South Australian here. One of our MTT Worldmasters is shown at 4:08, bodied locally by Freighter Lawton and built in the mid-late 1950s. The Transway bus shown at 9:32 is actually an AEC, but almost indistinguishable from the Leyland, as they shared almost identical bodies. The winged badge, lack of vent holes under the bumper and proud mounted headlights are the only real give-away. The Leyland's headlights were slightly recessed. That particular unit was an ex MTT bus, sold on to Transway and merely repainted. Nice coverage of the units by the way.
Living in the UK, I didn't realize that the Worldmaster, as Jeffrey says, had a much bigger profile abroad. I do recognize the British examples he shows. I've learned so much about the Worldmaster here. Jeffrey is a godsend to bus enthusiasts. Warmest thanks to him for all he does and for making it all so interesting.
Hello! Thank you so much for your very kind comment - it is very much appreciated!!! And I'm so glad that you really like my videos!!!!! Thank you very much for watching!!!
Thank you a lot for this video. I am very impressed how many buses in the Netherlands in & around the 1960ies werde based on the Worldmaster - from well-known "bolramers" (those with the "fishbowl"-style front windows) to some very distinguished variants operated by Maarse & Kroon or NHADO (->NACO->NZH). Leyland really had a huge impact on dutch buses, and the characteristic half-automatic gearbox was a standard feature still in the 1980ies.
Hello! Very glad you liked the video! Didn't know the term Bolramers, so thank you for that! Yes, the front windshields of many of those buses in the Netherlands were very similar to those on American buses of the time. Thank you very much for watching!!
Hi Jeff from Sydney, Australia. I'm almost 70 yrs old now and when I was a kid the New South Wales government transport dept' probably owned nearly as many as Israel did. 1,000's of them in both Newcastle 100 miles north of Sydney, and in Sydney, they replaced every tram car with a Tiger, and all the old smaller Leyland's, Albions & AEC's that looked like single deck preWW2 double deckers. Sydney has many very steep hills and the 11 litre diesels pulled like elephants, tough, hardy and reliable. With all steel bodies built by Comeng (commonwealth engineering) many outlasted the newer Mercedes Benz busses bought to replace them. We had two types, the lower roof with ovaloid non opening upper windows of which you had two pictured, and the later ones making up near 90% of the fleet with the taller roof which had a half height upper set of opening windows above the tall glass lower ones and a wonderful breeze entered on the hottest of 100-degree days. I travelled 24 miles a day for each of 6 high school days in one of these, and not one time did one ever break down. When going to Sydney Uni in the city the same could not be said of the new Mercedes which seemed to HATE Sydney's long hot summers, leaving you stranded halfway into the city making you late for classes. So I gave up and drove my old Holden car into the city to Uni'.
Hello! Wow, thanks for all of the interesting info on the buses in Australia - very interesting to read your experiences! Thank you very much for watching!!
I used to ride a world master to school , a heavy duty bus with a semi automatic gearbox. I Rode to School in Southend onsea . The buses were ex Glasgow corporation busses The were sold off in1972 your blue and white shot at 5m 13 secs is one off the actual busses I rode on . Thanks for the memories 👍😊🇬🇧
I was never that interested in Buses until I stumbled on to your Channel. I have always been an Antique Car, Truck and Tractor lover, now I find buses so interesting as well. Thank you!!
I know that my husband’s favourite Leyland 'Worldmaster' was the Matchbox toy that was shown! He admits to having about four of them as a kid (that was such a long time ago!) and he thinks there is probably still at least one of them stored away in our shed!
I had no idea that so many of these were produced and with very few entering UK service it's not likely anybody on here will have direct experience of them. In the fifties, Leyland's single deck offering to the UK was dominated initially by the "standard" Royal Tiger, superceded by the Tiger Cub. Fascinating vid.
I remember travelling on the 2 Ellen Smith Worldmasters which always sounded great and had great performance. They gave great service for many years both being rebodied by Plaxtons as mentioned in the video.
Hello! Oh yes, couldn't leave out the fire engine version, it was quite interesting that it was at least tried! Thank you very much for watching again!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I am a Rail Enthusiast, First, but Trams, buses and other forms of transport, are of interest and enjoyment to me. You do a GREAT Job, Jeffrey! It is so good to see an American covering Britain, Australia and the World, bus scene. In Australia, we had MCI and Silver Eagle buses in the 1970's, and I rode those types in the US in that period, as well. I want to see SLEEPER BUSES running in Australia, ASAP, as I will NOT sit up overnight on a train or a bus! How about a video on SLEEPER BUSES?
I've a Royal Tiger Badge in my Leyland Zoo. Popular with visitors; a beautiful piece of art in itself. Hand crafted in Birmingham by Manhattan Windsor. 🐅
That's a great badge! When I was a schoolboy I wanted one of those Leopard or Tiger badges. I seem to recall that those buses in Portsmouth did not have the badges for some reason- probably Portsmouth Corporation was saving some pennies! Anyway, I never got one of the badges and I have managed to survive the intervening 60 odd years without one! Some of those overseas bus bodies should come with a "viewer discretion" warning!
Corporation / Council bus operators tended to avoid manufacturers ID, the one exception being London Transport, no coincidence that the AEC badge similar to the LT Roundel as originally owned by Underground Electric Railways of London (later London Underground) and London General Omnibus Company as the Associated Equipment Company, absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board (GLC) and sold off to independent management whilst still retaining ties to LPTB later just LTB shortened to LT for the public. LT retaining ties to Leyland/AEC with the Aldenham Bus Works adjacent to the Leyland/AEC Parts Depot on jointly owned land. UERL was owned by a dodgy American businessman, Charles Tyson Yerkes, he had to flee the US under a cloud of failed transport ventures. He quickly got involved in early underground railways in London in the late 1800's as had a knack for raising money.
@@tonys1636 The Portsmouth Atlanteans did have the badge but I am pretty sure those Leopards and Tigers did not. I did a search and saw a photo of a Tiger that was in the Portsmouth fleet and it does not have a badge. As you point out, AEC was formed as part of the "associated" industry behind the new electric railways- hence its rather prosaic name but the badge hits the spot!
We have a couple of them in the Otago Heritage Bus Society. One is restored in its DCT (Dunedin City Transport) colours, but has an engine issue. The other was converted to a horse box with a living area. It too will be converted back to a city bus over the next few years. 136 can be seen on the OHBS website under the Fleet tag. Another great video Jeffrey, many thanks!
Some say the Leyland Worldmaster was the best bus Sydney ever had. They were the only one that would come away undamaged in a collision with a car! Plus they had good hill climbing power with their torquey O680 11 litre diesels. Many ex Sydney and ex Adelaide ones got rebodied by local private bus companies mostly by Custom Coaches of Sydney, but Oliveris Metrolink got Austral Metroliner bodywork of Brisbane on theirs in 1982. Many overwidth Adelaide ones like one you pictured, were narrowed by bus companies to comply in NSW. They simply tapered them down to the bottom which it where the measuring took place! Very good selection of examples in this 12 minute video. I think we need more Worldmaster videos in the future.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! I also heard from others that the Worldmaster was great for Sydney! Thanks for the additional info and thanks for watching again!
