MPTE 2122

2122 seen in a Wirral Borough Council yard in October 1989

HISTORY

Production problems within the British Leyland group of companies in the early 1970's meant that the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive (MPTE) could not order sufficient Leyland Atlanteans for its fleet replacement and had to resort to ordering alternative chassis types instead.

Amongst the types ordered were fifty Bristol VRTSL6G chassis with East Lancs bodies, the first of these arrived in October 1974, the remainder being delivered over the following twelve months. Numbered 2097-2145 the batch was shared between Garston and Walton Garages. These were not the only Bristol VRs to enter service with the MPTE as sixty VRTLH6Gs, also with East Lancs bodies, had been ordered by Liverpool Corporation shortly before the PTE took over in 1969.

Unfortunately none of the original batch of Bristol VRs still exist, the last being scrapped in 1985. However one of the later batch, 2122 has survived.

2122 entered service with the MPTE from its Walton Garage in February 1975. The first few examples of the batch had been delivered in the Liverpool Corporation inspired Green with Cream window surround livery, but all subsequent examples arrived in the newly introduced Verona Green and Jonquil livery. This batch of fifty VRs was two foot shorter than their predecessors and only had a single entrance/exit.

The seventy-five seat bodies were similar to those carried by the PTE's three batches of East Lancs bodied Atlanteans delivered in 1973 and 1976/7. This style featured a distinctive stepped window line on the nearside of the vehicle with the window over the front wheel-arch lower than the other side windows to allow the side route number box to be below the upper deck floor level.

Unlike most Bristol VRs, which had a straight rear end profile to the body, those delivered to the MPTE featured an engine bustle similar to the Leyland Atlantean. However the Bristol VRs could easily be distinguished from the Atlantean by the radiator grilles mounted below the windscreens at the front of the bus.

2122 was allocated to Walton throughout its short and uneventful service life, working on routes 20 (Fazakerley - City Centre), 25 (Walton - Aigburth) and 30 (Netherton - City Centre). The Bristol VR was not highly regarded by the PTE's engineering management, mainly because of being relatively non-standard compared to the more numerous Leyland Atlantean. The first example of the short Bristol VRs was withdrawn in 1984. Merseybus, who took over most of the MPTE's services on the de-regulation of bus services in October 1986, declined the opportunity of operating Bristol VRs and so 2122 and the remaining members of the batch were withdrawn and stored by the MPTE at the recently closed Prince Alfred Road Garage and advertised for sale.

A number of the batch were sold by the MPTE for further service in 1986/7 including some to Fareway, a new operator on Merseyside who used them on routes in competition with Merseybus. 2122 was sold to Wirral Borough Council for conversion into a mobile workshop. After a few years use it passed to the Wirral Play Council and was converted into a children's playbus. It continued in this role until the early part of 2001.

The Merseyside Transport Trust acquired 2122 in August 2001 because of its importance of being the last known survivor of the MPTE's one hundred and ten Bristol VRs and also the last complete non Atlantean second generation double deck bus delivered to the MPTE.

Although the interior has been stripped of all its seats and other original fittings whilst it was a playbus, the restoration will not be too difficult as the Trust had obtained a set of the correct type of seats and some of the other fittings that will be required a number of years ago. 2122 is currently stored undercover at Burscough until other ongoing projects have been completed.

The VR seen in its guise as a playbus.