A Trip back to the Past....Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Co. Wigan Plant

Now thanks to the excellent Ned Basher we are delighted to announce that we are able to host his truly stunning shots of a rare visit to Plaxton's Wigan plant when it was open. The shots are from 2001, an era when Plaxton were in their prime, receiving orders from London's top companies in masses, these companies included First, Go Ahead Group and Metroline.

Plaxton in their current form was founded in 1907 in Scarborough. Plaxton made quite a mark on the UK Bus industry. however their years as a bus manufacturer were not always blissful. Various failed attempts didn't help secure Plaxton's place in the bus industry, although they did establish themselves as coach-builders. However the 1990s Plaxton finally found their feet and introduced two of the United Kingdom's greatest double deck and single deck bus bodies, the Plaxton Pointer and Plaxton President. The Pointer was a hit with most operators throughout in England and Ireland as it was cheap, durable and quite stylish. However it was the announcement of the Plaxton President that stole headlines and went a way into cementing Plaxton's place in U.K double decker market.

Above is a shot of 6 nearly completed Plaxton Presidents at Plaxton's Wigan based plant, destined for London Central's Bexleyheath Garage. The bodies were mounted on the on the reliable Volvo B7TL chassis which proved very popular with the majority of London operators. 

Unveiled in 1997, the Plaxton President offered a whole host of new features, it became the first low floor double deck bus in the U.K and it's streamlined front half made for a much needed change to the box on wheels we were used. It's launch attracted a host of London operators including MTL who subsequently placed an order for 65 President bodies on the Dennis Trident Chassis. The TPs were initially delivered in 1999 and by that time MTL group had already been absorbed by Metroline Travel Limited so the specification of the buses were built to that of Metroline. However the fact the model only started production in 1999 made it fall short of the ALX400 body that was launched a year earlier in 1998. However Plaxton were smart and following the introduction of the President, they allowed the bodies to be mounted on the DAF DB250 Chassis, Volvo B7TL Chassis and the Dennis Trident Chassis. Metroline were the first company in London to order the Plaxton President, and in 1999 65 examples were delivered to Holloway Garage for routes 17,  43 and 134.

Completed Metroline VPL194 Y194 NLK sits in the MOT bay at Plaxton's Wigan Plant undergoing testing before being delivered to Metroline's Willesden Bus Garage (AC) for the recently retained Route 52. This was part of a batch of 30 vehicles numbered from 168 - 197. These were mounted on the Volvo B7TL Chassis.

In 1999 Go Ahead London or London Central as they were known back then placed an order for 39 Plaxton President bodies on the Volvo B7TL Chassis. They were numbered between PVL1 - 39. They were allocated to Bexleyheath (BX) for the Routes, 229, 401 and 422. They proved a favourite for Go Ahead and at the time of this visit (2001) GAL had recently just placed an order for a further 48 Presidents mounted on the Volvo B7TL Chassis. This time they were allocated between Bexleyheath and New Cross Garages.

Two newly made Plaxton President Volvo B7TLs lay stagnant at Plaxton's Wigan Plant having just got their rears moulded together. They will then be painted into their operator's livery, these two being destined for GAL London. They are part of the batch numbered between PVL208 - 256 for Stockwell Garage (SW)

At the very same time First had also placed orders for many Plaxton Presidents, however this time they were built on the Dennis Trident Chassis. Their models consisted of both long wheelbase and short wheelbase models.

Above is an unidentified Plaxton President body that had just been mounted on the Dennis Trident Chassis.

The President I must say is one of my all time favourite bus bodies, I think its sleek design made it stand out above its rival the ALX400 and throughout its 8 years in build, it sold over 1000 models in London which is an astonishing achievement!

Below are some more shots from the Plaxton Wigan Plant in 2001. I say thank you very much to Ned Basher for kindly allowing us to use his excellent and exclusive shots of the Plaxton Wigan Plant which are very rare. I must stress that these shots are not my property and must not be published elsewhere. If you wish to see more excellent shots of this nature please see Ned's amazing photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/nedbasher/

A freshly made Go Ahead London Plaxton President sits inside of Northern Counties Wigan depot awaiting a paint job that will see in transform from white mould and sheets of aluminium, to a shiny new red London bus.

A freshly made Go Ahead London Plaxton President sits inside of Northern Counties Wigan depot awaiting a paint job that will see in transform from white mould and sheets of aluminium, to a shiny new red London bus.

The interior of a Go Ahead London Plaxton President that judging from this picture has a long way to go before reaching completion. The exposed panels show the complex wiring in a modern day bus.

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

An all but complete Go Ahead London Plaxton President Volvo B7TL Bus sits inside of Plaxton's plant in Wigan, awaiting a wheel hub, minor interior fitments, body panelling and some London Central logos. 

Go Ahead London Presidents nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London Presidents nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan

Two province specified Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident 2s sit in the yard at Plaxton's plant in Wigan. Quite weird to see them with manual blinds and not the dot matrix style blinds we are use to seeing with province specified style buses. 

Go Ahead London President nearing completion at Plaxton's Plant in Wigan