MPTE 1788

1788 seen in New Brighton whilst with the PTE.

HISTORY

One of the batch 1776 - 1820 ordered to replace Fleetlines, 1788 was allocated to Seaview Road Garage along with 1786, 1787 and 1789, delivered in the standard Merseyside PTE livery of Verona Green and Jonquil. It remained at Seaview Road until September 1986 when it crossed the river to operate from Edge Lane Garage.

This batch of buses was unique as they were the only 9.5 metre Atlanteans built with this style of MCW bodies. Others were PDR1As for Maidstone and District and some 10 metre Atlanteans for Tyne and Wear PTE.

Ownership passed to Merseyside Transport Ltd, t/a Merseybus, at De-regulation on 26th October 1986. It remained at Edge Lane until that depot closed on 3rd July 1991 when it went to Green Lane. September 1992 saw it on the move again, this time to Jackson Street, St Helens where it out its last eight months of Merseybus service.

Border Buses of Burnley purchased 1788 along with similar 1811 (which also returned to Merseyside in 1999), from E.D.Commercials where it ran until 27th September 1997 when it was purchased for preservation and collected the next day.

It was placed on loan to Merseypride Motor Services of Bootle for six weeks to operate a rail replacement service on the Wirral while Conway Park Station was being constructed. It was stored at various locations for short periods before being MOT`d to attend its first rally, that being the 40th Anniversary of the Atlantean at Leyland in September 1998. The only other rally that it has attended was the Wirral Bus and Tram Show in October 1998.

Unfortunately, removal of the lower deck near side panels and window pans revealed that the steel frame had corroded badly and most of it would need to be replaced. This is a major fault with most MCW bodies as steel was the major component in their bodies. The rebuilding of the frame and general restoration of the bus has been put on the back burner.

1788 Is now on long term loan to the Merseyside Transport Trust.

1788 seen in the livery of Border Buses