The photograph to the right, taken in May 1977, shows a general
view of the inside of the Mellor Street garage, where TDK 322 was based for
most of its working life. Mellor Street garage
has not been a bus depot for several years.
The present owner and his wife were driving through Rochdale on a Sunday afternoon in April 1977 on their way home from Blackpool. They happened to drive past the Mellor Street garage and saw a number of buses that appeared to have been withdrawn from Service, so decided to have a look. They were directed to the foreman, Mr Len Sharp. Len was very keen to see any of the buses, that he had helped to maintain, be saved from the scrapyard and extolled the virtues of one bus, TDK 322, pointing out items such as the electrically operated doors and the thickness of the brake linings, so it was inevitable that, a month later, on 25 May 1977, the current owner purchased the vehicle from the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, having entered a higher bid than a number of scrap dealers.
In 1977, bus engines were being exported to Asia. A complete engine was worth about £500; an engine, that was sold for spares, was worth about £250, a scrapped engine was worth about £50 and half a cylinder head (i.e., for 3 of the 6 cylinders) was worth about £75. The body of a Metro-Cammel Weyman double-deck bus was said to contain about 25 cwt of aluminium. This meant that dismantling buses was a lucrative business as, at the time, many rear loaders were being replaced by buses intended for one-man operation.
The photograph to the right, taken in May 1977, shows a general
view of the inside of the Mellor Street garage, where TDK 322 was based for
most of its working life. Mellor Street garage
has not been a bus depot for several years.
Bus operating companies generally do not own the tyres fitted to their vehicles, but lease them on a mileage basis, leaving all aspects of tyre maintenance to the tyre company. The vehicle was purchased without wheels, tyres or batteries, and these had to be obtained and fitted before it could be driven away. Fortunately, at the time, there were many scrap dealers in the Barnsley area who scrapped buses, so obtaining these parts was not difficult.
During manufacture, the vehicle had been fitted with 20" wheels with 7.33" wide rims and a 4.4" offset. Obtaining wheels with these exact dimensions proved difficult - especially as at the time, the offset dimension was unknown and wheels having a number of different offsets were available. It was decided to purchase wheels fitted with 9.00 x 20 tyres, as it was known that these were an option on the Regent chassis and, as this size of wheel was made with only one value of offset, no error could be made. As a result, 7 wheels, with split rims, and 9.00 x 20 cross ply tyres were purchased from Paul Sykes, Barnsley, and taken to Rochdale for fitting to the vehicle. The split rims have the advantage that tyres can be changed easily and without the need for special equipment. This has proved to be extremely useful when tyres have had to be changed but requires tyres with tubes to be fitted.
The present owner collected the vehicle from Mellor Street
Garage on 31/5/77 and drove it straight to Doncaster in readiness for a Class
5 MOT test at the SYPTE garage the following day. He then drove the vehicle
to the Leeds area, where it would be based for the next 10 years, being stored
on a farm, unfortunately, in the open. The photograph to the right shows
TDK 322 at services on the M62 motorway on its journey from Rochdale to
Doncaster.
Because the vehicle had been purchased straight out of service, little, if any, restoration was required other than that associated with returning it to its original Rochdale livery.
During 1977, the interior of the upper deck was repainted in as near a match as could be obtained to the original colour. An example of the original colour was found when the mirror over the stairs was removed. It was understood that this colour had been obtained by mixing Tekaloid Oxford blue and cream paints. By trial and error, it was found that a half-pound coffee jar of cream and about 14 desert spoons of Oxford blue gave quite a good match to the original colour.
All
of the upstairs seats were removed, the frames were sprayed with Oxford blue
and those original leather seats remaining in the vehicle were resprayed
with leather paint. (The vehicle was withdrawn from service along with three
other double-deck buses. One of these was purchased by someone who worked
at Mellor Street, so he was able to have the first choice of leather seats
from the four vehicles, leaving only the second choice of leather seats for
TDK 322. As a result, TDK 322 has a full set of leather seat cushions downstairs,
but a number of the upstairs seat cushions are plastic.) The photograph to
the left shows a Rochdale ticket that was found behind one of the seats.
