2

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

CONTENTSThe Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd. - Fleet History 1920 - 1968…………………..

The Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd. - Bus Fleet List 1920 - 1968………………….

Page 3

Page 7

Cover Illustration: 9207NW was a 1959 AEC Reliance with Plaxton 41-seat bodyworktransferred from the Wallace Arnold coach fleet in 1965. (LTHL collection).

First Published 2015 by the Local Transport History Library. Second edition 2018.

With thanks to John Kaye for illustrations.

© The Local Transport History Library 2018. (www.lthlibrary.org.uk)For personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical or otherwise for commercial gain without the express written permissionof the publisher. In all cases this notice must remain intact. All rights reserved.

PDF-052-2

3

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

The Farsley Omnibus Company first commenced trading in the early 1920's under theownership of Mr. Lawson, and was based in a garage in Town Street, Stanningley. Theoriginal route was operated between Stanningley and Rodley, via Farsley, on theoutskirts of Leeds and the Company never expanded beyond this single service,although the route was later extended.

Shortly after the service commenced it was purchased by Maurice Greenwood, whowas to control the business for the next thirty years.

The early livery was red and cream and this remained basically unaltered throughoutthe life of the undertaking and, although fleet numbers were later used, not all vehiclescarried them.

The mixture of new and second-hand vehicles was entirely single-deck until 1954 whenthe first double-deck vehicle was added to the fleet. Early preferences were forCommer vehicles, but later Daimler and Leyland predominated.

In the mid-1930's an application was made to extend the original service at both ends,from Rodley as far as Horsforth and from Stanningley through to Pudsey. Following alengthy battle with the Traffic Commissioners the application was granted, althoughthere were restrictions placed on the carriage of passengers on the section betweenStanningley and Pudsey after objections by Leeds City Transport. With the advent ofthe Second World War in 1939, the restrictions were removed as an emergency

4

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

measure and never re-imposed in peacetime, so that unrestricted carriage of passen-gers was ultimately allowed.

The route was again extended in the late 1940's when the Horsforth terminus wasmoved from The Green to the Old Ball Hotel on the far side of Horsforth and peak-hourextras were diverted at Farsley from the main route to serve the Smiths Crane Worksat Rodley.

On October 1st 1952 the business was sold to Wallace Arnold Ltd., of Leeds. TheCompany continued to be operated as a subsidiary and the red and cream livery wasretained. Although the Stanningley garage was still in use it was not taken over byWallace Arnold and passed to a haulage contractor. The Farsley fleet was housed atthe existing Wallace Arnold garage in Richardshaw Lane, Pudsey. Later, after theacquisition of J.W. Kitchen & Sons, the fleet was re-housed in that Company's formerpremises also in Richardshaw Lane, but just a little further down than the WallaceArnold garage, which was subsequently closed.

The only vehicles retained after the take-over were four Roe B35F-bodied DaimlerCVD6's, nos. 8,9, 11 and 12, new in 1947 (No.8) and 1948. The remaining vehicleswere withdrawn and replaced by coaches loaned from the Wallace Arnold fleet.Following the take-over the use of fleet numbers was discontinued.

5

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

In May 1954 the first double-deck vehicle arrived. It was DUB926, an ex-LeedsCorporation Leyland TD4, which came via another Wallace Arnold subsidiary, Hard-wicks of Scarborough. At the time Horsforth UDC objected to the running of double-deckers and initially the vehicle was restricted to the Pudsey to Rodley section of theroute, but, by April 1955, the objections had been dropped and the vehicle was allowedto work the full route to the Old Ball Hotel in Horsforth. Subsequently, in October 1955,three Wilkes & Mead C33F-bodied Daimler CVD6 coaches (MUM458 of 1949, MUM460and MUM461 of 1950) which had been added to the Farsley fleet in October 1954received new double-deck H33/28R bodies by Roe and double-deck vehicles began topredominate in the fleet for the first time.

On October 13th 1956 the route was extended to provide additional journeys fromHorsforth to Tinshill at certain times, worked exclusively by single-deckers because ofa weight restriction, but had to be suspended in October 1967 when British Railwaysimposed a 2-ton weight limit on the bridge at Horsforth Station.