Great stuff Jeffrey you have done it again another excellent potted history of a UK bus that had 150 bhp when first introduced these would have been powerful and good performing buses when around 100 bhp was the norm. That Leyland 608 H engine also found its way into BR railcars and DMU's. Wonder how a Worldmaster coach would compare on maximum and cruising speed and economy with a petrol engined Flxible or one of the Greyhound cruisers(were they GM)? BTW as far as London buses are concerned, this song about one of the pre war6 wheelers is a novelty ruclips.net/video/7yHrpPRYgYM/видео.html
Hello! Oh yes, the Worldmasters were quite strong it seemed, and could probably go up against an American bus. The early Greyhounds were built by GM, and then by MCI (Motor Coach Industries). Got to check out that song. Thank you very much for watching!!
They also rode in the Netherlands, but with a locally produced body. I was always fascinated bij the semi automatic gearbox, and I can still recall the typical o680 sound
Traveled on the Ellen Smiths Worldmasters many times, the performance up hills was equal to many cars and certainly better than any other coaches of the time. Many of the Yorkshire routes left the area via the Blackstone Edge climb and overtaking the AEC coaches of the local Yelloway company which as children we loved waving at as we passed.
Yes very true travelled on ODK137 and SDK442 on school trips as you say they could see off any other operators coaches flying up Blackstone Edge !
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What a cornucopia of bus designs and liveries! Who would have thought they all had an almost identical chassis. The Volkswagen 'bus' actually did achieve world domination, in innumerable guises including mini-bus, camper and pickup.
Hello! Yes, it's amazing to see how many different 'flavors' of this bus existed, LOL! I wish there was like a 30-ft. version of the VW bus! Thank you very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeffrey for another great video. It takes me back to when I wrote the Wikipedia article you've cited. Favourite Worldmasters of mine are the Glasgow ones (of course), the Irish ones which had a designer body by Ogle Associates to start with, but then at eight years old got Van Hool Vistadome coachwork which was both more contemporary and allowed more operational flexibility. The last ones were retired in 2003 after 40 years service. Then there's one by our old friends at Ayats, built for a Spanish express coach operator which was designed to resemble the Ford Edsel car.
Hello Stephen! Very happy you liked the video!!! Especially from an expert like you! Oh yes, I saw those Vistadome Worldmasters, just didn't fit it into the video. I read about that Edsel-like body on a Worldmaster, but I couldn't find a picture of it, unfortuantely. Thank you very much for watching!!
When I was in Brisbane in 1988 I went to Tangalooma Island for a day trip. I caught a bus from Brisbane to the ferry and it was an old Leeds corporation double decker. It still had all the old adverts inside and the blinds read “Leeds City centre”. Also on the way to Australia I stopped in Singapore and there was a baggage trolly with a metal plate on it saying “not to be removed from Crewe Station”.
Being a brit and not really seeing them it was only recently that I even realised any were sold here, i.e. the Halifax and coach examples popping up in various books. Always got the impression that it was "too complex" (the usual engineering excuse) for the home market. Great video Jeffrey 😃
My favourite would have to be Hino , mid 70's. It came as a chassis kit divided into short sections. You just assembled, installed pipe work and wiring, then diy the body . Simple and easy to work on with a nice ride.
had a few of these come through the family bus fleet,all were 600 engined and ive never seen a 680 powered one yet,the only noteable one was the ex driving instruction MTT manual 4 speed 600 which had the heaviest gearshift and clutch ive ever seen,back in the 2000's i worked for kalamunda bus lines that had 6 re-bodied tigers with the original chassis cut and a stepped set of chassis beams installed to allow the 6-71 ex train unit detriot diesels to be fitted retaining the original wilson semi auto gearboxes and worm drive diffs,they had fitted non turbo pistons to N/A engines to derated them so the gearboxes would not break,i rebuilt one of these engines for kalamunda bus lines,a few were sold less driveline to perth hills locals who used them for extra rooms
Hello! Yes, there were so many different kinds of Worldmasters built, it was hard to cover it all in just one video!! Thank you very much for watching!!
I'm curious as to what made the Worldmaster particularly suitable for export, compared to say the Leopard (available with similar drivetrains), which of course was a big seller in the home market. And also, what made the Worldmaster a success, since most attempts by British companies to sell their products abroad often end in failure, in many cases because of a lack of appreciation of local market needs. I also wonder why more weren't sold at home. Our friend Mr Hilditch bought a few whilst at Halifax (detailed in his book) and they seemed pretty successful there, being strongly engineered.
Hello! I did read that the Worldmasters were often too heavy for most operators, if that makes any sense. But lots of power. Hilditch would definitely know if it's good, seems like he did! Thank you very much for watching!!
The Leopard was a lighter weight chassis with the same mechanical pack. They were popular in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Ireland. Sydney and Newcastle's PTC later UTA (from 1980) had the largest fleet of Leyland Leopards in the world (745) as well as the largest fleet of Mercedes O305s in the world a decade later (1280). Many Leopards got rebodied in the early 1990s by Sydney's private operators as well a new ones they got earlier.
I never knew what the Halifax busses were shown in the photo, must of been on those a few times and have the Matchbox one somewhere which I would never of thought was the same chassis as a Halifax bus I went on, it looks so different. Great video as always
The body on the thumbnail gets my approval. I'm amazed at some of the European bodies they recieved. They look more like on a MAN or Scania chassis. There was even a GM Old Look-alike.
right so i am getting strong feeling that there is ikarus on horizon .) or maybe i am just flying too close to the sun. (seriously they were everywhere ... it was one of 3 busses of the era even as late as early mid 90s). That is quite remarkable list of places that took the bus, also how the hell did Romania smuggled that in BTW? They are landlocked by countries which were at the time in SSSR - it was not long after the pact of warsaw (believe you me they looooved to showcase their tanks in streets of suposedly allied countries to shut any discent up and enfoce normalisation, at basicaly drop of a hat). Now sure i'd understand if it was a license thing like Renault 12 Fiat 125, Saviem Super Galion, or even part shared ownership like Citroën Axel being Olcit club 15 due to join stake in Olcit. i need to know more actualy any details of the deal that alowed such an amazing but being featured past the iron curtain?
Hello! I may do an Ikarus video in the future....so stay tuned! Yes, it's amazing how Romania got those buses....I unfortunately don't have the details, but it looks like the Israelis figured it out, somehow. Thank you very much for watching!!
Superb Jeffrey .....one of the Ellen Smith's pair is preserved in my local museum ...The Manchester Museum of Transport ....apparently chassis was so strong body was worn out and they were both rebodied by Plaxton in 1970 with a more modern style ... You need to do the Leyland Olympic next ...
Hello! Glad you liked the video! Wow, didn't know the Worldmaster was THAT strong, LOL! Just shows you how well it was made. Will look into the Olympic! Thank you very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein you may be interested to know some of the Sydney rebodies got a GM 6-71 transplant with the semi automatic retained. They were referred to as "fuel pinchers" for some reason. One of my earliest bus memories was an ex Adelaide Worldmaster rebodied in 1973.
