 Specials which were diverted from Midland Red, (who had just sold part of it Birmingham operations to West Midland PTE,) and delivered to the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (MPTE). It was possible for the Alexander bodywork to be built to full Merseyside specification. This included many features inherited from the previous Liverpool Corporation and MPTE Atlanteans such as peaked front & rear roof domes, translucent interior ceiling panels covering the fluorescent light tubes and back to back seating over the rear wheel arches. This style of Alexander bodywork, called the AL (Alloy body to Liverpool spec.) was adopted as Merseysides standard body style with 589 basically similar bodies being delivered between 1972 & 1984. These buses remained a common sight on the streets of Merseyside until Spring 2001.

1236 entered service from Walton garage and spent its early years mainly on route 20 between Aigburth and Fazakerley. December 1978 saw 1236 entering Edge Lane Works as the 1st Pilot B4 overhaul for the AL bodied buses. (The B4 dock was the major strip down and rebuild that all MPTE vehicles received so as to be re-certified after their first 7 years in service). On its completion 1236 returned to Walton in March 1979 before moving on to Gillmoss later that year. Its final move was to St. Helens in October 1983 for use mainly on schools services being withdrawn from service in October 1986.

After the de-regulation of the citys buses on the 26th October 1986, 1236 was not transferred to the new Merseybus organization, which had taken over the running of most of the MPTEs vehicles and routes. However the  MPTE kindly donated 1236 to the Mersey & Calder BPG for preservation.

1236 when in use as the Lionbus

Due to its modern appearance the group decided not to immediately restore the bus and when Merseyside Museums & Art Galleries approached the group about the loan of a bus for conversion into a mobile exhibition & support vehicle to follow its 1836 working steam locomotive, Lion around numerous railway museums in Britain 1236 was the obvious choice. It continued in this role until 1989. On its return, the Large Object Store, which was run by the Merseyside Museums and provided ample free & secure accommodation closed. 1236 and a number of the groups other vehicles became homeless. Open storage at Cammell Lairds in Birkenhead followed before space became available at the groups base in West Lancashire.

Following the withdrawal of Merseyside's last Atlanteans in febuary 2001 it was thought that 1236s restoration would be appropiate and restoration work was completed in 2001. It has been restored to 1972 livery complete wit MPTE roundels and it has attended various rallies since the summer of 2001.

1236 seen at the 2002 Open Day	1236 seen on the 2006 Running Day in front of the Cunard Buildings