LONDON TRANSPORT TD CLASS

Leyland Tiger PS1 single-deckers

This page prepared by Ian Smith, created 18th September 1999.

The post-war TD class Tigers could be thought of as the Leyland equivalent of the postwar T-class Regals. Or, looked at another way, the single-deck equivalent of the postwar Leyland STDs. They appeared in two variants: the first, the 1TD1s, had provincial style bodies by Weymann that were very similar to those built for the Central Area postwar Regals, while the later 1/1TD2 version had a doorless version of the Mann-Egerton bodies produced for the Country Area Ts. Both had 7.4litre direct injection Leyland diesel engines, driving through crash gearboxes.

The Weymann buses: TD1-31 (Total 31)

Construction

1TD1 The chassis were Leyland Tiger PS1, with a Leyland six cylinder 7.4 litre direct injection diesel engine, and a 17ft 6in wheelbase.
The bodies were by Weymann, their take-it or leave-it immediate postwar product, with sliding ventilators on the windows, and a deep underhanging destination box above the cab. The rear box was cocked up above the roofline, while the rear had a single window. The emergency door was on the offside.
Points of difference from the sister T-class (apart from the chromium-plated Leyland radiator) were the square cab front and the plainer bonnet, (still without a number plate). They were 27ft long x 7ft 6in wide, and seated 33 originally, although this was later reduced to 32 to give the conductor extra standing space.

Into service

1TD1 All thirty-one went for service to Muswell Hill (MH), forming the primary allocation for hilly route 212, starting in December 1946. This route had just recently been given new 14T12 Regals, but these had proved underpowered for the route, and were displaced to Sidcup and Uxbridge. Once all thirty-one had been delivered there was a small surplus at Muswell Hill, and these were used to supplement the Renown six-wheelers on route 210.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
MH Muswell Hill 212 Finsbury Park - Crouch End - Muswell Hill Broadway 14T12
MH Muswell Hill 210 Finsbury Park - Golders Green LTL

The Mann-Egerton buses: TD32-131 (Total 100)

Construction

1/1TD2 The younger vehicles had the same chassis as the first bunch, but had a more modern style of body by Mann Egerton. The front destination box was tidied up, with a straight roof-line, and winding windows were fitted. A door recess was included on the nearside, behind the entrance, although this was never used on these buses (unlike the Country 15T13s). A polished aluminium radiator was fitted in place of the chrome-plated one, and a proper fleet-number plate was affixed to the bonnet side. A stencil holder for a route number was provided above the doorway, although this was later replaced by one at the back of the recessed side at waist level.
TD95 interior

Inside, the TDs were laid out in sensible fashion. The fare-table can be seen on the bulkhead, and the later single seat at the offside front. This gave the conductor more standing space than the original double seat.
The colour scheme was post-war standard, with cream from halfway up the windows, and green rexine below. Chocolate brown paint, of course, adorned the front bulkhead. The floor was laid with hard-wearing wooden battens.
TD95 front

Into service

The second batch began to arrive in the autumn of 1948, four going in October to Hornchurch for route 250 in rural Essex (with one 1T1 retained as a spare and for the peak - Sunday - service.)

Enfield was the next recipient, new buses arriving through the remainder of 1948 for the Waltham Abbey routes 205 and 242. Again Ts had to be retained as spares and Sunday extras.

Hornchurch received some more over the turn of the year for the 247 and 248. The 247 route was unusual in that Guy double-deckers were used on the in-town section, but single-deckers were used for the full route out into the country.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
RD Hornchurch 250 Romford Stn - Abridge- Stapleford Abbots - Epping 1T1
E Enfield 205 Chingford - Waltham Cross - Hammond Street 1T1
E Enfield 242 Epping Forest - Waltham Cross - Cheshunt - Potters Bar T
RD Hornchurch 247 Collier Row - Romford - Gidea Park - Brentwood T
RD Hornchurch 248 Upminster Stn - Cranham T

December 1948 to February 49 also saw the new buses appearing in west London, this time in an urban setting. Route 211, operated by Hanwell garage (HW, soon to be renamed Southall) used ten TDs and up to six Ts (the peak requirement again being Sunday).

