October 2006 saw the end of an important era at Plymouth Citybus with the very last Leyland Atlantean passing into preservation. And it really was the end of an era.

The Leyland Atlantean double decker buses had been running around the streets of Plymouth for over forty six years and throughout that time they could be found operating all over the city. Indeed until the minibus revolution came in October 1986 they were the mainstay of the fleet. Most people should recall the great big line ups of Atlanteans at Milehouse in the last forty odd years.

After the end of the Second World War Plymouth Corporation had been buying the Leyland Titan rear entrance 56 seat double decker in its various guises and indeed they had amassed a sizable fleet of them by 1958. But change was on the horizon and Plymouth Corporation tested its first Leyland Atlantean PDR1/1 78 seat demonstrator from the 10th to the 24th July 1959 and was suitably impressed with it enough to place an order for thirteen of the type to be delivered in June and July 1960. With their stunning new design and extra seating capacity, 77 seats as opposed to 56 seats on the Leyland Titan, they were an instant hit with both bus crews and passengers alike. The drivers must have found the electric gear change far easier to use than the old unsyncromeshed crash gear box of the Titans and the conductor probably enjoyed staying warm as opposed to standing on the rear platform in the cold draughty weather! It's also worth noting that there were cases of passengers becoming confused with fact that they couldn't get on at the back!

The first batch, 121-138, was joined by an extra one, 139, which was delivered a few months later in February 1961. It wasn't long before the first nineteen Atlanteans were supplemented by the next batch, 140-148, delivered in October 1961 to the same specification as the previous ones. These were followed by yet more deliveries the following year between July and October 1962 when a further twelve, 149-160, entered service and again during June and July 1963 when another twenty three, 161-183 also joined the fleet. These Atlanteans featured a new three piece engine bustle as opposed to the previous one piece arrangement that was unique to the earlier deliveries which was very cumbersome to open.

At the rate of Atlantean deliveries the future of the traditional half cab Leyland Titan now looked uncertain as more and more routes went over to Atlantean operation. The Titans would eventually be phased out in 1974.

But back to 1964 and between October and December yet another eight Atlantean PDR 1/1s, 184-191, entered service just before Christmas. The last of the standard flat fronted Atlanteans, 192-205, were to follow and entered service between November 1965 and January 1966.
By May 1967 Plymouth Corporation had amassed one hundred Leyland Atlantean PDR 1/1s with the latest batch, 206-220. These new buses received new stylish front panels, based on similar examples in Manchester. They were also supplied with two piece glider doors, instead of the usual four piece arrangement. This was also the first batch to have small white fleet numbers applied instead of the large traditional tramway style ones which had been applied to all buses since the days of the tram.

With longer double-deck buses legalised Leyland introduced the new 33ft Atlantean PDR 2/1, of which Plymouth tested Leyland's' demonstrator PDR 2/1 from 26th October to the 2nd November 1968 and also received the first one into stock during November 1968. Fleet no. 221 was so radically different to what had gone before. It was the first Atlantean to be bodied for Plymouth by Park Royal Coachbuilders instead of Metro Cammell Weymann who had been supplying bodies on Leyland Titans and Leyland Atlanteans to the local undertaking since 1954. This new Atlantean PDR 2/1 had the new dual door layout for the impending one man operation and other features included the new more powerful 680 engine, strip lighting and automatic fare collection equipment. Another new feature was the direct air change gearbox which although fitted with a fully automatic unit from Self Changing Gears Ltd it was replaced with a semi-automatic unit prior to delivery to Milehouse.

Indeed 221 had the distinction of being exhibited at the 1968 Commercial Motor Show at Earls Court by Leyland Motors before being delivered to Milehouse.

It entered service on the route 22 to Plympton and Merafield and would be crewed by both a driver and conductor until September 1969 when the rest of the batch, 222-244, would also start to operate on one man operation duties. The first routes to be converted to one manning were the 10 and 11, the 14 and 15 and the 22. The rest of the batch had actually arrived during May and June 1969 and like 221 were crewed with a driver and conductor till September 15th, the start date for OMO.

The following year, June 1970, saw the next batch of Park Royal bodied Atlantean PDR 2/1s, 245-263, arrive which differed somewhat from the previous batch in that they had larger windscreens with a new modified front lower panel and most importantly they were fitted with power assisted steering. This extra feature made such an important difference to the driver as the previous batch, 221-244, became known with some notoriety for their very heavy steering, particularly when carrying a full load! On occasions it would not be uncommon for a driver to have to stand up in order to turn the wheel! The new Park Royals, 245-263, and indeed the next batch, 1-15, delivered between March and May 1971 would come to be regarded by many as the most stylish Atlanteans that Plymouth City Transport ever bought.

With the 1971 batch, 1-15, the saloons also came fitted out in formica, instead of the usual aluminium which enhanced their appearance even further and gave the new buses a very bright feel inside.
Between 1960 and 1971 Plymouth City Transport had purchased one hundred Metro Cammell bodied PDR 1/1s and fifty eight Park Royal bodied PDR 2/1s but things were about to change! A change of buying policy at Milehouse meant that the newly launched Leyland National single deck bus was to find initial favour with the undertaking and between August 1972 and July 1974 sixty of these buses were delivered but it became steadily apparent that these vehicles were extremely problematical and very expensive to maintain. The writing was on the wall for these buses, so much so that by 1977 they were starting to be withdrawn and sold.

