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LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30218		 Page 2 of 4
Author:  Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Mon Mar 07, 2016 1:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
Does anyone know if anything ever came of this proposal, or do I have to fire up the ol' Google Earth Pro "drone" and go looking for it?

Related in the UK on BBC:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35725299

http://www.bbc.com/news/video_and_audio ... 0/35725020
Author:  WickhamofWare [ Mon Mar 07, 2016 2:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
See https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/ ... trust/info or The Railbus Trust Facebook

The Trust would love to bring it back but for various reasons, the project has not moved forward for a while.

Hopefully, it will move forward in the not too distant future.
Author:  daylight4449 [ Mon Mar 07, 2016 3:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
What I'd love to know is if the LEV2 is still all there after all this time...
Author:  Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
I'm vaguely reminded of the joke about the Austin-Healey driver who was coming back from a show with a spare transmission in the passenger seat, absentmindedly went into a diner for dinner, remembered the top was down, and he ran back out to find an Austin-Healey back axle and two spare wheels added to the car............

That kind of joke also applies to Ford Pintos and AMC Gremlins/Pacers..........
Author:  70000 [ Tue Mar 08, 2016 3:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
Interestingly, out of the 6 single car prototypes/demonstrators of the Leyland Railbus, no less than 5 of them are actually "preserved", with only the one that went to Thailand/Malasya apparently being broken up.

Three different ones were used at various times in the USA, with an additional one seeing use in Canada. All of these 4 still exist:-

LEV 1 - Owned by the National Railway Museum, York. This one operated in MA & NH during 1981.

LEV 2 - The one now at the Connecticut Trolley Museum

BREL 75 - A European demonstrator that ended up doing trials for VIA Rail in 1986/7. This is somewhere near Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland on a private railway that I believe is no longer operational.

RB 004 - USA Demonstrator used in RI, LA, OH & PA 1984-6 , currently at the Whitrope railway in Scotland.

Even the 2 car class 140 prototype is preserved in Scotland, so 6 out of 7 built isn't a bad survival rate!

I never actually managed to travel on any of the things, despite LEV 1 being used locally on the Ipswich-Lowestoft line when first built.

I'm just waiting for some group or other to start talking about repatriating one of the production 2-car sets that went, secondhand, to Iran, now that we appear to be talking to them again.................!!
Author:  70000 [ Tue Mar 08, 2016 5:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
daylight4449 wrote:
What I'd love to know is if the LEV2 is still all there after all this time...


I had a look at Google Earth and the imagery from October 2014 appears to show something that could be LEV 2 sitting close to the turnout for the track down to the main storage/display barn where it branches off the running line.
When I went there in 2004, it was partially under cover in that barn area.
Author:  daylight4449 [ Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
70000 wrote:
daylight4449 wrote:
What I'd love to know is if the LEV2 is still all there after all this time...


I had a look at Google Earth and the imagery from October 2014 appears to show something that could be LEV 2 sitting close to the turnout for the track down to the main storage/display barn where it branches off the running line.
When I went there in 2004, it was partially under cover in that barn area.

Well that's not what I was thinking... Are all the parts still there where you could make a working unit out of it again?
Author:  Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
Even if not, the odds of getting/finding said parts are VASTLY greater in Britain than they ever are in Connecticut, or were in remote West Virginia.....
Author:  Jim Livesey [ Fri Mar 11, 2016 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
I didn't know that one of these with a Leyland National bus front end still survived in the US.

I often have the opportunity to ride on a later version on my local service - the 144 class.
These have bodywork by W Alexander and are not the worst we have - except for the draught from the inadequately sealed doors.....

Fortunately they should all be replaced within two or three years - the new Northern franchise has ordered their replacements.

As for preservation of any of the type.....only as an example of what you get when someone in authority decides to run the cheapest and nastiest rail service possible.

It is still possible that our units may continue in use elsewhere in the UK, 144012 has been modified to meet the new regulations for "disabled" access toilets.
Author:  RDGRAILFAN [ Fri Mar 11, 2016 9:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
I had the opportunity to ride RB004 on SEPTA Fox Chase line, did not connect the dots until you listed the preserved units. Interesting ride and concept, the "driver" kept asking what were doing,he thought we were union or something, bus driver never had any knowledge of rail-fans. SEPTA was in trouble back then and did not have the will or money to haul passengers.

By March 1985, SEPTA gave into political pressure and made a concerted effort to integrate the non-electrified Fox Chase-Newtown line into the rest of its all-electrified commuter system. A $10 million plan to restore service to Newtown and Pottstown using British BRE-Leyland Diesel railbusses was considered, with a test run reaching Newtown on September 3. Though the trial runs were relatively successful, ride quality was lackluster. Burdened with ongoing budgetary problems, SEPTA decided against the purchase of the railbusses.[13] September 1985 would be the last time a train transversed the Fox Chase-Newtown line.[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Chase ... nd_wyc.jpg
Author:  car57 [ Tue Sep 19, 2017 11:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
Is the LEV still at this museum or has it moved elsewhere?

Mike Pannell
Author:  crij [ Wed Sep 20, 2017 1:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
Not sure when the last Google Earth Image was taken, but it looks like she is still there. It looks like she is the 3rd car on the siding, directly behind the shanty. View is from google maps, satellite, 3D as if from Drone above the intersection of North and Winkler in Windsor, Ct looking south. By the in construction status of the gas station just outside of the image captured, I would say image is at most 4 years old.

Coordinates: 41.9315564,-72.5938291

Rich C.

Attachment:
Windsor Leyland LEV2.jpg
Windsor Leyland LEV2.jpg [ 116.84 KiB | Viewed 9222 times ]
Author:  JeffH [ Sat Sep 23, 2017 11:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
daylight4449 wrote:
What I'd love to know is if the LEV2 is still all there after all this time...


I was at the museum in question (Warehouse Point) a month ago and the Leyland railbus was still there.
Author:  70000 [ Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:44 am ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
I see that LEV 2 has now appeared in the list of vehicles being de-accessioned by the CT Trolley Museum over in the "Classifieds" section of rypn.
Will be interesting to see if the "repatriation" scheme bursts back into life now.....

Frankly if I had the money/won the lottery, I'd rather have the ex CN Montreal boxcab electric!
Author:  PMC [ Tue Dec 11, 2018 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: LEV2 Wickham / Leyland Railbus Repatriation Project
70000 wrote:
I see that LEV 2 has now appeared in the list of vehicles being de-accessioned by the CT Trolley Museum over in the "Classifieds" section of rypn.
Will be interesting to see if the "repatriation" scheme bursts back into life now.....

Frankly if I had the money/won the lottery, I'd rather have the ex CN Montreal boxcab electric!

I haven't seen a reaction on here yet about the post in classifieds (though close to 700 have viewed it already so I know someone is paying attention), there are quite a few pieces there including two CNS&M cars, and one identified as a "Double Truck wooden passenger coach #940, built around 1892", but I couldn't find a car from that year anywhere: https://www.ct-trolley.org/about/collection/
(Edit: I think it must be this car: Philadelphia & Reading 940, 1903 Osgood Bradley Car Co.)

As for the LEV 2, there used to be a saying in the seventies: the only reason to own an English car is if you live in England (and even then it was dubious).
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