North-west London received some in January, when four went to Harrow Weald for the 221. These sometimes appeared on lowbridge route 230, when a lowbridge ST or STL was unavailable.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
HW Hanwell 211 Ealing Broadway - Ruislip Stn (- Ruislip Lido) 11T11
HD Harrow Weald 221 North Harrow - Hatch End - Pinner
HD Harrow Weald 230 Rayners Lane Stn - Northwick Park Stn

TD95 n/s rear
Kingston received new TDs duringthe spring of 1949 for the 216, followed by some for the 201. In practice Kingston used them interchangeably with 7T7s, LTLs and 4Q4s on other routes too, including the 213, 206, 215 and 219 (but not the 218 over Walton Bridge, which was weight-restricted).

Garages Routes Buses displaced
K Kingston 216 Kingston - Sunbury - Staines T, LTL
K Kingston 201 Kingston - Dittons - Feltham T, LTL

TD95 o/s front Also during the spring Muswell Hill gained another tranche of nine TDs, this time the later version, for the 251. These naturally were mixed with the 1TD1s, and both types appeared on the garage's routes.

May and June 1949 saw nine go to Edgware for the 240 and 240A, the former being interworked with RTs from Cricklewood on the Golders Green - Mill Hill section.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
MH Muswell Hill 251 Arnos Grove - Totteridge - Burnt Oak LTL
EW 240 Edgware - Mill Hill - Golders Green LTL
EW 240A Edgware - Mill Hill - Page street LTL

The remainder of the TDs were allocated during the summer of 1949 to Tottenham (12) and Leyton (11) garages for the back-street but busy 236.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
T Leyton, AR Tottenham 236 Leyton - Dalston - Finsbury Park (- Stroud Green) LTL

TD95 at Leyton Garage on 236, 16th April 2006 TD95 at site of Dalston Garage on 236, 16th April 2006

TD95 revisited the 236 on Easter Sunday 2006, visiting the garage at Leyton as well as the site of the erstwhile Dalston garage.

Service changes

October 1949 saw the Enfield allocation stretched by the introduction of a new 243 route to Upshire.

April 1950 saw the end of TD operation on the 247, which became double-decked throughout. One TD went officially to the 248, and the others took over the 238, which had been T-operated since the Cubs ceased working it in July 1949.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
RD Hornchurch 238 Noak Hill - Emerson Park - Gidea Park Stn T

The initial allocation of TDs had stretched them very thin. They were new buses, and expected to be reliable, while much of the system was making do with tired, war-worn and decrepit machinery. In many cases their spares were elderly Regals. So when any became spare they were eagerly seized upon. Route changes to the 201 and 264 at Kingston in June 1951 produced a few spares (the 264 had to revert to 1T1s, now available after refurbishment), and some of these were distributed to ease shortages at Edgware and Leyton. The rest went with some ex-GreenLine 6Q6s to replace the remaining LTLs on the Muswell Hill 210 route.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
MH Muswell Hill 210 Finsbury Park - Golders Green LTL

The TDs now found themselves working alongside some of the demoted 10T10s in their red bus livery, in some places, such as at Enfield and Kingston.

April 1952 saw 14T12s displaced from Sidcup by new RFs going to Southall (HW) for the 211, releasing a number of TDs. Some went to Muswell Hill to replace the 6Q6s, and others to Kingston where they went into the single-decker pool, replacing Ts. The Muswell Hill allocation also allowed the replacement of 5Q5s from the 244 route.
Garages Routes Buses displaced
MH Muswell Hill 244 Muswell Hill- Alexandra Park - Winchmore Hill 5Q5

May 1952 saw a shakeup in Surrey, when the new Norbiton garage opened. Norbiton assumed responsibility for the 201, which on paper had been a Kingston TD route, but used 14T12s and no TDs. Kingston kept its TDs, and used them increasingly in place of Qs on the 215 and 219 as well as the 216.

The arrival of RFs at Muswell Hill for the 210 in September 1952 and the 212 in February 1952 saw the 244 completely converted to TD and then a flood of surplus TDs going west into Surrey, replacing Qs on Kingston's routes.

