170 - Leyland Atlantean (East Lancs) "THE ROYAL NAVY"

TTT170X was delivered to Milehouse in November 1981 and was first registered on 1st December 1981. It became number 170 in the Plymouth City Transport fleet and wore the red and cream livery of the Plymouth City Transport, and like the other East Lancs bodied Atlanteans it featured black lining to its livery. This batch of East Lancs bodied Atlanteans entered service in December 1981 and spelt the withdrawal of more elderly Atlanteans – in particular the Metro-Cammell bodied examples from the DDR192-8C and DDR199D batch of 1965.

In April 1982 the bus was named “THE ROYAL NAVY” in recognition of the Naval personnel who were in active service in the Falkland Islands.

During 1982 the majority of the fleet was repainted into the new Plymouth Citybus livery of red and cream – known as the ‘Starsky and Hutch‘ livery and 170 was treated to this during October 1982. At first 170 received just a partial repaint into this new livery and it was only the lower deck that received the extended cream meaning the black lining along the mid-section portion of the red was untouched. But later, when 170 received a full repaint, the black lining was omitted.

In 2009 170 was offered to the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group for spares and 170 was brought back to Milehouse to see its last days out. But on arrival at Milehouse it was found that 170 was in too good a condition to be scrapped. The gearbox wasn’t perfect, and it would require new panelling. So the decision was made not to scrap the vehicle and instead it became another member of the Plymouth City Transport Preservation Group fleet. 170 is now owned by Kameron Allan and Jason Beverley, both members of the group, and they plan to restore it into the red and cream ‘Starsky and Hutch’ livery it wore in 1982. The picture below shows it receiving some maintenance back 'home' at Milehouse.