Noisy Leyland National TXJ507K SELNEC

[estorilbluem]

The noise reminds me of being a kid on one of these brilliant vehicles! The noise of the axel,gears & best of all that engine!!! The noise at tickover & the thrash when it revs!! The harsh suspension & the pantograph wipers seemed so advanced at the time! Great days i will never forget

[kienzel1]

wmpte, TVP852S, was a beast, we overtook a 2 ltr capri at over 80 mph. should have seen his face! should have seen mine, it was my 14th birthday. no better present than that!!!!

[video47]

@kienzel1 LOL! I have been on a Dennis Trident overtake a BMW, but also a Dennis Dart undertaken by an old lady in a Nissan Micra or something similar. Actually my old School bus a Bristol VR sometimes overtook cars, should have seen the looks on the drivers faces when 70 odd kids all went past giving all the signs and signals you may expect lol! Go buses!

[fatquad1]

Great! Sounds fine to me. I rode on them for years as a kid then drove them for midland red north.

One day I will buy 1 :-)

[1100HondaCB]

@fatquad1 I rode on them as a kid too, but was unfortunate not to drive them. Luckily I drove a mk2 a few times in service, but not the same as the mk1 with the 510 engine.

[johncekelly]

I think you'll find the whining sound was the alternator because it was gear driven. Its there all the time even on over run so can't be the turbo. Come to think of it the 500 non turbo had the same whine. I was working at Sparshatts Croydon (Parts Dept) when Leyland started putting these strange 500/510 engines in their trucks. No cylinder heads and inlet/exhaust valves about 1ft long.

[1100HondaCB]

@johncekelly Not very successful in trucks I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[ismaelkhan]

sounds just the way i remember it over 20years ago, fantastic!

[taxus750]

Thanks for posting this, still can't believe this thing was still in service 30-something years later. Agree with many others here, it ain't a Mk1 National if it don't thrash, rattle and whine, probably one of the most distinctive sounding buses ever made to my ears (along with Gardner 6LX VRs and 0.680 engine Bristol REs. I used to live in Worthing in the late 70s and Southdown had stacks of Nationals, VRs, Daimler Fleetlines, all individual sounds unlike today where all sound the same

[GS123ification]

Is this engine noisy enough to make me deaf?.

[jaredini]

These were always noisy, until they were retro fitted with Volvo engines.

[Doomsday2060]

Those 'leather' seats take me back a bit...

Especially in July and August.

[kkpolobear]

they were a lot better then the cr@p we have got now days

all they do is bang ruttle and make you feel like your on a boat

where these didnt

[markomarten]

Sadly these vehicles are few and far between these days.I liked thme and the MK1 was my favorite.London Transport had lots of them and they proved popular in LT service.They got better as they went along as it were,the series B versions were much better.I didn't like the podless variant but can see why it was developed.I don't like the Greenways,a waste of a good bus and a bloomin' awful body!

[BassGoodForTheSoul]

That's a nice sounding National 1. Shame about the badly-maintained road surfaces spoiling the noise in the video. The sound of a bus going over potholes is one noise I cannot stand when trying to listen to an engine, others are people talking and babies crying.

[danfitz12345]

Lol its a 142

[LordLemsip]

Superb stuff. I would have been working at Manchester Victoria at the time, as a train driver. The white minibus you passed at 2.30 was our staff van for travel to/from Newton Heath depot, Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations, and other delightful spots in Manchester.

Lovely noise from the 510 - I used to go to school in the 70's in Crosville Nationals, with the odd RE and even an LH thrown in too.

[ianbillericay]

I used to go to school on single doored LN1's. They did not rattle like the buses we have now and carried 71 passengers (49 seated, 22 standing) coming back today on the box on wheels it can only carry 56.

[themanmaschine]

I would love to own one of these, but I've nowhere to garage it! Ever since I got my PCV licence, and a long time before that, I've been dying for a shot of one of these!

[dayranger47]

This has to be one of the best for the 510 wine (!)

[albiatl]

Coming round the double bends at the bottom of Tonge Moor Road in Bolton with a full load. Watch all the punters hands start to grip the seat in front as they thought the bus was going to go over!!! The desty winders, guaranteed to take your knuckles off with that stupid push/pull winder.The rock hard brake pedal. The intense heat that used to travel DOWN the screen from the demisters, even in the middle of summer. One wonders how much more Leyland could have developed given more time!!

[albiatl]

The hardest semis to drive 100% correctly. A touch of gas, nowt, a touch more, still nowt. A bit more, then nananana ...full revs. Nightmare. At GMT a couple set off, even with handbrake on, through the bus station glass. Some had the air gubbins removed and were converted to cable throttles. Remember the clouds upon clouds of lazy, thick grey smoke out of the fishtail exhaust when starting from cold. Pull the lock on, keep going round in a circle, unless you PULL the lock off too.LOLOL

[merlinbus]

Ah ! This takes me back quite a few years. It also reminds me of how much I hated the early Nationals. We had a whole fleet of them on London Country in `72. What death traps they were. No weigh on the front end, slow releasing brake actuators, "fly on" parking brake handle, which could be knocked on when selecting 5th gear, runaway engines. The whole lot were taken off the road about a year later for safety modifications, after a string of accidents. Ah yes, I remember the National well.

