Upon completion of its restoration, 8701 will be presented in the condition and livery representative of its service with GM Buses. History, Restoration and Beyond.
• HISTORY: This Leyland Atlantean example was built in 1984 by Wigan based bus manufacturer Northern Counties. Its design was a symbolic feature across the Greater Manchester region. Known as a GM Standard, this vehicle was delivered to Greater Manchester Transport (GMT) On February 1,1984 and carried GMT’s Orange, Brown and White livery. The vehicle was delivered new to Melverley Street bus depot, Wigan (WN), registered as A701 LNC and allotted with fleet number, 8701. This bus remained at WN until its withdrawal from passenger service in 2001. Greater Manchester Buses Ltd (GMB) was established on October 26, 1986, a result of the 1985 transport act. This newly established operator inherited 8701 from GMT, ultimately conveying the companies new ‘People on The Move’ corporate identity, comprising of an all over Orange and White roof design. Changes were made to the in-cab radio equipment In November 1992, with GMB installing Phillips VHF1000 radios. To accommodate this change, certain numbers within the fleet required adjusting, resulting in 8701 becoming 4701, this new identity remained with the bus until its withdrawal. On December 31, 1993, GMB were forced to split into two separate companies, GM Buses North (GMN) and GM Buses South (GMS). The Government felt that GMB had a monopoly of bus services in Greater Manchester. It had been hoped by splitting the company, GMN and GMS would compete against each other. However, as their names would suggest, the two companies mainly operated in their respective areas. WN depot became part of the newly formed GMN operator and with this, 4701 became part of Greater Manchester Buses North Limited. GMN created an enhancement of its predecessors’ livery, with 4701 receiving the new design until the company was purchased by FirstBus in 1996. The familiar and friendly orange and white uniformed buses that had served North Manchester and beyond for decades would soon be placed into the history books. FirstBus quickly rebranded its acquisition of GMN, unveiling a new deep Red/Orange design featuring a blue strip. The livery became known as ‘Tomato Soup’ due to its similarities, in colour, to Heinz’s canned soup. A livery that would be the final corporate design that 4701 would wear under regular revenue service. Under the ownership of FirstBus, 4701 spent a period working in Tameside for Pennine, a subdivision of First PMT based in Stoke-on-Trent. The bus returned to WN depot prior to ending its seventeen-year career. On December 1, 2001, 4701 was donated by First Greater Manchester to Fitton Royals, a dance troupe based in Oldham. This bus was painted in an all over light blue livery, featuring yellow branding.
• INITIAL PRESERVATION: The SELNEC Preservation Society (SPS) secured 4701 for its future restoration and preservation plans on, April 10, 2005. Discussion took placed with Fitton Royals where an agreement was reached that saw SPS owned GM Olympian, 3194, being exchanged for 4701. At the time, the plan was, that 4701 would join 4501 and 4601, allowing all three ‘01’ standards to be simultaneously restored, showcasing a post GMB era. SPS later decided to slim down some of its planned restoration projects, this included the intended restoration of A701LNC. Today, the survival of this bus has only been made possible due to the forward thinking of the SPS all of them years ago.