Thank you for creating these informative videos. I would like offer a challenge which I feel would make a great video or perhaps series of videos. That is to identify the actual prototypes used for the Dinky diecast toys range. The 28b coach would seem to have been based upon an Albion with Scottish Aviation coachwork although I have only seen a van version of this. The 29f luxury coach is, together with the 29f observation coach, depicting a Maudslay Marathon 3, the observation coach you have already shown as the Whitson body. 29g is the Leyland Royal Tiger with Leyland body as used by Ribble Motor Services. 29h the BOAC airport coach is a Harrington Contender integral with Commer TS3 running units. The real challenge however may be the hardest, these being the single door and dual door castings of the Leyland Atlantean. Perhaps one of the municipal fleets of the Northwest was the prototype for the single door version. The casting of a front square destination box will help in identity. The later dual door Atlantean casting has two half-length offside windows either side of the centre stairway panel which again may be the key clue. Hope this helps. Almost forgot the Guy half cab coach, 29e?.
Hello! Very glad you found the vido interesting! I will have to look into the Corgi buses - I have a photo book with every Corgi toy ever made, including the buses, so I will have to review it to see if there's useful info in it. Thank you very much for watching!!
Possibility you mean the Wordmaster was replaced by the Leyland Tiger not unless they offered a different version of the leopard than usual. The Tiger eventually replaced the Leopard. The Tiger was launched 1981 in the UK. I seen Wordmasters in Istanbul in 1981 along with Ikrus that Eastern Europe bus you mentioned sir . Closer to home here in Ireland i seen the rebuild one's with Vanhool coach bodies. A very good video i much enjoyed it sir .
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!! In doing research, especially in Wikipedia (for what that's worth), it was described how the Leopard succeeded the Worldmaster. Maybe the Leopard had more export sales than the Tiger? But perhaps you are right about the Tiger being the actual replacement. Thank you very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein those old Leylands where fantastic pity British Leyland destroyed a fantastic company being a bus fan from Northern Ireland they are in my DNA . I hope you do Leopard and Tigers sir . In 1978 Ulsterbus constructed two Leopard chassis from components recovered from vehicle's sadly destroyed in the troubles . One off them is still in preservation as far as I know. I have done a lot off trips on that vehicle on bus fans trips in Britain and Ireland . They boi
The variations on the Worldmaster make for some very likeable models others look dated. The name Worldmaster seems a bit corny to me, despite it's global success, reminding me of Routemaster, Bridgemaster. Was aware of Leyland's overseas interests, but no so much on this type. AEC also exported buses abroad under the ACLO name, same badge. Nice video.
Hello! Yes, there's such an interesting variety of Worldmasters, it's quite incredible. Have to look up the ACLO buses you mention! Thank you very much for watching!!
About race car transporters - my absolute favourite is Commer chassis based halfbus with amazing two-stroke TS3 diesel engine! Interesting, were there more buses made with this chassis/engine combination?
The shot of the Transway bus has, if I’m not very much mistaken, an AEC badge on the front. Is this in fact a Reliance rather than a world master? This is well before AEC was swallowed up by the Leyland behemoth.
Hello! I'm really glad you liked this video! I may do an Ikarus video if people want it (seems like they do!). Thank you very much for watching again!!
Gliderways (not Gilderways)of Smethwick (pronounced ‘Smethick’). I still have some of the Matchbox model, about which there is an article in the latest ‘Classic Bus’ magazine No.193.
The Mercedes-Benz O305 had 25,000 units sold, by comparison. The Worldmaster still lost for the O305, even though no O305 was sold in U.S. or Canada. However, the O305 was popular in Australia (with units also being used on Adelaide's O-Bahn busway), New Zealand, and in Hong Kong.
Hi is it possible you can do a video on the mercedes O305 O305g they were massed produced and sent to many countries Australia had many i like your bus videos
The 42 Leyland buses that went down in the Thames Estuary after the Magdeburg was rammed by the Japanese Yamashiro Maru in October 1964 were actually Olympic integrals, part of an order for 800, plus 50 MCW-bodied Worldmasters which were eventually delivered to Havana. At the time the US Government threw a tantrum and there are reports of CIA agents pouring sand into the engines of the vehicles in Havana to try to wreck them. In 1975 the Washington Post claimed that the collision had been another CIA plot! All but fourteen of the Olympics were retrieved, those which had been deck cargo still being driveable, and they were eventually auctioned and their running units built into various integral coaches, furniture vans and even a car transporter. Leyland built 42 more Olympics for Havana to replace those lost. The 14 buses still on board Magdeburg went to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay when she sank on tow to a Greek scrapyard.
Hello! Thanks for the clarification on the buses on the Magdeburg. I read something while doing research that it could have been Worldmasters, but maybe not. I actually did a video on this incident called "USA vs. UK: The Cuban Bus Crisis of 1964" which goes into the sabotage plot by the CIA. I didn't review the video before I made this one, so I could have mentioned in that video that they were Olympics. Thank you very much for watching!!
The O.600 “rarely” chosen…..? I don’t think so. In fact the O.600 was the variant that was chosen more than the O.680. The O.680 was the engine that was the standard choise for the British DMU trains and over here in Holland from 1967 onwards when the O.600 was discontinued by Leyland. You probably mixed the O.600 up with the smaller Royal Tiger Cub underfloor design. The Tiger Cub had the O.350/375/400 series engines that had a one piece cylinder head whereas the O.600/680 had two cylinder heads (two three cylinder heads). All variants were also available in vertical versions. The chassis also varied greatly, ranging from a full size (Worldmaster) ladder design to a lighter (Leopard, that essentially was a Tiger Cub chassis) variant together forming an integral bodywork design meaning the bodywork and chassis gave the bus its total strength. Another advantage of the integral variant was that the height of the floor was lower to the ground. The physical dimensions of the O.600 and the O.680 engines were the same. In all, one could say Leyland had a fantastic range of products suitable for virtually all markets in the world. (Source: “The Leyland Bus” by Doug Jack.) The demise of the Leyland empire in the early 80’s was caused by mismanagement and overly powerful unions. This situation also meant a lack of innovation. Shortly after the collapse of the Leyland car division both DAF (trucks and vans) and Volvo (bus) took over what was left of the Leyland truck and bus division. Thereby Volvo taking advantage of Leyland inventions being mainly the double decker bus designs. Greetings from Hekelingen, The Netherlands. Bye, Willem.
Hello! Thanks for all of this additional information! According to Wikipedia in describing the Worldmaster, it states: " A Leyland O680H horizontal engine (the smaller-volume 0.600H was optional but rarely chosen) was mounted at the middle of the chassis frame, driving back through a pneumocyclic semi-automatic gearbox to an overhead-worm rear axle, steering was via a worm and nut mechanism." This is referenced from Doug Jack's book "The Leyland Bus MkII" page 233. So....could these sources be wrong? Just wondering. Thank you very much for watching!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I wouln’t say wrong, no. However, it is complicated as the designs allowed for all sorts of combinations. The semi automatic gear box came later, the customer had the choice between a conventional gear box and later on the Wilson semi automatic design. The Leyland Leopard design was essentially a Tiger Cub chassis with the O.600/680 diesel engine and heavier axles and wheels. This didn’t mean the bus had a low entry but the height from the ground was substantially lower. Leyland also had a low entry design by the way: the Leyland Panther. The fact that other manufacturers made advantage of what Leyland invented shows exactly what I wrote regarding to mismanagement. DAF of Holland more or less took the Leyland Panther designs and used the same technology for the DAF SB series city buses. Which became the #1 choice over here in Holland. They did that as well with the DKDL diesel engine by the way. DAF took the O.680 as example. But like I said, it is complicated.
