XRB 415L - Leyland National
Early in 1972 the Midland General Omnibus Co Ltd of Langley Mill, Notts placed an order for six Leyland Nationals , three of which had delivered by December of that same year, the first numerically being XRB 415L - fleet N0 415.
At the time of the order Leyland would only supply vehicles finished in a single colour and so in keeping with the MGO policy of cream with blue relief for buses the Nationals arrived in all over tilling cream - MGO were to apply the blue finish around the windows and add the Midland General fleet name in the standard gold leaf.
By the time of the delivery National Bus had agreed on new corporate liveries of either red, green or blue so the initial three vehicles (415, 416 and 417) were repainted at Trent central works using MGO Azure blue complete with a white stripe and National Bus emblem's.
This early production model (chassis No 00184) was supplied with dual door layout which thankfully is still retained. This is unusual for a Trent National as company policy due to a number of reasons was to remove the rear set and as such convert to single door. Alas one thing that has been lost are the stainless steel bumpers - perculiar to the early Nationals - no doubt due to the high cost of repairs.
By February of 1977, 415 had succumbed to the Trent corporate colour of poppy red with a white stripe and Trent fleetnames as so the absorbtion was complete.
415 was withdrawn by Trent in 1984 but continued with passenger transportation with its new owner, East Midlands Airport Authority. After fifteen years ownership passed onto Servisair who continued to use the vehicle for air side duties at Castle Donnington. By 2003 however the time had come for retirement and so 415 was secured for preservation. Work commenced in 2005 and finally completed some two years later.
At the time of the order Leyland would only supply vehicles finished in a single colour and so in keeping with the MGO policy of cream with blue relief for buses the Nationals arrived in all over tilling cream - MGO were to apply the blue finish around the windows and add the Midland General fleet name in the standard gold leaf.
By the time of the delivery National Bus had agreed on new corporate liveries of either red, green or blue so the initial three vehicles (415, 416 and 417) were repainted at Trent central works using MGO Azure blue complete with a white stripe and National Bus emblem's.
This early production model (chassis No 00184) was supplied with dual door layout which thankfully is still retained. This is unusual for a Trent National as company policy due to a number of reasons was to remove the rear set and as such convert to single door. Alas one thing that has been lost are the stainless steel bumpers - perculiar to the early Nationals - no doubt due to the high cost of repairs.
By February of 1977, 415 had succumbed to the Trent corporate colour of poppy red with a white stripe and Trent fleetnames as so the absorbtion was complete.
415 was withdrawn by Trent in 1984 but continued with passenger transportation with its new owner, East Midlands Airport Authority. After fifteen years ownership passed onto Servisair who continued to use the vehicle for air side duties at Castle Donnington. By 2003 however the time had come for retirement and so 415 was secured for preservation. Work commenced in 2005 and finally completed some two years later.
