SOUTHDOWN
SOUTHDOWN
As well as becoming an operating subsidiary of the National Bus Company, Southdown was merged with Brighton, Hove & District Omnibus Company. Effectively this meant that the latter company became little more than an operating division of Southdown, although until 1974 the fleetname was retained. Initially, little changed as far as the travelling public were concerned, except for the legal address and fleet numbers on the vehicles. From September 1971, BH&D vehicles began to appear in Southdown livery with a new joint fleetname. One year later the new corporate livery began to appear and so vehicles then began to appear in N.B.C. style livery with white fleetnames. However. from May 1974 the `BH&D` portion was discontinued.
During 1970 the first Daimler Fleetlines began to enter service with Southdown. In total there were twenty-five vehicles, all with Northern Counties bodywork. Ten of these fleetlines were built to 33-foot length with dual-door bodywork whilst the other fifteen were of 30ft length with single doors and panoramic side-windows, a feature first seen on the HCD-E batch of Leyland PD3s. All twenty-five of the 1970 order were fitted with the Gardner 6LX 10.45litre engines.
The Brighton, Hove & District division Daimler Fleetlines
The fifteen 33-ft Fleetlines entered service with the BH&D division in April 1970 in red and cream livery. Unlike `true` BH&D vehicles, the wheels were painted red, (initially polished guard-ring discs also being fitted to front wheels), and the vehicles featured fleetnames on the vehicle fronts below the windscreen. Upon delivery, these buses were the largest double deckers in Brighton. Initially all fifteen were allocated to routes 11 (Portslade [Mill House] - Hangleton) and 54 (Old steine - Hangleton [Sunninghill Estate]) allowing partial conversion of these two routes to one-man-operation although two workings remained crew-operated.
LEFT: Resting at Old Steine, Fleetline no. 2111 in original condition when only three months old, 26 July 1970.
1971 saw the arrival of fifteen more 33-foot similar Fleetlines for the BH&D division, again painted in BH&D red/cream livery which arrived between August and September. This second batch differed in that the most forward upper deck side window was fitted plain glass in place of the sliding vents. Another major difference was the power unit. This time the Leyland O.680 engine was specified. With the arrival of the second batch, the busy cross-town routes 3 (Hangleton - East Brighton), 3A (Dyke Road Avenue - Whitehawk) and 40 (Goldstone Valley - Whitehawk) were converted to one-man-operation, commencing September 12, 1971. On January 2, 1972 route 19 (Hollingbury [Wilmington Way] - Hangleton [Sunninghill Estate]) was also partially converted by these vehicles. This second batch of Fleetlines were the last vehicles be delivered in BH&D red/cream livery.