British place names strike again! Glasgow has a silent W at the end, making it Glaz-go. Smethwick also has a silent W, making it Smeth-ick. Rochdale has an invisible letter T making it Rotchdale when spoken. We have so many tricky place names,some of them defy all logic in their pronounciation. Be very careful if you have a script with Clithero init (what everyone do, don't split it into 2 four-letter words or you'll be demonetised faster than you can say New York; it's splits between tge I and tge T).
@WOFFY-qc9te a femake colleague of mine caused much mirth when she mispronounced that place name. It was almost a tea-spurting as her version of Penistone.
Hello! Oh, thanks for the pronunciation stuff! There's a Rochdale in Queens, NY, but it's pronounced the way I say it...not the way it's supposed to be, I guess. It's hard to get all of these right...Oh, I did know about Glasgow, but out of habit, pronounced it as you would in New York, LOL. Thank you very much for watching!!
What strikes me most is that moat (if not all) bus builders only provided chasses upon which the buyer could put a body built, and equipped, by another company. This is completely opposite to the standard designs of North American builders that provided the entire product.
Hello! Oh yes, it's so different from what the Americans (and Canadians as well) do for building a bus. But the UK way made for lots of different body styles!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Buy buses, ship them literally to the entire opposite side of the Earth, then re-body them and stretch them? That couldnt possibly be cost-effective compared to just building your own from scratch, they must have been giving them away.
LOL, yeah, it doesn't sound too cost effective. But, most buses were bodied locally, with only the chassis being exported. Sounds odd, but that's how it was done. Thanks for watching!!
You are uncovering much about the demise of UK bus building. Unless you have left it for algorithmic engagement your reports cold use google pronunciation guides or all names and places. wegun and smeth-wycke stumped me.
Hello! Oh, it's going to be like that at times, where I am not well-versed about UK pronunciation as I am about their buses! LOL! Google pronunciation does nothing as it just gives it to me the way an American would say it! Thank you very much for watching!!
There was a truck that Leyland introduced in the 1960's, which had all the good driver comforts of the time with a more modern and stylish cab. I am guessing the Worldmaster bus was a followup to that truck in their marketing. But in general, Leyland was quite big for trucks and buses in Zimbabwe, South Africa (including Namibia), Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, India, the Carrebean islands, Australia and New Zealand. The southeast Asian countries, Phillipines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia where public transport is paramount, used American hardware before switching to Japanese Hinos, Isuzus, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyotas etc in the 1960's. There was a prewar GM trucks and buses assembly plant in India, which I think closed down in the early 1960's when India started their own production of engines, transmissions etc rather than relying on CKD imports and making their own licence built 'Ashok Leylands' and their version of the Mercedes-Benz badged as a TATA. Over the past 5 decades one can't help but wonder that these vehicles have carried billions of passengers and goods across all these countries! 🚍🚌
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South Australian here. One of our MTT Worldmasters is shown at 4:08, bodied locally by Freighter Lawton and built in the mid-late 1950s. The Transway bus shown at 9:32 is actually an AEC, but almost indistinguishable from the Leyland, as they shared almost identical bodies. The winged badge, lack of vent holes under the bumper and proud mounted headlights are the only real give-away. The Leyland's headlights were slightly recessed. That particular unit was an ex MTT bus, sold on to Transway and merely repainted. Nice coverage of the units by the way.
Hello! Thank you for the clarification of the Australian Worldmaster! Glad you liked the video, and thanks for watching!
@@JeffreyOrnstein these Adelaide Lawton's "Jumbos" are worth covering in their own right.
Living in the UK, I didn't realize that the Worldmaster, as Jeffrey says, had a much bigger profile abroad. I do recognize the British examples he shows. I've learned so much about the Worldmaster here. Jeffrey is a godsend to bus enthusiasts. Warmest thanks to him for all he does and for making it all so interesting.
Hello! Thank you so much for your very kind comment - it is very much appreciated!!! And I'm so glad that you really like my videos!!!!! Thank you very much for watching!!!
This channel is everything RUclips should be.I had no interest in buses ,but jeffery makes the subject fascinating good work sir.
Hello! I'm so happy you really like my videos and that it may have sparked an interest in buses!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Thank you a lot for this video. I am very impressed how many buses in the Netherlands in & around the 1960ies werde based on the Worldmaster - from well-known "bolramers" (those with the "fishbowl"-style front windows) to some very distinguished variants operated by Maarse & Kroon or NHADO (->NACO->NZH). Leyland really had a huge impact on dutch buses, and the characteristic half-automatic gearbox was a standard feature still in the 1980ies.
Hello! Very glad you liked the video! Didn't know the term Bolramers, so thank you for that! Yes, the front windshields of many of those buses in the Netherlands were very similar to those on American buses of the time. Thank you very much for watching!!
Maarse &Kroone Aalsmeer
Hi Jeff from Sydney, Australia. I'm almost 70 yrs old now and when I was a kid the New South Wales government transport dept' probably owned nearly as many as Israel did. 1,000's of them in both Newcastle 100 miles north of Sydney, and in Sydney, they replaced every tram car with a Tiger, and all the old smaller Leyland's, Albions & AEC's that looked like single deck preWW2 double deckers. Sydney has many very steep hills and the 11 litre diesels pulled like elephants, tough, hardy and reliable. With all steel bodies built by Comeng (commonwealth engineering) many outlasted the newer Mercedes Benz busses bought to replace them. We had two types, the lower roof with ovaloid non opening upper windows of which you had two pictured, and the later ones making up near 90% of the fleet with the taller roof which had a half height upper set of opening windows above the tall glass lower ones and a wonderful breeze entered on the hottest of 100-degree days. I travelled 24 miles a day for each of 6 high school days in one of these, and not one time did one ever break down. When going to Sydney Uni in the city the same could not be said of the new Mercedes which seemed to HATE Sydney's long hot summers, leaving you stranded halfway into the city making you late for classes. So I gave up and drove my old Holden car into the city to Uni'.
Hello! Wow, thanks for all of the interesting info on the buses in Australia - very interesting to read your experiences! Thank you very much for watching!!
Your histories about British buses are great!!
Hello! I'm so glad you like my videos!!!! Thank you very much for watching again!!
It didn’t want global domination-just the bits that weren’t oceans! Keep up the good work-very enjoyable!
Ha!! I think if Leyland could have made a floating bus, they would!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Magnificent, Jeffrey, as always! Thank-you!
Hello John! Glad you liked it!! Thank you very much for watching again!!
Hi Jeffrey, that was a well put together video of a world class vehicle. Thank you.
Hello! I'm really happy that you liked the video and how I created it!! Thank you very much for watching!!
