Seen at Carnforth at the 2007 Brief Encounter rally

    © Chris Fenner

Notes:

811 was part of the second batch of Leyland Leopard DP’s (Dual Purpose Vehicles) delivered to Ribble in the mid-1960’s, which were to the BET style of bodywork. However the ten vehicles in the batch 808-817 were the only DP’s built by Weymann. The previous ten delivered in 1964 were bodied by Marshall, as were the subsequent 1966 and 1967 deliveries. The final thirty delivered in 1968 were bodied by Willowbrook. Externally virtually identical, the deliveries from 1966 onwards were chassis type PSU3/4R with semi-automatic transmission.

The Dual Purpose configuration suited Ribble’s operational requirements well in the 1960’s, as this type of vehicle could be used on medium distance express services, but could also be used on stage carriage duties as required. 811 was delivered to Kendal depot in 1965, and worked from there until 1968 when it moved to Keswick. Also in 1968 it was converted to OMO configuration, as were all the DP’s during the 1968-69 period. Despite being equipped for OMO, it is unlikely to have seen much use as such, as it was used mainly on express routes which were mainly crew operated until the mid-1970’s. In July 1969 811 moved from Keswick to Ambleside, where it remained until withdrawal at the end of 1977.

811 remained listed as “Out of Use” until August 1978 when it was acquired by Sykes (dealer). In March 1979 it was bought by C&F Coaches, Fleetwood and used on a local service in the Knott End area. Withdrawn by C&F circa 1991, it was acquired for preservation by Philip Deegan of Fleetwood. Philip ran it for a number of years, including journeys to naval college in Sunderland where he was studying. In 1999 it was sold by him for continued preservation when it passed to the RVPT collection.

Restoration began in 1999, but proved to be a protracted affair. Years of outside storage had taken their toll, and the framework was in very poor condition and had to be largely replaced. Its rebuild was further complicated by a twisted chassis (presumably the result of accident damage?), and this had to be corrected before rebuild. Restoration was finally completed in 2006, and since then 811 has been one of the front line vehicles in the RVPT collection.