A former Sunderland Corporation bus has returned to the North East to join our collection of period vehicles.
The Leyland Lion LT1 was one of the first buses purchased by Sunderland Corporation in 1929 to serve routes around Sunderland.
Sunderland Corporation, whose tramways system was established by an act of parliament in 1899, was given powers to operate motor buses in 1927. Initially, the company hired vehicles and crews from the Northern General Transport Company before buying 12 Leyland Lion LT1s in 1929.
Sunderland No. 2, which has arrived at the museum this week, was the second bus in Sunderland Corporation’s first batch of 12, 32-seat Leyland Lion LT1s.
The Leyland Lion design first appeared in 1925 and marked a significant step-change in bus design, moving from adapted goods vehicle chassis, to a design which was tailored to accommodate passengers.
Sunderland No. 2 operated in the Sunderland area until it was sold to a private dealer in Hull who exported it to Jersey in the 1930s. The bus went into service with Tanvity Motors and was later purchased by Jersey Motor Transport before being withdrawn from service in 1959 and purchased for preservation. In recent years, the bus has been based at Amberley Chalk Pits Museum in West Sussex under the ownership of the Southdown Omnibus Trust.
Paul Jarman, Assistant Director (Design, Transport & Industry) at Beamish Museum, said: “Adding Sunderland No. 2 to the museum collection is the realisation of a long-held aspiration to represent both the era and the area of work in the museum collection. This bus, as a corporation vehicle, has been something that we have been talking to the former owners about for a number of years.
“The bus gives us a regionally important vehicle on account of its age and significant place in the Sunderland fleet, but it also represents a bus operated by a municipal organisation – contrasting nicely with our similarly aged Northern General Transport Company SOS bus, which represents a company operator.
“We are extremely grateful to Michael Plunkett, the Southdown Omnibus Trust and Richard Hussey who facilitated the transfer of the bus, with Richard assisting in bringing all of the parties together and carrying out some work on the bus to enable it to take part in its last running day at Amberley last September and to arrive at Beamish in running condition.”
While Sunderland No. 2 is drivable, we have a programme of mechanical, electrical and body repairs planned before the bus can enter service.
The latest addition to the fleet of buses will be on display in The Northern General Transport Bus Depot at the museum.
For more information about Beamish Museum’s transport collection, visit the Beamish Museum Transport Blog.