I used to ride a world master to school , a heavy duty bus with a semi automatic gearbox. I Rode to School in Southend onsea . The buses were ex Glasgow corporation busses The were sold off in1972 your blue and white shot at 5m 13 secs is one off
the actual busses I rode on . Thanks for the memories 👍😊🇬🇧
Hello! Glad you liked the video!!!! Thank you very much for watching!!
I was never that interested in Buses until I stumbled on to your Channel. I have always been an Antique Car, Truck and Tractor lover, now I find buses so interesting as well. Thank you!!
Hello! I'm so glad my videos somehow found you, and that it started an interest in buses!!!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Welcome aboard.
I, for one, welcome our new Leyland Global Overlords.
LOL, they are building lots of new buses for us as we speak! Thank you very much for watching!!
I know that my husband’s favourite Leyland 'Worldmaster' was the Matchbox toy that was shown! He admits to having about four of them as a kid (that was such a long time ago!) and he thinks there is probably still at least one of them stored away in our shed!
Hello Melanie!! That would be great if you found it - I'm sure it's a big collector's item today!!! Thank you very much for watching again!!
I had no idea that so many of these were produced and with very few entering UK service it's not likely anybody on here will have direct experience of them. In the fifties, Leyland's single deck offering to the UK was dominated initially by the "standard" Royal Tiger, superceded by the Tiger Cub. Fascinating vid.
Hello! Very glad you liked the video!!! And thanks for the insights! Thank you very much for watching!!
Yes I don't remember them much and they were outnumbered by Leopards and Tigers, and later Nationals. Had no idea they actually were Worldmasters!
Yet other countries did know about theirs and we're highly revered.
I remember travelling on the 2 Ellen Smith Worldmasters which always sounded great and had great performance. They gave great service for many years both being rebodied by Plaxtons as mentioned in the video.
Hello! Great to hear to your experience with the Ellen Smith Worldmasters!! Thank you very much for watching!!
MTT is our western Australian bus service there the ones I remember riding on as a child 👍👍🇦🇺
Good one Jeffrey
It certainly had a long production life. Fire apparatus are my other interest so it’s great that you showed that apparatus. Well done Jeffery.
Hello! Oh yes, couldn't leave out the fire engine version, it was quite interesting that it was at least tried! Thank you very much for watching again!!
A pleasure to look back on the Worldmaster Buses, that were in Sydney and Adelaide! You do a great job on your videos, Jeffrey!
Hello! I'm very glad you liked the video - couldn't leave out the Australian buses!! Thank you very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I am a Rail Enthusiast, First, but Trams, buses and other forms of transport, are of interest and enjoyment to me. You do a GREAT Job, Jeffrey! It is so good to see an American covering Britain, Australia and the World, bus scene. In Australia, we had MCI and Silver Eagle buses in the 1970's, and I rode those types in the US in that period, as well. I want to see SLEEPER BUSES running in Australia, ASAP, as I will NOT sit up overnight on a train or a bus! How about a video on SLEEPER BUSES?
Cheers Jeffrey, didn’t know about this model….👍👌🇮🇲
Hello! Glad you found the video interesting!!! Thanks for watching again!!
I grew up with Worldmasters in Perth Australia in the 1960’s and 70’s!
Awesome that you grew up with the Worldmaster!! Thank you very much for watching!!
I've heard a recording of an ex MTT Perth example. I was really taken with it.
Another great video Jeffery giving us a remarkable run down on the Worldmaster.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! Thank you very much for watching!!
I've a Royal Tiger Badge in my Leyland Zoo. Popular with visitors; a beautiful piece of art in itself.
Hand crafted in Birmingham by Manhattan Windsor. 🐅
Hello! Oh yes, it's a work of art that badge...lucky you that you have one!! Thank you very much for watching!!
That's a great badge! When I was a schoolboy I wanted one of those Leopard or Tiger badges. I seem to recall that those buses in Portsmouth did not have the badges for some reason- probably Portsmouth Corporation was saving some pennies! Anyway, I never got one of the badges and I have managed to survive the intervening 60 odd years without one! Some of those overseas bus bodies should come with a "viewer discretion" warning!
Corporation / Council bus operators tended to avoid manufacturers ID, the one exception being London Transport, no coincidence that the AEC badge similar to the LT Roundel as originally owned by Underground Electric Railways of London (later London Underground) and London General Omnibus Company as the Associated Equipment Company, absorbed into the London Passenger Transport Board (GLC) and sold off to independent management whilst still retaining ties to LPTB later just LTB shortened to LT for the public. LT retaining ties to Leyland/AEC with the Aldenham Bus Works adjacent to the Leyland/AEC Parts Depot on jointly owned land. UERL was owned by a dodgy American businessman, Charles Tyson Yerkes, he had to flee the US under a cloud of failed transport ventures. He quickly got involved in early underground railways in London in the late 1800's as had a knack for raising money.
Hello! Oh yes, that badge is like a work of art!! I want one now, LOL. Thank you very much for watching!!
@@tonys1636 The Portsmouth Atlanteans did have the badge but I am pretty sure those Leopards and Tigers did not. I did a search and saw a photo of a Tiger that was in the Portsmouth fleet and it does not have a badge. As you point out, AEC was formed as part of the "associated" industry behind the new electric railways- hence its rather prosaic name but the badge hits the spot!
We have a couple of them in the Otago Heritage Bus Society. One is restored in its DCT (Dunedin City Transport) colours, but has an engine issue. The other was converted to a horse box with a living area. It too will be converted back to a city bus over the next few years. 136 can be seen on the OHBS website under the Fleet tag. Another great video Jeffrey, many thanks!
Hello! Glad you liked the video and thanks for the info on the restored World Masters! Thanks for watching!
Some say the Leyland Worldmaster was the best bus Sydney ever had.
They were the only one that would come away undamaged in a collision with a car! Plus they had good hill climbing power with their torquey O680 11 litre diesels.
Many ex Sydney and ex Adelaide ones got rebodied by local private bus companies mostly by Custom Coaches of Sydney, but Oliveris Metrolink got Austral Metroliner bodywork of Brisbane on theirs in 1982.
Many overwidth Adelaide ones like one you pictured, were narrowed by bus companies to comply in NSW. They simply tapered them down to the bottom which it where the measuring took place!
Very good selection of examples in this 12 minute video.
I think we need more Worldmaster videos in the future.
Hello! Really glad you liked the video! I also heard from others that the Worldmaster was great for Sydney! Thanks for the additional info and thanks for watching again!
Thank you Jeffrey very for another well researched bus video 😊
Hello Robert!! Really happy you found the video interesting!! Thank you very much for watching again!!
Wow, very interesting Jeffrey! Thank you - Your channel is a real gem!!
Hello! I'm so happy you really liked the video and my channel!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Great stuff Jeffrey you have done it again another excellent potted history of a UK bus that had 150 bhp when first introduced these would have been powerful and good performing buses when around 100 bhp was the norm. That Leyland 608 H engine also found its way into BR railcars and DMU's. Wonder how a Worldmaster coach would compare on maximum and cruising speed and economy with a petrol engined Flxible or one of the Greyhound cruisers(were they GM)? BTW as far as London buses are concerned, this song about one of the pre war6 wheelers is a novelty ruclips.net/video/7yHrpPRYgYM/видео.html
Hello! Oh yes, the Worldmasters were quite strong it seemed, and could probably go up against an American bus. The early Greyhounds were built by GM, and then by MCI (Motor Coach Industries). Got to check out that song. Thank you very much for watching!!
