Northern Counties Paladin

Northern Counties Paladin
A Paladin body with the barrel-shaped front and quarterlights, on Volvo B10B chassis
Overview
Manufacturer	Northern Counties Plaxton
Production	1991–1998
Assembly	Wigan, United Kingdom
Body and chassis
Doors	1 or 2
Floor type	Step entrance
Chassis	Volvo B10M Volvo B10B Volvo B6 Dennis Dart Dennis Lance Dennis Falcon Scania L113 DAF SB220 Leyland Atlantean (rebodies)
Powertrain
Capacity	27 to 45 seated
Dimensions
Length	8.5m to 12.0m
Width	3.1m
Height	3.4m
Chronology
Successor	Plaxton Prestige Plaxton Pointer

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.

Description

Paladin rear

Development of the Northern Counties Paladin commenced in 1990. Upon its launch in 1991, the Paladin could be bodied on the Dennis Dart and Lance, Scania L113 and Volvo B10M chassis; bodies for the Iveco TurboCity chassis were envisaged but not produced, ^{[1] [2]} while the DAF SB220, Dennis Falcon, Volvo B6 and Volvo B10B chassis were later added to the Paladin range. Some bodies built towards the end of production were given Plaxton body numbers, in which the Paladin was identified by the letter G.

In London, Metroline took delivery of 31 Paladin-bodied Dennis Lances and London General took delivery of 13 Paladin-bodied Volvo B10Bs for service on route 88 as "The Clapham Omnibus" in 1993, ^{[3] [4]} followed by 19 Paladin-bodied Dennis Darts delivered to London Northern for service on 'Camden Link' route C2 in 1994. ^[5]

Leicester Citybus were the only operator to take delivery of Northern Counties Paladin-bodied Dennis Falcons, taking delivery of three in 1992 and an additional four in 1993, which were the final Dennis Falcons produced. ^[6]

A Paladin-bodied Volvo B6 was purpose-built by Northern Counties and fire engine manufacturer Saxon Sanbec as a £150,000 (equivalent to £290,427in 2021) command vehicle for the Greater Manchester County Fire Service in 1997. ^[7]

Leyland Atlantean rebodies

A Northern Counties Paladin rebodied Leyland Atlantean in Blackpool

Northern Counties received a contract from Fylde Borough Transport in 1993 to rebody four 33 ft (10 m) Leyland Atlantean double-decker buses new to the Bradford Corporation in 1971. After the buses were acquired from Kingston upon Hull City Transport, their double-deck bodies were removed at a scrapyard prior to the Atlantean chassis being fitted with custom-made Paladin bodies by Northern Counties. The front ends of the Paladin rebody were taken from the Volvo B10B bodies while the back ends were taken from the Dennis Dart bodies, and an emergency exit was relocated towards the middle of the offside to provide a maximum seating capacity of 42 passengers. ^[8]

Fylde Borough Transport fitted new springs and brake drums to the Atlantean chassis, as well as reconditioning the engines, which were fitted with a custom-built 'turbocharger' consisting of two Clayton heater blowers that provided a continuous boost through the inlet manifold, boosting the acceleration of the bus at low revs. Radiators were moved to the front and replaced with units from Albion Clydesdale trucks. Spring-release handbrakes were also fitted, and the Atlantean's exhaust systems were rerouted across their engines and replaced by a system from Leyland Leopard coaches. The refurbishment of each bus, including the Northern Counties Paladin rebody, would cost up to £55,000 (equivalent to £119,189in 2021). ^[8]

Windscreen variants

Three different shapes of windscreen were fitted to Paladins. One was of gentle "barrel shaped" curvature, with deep quarterlights. This was used throughout the production run, being fitted to both the earliest vehicles and to the last batches built. An upright "wrap-around" screen was used on the majority of midi-sized Paladin bodies (on Dennis Dart and Volvo B6 chassis), whilst a double-curvature screen was fitted to some Scania L113 and DAF SB220 full-sized vehicles.

• 
  A Paladin body with the barrel screen and quarterlights, on Dennis Dart chassis.
• 
  A Paladin body with the upright "wrap-around" screen, on Dennis Dart chassis.
• 
  A Paladin body with the double-curvature screen, on Scania L113 chassis.

See also

• East Lancs EL2000, a similarly versatile single-deck body built on many chassis, including the Leyland Atlantean, by East Lancashire Coachbuilders
• List of buses

References

1. "NC is designing for four". Commercial Motor . Temple Press. 22 November 1990. p. 16. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
2. "Paladin debut at Dennis day". Commercial Motor. Temple Press. 28 May 1992. p. 21. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
3. "More Northern Counties body orders". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 180. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 6 November 1992. p. 5.
4. Lyons, Mark (8 August 2022). "Stockwell". The London Bus. Vol. 9. Stamford: Key Publishing. pp. 16–21.
5. "Facelift for London Northern Camden Link fleet". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 262. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 1 July 1994. p. 9.
6. "News". Coach & Bus Week . No. 39. Peterborough: Emap. 14 November 1992. p. 7. Northern Counties has orders for a further four Countybus/Paladin single deckers on Dennis Falcon chassis for Leicester Citybus and three Palatine double deckers for A Mayne & Son of Manchester. All are for delivery before the end of May 1993.
7. "Volvo B6 command centre". Bus & Coach Buyer. No. 403. Spalding: Glen-Holland Limited. 4 April 1997. p. 20.
8. Morgan, Mike (11 September 1993). "New for old as Atlantean comes of age". Coach & Bus Week. No. 82. Peterborough: Emap. pp. 26–28.

External links

• Media related to Northern Counties Paladin at Wikimedia Commons