Bristol LH


The Bristol LH was a single-decker bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in Bristol, England. Nearly 2,000 were built between 1967 and 1982 in a variety of sizes and body types, including some as goods vehicles.

Models

The LH designation stood for Lightweight chassis, Horizontal engine. It replaced the Bristol SU and was succeeded by the Leyland National B Series for operators in need of a small or lightweight bus. The Bristol RE was in production at the same time for those in need of larger or more robust vehicles.
The standard Bristol LH model was long. It was also available as the LHS and the LHL. The width of the chassis was but bodies as wide as the then maximum width, could be fitted, wide-bodied LHs have the wheels slightly inset in the wheelarches as a result.
The bus was available with a choice of six-cylinder diesel engines, either the Leyland O.400 or the Perkins H6.354. The 5.8 litre H6.354 produced 101 bhp; the 6.54 litre O.400 had a peak output of 125 bhp whilst the 0.401 produced 138 bhp. The usual gearbox was a Turner-Clark synchromesh five-speed model with overdrive top gear. The front and rear axles were sourced from Leyland's Bathgate factory. Some buses were fitted with a Self-Changing Gears semi-automatic transmission and power steering. The engine was positioned in the centre of the chassis but its relatively high position meant that several steps were needed in the entrance. This was arranged in the overhang ahead of the front wheels allowing driver-only operation with the same person taking the fares and issuing tickets as passengers boarded. A small number of LH's, for Lancashire United Transport, Hants & Dorset and the Midland General group were also fitted with a central exit doorway. The radiator was positioned at the front of the chassis. The suspension was by half-elliptical leaf springs, although BCV had offered pneumatic suspension on heavier buses since 1962.
Bodies were fitted by different manufacturers, who adapted them to the needs of different operators. Bodies could be fitted out as buses, coaches or dual purpose buses which could be used for coach services when traffic demanded. Bus bodies usually came from the Eastern Coach Works, which was owned by the same Transport Holding Company. This was a government-owned company but Leyland had acquired a 25% share in 1965. Plaxton bodies were preferred for coaches. Other manufacturers of bodies for the LH were Walter Alexander, Duple, East Lancashire, Marshall, Northern Counties, Weymann and Willowbrook. The only Weymann body was fitted to the first LHS6L built to the orders of Western Welsh. Weymann had been closed in 1965 and the body was originally mounted on an Albion Nimbus delivered to Western Welsh in 1961; modifications included extending the body wheelbase to match the chassis and fitting a Lodekka style grille to provide cooling for the radiator. WWOC numbered their LHS 1 and registered it MBO1F. It later passed to Thornes of Selby and is currently preserved.
V body
For the standard LH the 41-seat Plaxton coach and 43-seat ECW bus were most widely used; the bus bodies manufactured in Belfast by Alexander for Ulsterbus had 45 seats, East Midland Motor Services' ten 1969 buses were the only ones with Willowbrook bodies, as built they had 45 seats but with a 3+2 seating arrangement in three rows forward of the rear bench, making room for a pram pen, they were also unusual in carrying no grille badge, which puzzled the author of this sentence when he first came across a seemingly unidentifiable bus as a schoolboy in the mid 1970s. The LHS was produced as both buses and coaches with 26 to 35 seats. The LHL had up to 53 seats as a coach or 55 as a bus. Between 1975 and 1982 Vanplan built eight with delivery van bodies.
Altogether nearly 2,000 LHs were built: 1,505 LH, 174 LHL and 308 LHS.

Principal bus operators

The following lists only include vehicles ordered by the company named, however many took additional vehicles second-hand from other operators. The code following the chassis model 'type' column shows the number of seats. The prefix B represents a bus body, C a coach or DP a dual purpose vehicle. The suffix F shows a single front door, D shows dual front and centre doors.

Alexander Midland

operated 41 LHs with Walter Alexander Y-type bodies and Perkins engines in Scotland. All but the last three were coaches.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
MLH1–19SMS 671–678H, SWG 669–679HLH C38F1970
MLH20–33WMS 920J–925J, WWG 326J–333JLH C41F1971
MLH34–38BWG 334–338LLH C41F1972
MLH39–41BWG 339–341LLH B45F1972

Bristol Omnibus

received six LH buses in 1971 with semi-automatic gearboxes. A further 110 were ordered for delivery between 1975 and 1980. A few more buses were acquired second hand including two LHSs from London Country.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
351–356DHW 291–296KLH B43F1971
357–364JHW 117–124PLH B43F1975
365–389KHU 315–330P, KHU 615–616P, JOU 162–165P, KHY 430–432PLH B43F1976
390–421OFB 963–968R, OTC 604–608R, REU 312–332SLH B43F1977
422–433SWS 768–774S, TTC 786–790TLH B43F1978
434–453WAE 186–193T, WAE 294–295TLH B43F1979
454–466AFB 585–597VLH B43F1980

NB 351-356 were initially B44F but rebuilt with one less seat to allow a window to be inserted in the rear panel to improve the driver's view when reversing.