They also rode in the Netherlands, but with a locally produced body. I was always fascinated bij the semi automatic gearbox, and I can still recall the typical o680 sound
Hello! Oh, yes, you are right....some interesting ones in the Netherlands for sure! Thank you very much for watching!!
Traveled on the Ellen Smiths Worldmasters many times, the performance up hills was equal to many cars and certainly better than any other coaches of the time. Many of the Yorkshire routes left the area via the Blackstone Edge climb and overtaking the AEC coaches of the local Yelloway company which as children we loved waving at as we passed.
Hello! Wow, very interesting to hear about your experience with the Ellen Smiths Worldmasters! Thank you very much for watching!!
Yes very true travelled on ODK137 and SDK442 on school trips as you say they could see off any other operators coaches flying up Blackstone Edge !
What a cornucopia of bus designs and liveries! Who would have thought they all had an almost identical chassis. The Volkswagen 'bus' actually did achieve world domination, in innumerable guises including mini-bus, camper and pickup.
Hello! Yes, it's amazing to see how many different 'flavors' of this bus existed, LOL! I wish there was like a 30-ft. version of the VW bus! Thank you very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeffrey for another great video. It takes me back to when I wrote the Wikipedia article you've cited. Favourite Worldmasters of mine are the Glasgow ones (of course), the Irish ones which had a designer body by Ogle Associates to start with, but then at eight years old got Van Hool Vistadome coachwork which was both more contemporary and allowed more operational flexibility. The last ones were retired in 2003 after 40 years service. Then there's one by our old friends at Ayats, built for a Spanish express coach operator which was designed to resemble the Ford Edsel car.
Hello Stephen! Very happy you liked the video!!! Especially from an expert like you! Oh yes, I saw those Vistadome Worldmasters, just didn't fit it into the video. I read about that Edsel-like body on a Worldmaster, but I couldn't find a picture of it, unfortuantely. Thank you very much for watching!!
When I was in Brisbane in 1988 I went to Tangalooma Island for a day trip. I caught a bus from Brisbane to the ferry and it was an old Leeds corporation double decker. It still had all the old adverts inside and the blinds read “Leeds City centre”. Also on the way to Australia I stopped in Singapore and there was a baggage trolly with a metal plate on it saying “not to be removed from Crewe Station”.
Hello! LOL! I guess it was apparently removed from Crewe and ended up a long way from there! Thank you very much for watching!!
Being a brit and not really seeing them it was only recently that I even realised any were sold here, i.e. the Halifax and coach examples popping up in various books. Always got the impression that it was "too complex" (the usual engineering excuse) for the home market. Great video Jeffrey 😃
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!! I also read the chassis was too heavy for many operators.... Thank you very much for watching!!
My favourite would have to be Hino , mid 70's. It came as a chassis kit divided into short sections. You just assembled, installed pipe work and wiring, then diy the body . Simple and easy to work on with a nice ride.
Hello! Thanks for the info on the Hinos! Thank you very much for watching!!
7:14 I recognized that bus - because I used to have the Matchbox version. And then you showed that.
Great! Lucky you that you have one of those models!! Thanks for watching!!
Thanks Jeffrey, very interesting. Well done !
Hello! I'm very happy you liked the video!! Thank you very much for watching again!!
had a few of these come through the family bus fleet,all were 600 engined and ive never seen a 680 powered one yet,the only noteable one was the ex driving instruction MTT manual 4 speed 600 which had the heaviest gearshift and clutch ive ever seen,back in the 2000's i worked for kalamunda bus lines that had 6 re-bodied tigers with the original chassis cut and a stepped set of chassis beams installed to allow the 6-71 ex train unit detriot diesels to be fitted retaining the original wilson semi auto gearboxes and worm drive diffs,they had fitted non turbo pistons to N/A engines to derated them so the gearboxes would not break,i rebuilt one of these engines for kalamunda bus lines,a few were sold less driveline to perth hills locals who used them for extra rooms
Hello! Thanks for the very interesting info on the buses in Australia!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Wow, this could be a couple videos, they made these coach frames and sent to all the markets and it worked,great video,
Hello! Yes, there were so many different kinds of Worldmasters built, it was hard to cover it all in just one video!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Thank you, an interesting presentation.
Hello! I'm very happy you liked the video!!! Thank you very much for watching!!
Excellent presentation Jeffrey👍
Hello! Thank you!!! I'm really happy you liked the video! Thank you very much for watching!!
I'm curious as to what made the Worldmaster particularly suitable for export, compared to say the Leopard (available with similar drivetrains), which of course was a big seller in the home market. And also, what made the Worldmaster a success, since most attempts by British companies to sell their products abroad often end in failure, in many cases because of a lack of appreciation of local market needs. I also wonder why more weren't sold at home. Our friend Mr Hilditch bought a few whilst at Halifax (detailed in his book) and they seemed pretty successful there, being strongly engineered.
Hello! I did read that the Worldmasters were often too heavy for most operators, if that makes any sense. But lots of power. Hilditch would definitely know if it's good, seems like he did! Thank you very much for watching!!
The Leopard was a lighter weight chassis with the same mechanical pack. They were popular in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Ireland.
Sydney and Newcastle's PTC later UTA (from 1980) had the largest fleet of Leyland Leopards in the world (745) as well as the largest fleet of Mercedes O305s in the world a decade later (1280).
Many Leopards got rebodied in the early 1990s by Sydney's private operators as well a new ones they got earlier.
I never knew what the Halifax busses were shown in the photo, must of been on those a few times and have the Matchbox one somewhere which I would never of thought was the same chassis as a Halifax bus I went on, it looks so different. Great video as always
Hello! Really glad you liked the video!! Thank you very much for watching again!!
Very interesting video Jeff. Thank you for bringing it to us. Keep up the good work 😊
Hello! Really happy you found the video interesting! Thank you very much for watching!!
Thanks Jeff for another well informed video.
Hello Ian! I'm really happy you liked the video!!!! Thank you very much for watching!!
👍
Thank you very much for watching!!
Many of the bodies leave a lot to be desired but you certainly can't say that when looking at the Italian design, it has that Thunderbirds vibe.
The chassis didn't.
Hello! Oh yes, that Casaro...FAB!! Thank you very much for watching!!
The body on the thumbnail gets my approval.
I'm amazed at some of the European bodies they recieved. They look more like on a MAN or Scania chassis. There was even a GM Old Look-alike.
I would like a video on our MTT and all the buses up to the Mercedes bendy bus of the early eighties
Cheers Jeffrey
Hello! Thanks for your comments and your suggestion! I will look into the MTT buses history - a tall order indeed! Thanks very much for watching!
Wow, a mid-engined bus with the engine mounted at 90 degrees.
I bet it handled well.
Hello! Oh yes, this was a very strong chassis! Thank you very much for watching!!
right so i am getting strong feeling that there is ikarus on horizon .)
or maybe i am just flying too close to the sun. (seriously they were everywhere ... it was one of 3 busses of the era even as late as early mid 90s).
