Bristol LH

Bristol LH
Bristol LH
Overview
Manufacturer	Bristol Commercial Vehicles
Production	1967–1982
Assembly	Brislington, Bristol
Body and chassis
Doors	One or (rarely) two
Floor type	Step entrance
Chassis	ladder-section steel with dropped extensions fore and aft.
Powertrain
Engine	Leyland or Perkins
Capacity	25 to 53 seats
Power output	100-138 bhp
Transmission	Turner Clark 5-sp synchromesh, Self-Changing Gears 5-speed semi-auto.
Dimensions
Length	LH 30 feet (9.1 m); LHS 26 feet (7.9 m); LHL 36 feet (11 m)
Width	Standard 7.5 feet (2.3 m); Wide 8.17 feet (2.5 m)
Height	up to 3.2m depending on coachwork
Curb weight	varied with length and coachwork
Chronology
Predecessor	Bristol SU

Last updated April 05, 2024

The Bristol LH was a single-decker bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles (BCV) in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles.

Models

The LH designation stood for Lightweight chassis, Horizontal engine. It replaced the Bristol SU and was succeeded by the Leyland National B Series for operators in need of a small or lightweight bus. The Bristol RE was in production at the same time for those in need of larger or more robust vehicles.

The standard Bristol LH model was 30 feet (9.1 m) long. It was also available as the 26 feet (7.9 m) LHS (LH Short) and the 36 feet (11 m) LHL (LH Long). The width of the chassis was 7.5 feet (2.3 m) but bodies as wide as 8.17 feet (2.5 m) the then maximum width, could be fitted, wide-bodied LHs have the wheels slightly inset in the wheelarches as a result.

The bus was available with a choice of six-cylinder diesel engines, either the Leyland O.400 (later replaced by the Leyland O.401) or the Perkins H6.354. The 5.8 litre H6.354 produced 101 bhp; the 6.54 litre O.400 had a peak output of 125 bhp whilst the 0.401 (from 1971) produced 138 bhp. The usual gearbox was a Turner-Clark synchromesh five-speed model with overdrive top gear. The front and rear axles were sourced from Leyland's Bathgate factory. Some buses were fitted with a Self-Changing Gears semi-automatic transmission and power steering. The engine was positioned in the centre of the chassis but its relatively high position meant that several steps were needed in the entrance. This was arranged in the overhang ahead of the front wheels allowing driver-only operation with the same person taking the fares and issuing tickets as passengers boarded. A small number of LH's, for Lancashire United Transport, Hants & Dorset and the Midland General group were also fitted with a central exit doorway. The radiator was positioned at the front of the chassis. The suspension was by half-elliptical leaf springs, although BCV had offered pneumatic suspension on heavier buses since 1962.

Bodies were fitted by different manufacturers, who adapted them to the needs of different operators. Bodies could be fitted out as buses, coaches or dual purpose buses which could be used for coach services when traffic demanded. Bus bodies usually came from the Eastern Coach Works (ECW), which was owned by the same Transport Holding Company. This was a government-owned company but Leyland had acquired a 25% share in 1965. Plaxton bodies were preferred for coaches. Other manufacturers of bodies for the LH were Walter Alexander, Duple, East Lancashire, Marshall, Northern Counties, Weymann and Willowbrook. The only Weymann body was fitted to the first LHS6L built (LHX003) to the orders of Western Welsh.^[1] Weymann had been closed in 1965 and the body was originally mounted on an Albion Nimbus delivered to Western Welsh in 1961; modifications included extending the body wheelbase to match the chassis and fitting a Lodekka style grille to provide cooling for the radiator. WWOC numbered their LHS 1 and registered it MBO1F. It later passed to Thornes of Selby and is currently preserved.

For the standard LH the 41-seat Plaxton coach and 43-seat ECW bus were most widely used; the bus bodies manufactured in Belfast by Alexander for Ulsterbus had 45 seats, East Midland Motor Services' ten 1969 buses were the only ones with Willowbrook bodies, as built they had 45 seats but with a 3+2 seating arrangement in three rows forward of the rear bench, making room for a pram pen, they were also unusual in carrying no grille badge. The LHS was produced as both buses and coaches with 26 to 35 seats. The LHL had up to 53 seats as a coach or 55 as a bus. Between 1975 and 1982 Vanplan built eight with delivery van bodies.

Altogether nearly 2,000 LHs were built: 1,505 LH, 174 LHL and 308 LHS.