[Hennersbass]

that sound brings back memories of when i actually didnt mind riding the bus when they used to have these an the bristol vrs in south east kent with stagecoach them leyland 501s and gardners sounded so much better than all the oversized transits we have now

[79hardyboyz]

This sounds fantastic

[ThisIs2009]

dual door! seems like a jerky ride on that one too.

[mrspivvy]

I seem to remember the early mk1s had flattened out tailpipes, not seen one for yonks though

[albiatl]

@mrspivvy  fishtail exhaust!!

[merlinbus]

@mrspivvy

Yes they had a massive one piece fishtail exhaust. They were also prone to falling off. How do I know ? I had one fall off going round Vauxhall Cross on a 706 Green Line. Not only did it weigh a ton, it was also bloody hot. They were changed for lighter stainless steel ones on later models.

[conesuela1]

My god that sound brings back some memories!

[themanmaschine]

Why cant they put interesting vehicles like this on the guided city tours and such like?

[themanmaschine]

Sounds like the original Leyland 501 engine in this one, reminds me of how buses used to be, great stuff!

[mrspivvy]

Red and white used to run these things in chepstow from mid '70s to early '90s. spent many happy hours travelling on them

[barlowcarl]

sounds like the one i use to go to school on knocking its bollocks of and falling to bits ace they dont make them like they use to

[barlowcarl]

this might of been the bus i mentiond in the last comment how many dual door versions did SELNEC have in the mid 70s

[barlowcarl]

i allso remember that on the 422 denshaw route we sometimes got a dual door version which was a lot longer and had a long a/c pod on the roof it use to stall at every stop this route frequently had prototypes scania hush bus and mercedes benz this was in the early 70s

[barlowcarl]

also i dont think leyland had fitted suspention on the selnec nationals must have been optional but still my favourite bus imagine what a double deck version would have been like

[barlowcarl]

spent my school days on thease things 422 denshaw/mostern no wonder we all had headachs in the mornings they sounded like this new the first one we had on this route was all white with selnec in black happy days tons better than todays crap

[hitchhiker38]

Would you be very kind please and tell me of anywhere it would be possible to buy a Mk l as i have been trying to locate one for a while now thank you

[mrspivvy]

there is an enthusiast group that has their own website, they are for sale on there quite regularly

[zombiesonacid]

And God said, let there be buses... and there was the Leyland National

[HondaH100A]

I have a full PCV licence and would love to drive this some time. I have driven mk2 Nationals, but never a mk1 unfortunately.

[HondaH100A]

I think the mk2 looked and sounded grumpy because the National had reached middle age at the mk2's initial conception, just as people become a bit fat and grumpy when they hit middle age. LOL. ;)

[ziggydamaestro]

Now that's what a Nash SHOULD sound like! They always sounded (and looked) like happy little buses; the Mk IIs always sounded (and looked) so grumpy...

[markomarten]

I think this was the very first one to enter passenger service in 1971/2.

[HondaH100A]

Yes it was. This was first of the production models.

[mrspivvy]

I was just wondering that, on K reg it would have to be very early production

[HondaH100A]

I live in Portsmouth where we had masses of mk one Nationals. In 1996 alot of mk ones were replaced with mk twos that came from Scotland. The mk twos had been stood for about five years and before that were neglected. I saw a couple of mk twos on tow once in a blue moon, but never saw a broken down mk one. The newer stuff such as Volvos and Scanias, I see sometimes at the side of the road with the breakdown van in assistance.

[TheSaintST1]

Hey where was the reversing horn?? Been ages since I've heard a National.. what was the whining sound, (?)charger or transmission

[drewerz01]

Whining sound is the huge Turbo charger that the Mk1 National originally had with the early Leyland 510 engine, Great sound!

[drewerz01]

OMG! This is a National MK1, cant remember the last time I saw one of those, they used to run the Mk2 here until around 94-5 & very rarely ever saw a Mk1, they still look & sound fantastic, an Icon I think, extremely well built too! Does anyone ever remember seeing one broken down anywhere? Damn I really miss these old buses now thinking about it, these plastic peasant replacements are Shit & are frequently hooked up to a tow truck round here, fucking peasants! Bring Back The National's!!!!!

[HORNEBEEDUBLO]

I agree, but you only start to appreciate things when they have gone.

[whitevanman1972]

quality sound remember travelling on these as a kid in the late 70s early 80s the sound came from the rear where the big fan was visable from the engine like this vid a noisy bumpy ride!BL for you!!

