Leyland Titan PD3/6 with Massey H38/32R bodies delivered in early 1965
| 333 CJN433C | 334 CJN434C | 335 CJN435C | 336 CJN436C |
| 337 CJN437C | 338 CJN438C | 339 CJN439C | 340 CJN440C |
| 341 CJN441C | 342 CJN442C | 343 CJN443C | 344 CJN444C |
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SCT '61 Southend Corporation Bus Fleet Details 333-347 |
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| 333-344
Leyland Titan PD3/6 with Massey H38/32R bodies delivered in early 1965
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| 345-347
Leyland Titan PD3/4 with East Lancs H41/32R bodies, delivered at the end of 1967
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The dozen double-deckers delivered in 1965 were something of a surprise, being Leyland Titans with highbridge Massey bodies. Evidently the benefit of having universal route availability was considered worth sacrificing in order to obtain cheap and straightforward buses, although the chassis did have a slightly modified suspension, which combined with some road lowering work meant that they could operate under the railway bridge in the High Street - effectively being able to operate most routes apart from the 7/8 routes to Hockley and Rayleigh (and also the 1 which interworked with the 7 and 8). Massey had by now adopted a straighter frontal profile and 70 seats were fitted - although this was still 6 less than the Bridgemasters, which had more closely spaced seats upstairs. 333-44 were to the same basic mechanical specification as the earlier Titans, even having vacuum brakes which were considered obsolete by most operators by then. |
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The first three, 334, 339 and 340, went into service in February 1965 and the rest appeared over the following months, the last to enter being numerically the first, 333. The bus lists on the web site lists 334/340 as being built in Jan 1965, 337/339/344 in Feb, 336/338/341/342/343 in March and finally 333 in April. Initially the main route operated was the long and busy routes 3/3A from Shoebury to Canvey Island.
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334 making the very first test run under the High Street bridge in January 1965 ... | 
... and 337 making the first service journey under the bridge in September that year. |
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The following photos are of 334, 339 and 340 taken in February and March 1965 when they had just entered service. Click on any photo for a larger picture.
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Three more Titans, 345-347 arrived at the end of 1967, the last conventional half cab, front engined deckers to join the Southend fleet. This time they were the PD3/4 variant of the Titan with air brakes, Leyland having withdrawn the vacuum option at last! Originally they had been intended to have Massey bodies but the take over of that firm by their Wigan neighbours Northern Counties altered plans, so the 73 seat highbridge bodies came from the Blackburn works of East Lancashire Coachbuilders instead.
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334 in July 1974 | 
343, also in July 1974 | 
341 in September 1975 |
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347 in June 1976 | 
346 | 
338 in April 1978 |
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The 15 Titans probably had the most varied careers of any Southend buses, being hired out at various times to Colchester Corporation, London Transport, London Country and City of Cardiff.
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| 6 were hired to Colchester Corporation during 1972 | 
346 operating in Colchester |
| 10 were hired to London Transport from the middle of 1975 until February 1976 where they worked from the Croydon depot. Click here for a page with a picture from the Transport-of-Delight web site of 341 on route 190 in October 1975. | 
336 at South Croydon | 
346 working from Croydon on a misty morning |
| After that they were hired to London Country at Epping until January 1977 | 
336 on loan to London Country in 1976 | 
and 333 |
and 339 |
| Later, eight were hired to Cardiff City Transport between July and October 1977. | 
334 in Cardiff, overtaking a Cardiff Guy Arab | 
and 341 |
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337 was prematurely withdrawn in June 1973 after a serious accident, but the others lasted until 1978 (336, 339 and 344), 1980 (the rest of the 1965 batch) and 1981 (345-7). 347 was to be Southend's last 'proper' bus, making its final service journey on July 31st, 1981.
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337 severly cannibalised at the Tonbridge Road works |
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At least six of the PD3s (334, 335, 336, 339, 341 and 347) are still around.
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334 was rescued from the scrap heap and preserved but was then hired back to Southend Transport as a driver trainer
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it is now back in preservation. |
341 initially passed into preservation
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then in 1987 was sold to Lincoln City, seen here in use as a driver trainer
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and then 341 passed to Fowlers of Holbeach Drove, seen here in 1995 alongside 334, in use as a trainer at the time. | 
... and another picture of 341 with Fowlers, taken in July 2002 |
336 saw use as a play bus before falling into bad health and being retired in the mid-1990s. It has recently been bought by Chris Pearce for preservation and moved to Worthing | 
whereas 335, after being carefully preserved by Frank Spence, was then stripped out and refitted as a playbus |
339 is now in the south of France and used as a promotional vehicle. | 
347 is now in the Western Greyhound heritage fleet |
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For further information, see John Lidstone's article on the Southend Titan PD3s in the December 2000 edition of Preserved Bus. |
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Many thanks to Richard Delahoy for his kind permission to include extracts from his book in this page and also to Richard, Paul Harrison, Paul Bateson, Ian Banks, Chris Stewart and David Beardmore for supplying some of the pictures. |
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