These were followed by more from Enfield, when the 205, 243 and 242 were all double-decked after bridge-strengthening.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
K Kingston 215 Kingston - Church Cobham - Ripley 4Q4
K Kingston 219 Kingston - Esher - Weybridge (Vickers) 4Q4
K Kingston 218 Kingston - Walton - Staines 4Q4

Other displaced TDs went to Loughton in February 1953, to convert the 254 from T operation.

During the spring others went to Hornchurch, where the 252 was converted from 10T10s.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
L Loughton 254 Buckhurst Hill - Loughton - Debden -Loughton Stn T
RD Hornchurch 252 Romford Stn & Romford 10T10

In August 1953 another new garage, North Street at Romford, opened to relieve over-crowding at Hornchurch, and the TD allocation for the 250 moved there.

Retrenchment

The postwar bus plan had not envisaged that the RFs would replace the TDs. but traffic growth, even by the mid-1950s, was not living up to expectations. The unforeseen growth of private car travel plus the effect of television on cinema-going were disturbing the forecasts. Progressively the TD routes were taken over by RFs, or other buses.

Even an attempt to find a new niche for a TD, with a new route 256 between Woolwich and Shooters Hill, proved so successful that the TD was replaced by an RTL after a few days!

TD95 front
Dates Garages Routes Replacing buses
May 54 RD 238 RT
Jun 54 AM 256 RTL
Oct 54 L 254 RF
Dec 54 HD 221 withdrawn
Feb 55 RD 248 RLH

However, new route 215A was started from Kingston, branching off the 215 along narrow roads to Downside.

The surplus TDs were stored for a while, then used to displace 14T12s from Norbiton, taking over the 201, 206 and 264 there in the autumn of 1954.
There was talk of converting some surplus TDs for private hire contract duties, and plans were drawn up for fitting doors, but these never came to fruition.

Withdrawals started in August 1956, with 1TD1s being replaced by 1/1TD2s whenever vacancies cropped up.

In January 1958 the 252 (RD) was converted to RT operation, sending more TDs to Kingston.

However, the mass withdrawals of 14T12s following the 1958 strike and its consequent massive mileage reductions saw TDs inhabiting a new home at Uxbridge, where they took over on the 224 group of routes.

Garages Routes Buses displaced
UX Uxbridge 224 Uxbridge - London Airport - Hounslow 14T12
UX Uxbridge 224A Uxbridge - Laleham 14T12
UX Uxbridge 224B Uxbridge - West Drayton 14T12

TD95 at Cobham By the end of 1958 TDs were only in operation at Uxbridge, Kingston, Norbiton, Edgware and North Street But June 1959 put paid to most of them, with RFs taking over at North Street, Uxbridge, Norbiton, and most of the Kingston routes. The 215/A hung on for until March 1962 at Kingston, RFs being deemed too large for the 215A (until it was found they weren't, of course), and the 240A at Edgware just seemed to have been forgotten. The end came in October 1962, with the eventual conversion of the 240A to RF operation.

Afterlife

Ninety-nine of the withdrawn TDs went to Ceylon for further service, while five 1TD1s went to Yugoslavia. Some of the chassis that went to Ceylon may still be in use in Sri Lanka, at least one being seen recently in lorry form. Others were bought by contractors in the UK, and some had a variety of jobs with voluntary agencies.

Preservation

TD95 at Cobham n/s front TD95 at Cobham n/s rear
Beautifully restored TD95 at Cobham Museum in October 1987. All photos on this page by Ian Smith. Click for larger versions.

Acknowledgments

Much of the data for these TD pages has been gathered from the excellent "Pictorial Record of London Transport Buses and Coaches" by John A.S, Hambley, from various volumes.
Enormous help was received from an article by Malcolm Papes in the LOTS "London Bus Magazine", Volume 103.
Inspiration was provided by Dick Gilbert, who has the original TD page as his best of British Buses no1. Go see his TD and other pages! (Don't forget to come back).

TD1-131: bus histories photo references

Ian's Bus Stop T contents 15T13s TDs RFs