Principal bus operators

The following lists only include vehicles ordered by the company named, however many took additional vehicles second-hand from other operators. The code following the chassis model 'type' column shows the number of seats. The prefix B represents a bus body, C a coach or DP a dual purpose vehicle. The suffix F shows a single front door, D shows dual front and centre doors.^[2]

Alexander Midland

Alexander Midland operated 41 LHs with Walter Alexander Y-type bodies and Perkins engines in Scotland. All but the last three were coaches.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
MLH1–19	SMS 671–678H, SWG 669–679H	LH C38F	1970
MLH20–33	WMS 920J–925J, WWG 326J–333J	LH C41F	1971
MLH34–38	BWG 334–338L	LH C41F	1972
MLH39–41	BWG 339–341L	LH B45F	1972

Bristol Omnibus

Bristol Omnibus Company received six LH buses in 1971 with semi-automatic gearboxes. A further 110 (with manual gearboxes) were ordered for delivery between 1975 and 1980. A few more buses were acquired second hand including two LHSs from London Country.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
351–356	DHW 291–296K	LH B43F	1971
357–364	JHW 117–124P	LH B43F	1975
365–389	KHU 315–330P, KHU 615–616P, JOU 162–165P, KHY 430–432P	LH B43F	1976
390–421	OFB 963–968R, OTC 604–608R, REU 312–332S	LH B43F	1977
422–433	SWS 768–774S, TTC 786–790T	LH B43F	1978
434–453	WAE 186–193T, WAE 294–295T	LH B43F	1979
454–466	AFB 585–597V	LH B43F	1980

NB 351-356 were initially B44F but rebuilt with one less seat to allow a window to be inserted in the rear panel to improve the driver's view when reversing.

Crosville

Crosville operated services in Wales and north west England. They bought 16 Perkins-engined vehicles in 1969 and 40 Leyland with engines from 1975.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
SLP144–159	CFM 144–148G, DFM 149–159H	LH B45F	1969
SLL601–620	KMA 531–536N, LMA 607–610P, MCA 611–620P	LH B43F	1975
SLL621–640	OCA 621–640P	LH B45F	1976

Eastern Counties

Eastern Counties Omnibus Company took 50 LH and 5 LHS buses between 1968 and 1972, these were all Perkins-engined and the LHS6Ps had been ordered by Luton Corporation and delivered to United Counties Omnibus Company with registrations XXE131-5H, UCOC did not want them so ECOC took them on, re-registering them with Norfolk, rather than Luton marks. Eastern Counties did not take any more new LHs until 1977 when a further 15 were added to the fleet.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
LH523–531	CNG 523–526K, DNG 527–531K	LH B45F	1971
LH532–537	DPW2 532K, FNG 533–534K, GNG 535–536K, HAH 537H	LH B43F	1972
LHS595–599	WNG 101–105H	LHS B37F	1970
LH685–692	RAH 685–692F	LH B45F	1968
LH693–702	UNG 693–695G, VAH 696–702H	LH B45F	1969
LH899–916	WNH 899–901H, XPW 902–906H, YAH 907–911H, YPW 912–916H	LH B45F	1970
LH917–931	TCL 137–142R, TCL 136R, WEX 924–931S	LH B43F	1977

Eastern National

Eastern National bought four LH6Ls in 1977, all with Leyland O.401 engines, 5-speed manual gearboxes, ECW bodies and dual headlight fronts. They were intended for the more lightly loaded rural routes and were operated out of the Colchester depot. All four were sold to Hedingham & District Omnibuses in 1982^[3] and one has been preserved.^[4]

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
CR1100 - 1103	UVX 4S - UVX 7S	LH43F (ECW)	1977

Eastern Scottish

Eastern Scottish was the only Scottish Bus Group company to order LHs apart from Alexander Midland when they took 34 Perkins-engined LHs finished by Walter Alexander as Y-type coaches.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
YA315–348	OSF 315–332G, SFS 333–348H	LH C38F	1970

Hants & Dorset

Hants & Dorset and the associated Wilts & Dorset company were unusual in specifying dual-door configuration for their early LHs. Buses in the 521–530 series were allocated to Wilts & Dorset, the remainder to Hants & Dorset.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
521–526	REL 746 – 748H, RRU 692–694H	LH B39D	1969
527–528	TRU 227–228J	LH B39D	1970
529–530	UEL 567–568J	LH B43F	1970
828	NLJ 817G	LH B39D	1968
1539–1548	XEL 825–834K	LH B43F	1971
3026–3035	REL 743–745H, RLJ 789–795H	LH B39D	1969
3051–3055	TRU 220–224J	LH B39D	1970
3056–3057	ULJ 367–368H	LH B43F	1970
3501–3529	DEL 537–546L, NEL 844–847M, NLJ 515–529M	LH B43F	1973
3530–3561	ORU 530–541M, GLJ 474–493N	LH B43F	1974
3562 - 3579	HJT 34 – 48N, HPW 395 – 397N	LH B43F	1975
3806–3811	LJT 939–944P	LH B43F	1975