That is quite remarkable list of places that took the bus, also how the hell did Romania smuggled that in BTW? They are landlocked by countries which were at the time in SSSR - it was not long after the pact of warsaw (believe you me they looooved to showcase their tanks in streets of suposedly allied countries to shut any discent up and enfoce normalisation, at basicaly drop of a hat).
Now sure i'd understand if it was a license thing like Renault 12 Fiat 125, Saviem Super Galion, or even part shared ownership like Citroën Axel being Olcit club 15 due to join stake in Olcit.
i need to know more actualy any details of the deal that alowed such an amazing but being featured past the iron curtain?
Hello! I may do an Ikarus video in the future....so stay tuned! Yes, it's amazing how Romania got those buses....I unfortunately don't have the details, but it looks like the Israelis figured it out, somehow. Thank you very much for watching!!
Superb Jeffrey .....one of the Ellen Smith's pair is preserved in my local museum ...The Manchester Museum of Transport ....apparently chassis was so strong body was worn out and they were both rebodied by Plaxton in 1970 with a more modern style ...
You need to do the Leyland Olympic next ...
Hello! Glad you liked the video! Wow, didn't know the Worldmaster was THAT strong, LOL! Just shows you how well it was made. Will look into the Olympic! Thank you very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein you may be interested to know some of the Sydney rebodies got a GM 6-71 transplant with the semi automatic retained. They were referred to as "fuel pinchers" for some reason.
One of my earliest bus memories was an ex Adelaide Worldmaster rebodied in 1973.
Thank you for creating these informative videos.
I would like offer a challenge which I feel would make a great video or perhaps series of videos. That is to identify the actual prototypes used for the Dinky diecast toys range.
The 28b coach would seem to have been based upon an Albion with Scottish Aviation coachwork although I have only seen a van version of this.
The 29f luxury coach is, together with the 29f observation coach, depicting a Maudslay Marathon 3, the observation coach you have already shown as the Whitson body.
29g is the Leyland Royal Tiger with Leyland body as used by Ribble Motor Services. 29h the BOAC airport coach is a Harrington Contender integral with Commer TS3 running units.
The real challenge however may be the hardest, these being the single door and dual door castings of the Leyland Atlantean. Perhaps one of the municipal fleets of the Northwest was the prototype for the single door version. The casting of a front square destination box will help in identity. The later dual door Atlantean casting has two half-length offside windows either side of the centre stairway panel which again may be the key clue.
Hope this helps.
Almost forgot the Guy half cab coach, 29e?.
Hello! Very glad you found the vido interesting! I will have to look into the Corgi buses - I have a photo book with every Corgi toy ever made, including the buses, so I will have to review it to see if there's useful info in it. Thank you very much for watching!!
Possibility you mean the Wordmaster was replaced by the Leyland Tiger not unless they offered a different version of the leopard than usual. The Tiger eventually replaced the Leopard. The Tiger was launched 1981 in the UK. I seen Wordmasters in Istanbul in 1981 along with Ikrus that Eastern Europe bus you mentioned sir . Closer to home here in Ireland i seen the rebuild one's with Vanhool coach bodies. A very good video i much enjoyed it sir .
Hello! I'm really glad you liked the video!! In doing research, especially in Wikipedia (for what that's worth), it was described how the Leopard succeeded the Worldmaster. Maybe the Leopard had more export sales than the Tiger? But perhaps you are right about the Tiger being the actual replacement. Thank you very much for watching!!
@@JeffreyOrnstein those old Leylands where fantastic pity British Leyland destroyed a fantastic company being a bus fan from Northern Ireland they are in my DNA . I hope you do Leopard and Tigers sir . In 1978 Ulsterbus constructed two Leopard chassis from components recovered from vehicle's sadly destroyed in the troubles . One off them is still in preservation as far as I know. I have done a lot off trips on that vehicle on bus fans trips in Britain and Ireland . They boi
Bodied them with the standard Ulsterbus Alexander X type.
The variations on the Worldmaster make for some very likeable models others look dated. The name Worldmaster seems a bit corny to me, despite it's global success, reminding me of Routemaster, Bridgemaster. Was aware of Leyland's overseas interests, but no so much on this type. AEC also exported buses abroad under the ACLO name, same badge. Nice video.
Hello! Yes, there's such an interesting variety of Worldmasters, it's quite incredible. Have to look up the ACLO buses you mention! Thank you very much for watching!!
About race car transporters - my absolute favourite is Commer chassis based halfbus with amazing two-stroke TS3 diesel engine! Interesting, were there more buses made with this chassis/engine combination?
Hello! Not sure about more combinations. Thanks for watching!
The shot of the Transway bus has, if I’m not very much mistaken, an AEC badge on the front. Is this in fact a Reliance rather than a world master? This is well before AEC was swallowed up by the Leyland behemoth.
Hello! I will have to check that. Thanks for watching!
Jeffrey, another well executed video, thank you, you keep mentioning ikarus are you just teasing us or is there a video in the pipeline ???
Hello! I'm really glad you liked this video! I may do an Ikarus video if people want it (seems like they do!). Thank you very much for watching again!!
Produced under License?
Hello! It sounds like it would have been, but wasn't built outside of the UK under license, believe it or not! Thank you very much for watching!!
Gliderways (not Gilderways)of Smethwick (pronounced ‘Smethick’). I still have some of the Matchbox model, about which there is an article in the latest ‘Classic Bus’ magazine No.193.
Thanks for the info and thanks for watching!
Some of the buses in the video had new-look Flxable windshield design.
Hello! Oh yes, that windshield design was quite popular in the '60s and '70s! Thank you very much for watching!!
The Mercedes-Benz O305 had 25,000 units sold, by comparison.
The Worldmaster still lost for the O305, even though no O305 was sold in U.S. or Canada.
However, the O305 was popular in Australia (with units also being used on Adelaide's O-Bahn busway), New Zealand, and in Hong Kong.
Hello! Thanks for the update on the Mercedes sales numbers! Thank you very much for watching!!
Nice one Jeffrey, some of those Australian ones were pretty ugly !
Hello! Glad you liked the video! Thank you very much for watching!!
The Ikarus owes his Record Numbers in huge Part to an Comecon Decission to make Hungary the main Producer for Busses in the entire Soviet Block.
Thanks for the info about Ikarus! Thank you very much for watching!!
Hi is it possible you can do a video on the mercedes O305 O305g they were massed produced and sent to many countries Australia had many i like your bus videos
Hello! Very happy you like my videos! I will look into the Mercedes o305 for a future video! Thank you very much for watching!!
The 42 Leyland buses that went down in the Thames Estuary after the Magdeburg was rammed by the Japanese Yamashiro Maru in October 1964 were actually Olympic integrals, part of an order for 800, plus 50 MCW-bodied Worldmasters which were eventually delivered to Havana. At the time the US Government threw a tantrum and there are reports of CIA agents pouring sand into the engines of the vehicles in Havana to try to wreck them. In 1975 the Washington Post claimed that the collision had been another CIA plot! All but fourteen of the Olympics were retrieved, those which had been deck cargo still being driveable, and they were eventually auctioned and their running units built into various integral coaches, furniture vans and even a car transporter. Leyland built 42 more Olympics for Havana to replace those lost. The 14 buses still on board Magdeburg went to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay when she sank on tow to a Greek scrapyard.
