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| East Lancs EL2000 | |
|---|---|
 East Lancs EL2000 body on Dennis Dart with a double-curvature windscreen. | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | East Lancashire Coachbuilders |
| Body and chassis | |
| Doors | 1 |
| Floor type | Step entrance |
| Powertrain | |
| Capacity | 28 to 40 seated |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 8.5m to 12.0m |
| Width | 2.5m |
| Height | 3.0m |
The East Lancs EL2000 is a type of single-decker bus body built on a wide variety of bus chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.
The EL2000 has an aluminium frame. It has bowed sides and a bowed top half of the rear end, with a high-set rear window.
There was some variability in the height and shape of the side windows, and the style of windscreen. One common design of windscreen was square-cornered, tapered in towards the top and curved around to the sides. Another was a two-piece flat windscreen with radiused outer corners. A third design used was a double-curvature windscreen with an arched top.
Many different chassis types, both new and secondhand, were fitted with EL2000 bodywork. These include:
The EL2000 made its first appearance on rebodied Leyland Tigers at the end of 1989. It was superseded as a step-entrance body by the Flyte, starting in 1996 and stopped production in 2001.
East Lancs first rebodied an accident-damaged Leyland Atlantean with an EL2000 body for Sheffield Omnibus in 1992, with the conversion aimed at increasing its service life. The Atlantean was stripped of its double-deck body and had its chassis lengthened to 36 ft (11 m), receiving a new 10-leaf front and rear suspension, a new five-speed transmission and an AN68 Atlantean coach engine as well as its 47-seat single-deck body. [1] [2] Further rebodies and refurbishments were marketed as the 'Atlantean Sprint', with Southampton Citybus making orders for ten of its Atlanteans to be rebodied; [3] [4] only five of these rebodies were completed for Southampton. [5]
A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the red London bus, namely the AEC Routemaster.
The Scania N113 was a transverse-engined step-entrance and low-floor city bus chassis manufactured by Scania between 1988 and 2000.
The Dennis Dominator was Dennis's first rear-engined double-decker bus chassis, it was launched in 1977.
The Volvo B7TL is a low-floor double-decker bus chassis which was launched in 1999 and replaced the 2-axle version of the Volvo Olympian. It was built as the British bus operators seemed hesitant to purchase the B7L double decker with a long rear overhang.
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish builder of bus and coach bodywork based in Falkirk. The company was formed in 1947 to continue the coachbuilding activities of W. Alexander & Sons when their bus service operation was nationalised. After several mergers and changes of ownership it now forms part of Alexander Dennis.
The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland Motors between 1958 and 1986. Only 17 Atlantean chassis were bodied as single deck from new.
East Lancashire Coachbuilders Limited was a manufacturer of bus bodies and carriages founded in 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England. The company went into administration for a short while in August 2007, before being bought by Darwen Group and performed a reverse takeover with Optare when its parent purchased the company in 2008 and its site and business was later closed in 2012.
The East Lancs Myllennium was a type of single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders on DAF SB220, Dennis Dart SLF, MAN 14.220 and Scania OmniTown chassis.
South Notts Bus Company was a bus company operating in Nottinghamshire from 1926 until 1991 when sold to Nottingham City Transport who continue to use the brand name today.
The East Lancs Vyking is a type of double-decker bus body built by East Lancashire Coachbuilders. It is the double-deck version of the Spryte. It continued the long line of 'misspelt' names which continued until the Scania OmniDekka. It was built on the Volvo B7TL chassis. The name "Vyking" was derived from the chassis being built by a company from Sweden.
The Plaxton Paramount was a design of coach bodywork built by Plaxton. It first appeared at the 1982 British Motor Show and was built until 1992.
The East Lancs E Type is a type of double-deck bus body built on different chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders.
The East Lancs 1984-style double-deck body is a type of double-decker bus body with a step-entrance, built on several different chassis by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in England.
The East Lancs Flyte is a type of single-decker bus body built on several different chassis rebodied and original types by East Lancashire Coachbuilders as the replacement for the East Lancs EL2000 from 1996 to 2001.
The Northern Counties Paladin, also badged as the Plaxton Paladin towards the end of production, is a step-entrance single-decker bus body built by Northern Counties of Wigan, UK, between 1991 and 1998. The replacements for the Paladin are the Prestige and the Pointer as low-floor models for the Paladin LF.
The Northern Counties Palatine was a step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties from 1988 to 1999 in Wigan, England.
The Optare Esteem was a low-floor single-decker bus body manufactured by East Lancashire Coachbuilders, Darwen East Lancs and Optare between 2006 and 2009 on Scania N94UB, Scania N230UB, Volvo B7RLE, MAN 12.240, Alexander Dennis Dart SLF, Alexander Dennis Enviro200 Dart and Alexander Dennis Enviro300 chassis.
The Leyland Royal Tiger Worldmaster, sometimes simply known as the Leyland Worldmaster, was a mid-underfloor-engined single-decker bus or single-decker coach chassis manufactured by Leyland between 1954 and 1979.
The East Lancs OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK market, introduced by East Lancashire Coachbuilders in 2003. Originally built on Scania N94UD chassis at Euro 3, and later Scania N230UD and N270UD at Euro 4 and Euro 5, the bodywork consists of a modified East Lancs Myllennium double decker, but with the standard front end cowl and windscreen replaced with that of Scania's own integral OmniCity. Through takeovers of East Lancs, production of the OmniDekka was latterly carried out by the Darwen Group and finally Optare before ceasing in 2011.
New buses continued to join the fleet, although an unusual addition was a batch of five 15-year-old Leyland Atlanteans rebodied by East Lancs as single-deckers.(subscription required)
Media related to East Lancs EL2000 at Wikimedia Commons
