Midland Red: Ford R192 / R1014 — Miscellaneous Information

Vehicles Shortened by Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited (MROC)

Example Photograph
Example Photograph
Example Photograph

In 1977, MROC was conducting their Viable Network Project (VNP) route surveys and the need for smaller buses on certain routes was identified.  Following this, on 23rd July 1977, the company introduced three Ford Transit minibuses for the new “Wayfarer” network of services in Evesham and revisions to the “Reddibus” network of services in Redditch, but these vehicles were soon found to be inadequate.

By September 1977, a number of Ford R192 type F1 buses were scheduled for disposal and as an experiment one such vehicle, fleet number 6391 (YHA391J), was taken to Midland Red’s Central Works and shortened to make a twenty-seven seat midibus.  The shortening work involved removing the whole bodywork and shortening the chassis by cutting out sections from the wheelbase and behind the rear axel [ Photograph ].  To assist weight distribution, the fuel tank and batteries were move to the rear.  The original bodywork was overhauled and modified by having two whole bays removed from the relevant places, and the emergency door moved to a new position if front of the offside rear wheel, before being refitted.

This experimental vehicle re-entered service at Redditch depot in December 1977, and was evaluated on local services R15 and R16.  The converted vehicle was found to be very successful and over the next two years, Midland Red shortened an additional eleven vehicles for their own use.  These replaced all of the Ford Transit type M1 minibuses at Redditch depot and Evesham depot, and several were also allocated to Worcester depot for use on local Malvern services following the introduction of the “Severnlink” MAP scheme in January 1979.

In 1979, Mr Rogers of Central Works was awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition of his innovation and expertise in these conversions.  The Lord Lieutenant of the County presented the award at a ceremony in the central workshop.  As part of the celebrations, and in recognition of their contributions to the project, all Central Works staff were invited to the award and provided with light refreshments, with senior staff being taken for dinner, and the remaining given the afternoon off work!

MROC also offered these conversions to other NBC subsidiaries that were looking for small capacity vehicles, and estimated they could convert 20 such vehicles per year.  Vehicles were offered with a full chassis overhaul, reconditioned units, body overhaul, repaint to the purchasing company's livery, and a Certificate of Fitness for a minimum of 5 years.  However, demand was not very strong and only four vehicles were converted, two for Western National, one for City of Oxford, and one for Alder Valley.

[ Page Top ]

Vehicles Converted

  Fleet # Reg # Conversion Date Withdrawn Disposal Further Information
  369   PHA 369M   ?/1979 11/1980 ? RH (?/??).
370 PHA 370M finished by 9/1979 9/1981 MRW RH (10/79). u (11/80). EM (1/81). Passed to Midland Red (West) Ltd
371 PHA 371M   finished by 12/1979   7/1981 ? u (3/80). store (6/80).
372 PHA 372M finished by 11/1979 9/1981 MRW u (6/80). EM (10/80). Passed to Midland Red (West) Ltd
   3731 PHA 373M from 8/1980  N/A 1 Scrapped Bodywork removed and chassis shortened for M3 conversion, but never re-bodied. Chassis stored then scrapped (after 8/84).
 63591 YHA 359J ?/1978 - 11/1978  N/A 1 Western National Passed to Western National (11/78). Devon General F/No: 5. Withdrawn (?/84).
  6360 YHA 360J ?/1979 10/1980 SOLD WR (3/79) - “Severnlink” MAP area branding. Withdrawn (10/80). Passed to ?
6361 YHA 361J 1/1978 - ?/1978 10/1980 SOLD u (11/78). WR (1/79) - “Severnlink” MAP area branding. Withdrawn (10/80). Passed to ?
 63621 YHA 362J ?/1978 - 12/1978  N/A 1 Western National Passed to Western National (12/78). Devon General F/No: 6. Withdrawn (1/81).
6388 YHA 388J 2/1978 - 5/1978 7/1980 SOLD HD (5/78) - “Wandaward” MAP area branding. WR (1/79) - “Severnlink” MAP area branding. u (10/79). store (6/80). Withdrwn (7/80). Passed to Teesside Slag, Middlesbrough (5/81).
6389 YHA 389J 2/1978 - 5/1978 7/1980 SOLD store (5/78). u (6/78). On loan to Alder Valley (10/78). WR (1/79) - “Severnlink” MAP area branding. store (2/80). Withdrawn (7/80). Passed to Oakes, Stockport (7/81).
  6390 YHA 390J 3/1978 - 6/1979 10/1980 SOLD store (6/78). u (6/78). EM (7/78). Withdrawn (10/80). Passed to MacLeod, Dunvegan, Skye (1/81).
6391 YHA 391J 9/1977 - 12/1977 9/1980 SOLD Type M2 prototype. RH (12/77). Withdrwn (9/80). Passed to K. Stewart, Bishops Tachbrook, Leamington (3/81).
6392 YHA 392J 2/1978 - 5/1978 10/1980 SOLD HD (5/78). WR (8/80) - “Severnlink” MAP area branding. Withdrawn (10/80). Passed to W.W. Cripps Ltd, Burbage, Hinckley (?/81) as staff bus.
   63931 YHA 393J 3/1978 - 7/1978  N/A 1 City of Oxford Passed to City of Oxford Motor Services (7/78) as F/No: 674. Withdrawn (11/81). Exported to Jamaica (2/82).
  1. Vehicle numbers 373, 6359, 6362 & 6393 not operated by Midland Red Omnibus Company Limited (MROC) after being converted.
[ Page Top ]

