New buses from EFE Road

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Leyland National single-deck bus, which first entered service in March 1972. Leyland National was a joint venture by British Leyland Motor Holdings and the National Bus Company (NBC), with the objective of supplying bus operators nationwide under the NBC umbrella with a standard single-deck vehicle. A dedicated factory for Leyland National production was built at Lillyhall near Workington in Cumberland (now Cumbria), and some 7,000 Nationals were built there between 1972 and 1985.

To celebrate this milestone, EFE Road is to release six 1/76 scale Mk 1 dual-door 11.3m Leyland Nationals in liveries that were mostly eradicated when NBC Poppy Red and Leaf Green swept across the country. The images shown here represent pre-production samples, so colours and details of the final models might differ slightly. Expected to arrive into stock during August, visit www.bachmann.co.uk and check out the EFE Road brand page to find out more.

Leyland National Mk.1 Long 2 Door demonstrator FRM499K (Aberdeen) - Service 5 to Woodend
REF: E15112 SCALE: 1/76 PRICE: £41.95 DUE: Q3 2022
Pre-production chassis 010 was new in July 1972 and displayed in the demonstration park at the Commercial Motor Show at London’s Earls Court exhibition centre, in September 1972. After the motor show, FRM499K was trialled in service in Lancaster, Preston, Cardiff, Eastbourne, Aberdeen, and elsewhere. The model depicts FRM499K on loan to Aberdeen Corporation operating on long-established service 5 between Woodend (Hazlehead Gardens), Castle Street and Beach Boulevard. FRM499K survives and is currently being restored to original condition.

Leyland National Mk.1 Long 2 Door Cumberland Motor Services ERM35K -  CMS 350 on Whitehaven town service 05
REF: E15113 SCALE: 1/76 PRICE: £41.95 DUE: Q3 2022
Former Tilling Group-controlled Cumberland Motor Services, based in Whitehaven, operated bus services in the former county of Cumberland. Chassis no 005, numbered 350 in the Cumberland fleet, was the first Leyland National delivered to an operator and the first to enter service. On 16th March 1972, ERM35K commenced duties on Whitehaven town service 05, a 20-minute route operating daily between Bransty Crescent and West Cumberland Hospital. In early 1976 ERM35K was converted to single door and upseated, operating with this layout until withdrawal in 1985 after a creditable 13 years in service. It was hoped ERM35K would be saved for preservation. It hung on for three more years, gradually being stripped of useful parts, but regrettably this important vehicle was scrapped in 1988.

Leyland National Mk.1 Long 2 Door London Country Superbus KPA101K - route SB1, Chells & Bus Station
REF: E15114 SCALE: 1/76 PRICE: £41.95 DUE: Q3 2022
Pre-production chassis 003, new in April 1972 (registered KPA101K, fleet number LN1), was the first of no fewer than 543 Leyland Nationals delivered new to National Bus Company subsidiary, London Country Bus Services Ltd, from 1972 to December 1979. Superbus began as an experiment in the Hertfordshire new town of Stevenage in July 1971. Superbus was a daily flat fare bus service connecting the suburb of Chells with the shopping centre and industrial area, marketed to entice motorists to leave their cars at home and take the Superbus instead. KPA101K’s service life was relatively short. Withdrawn in the early 1980s, it was converted to single-door and rebuilt as a mobile classroom, and is believed to have been scrapped by 1989.

Leyland National Mk.1 Long 2 Door Northern General Transport UUP831K - Northern 11K on service 55 to Sacriston, Co Durham
REF: E15115 SCALE: 1/76 PRICE: £41.95 DUE: Q3 2022
Production chassis 129, new in July 1972, was one of some 280 Leyland Nationals delivered to Northern General Transport Co Ltd from June 1972 to March 1983, including batches for Sunderland District and Tynemouth & District. Leyland Nationals operated on services throughout the group territory – Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland, north to Blyth in Northumberland, south to Hartlepool and Bishop Auckland, Consett to the west and Sunderland to the east.

Leyland National Mk.1 Long 2 Door Nottingham City Transport NPD110L - Central Area free bus service 88
REF: E15117 SCALE: 1/76 PRICE: £41.95 DUE: Q3 2022
An interesting development took place, in October 1972, when four of London Country’s new intake of Mk 1 dual-door Leyland Nationals (NPD108L to NPD111L) didn’t enter service with LCBS, but were loaned to City of Nottingham Transport to inaugurate an experimental free bus service in Nottingham city centre, connecting the shopping areas with car parks and bus stations. The four London Country Nationals were delivered in standard NBC Leaf Green. In an early exercise in route branding, orange paintwork was applied to the roof pod, around the edge of the roof and between the headlamps. White bands, Nottingham fleet numbers and City crests were also added. London Country legal lettering was retained as the buses were still owned by LCBS. The model depicts production chassis no 218, London Country’s LN10, temporarily numbered 653 with Nottingham

Leyland National Mk.1 Long 2 Door Crosville Motor Services WFM801K - Crosville SNL801 on Chester local service C40 to Upton
REF: E15118 SCALE: 1/76 PRICE: £41.95 DUE: Q3 2022
Chassis 102 was the second production Leyland National delivered in May 1972 in a variation of the outgoing Tilling Green livery. More than 360 Leyland Nationals were ordered by Crosville between 1972 and 1983. WFM801K was the first of twenty-four 2-door Nationals received in 1972. After withdrawal by Crosville, WFM801K saw further service airside at Gatwick Airport as GH485. Acquired in 1994 by GM Buses South, numbered 265 and converted to single-door, subsequently passing to Stagecoach Manchester in 1997. WFM801K was restored to as-new condition around 2005, including reinstating the centre doors, and is privately preserved.