[britishleylandcrap]

Swansea used to have loads of these in the 80's / 90's and youre right about that fan. If you were sitting in traffic next to one that was just idling, you couldnt hear yourself think :P

[jondavies82]

I remember these being run by Sheffield United Transport (sut) and Yorkshire terrier. I used to do about 25 miles a week on one as a 6 year old. Still sounds amazing. You used to almost get whiplash on gear changes!

[markomarten]

never quiet but a real workhorse!

[HondaH100A]

This National without anti-role bars, I wonder how many degrees you would have to tilt it in a corner for it to topple over?

[HondaH100A]

This one reminds me of the ex Provincial Nationals I use to get home from school back in 1994 (HOR416L, GCR727N, etc). Difference is, the ones I use to travel on had green seats, not the orange ones this one has. I use to sit on the rear seat to get the best sound of that screaming 510 engine. Loved it.

[keef71]

lovely, that national clatter on tick over and the whine that comes in when you get going

i'd swear i could recognize the sound of the poles/handrails etc. rattling when it hits a bump as well lol!

remember the HSC 1xxTs at fife scottish

[paul170293]

great busses they are they used to run all over liverpool u cud hear them from a mile away

[michaeltesh]

turn up your speakers ;3

[robertgreen35]

my mom used to work for midland red at carlyle works and she took me in the print room one day when all these nationals were firing up. That beautiful noise still rings in my ears. They had that noise cos u could not see a damn thing with all the smoke lol

[video47]

Yes they do give out a lot of smoke!

[jaggass]

at least you would hear your bus was coming if this was coming at the nex bus stop its quite loud

[andrew300177]

We used to have Leyland Nationals on our school bus always loved them. I ended up driving them years later but our Company got rid of them in 1998. I'd still rather drive a National compared to a Dennis Dart, they felt like a proper bus

[volvomantom]

No need to include 'noisy' in the title, they were all bloody noisy! :p

[progresscanwait]

Great piece of video bringing back many memories of travelling daily to college on Alder Valley Mk1 Nationals. Usually arrived cold, deaf and slightly shaken - brilliant!!! Only place to sit in the winter was the back seat where there was a small chance of some heat!! Much missed!

[hugalove]

Mk1's were noisy! I remember when Crosville bought a second hand one from Alder Valley in 1984, and it was numbered SNL664 (KCG 607L) and me and my sister were sat in the rear and we could not hear ourselves talk at all. We both suffered headaches after we alighted. The later ones were better, and with Gardner engines, better still, without the "whining" of the standard engines. Mike S.

[HondaH100A]

The early Mk one Nationals known as the phase one (pictured in the video) that were made from 1972-1975 (KLMN registration) had no anti-role bars fitted, which is why if you notice in the video, the bus tends to lean a lot when cornering. Also the phase one didn't have sound proofing, which is why it is very noisy, especially inside.

[craigybus1]

The phase 1's also had fuel tank problems as fuel used to surge up the filler neck & spill out when cornering. They are tough buses though are Nashers. Far better built than the sucessor, the Leyland Rotbox (Lynx)

[HondaH100A]

I use to be a bus driver in Portsmouth and grew up with the mk one National. In late 2004 we acquired about 20 new Scania Omnicity buses. These were okay to drive but had loads of design faults. One of which was the fuel filler. Overnight the tank would eject a hundred liters of diesel.

[HondaH100A]

Music to my ears!

[jaggass]

is it still in service?

[video47]

This is preserved and comes out at special events.

[HondaH100A]

I am glad to hear it is preserved. I would be heart broken if it had been scrapped. I love that sound of the 510 engine. Music to my ears. Who needs a stereo when you have this!

Buses don't interest me in general, but the mk1 National I'll make an exception. A beautiful machine and British all the way!

I just wish more were still about. It breaks my heart.

[wikkadoo]

Yeah, you could hear one of these ten miles away in the middle of the night when I used to live in Birmingham.

[HondaH100A]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I used to get these to and from school in 1994 when they were still a common sight in Portsmouth. Literally, I could hear the scream of the 510 engine when the bus disappeared a mile down the road out of sight.

[mackam67]

Excellent video!

It must be at least 15 years since I last travelled on a Mk1 National with the original Leyland engine fitted and had forgotten how noisy these buses were!

[video47]

Thanks, got loads of Chase National videos on here too!

[vintagebusok]

What a great video (and sound)

This must have looked so ahead of its time in 1972!!

Cheers

[HondaH100A]

Not only was the design ahead of its time, the method of production was too as was the materials used (galvanised steel). The National was one of the first buses to be built using car production principles, using advanced materials and design with a production line. Buses before were vertually hand built.

[Robster981]

A lovely long ride on a well driven National

[video47]

All for free (or a small donation)! Thouroughly enjoyable yes.

[hamster1992monton]

One of the oldest leyland national about and the first one in serivce for SELNCE PTC in 1972. A very clattering leyland enigne fitted. All selnec and GMT nationals I have not yet ridden on though.

[HondaH100A]

This was the first off the production line in mid 1972 and SELNEC of Manchester were the first customer. It was withdrawn from service prematurely in 1984 due to several accidents involving the exit doors.