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a largely rural county so Lincolnshire Road Car always had a need for a number of small buses. Their orders amounted to 72 standard buses, 24 dual purpose, and 10 LHS buses.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
1001–1006	KFE 296–299H, KFE 301–302H	LH B43F	1969
1007–1010	LVL 371–372H, LVL 901–902J	LH B43F	1970
1011–1014	NVL 448–450K, NVL 613K	LH B43F	1971
1015–1022	OVL 448–449K, OVL 451–452K, RFE 432K, RVL 248–249L, RVL 251L	LH B43F	1972
1023–1029	SVL 20–23L, UVL 572–574M	LH B43F	1973
1030–1035	WFE 675–679M, WFE 839M	LH B43F	1974
1036–1044	JTL 774–778M, LTL 660–663P	LH B43F	1975
1045–1061	SVL 830–837R, UFE 286–290R, XFW 949–956S	LH B43F	1977
1062–1072	YVL 836–837S, DTL 540–548T	LH B43F	1978
1651–1656	GVL 907–912F	LH DP41F	1968
1657–1661	JVL 363–364G, JVL 613–614G,615H	LH DP41F	1969
1662–1668	JVL 926H, KVL 449–454H	LH DP41F	1970
1669–1674	NFE 644–649J	LH DP41F	1971
1801–1803	GVL 913–915G	LHS B35F	1968
1804–1810	JVL 701G, JVL 616–618H, JVL 927–929H	LHS B35F	1969

London Country

London Country Bus Services 23 standard width LHSs (their BL class) and 44 narrow LHSs (their BN class) as no other suitable narrow vehicles were available at the time.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
BL1–23	RPH 101–111L, SPK 112–123L	LHS B35F	1973
BL24–53	XPD 124–130N, GPD 299–321N	LHS B35F	1974
BN54–67	TPJ 54–67S	LHS B35F	1977

London Transport

Several versions of the Bristol LH were used by London Transport. 17 narrow LHSs with five-speed gearboxes were delivered to in 1975 to replace Ford Transit minibuses on narrow roads. Although fitted with five-speed gearboxes the first gear was blocked off to make driving easier in traffic. In 1976 95 full length vehicles with automatic transmissions and narrow bodies were purchased. The 7 ft 6in bodies were not only because of narrow roads on some routes, but also due to the restricted space at Kingston garage in Surrey which prevented the Leyland National being deployed there. LHSs were classified by London Transport as BS; full length LHs were classified BL.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
BL1–95	KJD 401–440P, OJD 41–95R	LH B39F	1976
BS1–17	GHV 501–506N, OJD 7–17R	LHS B26F	1976

United

United Automobile Services had five coaches with Plaxton Elite bodies, but the remaining 218 LHs ordered for this fleet were standard ECW bus bodies for services in north-east England. A number of second-hand buses were also acquired.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
1081–1085	BHN 981–985H	LH C41F	1970
1501–1514	THN 601–605F, UHN 796–798G, THN 607F, THN 609F, UHN 800G, YHN 811–814H	LH B45F	1968
1515–1520	AHN 315–320H	LH B45F	1969
1521–1554	PHN 512–554L	LH B43F	1972
1555–1600	VHN 855–870M, WHN 571–600M	LH B43F	1973
1601–1634	AHN 601–612M, GUP 897–918N	LH B43F	1974
1635–1665	HUP 791–801N, LGR 646–655P, MGR 656–661P, NBR 662–665P	LH B43F	1975
1666–1685	NGR 666–685P	LH B43F	1976
1686–1700	XPT 686–689R, XUP 690–693R, CGR 894–900S	LH B43F	1977
1701–1718	LPT 701–711T, MUP 712–714T, SUP 715–718V	LH B43F	1979

Western National

Much of south west England is rural in nature and many narrow roads mean that Western National needed a large fleet of small buses. In 1969 the associated Southern National fleet was merged with Western National. The coach services of both companies were mostly operated under the Royal Blue brand. Neighbouring Devon General was also brought under Western National control in 1971, having just placed their first order for 6 LHs (88–93).

The orders for this large fleet of 209 buses and coaches were spread across ECW, Marshall, Plaxton and even Duple. Second hand vehicles brought the total number of LHs operated up to nearly 300.