During April 1975 Plymouth City Transport reverted to buying double deckers and they received their first batch of Leyland Atlantean AN68s, 76-90, with Park Royal bodies based almost identically on the ones being delivered to the National Bus Company. These were like a breath of fresh air and again they carried new stylish fronts with curved domes and curved windscreens which were electrically heated. They also had air handbrakes as opposed to the traditional ratchet type. Again the inside saloons looked very modern with all formica finished panels and strip lighting.

They would receive another batch, 91-105, during January to March 1977 with more or less identical bodies but now carrying the body builders name Roe instead of Park Royal. These buses were the first to carry side route numbers as opposed to rear route numbers. Again another 15 Roe bodied AN68s, 106-120, entered the fleet in January and February 1978 which again were basically identical to the previous ones except that these did not have the direct air change gearbox but instead they had the electric change fitted to the steering column.

The last order for Roe bodied AN68s came with the next batch of Atlanteans, 121-135, delivered between March and June 1979. This batch was split with the first 10 AN68s, 121-130, carrying the normal dual door layout and the remaining five, 131-135 featuring only single door specification for dual purpose stage carriage/private hire work. These five buses also had a PA system and all the seats were trimmed in a special red and black moquette as opposed to the usual red rexene that was a mainstay feature of the rest of the fleet. This new batch of buses came with new roman style fleet numbering which was very stylish and also these were the first new buses to carry the Plymouth coat of arms above the cab window on the offside and above the front entrance door on the nearside. The five single door AN68s, 131-135, also came in the new livery of cream roof with cream around the windows and red between decks. They were also lined out in black and they were named after famous local people a few months after delivery. All fifteen buses also featured a new pedestal mounted electric change 5-speed gear box. This would become the standard gear change arrangement for the remaining Atlanteans delivered to Milehouse.

Due to Roe bodybuilders becoming ever more behind with supplying their orders Plymouth City Transport opted to go with East Lancashire Coachbuilders for their next order for Atlantean AN68s, 136-147, which were delivered to Milehouse between December 1979 and February 1980. These East Lancs. buses were very different to the Roe bodied Atlanteans being very flat fronted and not half as stylish as their predecessors. Again this batch was also very unique in being delivered in the pre war style maroon and cream livery which ended up being short lived and the batch was nearly all repainted into the standard red and cream livery by November 1982. As with earlier in 1979 two of this batch, 138 and 143, were also delivered for dual purpose work and featured single door specification as opposed to the rest being to the usual dual door specification. Likewise these two buses were also delivered in the same red and cream as 131-135 and also came supplied with a PA system and the red and black moquette seats. These two buses were also named after local people too.

As Plymouth City Transport moved into the early 1980s they would order their last two batches of this enduring double decker. In December 1980 they received their final delivery of dual door Leyland Atlantean AN68s, 148-161, which were delivered in the same livery as 138 and 143, complete with the black lining. Two of the batch, 158 and 159 were delivered in February 1981 and carried different registrations to the others within the batch and also came fitted with a protected gearbox, which was "driver proof" meaning the bus could only pull away in either first or second gear and any attempt to pull away in any other gear would leave the bus at a standstill until the correct gear was deployed by the driver. This was installed as a safety feature and ultimately to reduce unnecessary wear and tear on the gearbox by driver abuse. Another safety aspect with it being the centre doors would not open until the wheels came too a standstill.

The very last ever Leyland Atlantean AN68s, 162-171, arrived during December 1981 and again followed the same pattern as the previous delivery, being delivered in the red and cream livery with the black lining and also as with 158 and 159 they would all have the protected gearbox as standard. They were also delivered to single door specification and 167 would be the only one to have a split level entrance fitted to it.

With this final delivery that would be almost the end of buying traditional Leyland double deckers at Milehouse apart from three Leyland Olympians delivered in March 1982, which like the earlier Leyland Nationals would only last six years at Milehouse due to their unreliability compared to the workhorse Atlantean.

Change was on the horizon again and with the Transport Bill coming into effect deregulation within the bus industry meant that as from October 1986 competition was allowed so Plymouth Citybus started running a large fleet of minibuses in order to offer high frequency services and to penetrate areas of Plymouth that had until now remained elusive to large double deck vehicles. However although at this time large scale withdrawals of Atlantean stock had been taking place at Milehouse they were still a very important part of the peak vehicle requirement and would remain so until the early 1990s when Plymouth Citybus started buying larger capacity single deck buses to replace the ageing Atlantean fleet. Slowly but surely the Atlanteans would start to disappear off the streets of Plymouth and during late 1999 and throughout 2000 the company would decimate the remaining fleet by replacing them with second hand Volvo D10M double deckers that were more modern and indeed somewhat younger than the Atlantean fleet. Over the last couple of years the last batch, 162-171 have slowly been withdrawn with the final three, 162/170 and 171 being withdrawn throughout 2006.

So after forty six years the Leyland Atlantean has disappeared off the streets of Plymouth but they leave a huge legacy and its fair to say that they have performed brilliantly over that time operating as the work horse of the City, moving people around the town, transporting the workers to the dockyard and the factories, the children to school and the shoppers to the City Centre.

A remarkable achievement indeed.