Hello! Thanks for the clarification on the buses on the Magdeburg. I read something while doing research that it could have been Worldmasters, but maybe not. I actually did a video on this incident called "USA vs. UK: The Cuban Bus Crisis of 1964" which goes into the sabotage plot by the CIA. I didn't review the video before I made this one, so I could have mentioned in that video that they were Olympics. Thank you very much for watching!!
The Olympic series III used similar mechanical units to the Worldmaster.
Oh man that made for anguishing reading. Leylands being attacked that way by a hypocritical US government.
The O.600 “rarely” chosen…..? I don’t think so. In fact the O.600 was the variant that was chosen more than the O.680. The O.680 was the engine that was the standard choise for the British DMU trains and over here in Holland from 1967 onwards when the O.600 was discontinued by Leyland. You probably mixed the O.600 up with the smaller Royal Tiger Cub underfloor design. The Tiger Cub had the O.350/375/400 series engines that had a one piece cylinder head whereas the O.600/680 had two cylinder heads (two three cylinder heads). All variants were also available in vertical versions. The chassis also varied greatly, ranging from a full size (Worldmaster) ladder design to a lighter (Leopard, that essentially was a Tiger Cub chassis) variant together forming an integral bodywork design meaning the bodywork and chassis gave the bus its total strength. Another advantage of the integral variant was that the height of the floor was lower to the ground. The physical dimensions of the O.600 and the O.680 engines were the same. In all, one could say Leyland had a fantastic range of products suitable for virtually all markets in the world. (Source: “The Leyland Bus” by Doug Jack.) The demise of the Leyland empire in the early 80’s was caused by mismanagement and overly powerful unions. This situation also meant a lack of innovation. Shortly after the collapse of the Leyland car division both DAF (trucks and vans) and Volvo (bus) took over what was left of the Leyland truck and bus division. Thereby Volvo taking advantage of Leyland inventions being mainly the double decker bus designs. Greetings from Hekelingen, The Netherlands. Bye, Willem.
Hello! Thanks for all of this additional information! According to Wikipedia in describing the Worldmaster, it states: " A Leyland O680H horizontal engine (the smaller-volume 0.600H was optional but rarely chosen) was mounted at the middle of the chassis frame, driving back through a pneumocyclic semi-automatic gearbox to an overhead-worm rear axle, steering was via a worm and nut mechanism." This is referenced from Doug Jack's book "The Leyland Bus MkII" page 233.
So....could these sources be wrong? Just wondering.
Thank you very much for watching!
@@JeffreyOrnstein I wouln’t say wrong, no. However, it is complicated as the designs allowed for all sorts of combinations. The semi automatic gear box came later, the customer had the choice between a conventional gear box and later on the Wilson semi automatic design. The Leyland Leopard design was essentially a Tiger Cub chassis with the O.600/680 diesel engine and heavier axles and wheels. This didn’t mean the bus had a low entry but the height from the ground was substantially lower. Leyland also had a low entry design by the way: the Leyland Panther. The fact that other manufacturers made advantage of what Leyland invented shows exactly what I wrote regarding to mismanagement. DAF of Holland more or less took the Leyland Panther designs and used the same technology for the DAF SB series city buses. Which became the #1 choice over here in Holland. They did that as well with the DKDL diesel engine by the way. DAF took the O.680 as example. But like I said, it is complicated.
British place names strike again! Glasgow has a silent W at the end, making it Glaz-go. Smethwick also has a silent W, making it Smeth-ick. Rochdale has an invisible letter T making it Rotchdale when spoken. We have so many tricky place names,some of them defy all logic in their pronounciation. Be very careful if you have a script with Clithero init (what everyone do, don't split it into 2 four-letter words or you'll be demonetised faster than you can say New York; it's splits between tge I and tge T).
Don't mention Barnoldswick! Birthplace of Rolls-Royce jet engines- the RB in RB211.
You just had to mention Clithero ( bugger off spell check ) could you not have spared the world this confusion or were you just flexing .......🤣
@WOFFY-qc9te a femake colleague of mine caused much mirth when she mispronounced that place name. It was almost a tea-spurting as her version of Penistone.
...and "Gilderways" should be "Gliderways"!
Hello! Oh, thanks for the pronunciation stuff! There's a Rochdale in Queens, NY, but it's pronounced the way I say it...not the way it's supposed to be, I guess. It's hard to get all of these right...Oh, I did know about Glasgow, but out of habit, pronounced it as you would in New York, LOL. Thank you very much for watching!!
What strikes me most is that moat (if not all) bus builders only provided chasses upon which the buyer could put a body built, and equipped, by another company. This is completely opposite to the standard designs of North American builders that provided the entire product.
Hello! Oh yes, it's so different from what the Americans (and Canadians as well) do for building a bus. But the UK way made for lots of different body styles!! Thank you very much for watching!!
The Bucharest I.T.B. had problems... don't know why.
Hello! Didn't know that about the ITB buses! Thanks for watching!
Buy buses, ship them literally to the entire opposite side of the Earth, then re-body them and stretch them? That couldnt possibly be cost-effective compared to just building your own from scratch, they must have been giving them away.
LOL, yeah, it doesn't sound too cost effective. But, most buses were bodied locally, with only the chassis being exported. Sounds odd, but that's how it was done. Thanks for watching!!
Rugged looking
Yes, it sure was! Thank you very much for watching!!
You are uncovering much about the demise of UK bus building. Unless you have left it for algorithmic engagement your reports cold use google pronunciation guides or all names and places. wegun and smeth-wycke stumped me.
Hello! Oh, it's going to be like that at times, where I am not well-versed about UK pronunciation as I am about their buses! LOL! Google pronunciation does nothing as it just gives it to me the way an American would say it! Thank you very much for watching!!
There was a truck that Leyland introduced in the 1960's, which had all the good driver comforts of the time with a more modern and stylish cab. I am guessing the Worldmaster bus was a followup to that truck in their marketing. But in general, Leyland was quite big for trucks and buses in Zimbabwe, South Africa (including Namibia), Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, India, the Carrebean islands, Australia and New Zealand. The southeast Asian countries, Phillipines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia where public transport is paramount, used American hardware before switching to Japanese Hinos, Isuzus, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyotas etc in the 1960's.
There was a prewar GM trucks and buses assembly plant in India, which I think closed down in the early 1960's when India started their own production of engines, transmissions etc rather than relying on CKD imports and making their own licence built 'Ashok Leylands' and their version of the Mercedes-Benz badged as a TATA. Over the past 5 decades one can't help but wonder that these vehicles have carried billions of passengers and goods across all these countries! 🚍🚌
Hello! Wow, thanks for all of that info about Leyaland its works in India, very interesting! Thank you very much for watching again!!
LAZ-695 «Lviv» - UKRAINIAN bus build from 1956 till 2002 and produce around !!! 250 000 !!!
Tell me about world domination :)
Hello! Wow, 250,000?? Wow, that's A LOT!!! Thank you very much for watching!!