The service frequency on the main route was reduced from every twenty minutes tohalf-hourly in the evenings and on Sundays from 21st August 1960 due to a decline inpassenger traffic. In May and June 1962 a 36ft AEC Reliance demonstrator (327NMP)was on loan, probably as an experiment in high capacity single-deck operation,although in May 1963 the Company's first 30ft double-decker, a Leyland PD3A/1(909EUM) with Roe H41/32R bodywork, entered service. By February 1967 the route

6

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

had become mainly one-man operated with double-deckers working only weekdaypeak periods, except on Saturdays, when double-deckers were in greater evidence dueto the higher volume of traffic.

On the 31st March 1968, Wallace Arnold sold the Company to Leeds Corporation, thelast day of working by Farsley vehicles being Saturday 30th March 1968, when MUB433worked the last service journey from Pudsey to Rodley, returning at 23.15 toStanningley only, thus finally ending nearly 50 years of the Farsley Omnibus Company.

7

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

Bus Fleet List1920 - 1968

Details of early vehicles are incomplete, consequently only the vehicles so far con-firmed as being operated by Farsley Omnibus Co. are included. The listing is in theformat - Fleet No; Reg. No; Chassis; Chassis No; Body; Seating.

1927

? ; UM9230; Commer 2P; 6509; ? ; B24F

Withdrawn 1936.

1929

? ; UA7687; Commer 5P; 27007; ? ; B20F

Withdrawn 1938.

8

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1931

? ; UB7343; Commer 6TK; 28275; ? ; B20F

Withdrawn 1939.

1933

? ; HE4163; Gilford 166OT; 10536; ? ; B32?

HE4163 ex-Ernest Silverwood, Ryhill (new 1929).Withdrawn c. 1935.

1934

? ; UG9687; Commer Centurion; 56045; ? ; B20F

Withdrawn by 1944.

9

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1936

?-? ; HL4742-4743; Daimler CF6; 7384/82; Taylor; C30F

HL4742-4743 ex-Bullock & Sons, Wakefield (Nos. 112 and 113, new 1930). HL4742re-seated to C34F in 1944.Withdrawn 1945 (HL4742-4743).

1937

? ; HL5774; Daimler CP6; 8088; Roberts?; B32R

HL5775 ex-Bullock & Sons, Wakefield (No. 154, new 1933).Withdrawn 1952 (HL5774).

1938

10; GNW776; Daimler COG6; 8376; Roe; B36F

Withdrawn 1952.

10

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1939

? ; HNW156; Commer PLNF5; 87006; Waveney; C26F

Withdrawn by 1948.

1939-1942?Exact dates uncertain

? ; MV3065; Bedford WLB; ? ; ? ; B20F ? ; UP7895; Leyland TS4; 2396; ? ; B30F

Withdrawn unknown (MV3065, UP7895).

1942

? ; JUA642-643; Bedford OWB; 10718/? ; Roe ; B32F

Withdrawn 1949 (JUA643), 1952 (JUA642).

11

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1943

? ; JUA738; Bedford OWB; 13549; Roe; B32F

Withdrawn 1952.

1945

? ; JUB356; Daimler CP6; 8067; Burlingham; B34F

Withdrawn 1952.

1946

7; ADU469; Daimler COG5; 8102; Roe; B35F

No. 7 ex-demonstrator via South Wales Transport (new 1934).Withdrawn 1952.

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

Farsley Omnibus Company's 1947 Daimler CVD6 No. 8 (KUB695) with Roe 35-seat bus bodywork. It waswithdrawn in 1961. (John Kaye).

13

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1947

8; KUB695; Daimler CVD6; 13275; Roe; B35F

Withdrawn 1961.

1948

9/11-12; LUB546-548; Daimler CVD6; 14106-108; Roe; B35F

No. 12 (LUB548) received second-hand Burlingham C33F body in 1957 just prior towithdrawal.Withdrawn 1957 (12), 1959 (9, 11).

1949

6; HL6368; Leyland LT5A; 4360; Roe; B32F

No. 6 ex-West Riding (No. 377, new 1934).Withdrawn 1952.