Crosville

operated services in Wales and north west England. They bought 16 Perkins-engined vehicles in 1969 and 40 Leyland with engines from 1975.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
SLP144–159CFM 144–148G, DFM 149–159HLH B45F1969
SLL601–620KMA 531–536N, LMA 607–610P, MCA 611–620PLH B43F1975
SLL621–640OCA 621–640PLH B45F1976

Eastern Counties

took 50 LH and 5 LHS buses between 1968 and 1972, these were all Perkins-engined and the LHS6Ps had been ordered by Luton Corporation and delivered to United Counties Omnibus Company with registrations XXE131-5H, UCOC did not want them so ECOC took them on, re-registering them with Norfolk, rather than Luton marks. Eastern Counties did not take any more new LHs until 1977 when a further 15 were added to the fleet.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
LH523–531CNG 523–526K, DNG 527–531KLH B45F1971
LH532–537DPW2 532K, FNG 533–534K, GNG 535–536K, HAH 537HLH B43F1972
LHS595–599WNG 101–105HLHS B37F1970
LH685–692RAH 685–692FLH B45F1968
LH693–702UNG 693–695G, VAH 696–702HLH B45F1969
LH899–916WNH 899–901H, XPW 902–906H, YAH 907–911H, YPW 912–916HLH B45F1970
LH917–931TCL 137–142R, TCL 136R, WEX 924–931SLH B43F1977

Eastern National

bought four LH6Ls in 1977, all with Leyland O.401 engines, 5-speed manual gearboxes, ECW bodies and dual headlight fronts. They were intended for the more lightly loaded rural routes and were operated out of the Colchester depot. All four were sold to Hedingham & District Omnibuses in 1982 and one has been preserved.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
CR1100 - 1103UVX 4S - UVX 7SLH43F 1977

Eastern Scottish

was the only Scottish Bus Group company to order LHs apart from Alexander Midland when they took 34 Perkins-engined LHs finished by Walter Alexander as Y-type coaches.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
YA315–348OSF 315–332G, SFS 333–348HLH C38F1970

Hants & Dorset

and the associated Wilts & Dorset company were unusual in specifying dual-door configuration for their early LHs. Buses in the 521–530 series were allocated to Wilts & Dorset, the remainder to Hants & Dorset.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
521–526REL 746 – 748H, RRU 692–694HLH B39D1969
527–528TRU 227–228JLH B39D1970
529–530UEL 567–568JLH B43F1970
828NLJ 817GLH B39D1968
1539–1548XEL 825–834KLH B43F1971
3026–3035REL 743–745H, RLJ 789–795HLH B39D1969
3051–3055TRU 220–224JLH B39D1970
3056–3057ULJ 367–368HLH B43F1970
3501–3529DEL 537–546L, NEL 844–847M, NLJ 515–529MLH B43F1973
3530–3561ORU 530–541M, GLJ 474–493NLH B43F1974
3562 - 3579HJT 34 – 48N, HPW 395 – 397NLH B43F1975
3806–3811LJT 939–944PLH B43F1975

Lincolnshire

is a largely rural county so Lincolnshire Road Car always had a need for a number of small buses. Their orders amounted to 72 standard buses, 24 dual purpose, and 10 LHS buses.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
1001–1006KFE 296–299H, KFE 301–302HLH B43F1969
1007–1010LVL 371–372H, LVL 901–902JLH B43F1970
1011–1014NVL 448–450K, NVL 613KLH B43F1971
1015–1022OVL 448–449K, OVL 451–452K, RFE 432K, RVL 248–249L, RVL 251LLH B43F1972
1023–1029SVL 20–23L, UVL 572–574MLH B43F1973
1030–1035WFE 675–679M, WFE 839MLH B43F1974
1036–1044JTL 774–778M, LTL 660–663PLH B43F1975
1045–1061SVL 830–837R, UFE 286–290R, XFW 949–956SLH B43F1977
1062–1072YVL 836–837S, DTL 540–548TLH B43F1978
1651–1656GVL 907–912FLH DP41F1968
1657–1661JVL 363–364G, JVL 613–614G,615HLH DP41F1969
1662–1668JVL 926H, KVL 449–454HLH DP41F1970
1669–1674NFE 644–649JLH DP41F1971
1801–1803GVL 913–915GLHS B35F1968
1804–1810JVL 701G, JVL 616–618H, JVL 927–929HLHS B35F1969

