Great Eastern Railway 1904-1922

Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 Contents The Great Eastern Railway - Fleet History 1904 - 1922 Page 3 The Great Eastern Railway - Bus Fleet List 1904 - 1922 Page 8 Cover Illustration: No. 11 (CL201), one of the Stratford-built buses outside Ipswich station. Note the luggage compartment behind the drivers seat. (LTHL collection). © The Local Transport History Library 2017. (www.lthlibrary.org.uk) For personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher. In all cases this notice must remain intact. All rights reserved. First Published 2016. PDF-040-2 Page 2 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 Having watched with interest as the Great Western Railway and the North Eastern Railway commenced motorbus operations and having visited the G.W.R. and seen the operations for themselves, the Great Eastern Railway decided to apply for powers to operate omnibuses, resulting in the Great Eastern Railway (General Powers) Act of 1904. The act granted them powers to operate omnibuses and to carry mail. The G.W.R. had purchased a number of Milnes-Daimlers and, as there was an inducement of 10% discount if three vehicles were purchased, three were duly ordered. On the 18th July 1904 the three 20 hp Milnes-Daimlers commenced the G.E.R.'s first service between Lowestoft, Kessingland and Southwold. The drivers were recruited from the G.E.R.'s locomotive department and were issued with a navy blue uniform, whilst the conductors (recruited mainly from the G.E.R.'s porters) were issued with a khaki and grey uniform. The service proved successful and it was planned to open more new routes the following year. The tickets used were of the Punch type. The Locomotive Superintendent at the Stratford Works in London was worried about the initial cost of the Milnes-Daimlers and suggested to the General Manager that buses could be constructed by the G.E.R. themselves at the locomotive works and, furthermore, this could be done for around £600 per Page 3 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 This staff photograph taken at Chelmsford in 1905 clearly shows the differences in uniforms. (LTHL collection). Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 vehicle as against the £810 paid for the Milnes-Daimlers. The General Manager agreed and full authority to construct 12 new buses for the following year was given. The Milnes-Daimlers were received in a standard brown livery that was applied by the company to all double-deck vehicles before delivery, to which the G.E.R. had simply added its coat-of-arms to the lower panels and the wording 'Great Eastern Railway' to the top deck panels. The destination was shown on a route board above the lower saloon windows. The new 'Stratford' buses, however, were liveried in red and white and this was adopted as the standard livery - the Milnes-Daimlers being repainted at the next overhaul. Great Eastern Railway was carried across the radiator. Some buses had luggage compartments behind the bulkhead losing seats, whilst others were built without. Every part of the bus was built at Stratford, except the low tension magneto and the carburettor. They were built on frames (as opposed to a chassis) in the style of a railway goods wagon - with springs to match, making them one of the most uncomfortable buses ever built! They weighed in at nearly 5 tons compared to around 3¾ tons for commercial double-deck buses. They also cost considerably more (around £1000) than their commercially produced counterparts. Page 5 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 As the new buses entered service new routes were opened. A circular tour commenced at Lowestoft on the 7th August 1905 running for two summer seasons. On the 14th August a similar service commenced at Clacton and ran to St. Osyth for three summer seasons. A service between Ipswich and Shotley Pier commenced on the 21st August and this ran throughout the year. Services from Norwich to Loddon and Beccles; and to Trowse Station (near Norwich) followed on the 29th August and three days later a service from Colchester to West Mersea began to run. On the 8th September 1905, with the final delivery of the Stratford vehicles, services from Chelmsford commenced; to Writtle; to Danbury and to Great Waltham. With the glut of new services came problems - the Stratford buses did not perform well and, along with the Milnes-Daimlers, were more off the road than on it. Overloading was a problem, with in excess of 60 passengers sometimes crowding on to a bus built for 36! In