SCT'61 Articles
Southend Corporation Bus Fleet
More single deckers came in 1966 and were Southend's first 36' long Leyland Leopards, 208/9, fitted with 49 seat dual door Marshall bodies.
Following the delivery of Southend's first coaches in 1977, 208 underwent a drastic conversion to act as a back up for them. Gone was the high destination box, the centre doors and the bus seats; in went 51 dual purpose seats (secondhand, ex EN Bristol RELH's), a semi-automatic gearbox (from a Manchester Panther Cub) and a luggage boot. 208 was initially turned out in the original coach livery of light and dark blue but in 1982 reverted to bus colours.
208 in coach livery
208 was renumbered 200 in 1979 and received bus seats in 1981 before being withdrawn in 1984. 209 had a more conventional career, ending its days as a trainer before sale in 1981 to preservationists.
209 seen here in 1988 at Mangapps Farm, Burnham-on-Crouch ...
... and at the 2002 Canvey rally
209, used for a time as a catering vehicle
June 2009
Many thanks to Richard Delahoy for his kind permission to include extracts from his book in this page and also to Richard and to Paul Harrison, Paul Collins, Ian Banks and Richard Haughey for supplying some of the pictures.
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