London Country

23 standard width LHSs and 44 narrow LHSs as no other suitable narrow vehicles were available at the time.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
BL1–23RPH 101–111L, SPK 112–123LLHS B35F1973
BL24–53XPD 124–130N, GPD 299–321NLHS B35F1974
BN54–67TPJ 54–67SLHS B35F1977

London Transport

Several versions of the Bristol LH were used by London Transport. 17 narrow LHSs with five-speed gearboxes were delivered to in 1975 to replace Ford Transit minibuses on narrow roads. Although fitted with five-speed gearboxes the first gear was blocked off to make driving easier in traffic. In 1976 95 full length vehicles with automatic transmissions and narrow bodies were purchased. The 7 ft 6in bodies were not only because of narrow roads on some routes, but also due to the restricted space at Kingston garage in Surrey which prevented the Leyland National being deployed there. LHSs were classified by London Transport as BS; full length LHs were classified BL.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
BL1–95KJD 401–440P, OJD 41–95RLH B39F1976
BS1–17GHV 501–506N, OJD 7–17RLHS B26F1976

United

had five coaches with Plaxton Elite bodies, but the remaining 218 LHs ordered for this fleet were standard ECW bus bodies for services in north-east England. A number of second-hand buses were also acquired.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
1081–1085BHN 981–985HLH C41F1970
1501–1514THN 601–605F, UHN 796–798G, THN 607F, THN 609F, UHN 800G, YHN 811–814HLH B45F1968
1515–1520AHN 315–320HLH B45F1969
1521–1554PHN 512–554LLH B43F1972
1555–1600VHN 855–870M, WHN 571–600MLH B43F1973
1601–1634AHN 601–612M, GUP 897–918NLH B43F1974
1635–1665HUP 791–801N, LGR 646–655P, MGR 656–661P, NBR 662–665PLH B43F1975
1666–1685NGR 666–685PLH B43F1976
1686–1700XPT 686–689R, XUP 690–693R, CGR 894–900SLH B43F1977
1701–1718LPT 701–711T, MUP 712–714T, SUP 715–718VLH B43F1979

Western National

Much of south west England is rural in nature and many narrow roads mean that Western National needed a large fleet of small buses. In 1969 the associated Southern National fleet was merged with Western National. The coach services of both companies were mostly operated under the Royal Blue brand. Neighbouring Devon General was also brought under Western National control in 1971, having just placed their first order for 6 LHs.
The orders for this large fleet of 209 buses and coaches were spread across ECW, Marshall, Plaxton and even Duple. Second hand vehicles brought the total number of LHs operated up to nearly 300.
Fleet numbersRegistrationsTypeBuilt
88–93VOD 88–93KLHS B33F 1971
94–96LFJ 848–850WLHS B35F 1980
100–103PUO 100–103MLH B43F 1974
104–107GDV 461–464NLH B43F 1974
108–115KTT 38–45PLH B43F 1975
116–121STT 408–413RLH B43F 1977
712–726MUO 324–338FLH B41F 1968
727–740PTA 757–759G, POD 801–802H, PTA 660–662G, POD 803–808HLH B43F 1969
750–763POD 809–822HLH B43F 1970
1250–1255VOD 120–125KLHS B33F 1972
1300–1311RDV 435–446HLH C41F 1970
1312–1315UTT 578–581JLH C41F 1971
1316–1325BDV 316L, NTT 317M, BDV 318L, NTT 319–325MLH C39F 1973
1326–1331PUO 326–331MLH C41F 1974
1561–1563FDV 791–793VLHS B35F 1979
1564–1574SUO 429–432H, TTA 557–558H, TTA 737H,TUO 265–268JLH B43F 1970
1575–1588VOD 106–119KLH B43F 1971
1601–1606PTT 601–606MLH B43F 1974
1607–1611GDV 456–460NLH B43F 1974
1612–1623HTT 367–376N, KTT 37P, KTT 46PLH B43F 1975
1624–1630VDV 124–130SLH B43F 1977
3100–3103PTT 70–73RLH C41F 1977
3114–3123SFJ 114–123RLH C41F 1977
3124–3134VDV 131–133S, VOD 627–629S, AFJ691–698TLH C41F 1978
3400–3413PTT 100–107R, SFJ 108–113RLH C41F 1977

Non-passenger use

Between 1972 and 1982 Lawrence Wilson & Son bought 3 LH and 10 LHL chassis which were fitted with panel van bodies. The first three LHLs were completed by Marsden and the remainder by Vanplan. They were used for delivering Wilson's Silver Cross brand of prams. One further LH was fitted out as a racing car transporter for Wheatcroft of Leicester.

Road-rail bus

A former Hants & Dorset standard LH was fitted with additional flanged wheels in 1980 to allow it to operate on railway lines. It was owned by the North East London Polytechnic of Dagenham and some work was done by Lucas Aerospace. It was tested on the West Somerset Railway between and in August 1980.