an effort to ease the situation some services were curtailed for a while - but in December 1905 all services were suspended, since the Locomotive Superintendent could no longer guarantee their operation. The Stratford buses were stripped down to the frames and fitted with new springs and all services had resumed by March 1906. At the end of 1905 orders for further double-deck buses were placed - 3 Thornycrofts and 3 Maudslays, but in the event the Maudslays were delayed Page 6 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 and did not arrive until the following year. The services, however, were not proving financially successful and early in 1908 the fare was raised from 1d per mile to 1½d per mile. It was also decided to cut some of the services and as a result several of the routes were withdrawn in February 1909, leaving a number of buses spare, however this resulted in services being maintained for the next few years. Fares returned to 1d per mile later in 1909. In the summer of 1912 United Automobile Services began operations in Lowestoft and the Council granted the company licences to operate to Southwold. As a result the G.E.R. withdrew their services from the 18th January 1913. An agreement was reached with the National Steam Car Company of Chelmsford in July 1913 for the company to operate the railway bus services there - the last G.E.R. bus running on the 13th July 1913. This resulted in more spare vehicles and some were sold off, including the Milnes-Daimlers and some of the Stratford-built buses. Strangely, however, a new service was commenced on the 1st April 1914 between Harwich and Upper Dovercourt, which was contracted out to Thomas Tilling, although the intention was to run this service as a 'summer only' Page 7 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 operation. Tilling initially used two vehicles based in West Street, Harwich that carried 'Great Eastern Railway' along the lower deck panels whilst carrying Thomas Tilling on the upper deck panels. The Norwich to Loddon route continued throughout the Great War but by 1919 the five railway buses were worn out and due for replacement. 6 Thornycroft J chassis were ordered, seating 28 they were to be bodied at the Stratford Works but were actually bodied elsewhere. They were delivered in a livery of blue and white. The Ipswich to Shotley service was re-instated in 1919 (it had been withdrawn in 1916 when Shotley Royal Naval Station became a prohibited area) using 3 of the Thornycrofts. The Norwich to Loddon and Beccles service was also restored at the same time, although by August 1920 United Automobile Services had acquired the licences and the 3 Thornycroft vehicles used to operate it. In April 1922 the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company offered to buy out the G.E.R.'s interest in the Ipswich to Shotley route, which was agreed, thus ending the Great Eastern Railway's venture into bus operations. The contracted service between Harwich and Dovercourt, however, continued to be operated by Thomas Tilling until 1st January 1923 when the Great Eastern Railway became part of the London & North Eastern Railway, who sold the licences in October 1923. Page 8 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 Great Eastern Railway Bus Fleet List 1904-1922 This listing is in the format - Year into Stock; Fleet No; Reg. No; Chassis; Chassis No; Body; Seating. 1904 1-3 BJ203-205 Milnes-Daimler 20hp ? ? O18/16RO Withdrawn 1909 (3), 1914 (1-2). Page 9 Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 No. 1 (BJ203) the first of the Milnes-Daimlers when new and still wearing the brown livery in which it was delivered. (LTHL collection). Great Eastern Railway: The Buses 1904-1922 1905 4-6 BJ318-320 G.E.R. 30hp U58 ? G.E.R. O18/16RO 7 F1499 G.E.R. 30hp U58 ? G.E.R. O18/16RO 8-9 BJ329-330 G.E.R. 30hp X58 ? G.E.R. O18/12RO 10-11 CL200-201 G.E.R. 30hp X58 ? G.E.R. O18/12RO 12 F1610 G.E.R. 30hp X58 ? G.E.R. O18/12RO 13 F1612 G.E.R. 30hp X58 ? G.E.R. O18/12RO 14 F1614 G.E.R. 30hp X58 ? G.E.R. O18/12RO 15 F1613 G.E.R. 30hp X58 ? G.E.R. O18/12RO Nos. 4-7 had no luggage compartment and 2 extra seats beside the driver. They were designated by the GER as “Class U58”. They had garden seating on the upper deck and transverse seating in the lower saloon. No. 12 had 4 seats fitted into the luggage compartment at a later date becoming O18/16RO. No. 8-15 had luggage compartments fitted and had 2 extra seats beside the driver. They were designated by the GER as “Class X58”.

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