Bristol Lodekka FLF6G

The Bristol Lodekka was a revolutionary design, dating from the early 1950’s. Cleverly engineered by Bristol, for the first time it enabled a bus fitted with a traditional type double deck body, with 2 + 2 seating arrangement on the upper deck, to pass under bridges as low as 13’6”. This was especially attractive to operators in rural areas, or in areas where there were many railway bridges. The body was built by Eastern Coach Works of Lowestoft. Not normally available on the open market, the Lodekka enjoyed a virtual monopoly amongst most of the nationalised bus companies, including the Scottish Bus Group, of which Central SMT (later branded as Central Sottish) was one. The basic design underwent a number of developments over the years. Another of its virtues for passengers was its very low entrance and flat floors. However, it was finally phased out in the late 1960s, as it did not meet the government’s bus grant requirements, these being aimed at the introduction of one person – as distinct from the traditional crew (driver and conductor) – operation. Central SMT was the largest purchasers of the Lodekka in Scotland, buying new, over the years, a total of 355.

BL346 was one of Central’s final batch of new Lodekkas, and is an example of the unusual lengthened bodies (31’), having a seating capacity of 78. First registered in May 1967, it is nicely finished with cream interior, red flooring, and red tartan seats. These were aesthetically attractive vehicles. With their large Gardner (6LX) engines, they were also reliable and economical in service. These buses tend not to be so popular with the younger generation of drivers, however, lacking as they do power steering, or automatic gear boxes – BL 346 has been equipped in preservation with a 5 speed constant mesh David Brown box, which requires double declutching up and down. Top speed is around 45mph. Purchase for preservation was agreed with the company in late 1980. After a number of changes of storage venue, and a prolonged but pretty thorough restoration, BL346 was put back on the road in 2000. Most of the work was carried out by the owner at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum (now located at Lathalmond, in Fife). However, the bus returned “home” to Lanarkshire when it moved to Glasgow soon after the GVVT took over Bridgeton Bus Garage. The bus has been on the road every year since 2000.