 The
Small StuffAt the other end of the scale were a pair of Ford Transits, bought in
1970 for contracts and private hire work. These were replaced in
1977 by no less than seven Mercedes L407Ds with Deansgate bodies,
which were additionally used on "Shopper's Link" services in
addition to existing commitments. The service did not prove a
success, and the Mercedes' were sold when less than four years old, with
the exception of one, which was converted into a van and used by the
engineering department until as late as 1997.
At this time, most single deck stage services were still being run
using coaches relegated from front-line duties, with Eldorado having few
purpose built single deck buses - the Panthers, a Park Royal bodied
Tiger Cub and a couple of Willowbrook bodied Leopards being
exceptions. The end of this practice was signalled in 1974, with
the arrival of the first Leyland National. The National
became the standard single deck bus until the end of its production, by
which time eight had been purchased, to be joined later by a further two
secondhand examples.
 Meanwhile, the Leopard continued as the standard coach chassis, with
examples bodied by both Plaxton and Duple, plus a solitary Alexander
"T" type, until the first Tiger arrived in 1982, which was also the
company's first 12m vehicle, with Plaxton Supreme V coachwork.
The First of the "Eldorado
Standards"
Meanwhile, on the double deck front, a further Northern Counties
bodied Atlantean had been added to the fleet in 1973. This was the
first of the AN68 type, and had a radically different body style from
previous examples. Its dual door bodywork closely resembled those
being delivered to SELNEC at that time, as their EX-series, and was to
become the standard Eldorado double decker until the end of Atlantean
production. Their story is told separately as part of "The Atlantean Story" . There were to be a total of 10 of these (8
new, 2 more acquired secondhand) over the years, until the Atlantean
ceased production, the last new example being delivered in 1982.
Later that same year came the first of what was intended to be the new generation
of Eldorado standards - a Leyland Titan TN15. We all know the
story of the Titan, and it remained a one-off.
The first Olympian, the "other natural successor" to the
Atlantean, arrived in 1984, with ECW body, followed over the next few
years by a further ECW bodied example, and four bodied by Alexander, one
of which had coach bodywork to CH53/19Ft layout, and a handful of
secondhand ones.
 On the single deck front, the National was eventually succeeded by
the Lynx, with Eldorado perhaps surprisingly purchasing only two new
examples, in 1988 and 1990, but then picking up another seven relatively
recent secondhand examples (4 Mk 1's and 3 Mk 2's).
 Coach
Crisis - and Solution!
By the mid-90's, the coach fleet had deteriorated drastically, having
suffered from lack of investment caused by indecision in the
management. Following deregulation, as we all know, the market was
very uncertain, and many large fleets were concentrating on bus services
and divesting themselves of their coaching operations. Eldorado couldn't
make up its mind one way or the other, so the coach fleet
suffered. In 1996, the newest coach was a four year old Scania/Jonckheere
- the last coach to have been bought new, followed by a five year old
Plaxton bodied Tiger, with Eldorado "originals" going
backwards from there down to 17-year old Leopards, accompanied by a real
hotchpotch of "non-standard" secondhand acquisitions which
included (or had included) a Dennis Javelin, a DAF SB2300, a Bova Futura,
a pair of Tiger Doyens, Scanias which now totalled four, and even
(briefly) a Quest 80 VM16!
 Throughout this time, these "old faithfuls", particularly
the original Tigers and Leopards, were still pounding the motorways on
the London express services, as reliable as ever, but looking dated
compared with rivals. They were ably assisted by the secondhand
Scanias, whose reputation was growing amongst both crews and mechanics,
but even these were "getting on a bit" by now. Something
had to be done! In 1997 a solitary Scania K113 was purchased, with
Van Hool bodywork to a high specification, and again it seemed as if the
management was dithering. The following year, however, they decided that
Eldorado DID have a future in coaching, and committed themselves to the
largest ever expenditure in one single year for the company. In
1998 came a total of eight new Scanias, six bodied by Van Hool, including a 10-metre
37 seater, an executive 25-seater, and four normal 47-seaters with
toilets, the remaining pair, one of which
was the three-axle variety, having Irizar Century bodywork
Two years later, a further five were added, this time with Plaxton
bodies - 3 Premieres and 2 Excaliburs. These were followed,
surprisingly, by a pair of Neoplan Cityliners, which were part of the
deal which saw the introduction of Neoplan Centroliners to the double
deck fleet, plus a further Plaxton bodied Scania, this time with the
rather more unusual Prima bodywork.
A selection of the secondhand coaches
Eldorado was running in the mid-90's (see text above):
|