The photograph to the right shows the author's wife applying
the final coat of paint to the upstairs interior in February 1978. Most of
the panelwork had been given two coats of paint but the seat supports still
show red-oxide primer. The interior of the roof was lined with plastic so
only the ends and the light surrounds needed to be painted white. Repainting
of the interior was complete and the seats had been refitted by May 1978.
There had been advertisements on the vehicle when it was withdrawn from service: poster type adverts on either side of the upper deck and a hand-painted advert for Tekaloid paint on the downstairs emergency door. These were removed, because Rochdale Corporation did not stoop to having advertisements on their vehicles and the vehicle was being repainted in its original livery.
Work had been ongoing removing and sealing the exterior panelwork (when weather had permitted) alongside the repainting of the interior. The majority of the aluminium sealing strips, which seal and hold the exterior aluminium panels, were removed and sealant applied beneath them. Many of the windows leaked so those that did had their window rubbers replaced. Nevertheless, it proved impossible to seal all of the leaks, especially around the overhang above the engine, where slight body movement results in the sealant cracking and, eventually, water ingress.
In 1978, the exterior was repainted in the original Rochdale
livery of Oxford blue and cream. (The vehicle had been in the orange and
white livery of the GMPTE since its experimental repaint in March 1972.)
The photograph to the right shows the roof already to have been topcoated
and the author's wife applying cream topcoat around the nearside upstairs
windows during June 1978. There was now a rush to complete the painting of
the outside before the South Yorkshire Transport Rally (from Barnsley via
Doncaster to Sheffield) on 24/9/78. Timing was tight as a result of rain
(and hoards of greenfly) and the final topcoat (lower Oxford blue area) was
actually applied the day before the rally. In order to protect the deep colour
of the Oxford blue areas and prevent them from becoming "powdery", these
areas were given a coat of Ripcerol clear varnish.
The next stage was the painting of the downstairs interior. For this, most of the internal aluminium window surrounds were removed and sprayed. This allowed the metal parts of the frame to be painted.
Unfortunately, the vehicle was stored in the open until 1985 and, during the preceding seven years, the ultra-violet light from the sun had affected the Oxford blue areas, although it left the cream substantially unaffected. The roof had to be repainted in 1982 as a result of the varnish on the blue areas peeling. However, by 1985 both the roof and the rear of the bus, which faced the midday sun where it was parked, began to peel so badly that it was decided that a complete repaint was necessary. Although work was begun, the weather, which seemed to be wet on just about every week-end in 1985, allowed only the roof to be completed.
In September 1985, TDK 322 was moved to the Newton-Chambers site at Chapeltown, near Sheffield, where it was garaged in a building leased by the South Yorkshire Railway Society. Little repainting was done whilst at Chapeltown although more window rubbers were replaced.
The South Yorkshire Railway Society relinquished the lease of
the building at the end of July 1986 and it was necessary for the vehicle
to be moved. At this time, arrangements were made for the vehicle to be repainted
externally by Yorkshire Traction Plc, Upper Sheffield Road, Barnsley, who
also applied the Rochdale Corporation transfers and legal lettering. Yorkshire
Traction had three bays in its paint shop, but used only two of them. TDK
322 spent the winter of 1986/87 in the third bay, enabling the painting to
be carried out as a background job, i.e., when work was otherwise slack.
This reduced the cost of the repainting.
Because of the state of the paintwork on some panels, caused by the cracking and peeling of the varnish over the Oxford blue areas, Yorkshire Traction completely stripped the paint from around the top deck. However, the paint around the lower deck was still in a good enough condition to require only sanding. The photograph on the left shows the vehicle in Yorkshire Traction's paint shop prior to the primer being applied to the aluminium of the upper deck. The young lady in the foreground is the owner's daughter, who was 7 years old at the time that the photograph was taken.
