Created 30-Jan-23
Modified 8-Mar-24
This gallery shows Oldham Corporation vehicles after they had been sold. It is confined to that fleet and no attempt has been made to cover SELNEC/GMT vehicles that operated from Oldham after withdrawal.
The early fleet had mixed fortunes when it came to securing new owners, which was a reflection on the pace of vehicle development and the fact that some of Oldham's early vehicles weren't based on the most successful chassis.
However, a standardisation on Leylands and having secured a good supply of post-war vehicles meant that they had good vehicles available for sale at a time when demand was booming. Many of the vehicles at this time were sold for further use, with a lot gaining new bodies in the process. As supply of new vehicles caught up with demand this market dried up and for a while conversion to showman's vehicles became a popular disposal route.
The later pre-war buses were very durable and ran a long time for Oldham. As a consequence they were life-expired on withdrawal and thus began a long period of Oldham buses only going for scrap. The only ones out of all the buses withdrawn from 1955 to 1970 that did not go directly for scrap were the three Crossley single-deckers sold to Shipley Urban District Council, and even these were as non-runners.
It was in 1971 that the next bus was sold for service, PD2 460 claiming that honour. After this sales picked up, with the most remarkable being the sale of two Panther Cubs and three Panthers to Australia. Quite a few of the Atlanteans found new homes and they are well-represented here. It is significant that nearly all the various liveries carried by these Atlanteans had a layout similar to that used by GMT!
© David Beilby