14

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1954

- ; DUB926; Leyland TD4; 11129; Roe; H31/25R - ; MUM275; Daimler CVD6; 13689; Wilks & Meade; C33F - ; MUM458; Daimler CVD6; 13688; Wilks & Meade; C33F - ; MUM460-461; Daimler CVD6; 13691/16327; Wilks & Meade; C33F

DUB926 ex-Hardwicks, Scarborough (new 1936 to Leeds CT, no. 72)MUM458, MUM460-461 re-bodied by Roe to H33/28R in 1956 (all new 1949 to Wal-lace Arnold).Withdrawn 1956 (MUM275), 1958 (MUM461), 1968 (MUM458, MUM460).

1956

- ; AUM404; AEC Regent; 06613234; MCCW; H30/26R

AUM404 ex-Leeds CT (No. 161, new 1935).Withdrawn 1956.

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

Ex-Leeds AEC Regent AUM404 with MCCW 56-seat bodywork, new in 1935, spent time with other WallaceArnold subsidiaries and was allocated to the Farsley Omnibus Company in 1956 just prior to withdrawal.(LTHL collection).

16

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1957

- ; KUM849; Daimler CVD6; 13800; Roe; H33/28R - ; MUB433; Daimler CVD6; 17256; Roe; H33/28R - ; MUM459; Daimler CVD6; 16150; Roe; H33/28R

KUM849 new 1947 to Wallace Arnold, originally carried Wilks & Meade C33F body,was given second-hand Burlingham FC33F (from Wallace Arnold vehicle NUA783) in1952, before being re-bodied again in 1957 by Roe.MUB433 new 1949 to Wallace Arnold, originally carried Wilks & Meade C33F body,but was given second-hand Plaxton FC35F body (from Wallace Arnold vehicleNUA726) in 1954, before being re-bodied again in 1957 by Roe.MUM459 new 1949 to Wallace Arnold, originally carried Wilks & Meade C33F body,but was given second-hand Plaxton FC35F body in 1953, before being re-bodiedagain in 1957 by Roe.Withdrawn 1968 (KUM849, MUB433, MUM459).

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

KUM849 was a 1947 Daimler CVD6 originally with a 33-seat Wilks & Meade coach body it received asecond-hand Burlingham coach body in 1952 before being re-bodied as a double-decker by Roe with a61-seat body. (John Kaye).

18

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1961

- ; WUM49; Leyland PSUC1/2; 564807; Burlingham; C41F

WUM49 had coach seats replaced by bus seats from ex-Rotherham trolleybus by1962, becoming B41F.Withdrawn 1965.

1963

- ; 909EUM; Leyland PD3A/1; 629346; Roe; H41/32R

909EUM transferred to Hardwicks, Scarborough 1967.

1964

- ; 833KUA; Leyland PSU3/2R; L06259; Plaxton; DP51F

833KUA transferred to Wallace Arnold coach fleet 1968

19

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

1965

- ; 9207NW; AEC Reliance; 2MU3RA2368; Plaxton; C41F

9207NW new 1959 to Wallace Arnold, re-seated to C39F in 1967 for one-man opera-tion; transferred back to Wallace Arnold coach fleet 1968.

1966

- ; HNW366D; Leyland PD3A/2; L60225; Roe; H41/32RD

HNW366D transferred to Hardwicks, Scarborough 1968.

1967

- ; 9206NW; AEC Reliance; 2MU3RA2367; Plaxton; C39F

9206NW new 1959 to Wallace Arnold via Hardwicks, Scarborough; transferred backto Wallace Arnold coach fleet 1968.

Farsley Omnibus Company Ltd 1920-1968

The last vehicle to enter the fleet in 1967 was 9206NW, a 1959 AEC Reliance with Plaxton 39-seat bodyworktransferred from Wallace Arnold’s coach fleet and used on one-man operated journeys. It returned to WallaceArnold in 1968 on the demise of the company. (LTHL collection).

© Local Transport History Library 2018

Additional information, corrections and photographs are always welcome.Our general email address is: lth.library@gmail.com.