From the time that the repainting was completed (6/5/87) to the beginning of 2007, the vehicle was garaged in the former Tinsley Tram Sheds (near Meadowhall, Sheffield) of which bay 3 was leased by the Sheffield Bus Museum Trust. From early in 2007, TDK 322 has been garaged at Aldwarke in a modern industrial unit rented by the South Yorkshire Transport Museum. This is fortunate, as the Tinsley Tram Sheds were flooded during the 2007 Sheffield flood and any vehicles that remained there would have received extensive damage. The Aldwarke building is more pleasant than the Tinsley Tram Sheds and will house a larger range of vehicles, only a few of which can be seen in the photograph below - there are more in the workshop area beyond the dividing wall.
On 15/12/92, TDK 322 took part in a promotion for a model of an AEC Regent double-deck bus in Rochdale livery being introduced by Corgi Toys. Although the model depicts HDK 835, an AEC Regent Mk III, with an exposed Radiator, TDK 322 was the only running AEC Regent double-deck bus in Rochdale livery that was available at the time of the Corgi promotion. TDK 322 made several trips on some of its former routes around Rochdale with the Mayor of Rochdale being one of its passengers. The photograph on the right shows TDK 322 outside Rochdale town hall on the day of the promotion. Only 6,500 copies of this limited-edition model, shown on the left, were made, so it is unlikely that new models are still available.
The vehicle has attended many rallies and has travelled as far afield as Bristol; however, it now regularly attends only the York Rally (Harrogate to York on the third Sunday in September), and the Trans-Pennine Run (on the first Sunday in August). The Trans-Pennine Run has had a number of starting points in the Manchester area, but for the past few years has begun at Birch services on the M62, but has always ended (weather permitting)at the Stray in Harrogate, passing through Rochdale, Todmorden, Halifax, Bradford, Guiseley (with a stop-over at Harry Ramsden's fish and chip shop), Otley and Pool.
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| TDK 322 at Halifax, during the 1990 Heart of the Pennines Rally | TDK 322 being washed prior to the 2005 TransPennine Run |
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| TDK 322 at Birch services prior to the 2005 TransPennine Run | TDK 322 on The Stray, Harrogate at the end of the 2005 TransPennine Run |
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| TDK 322 after having a wash and a wax polish before the 2007 TransPennine Run | TDK 322 on The Stray, Harrogate at the end of the 2005 TransPennine Run |
If you wish to see the rally plaques that TDK 322 has collected over the years, click here; however, be warned that the pictures will take a few minutes to download if you do not have a broadband connection to the Internet. Some of the recent plaques that have been cast in brass, or have enamelled pictures, are very "collectable".
You can see a short video recording, taken through the near-side windscreen of TDK 322, on its arrival at The Stray in Harrogate at the end of the 2001 TransPennine Run if you click here; however, be warned that the video file is 3.5MB in length.
Mr Paul Blackburn has kindly taken a number of video recordings of TDK 322 during TransPennine Runs. These can be seen by clicking on the following links.
1) Passing through Rochdale in 2002. (Unfortunately, an ambulance, with its siren blaring was passing at the same time.)
2) Leaving Birch services in 2005.
3) Stopping in front of Rochdale Town Hall to pick up passengers in 2005. (The driver of the following Routmaster descided that it was much easier to follow TDK 322 passed the Town Hall than to follow his route instructions.)
TDK 322 was moved out of the Tinsley Tram Sheds in October 2003 by the owner of another vehicle, so that he could take his vehicle for its annual test. On the return of this vehicle, its owner reversed TDK 322 into the pedal of a metal-cutting guillotine that had inappropriately been stored in the entrance of the museum. This caused damage to the rear offside corner panel as shown in the photograph on the right. The driver of the other vehicle repaired the damage and repainted the panel; however, whether the Oxford Blue paint on this panel darkens to match the rest of the paintwork remains to be seen.
Residents of Rochdale may have seen a watercolour painting of TDK 322 standing in front of Rochdale Town Hall that was painted by a local artist (Mr R Pickup). The painting was on show in 2004 at the Touchstones Art Gallery in Rochdale town centre.
Mr Pickup has presented two other watercolour paintings to the owner of TDK 322 that are shown below. The left one shows TDK 322 in service at Tourcoing, France, in 1960; whilst that on the right shows TDK 322 in front of Rochdale Town Hall.
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