Summary

Despite the initial enthusiasm surrounding these conversions, history has shown that they were not successful, and the converted vehicles were hugely unpopular with drivers for several reasons.  The standard vehicle had a reputation for being nose-heavy due to the front mounted engine and shortening the chassis only made matters worse.  With so much of the weight at the front they often struggled for grip at the rear, especially in the wet, and the floor-hinged brakes were erratic, causing the front to nosedive even under light braking.  In addition to the handling problems, the Fords were also the only vehicles in the fleet with manual gearboxes.  Changing gear was said to have been a total lottery as the gear linkage was so vague that you were lucky if you found the correct gear, although earlier vehicles with the 5-speed box were more manageable in this respect.

All but three of these vehicles were withdrawn in 1980, just over 2½ years after the first experimental vehicle entered service at Redditch depot.  However, two examples at Evesham depot did manage to outlive MROC and passed to Midland Red (West) Limited at the formation of the company on 6th September 1981.

It would be unfair to blame the short service lives of these vehicles on design shortcomings alone as other factors, beyond the control of the engineers, has a significant contribution in their demise.  In Redditch, the shortened Fords had been used on Services R15 and R16 to gain access to the Smallwood area of the town, but in 1980 this section of those routes was abandoned which allowed a Leyland National to be used, and other routes that occasionally used the vehicles to Upper Bentley, Feckenham and Inkberrow were withdrawn soon after.  Another contribution factor, and probably the most significant, was the archway across the Abbey Road in Malvern…

Abbey Road Archway and the demise of the Short Fords

Prior to its closure on 1st October 1976, all local Malvern services operated from Malvern depot using BMMO single-deck buses, and all these services started and terminated at the Post Office in Abbey Road, Great Malvern, which has a low archway partway along that vehicles needed to pass under for access.  After the closure of Malvern depot, all services in the area passed to Worcester depot and the company used the opportunity to make a number of service changes, which included local services being rerouted so they no longer passed under the archway.

It’s interesting to note that Malvern depot never operated any Leyland National buses, and although I have no evidence to support my theory, I believe that the roof pod would have made the type too tall to fit beneath the archway and therefore they were unsuitable for use in the town.  My initial assumption when writing this page was that this was also why this section of route was abandoned when Malvern depot closed, as Worcester depot had a large Leyland National allocation, and the remaining lower BMMO built vehicles were fast approaching retirement age.  However, I have since discovered that use of the Post Office stop gradually reduced from 1970 with the introduction of one-man operation, as the climb up the top part of Church Street was considered unsuitable for one-man vehicles, and departure points moved to Belle Vue Terrace near the Mount Pleasant Hotel.

In 1978, MROC instigated their Market Analysis Project (MAP) in Worcestershire, and the results showed a strong demand for the return of bus services calling at the Post Office in Abbey Road.  This is quite understandable as these stops are in the centre of town and without them, the mostly elderly population of the town must negotiate the steep hill in Church Street when walking to and from the alternative stops in Graham Road or at Belle Vue Terrace on the Worcester Road.  Also, with services terminating at Belle Vue Terrace buses needed to run out-of-service to Malvern Wells to turn around for their next service.  This created a lot of dead mileage and increased costs to the point where they almost outweighed savings made by converting to one-man operation, which was the reason the terminus moved to Belle Vue Terrace in the first place!

The shortened Ford R192 midibuses would have been ideal for this as loadings in the town were light, the vehicles could just squeeze under the low archway, and being overhauled during conversion they also had a good life expectancy.  So when the “Severnlink” MAP scheme commenced on 13th January 1979, several examples of the type found use at Worcester depot operating local Malvern services underneath the archway in Abbey Road.  This arrangement worked well for about six weeks until a lorry got itself stuck under the archway causing some damage.  The local authorities seized this opportunity as an excuse to renovate the archway, and for several months the archway closed to all traffic while the work was carried out.  Unfortunately, when the archway reopened it was quickly discovered that by removing the old weathered decorative stone and replacing it with new, the headroom under the archway had been lowered and the vehicles could no longer fit.  The temporary diversions became permanent and the good people of Malvern lost their bus service along Abbey Road forever.

Once the size restrictions had been lifted from services in Malvern, the Shortened Ford R192 midibuses suddenly became redundant as the revised network could be operated with any type of vehicle.  This must have been very embarrassing for the company, as considerable investment would have been made into converting buses that, after just six weeks service, had no practical use.  Also, expected sales to other NBC companies had not materialised with only four orders received.  Needless to say, the vehicle shortening project was abandoned.[ Page Top ]