Fleet numbers	Registrations	Type	Built
88–93	VOD 88–93K	LHS B33F (Marshall)	1971
94–96	LFJ 848–850W	LHS B35F (ECW)	1980
100–103	PUO 100–103M	LH B43F (ECW)	1974
104–107	GDV 461–464N	LH B43F (ECW)	1974
108–115	KTT 38–45P	LH B43F (ECW)	1975
116–121	STT 408–413R	LH B43F (ECW)	1977
712–726	MUO 324–338F	LH B41F (ECW)	1968
727–740	PTA 757–759G, POD 801–802H, PTA 660–662G, POD 803–808H	LH B43F (ECW)	1969
750–763	POD 809–822H	LH B43F (ECW)	1970
1250–1255	VOD 120–125K	LHS B33F (Marshall)	1972
1300–1311	RDV 435–446H	LH C41F (Duple)	1970
1312–1315	UTT 578–581J	LH C41F (Plaxton)	1971
1316–1325	BDV 316L, NTT 317M, BDV 318L, NTT 319–325M	LH C39F (Marshall)	1973
1326–1331	PUO 326–331M	LH C41F (Plaxton)	1974
1561–1563	FDV 791–793V	LHS B35F (ECW)	1979
1564–1574	SUO 429–432H, TTA 557–558H, TTA 737H,TUO 265–268J	LH B43F (ECW)	1970
1575–1588	VOD 106–119K	LH B43F (ECW)	1971
1601–1606	PTT 601–606M	LH B43F (ECW)	1974
1607–1611	GDV 456–460N	LH B43F (ECW)	1974
1612–1623	HTT 367–376N, KTT 37P, KTT 46P	LH B43F (ECW)	1975
1624–1630	VDV 124–130S	LH B43F (ECW)	1977
3100–3103	PTT 70–73R	LH C41F (Plaxton)	1977
3114–3123	SFJ 114–123R	LH C41F (Plaxton)	1977
3124–3134	VDV 131–133S, VOD 627–629S, AFJ691–698T	LH C41F (Plaxton)	1978
3400–3413	PTT 100–107R, SFJ 108–113R	LH C41F (Plaxton)	1977

88 (VOD 88K)
LHS/Marshall bus
1318 (BDV 318L
LH/Marshall coach
1563 (FDV 793V)
LHS/ECW bus
3307 (AFJ 727T)
LH/Plaxton coach

Non-passenger use

Between 1972 and 1982 Lawrence Wilson & Son bought 3 LH and 10 LHL chassis which were fitted with panel van bodies. The first three LHLs were completed by Marsden and the remainder by Vanplan. They were used for delivering Wilson's Silver Cross brand of prams. One further LH (CUT 730K in 1972) was fitted out as a racing car transporter for Wheatcroft of Leicester.^[5]

Road-rail bus

A former Hants & Dorset standard LH (NEL 847M of 1973) was fitted with additional flanged wheels in 1980 to allow it to operate on railway lines. It was owned by the North East London Polytechnic of Dagenham and some work was done by Lucas Aerospace. It was tested on the West Somerset Railway between Bishops Lydeard and Crowcombe Heathfield in August 1980.^[6]

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References

Billington, Collin (2008). West Country Lightweight Single-Decks. Colaton Raleigh: West Country Historic Omnibus and Transport Trust.
James, Allen; Sposito, Phil (n.d.). Bristol Goods Vehicles. Bristol: James and Sposito.
Martin, Curtis (1984). Bristol Buses in Camera. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1361-6.
Mills, G.R. (1984). The Bristol LH: A Pictorial Survey. Poole: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0-86093-343-1.
Townsin, Alan (2000). The Bristol Story. Vol. 2. Venture Publications. ISBN 1-898432-78-3.

Notes

↑ Furness, Nigel R.B. (2014). Buses and Coaches of Bristol and Eastern Coach Works. Crowood. ISBN 9781847976987.
↑ Mills (1984), Annex
↑ "Eastern National - Bristol LH". Bristol Commercial Vehicles Enthusiasts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
↑ "Illustrated history for UVX7S". Bristol Commercial Vehicles Enthusiasts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
↑ James, Allen; Sposito, Phil. pp. 59–60, 78
↑ Mills (1984), plates 17–18

External links

The London Area Bristol LHs

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[1] Furness, Nigel R.B. (2014). Buses and Coaches of Bristol and Eastern Coach Works. Crowood. ISBN 9781847976987.

[2] Mills (1984), Annex

[3] "Eastern National - Bristol LH". Bristol Commercial Vehicles Enthusiasts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.

[4] "Illustrated history for UVX7S". Bristol Commercial Vehicles Enthusiasts. Retrieved 29 August 2019.

[5] James, Allen; Sposito, Phil. pp. 59–60, 78

[6] Mills (1984), plates 17–18

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