Leeds Engine:Histories: Bus Makers


A Brief History of Bus Making in Leeds

All | Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Co | Charles H Roe | Clough, Smith & Company Limited | Greenwood & Batley | Mann's Patent Steam Cart & Wagon Co | Optare | Railless Electric Traction Company | Switch Mobility | Wilks and Meade | Yorkshire Patent Steam Wagon Co | Rebuilt In Leeds



Introduction
Having made its mark in the construction of railway engines and road traction engines, it was perhaps logical that Leeds should progress to the construction of buses. The bus manufacturing industry has always been more spread out geographically than that relating to railways, the result being that only a handful of firms would exist in any one area, but it is perhaps telling that of the handful of British bus manufacturers that remain, one is still based in the Leeds area.
A few of the manufacturers that appear elsewhere on this site dabbled in bus production and other firms around the city produced buses on a small scale. Leeds was at the forefront of the development of the trolleybus with Railless Electric Traction Co operating at premises in the Balm Road area of Hunslet, close to many of the city's renown engine makers. R.E.T employee Charles Henry Roe went on to form his own firm on Balm Road but his business quickly outgrew the site.
The most successful, well known and long lived of the Leeds bus manufacturers was undoubtedly Charles H Roe Limited. The Roe works in Crossgates bodied Leyland buses until its demise in 1984 as a result of problems within British Leyland. Revived as Optare the following year the company went on to produce buses at the works until a move to nearby Sherburn In Elmet in 2011. After a number of changes of ownership the firm became part of Indian company and Leyland's former partners on the subcontinent; Ashok-Leyland. The company continues to innovate bus designs and develop electrical propulsion as those early firms had done a century before.


Charles Roe
Charles Henry Roe was born in York in May 1887, the son of Charles Roe who worked at the North Eastern Railway's carriage works and later became a foreman at the plant. Charles Henry Roe served his apprenticeship in the carriage works' drawing office before starting his first job in the trade as a draughtsman at Charles Roberts and Company's works in Wakefield, a firm which became known for the manufacture of railway wagons. Starting there in 1912 he moved to Leeds a year later to take up a position with the R.E.T. Company (see the RET section). Exempted from war conscription by his profession, Charles H. Roe set up his own business as an engineer and coachbuilder in 1917. Various accounts suggest that he set up "next door to" or "nearby" the premises of his former employer, the R.E.T. Company, but it is more likely that he simply rented a corner of their yard.



Above - Unfortunately this bus is not a Leeds product being a Volvo B9Tl with Wright "Eclipse Gemini" body, assembled in Irvine, Scotland and Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Its relevance to our story is that it is passing the site of Balm Road Mills, Leeds home of the Railless Electric Traction Company and the first factory of Charles H. Roe. Part of the mill buildings survives behind the bus. (Photo - Martin Latus)
Early products of the firm included flatbed trailers for traction engines, lorry bodies (an increasing market after the end of World War 1 as ex-military chassis became available) and Char-a-Banc bodies. Business was sufficient to warrant increasing the size of the works, and at least one source states that Roe "took over" the R.E.T Company; we know this to be false however, as the latter concern had been taken over by Short Brothers. It is more likely that Roe simply increased the area it rented from R.E.T. until it accounted for the majority of the site.
By 1919 further expansion at Balm Road was impossible, the area being hemmed in by housing, the Balm Beck and the Middleton and Midland railway lines. Charles H. Roe and his wife lived in Cross Gates near to a WW1 shell-filling factory which promptly came up for sale. To fund its purchase, Charles H. Roe Ltd. was registered on 26th May 1920, the shareholders including Charles Roe Senior and various family friends.
Following the move to the "Cross Gates Carriage Works", which took place in April 1921, Roe built its first double deck bus bodies, for Birmingham Corporation Transport, as well as continuing to build lorry and Char-a-Banc bodies, and they also constructed bodywork on limousines.
The share value of the company proved insufficient in the harsh trading conditions of the 1920s, and despite efforts to keep going during 1921, the company was voluntarily wound up during November 1922. A major factor in this was a late payment for the Birmingham double-deckers.
Various payments were made to the receivers of the original company who were then able to pay off the debts and report a small surplus. In early 1923 Charles H. Roe purchased the assets of the company in a personal capacity and formed Charles H. Roe (1923) Limited, this time with an increased share capacity.
The reformed company found itself bodying some Trolleybuses for Charles Roe's former employer, Railless Limited. Indeed the firm would go on to build a large number of trolleybus bodies, although they would always form a small proportion of the total output.
The first and last trolleybuses produced went to the same operator, the Teesside Railless Traction Board (TRTB). The first appeared in 1920 on a Straker-Clough chassis; it was a single decker with a seating capacity of 36, a remarkably high figure for the time. The last appeared in 1965 and will be covered later in the story. Most of the trolleybus bodies produced were virtually identical to their motor bus equivalents, the main differences being the inclusion of a full-width cab (as there was no bulky engine to take up half of the space) and the addition of the trolley booms (the poles which collected power from the overhead wire) and a structure on the roof to accommodate them. Up until the late 1920s most double decker buses, both motor and trolley, had a protruding cab which meant that the leading edge of the body was set back from the front of the vehicle. On trolleybuses the booms were mounted at the front of the roof and thus were supported by the body's front end structure. When it became common for the cab to be incorporated into the body structure, the booms had to be placed above either the second or third side window in order to be in an equivalent position to those on the earlier vehicles; this being necessary to avoid putting the weight of the booms directly over the front (steering) axle and also as the geometry of the overhead wires had been based on the manoeuvring of those earlier buses. To hold the weight of the booms the window pillars in this area required reinforcing, and so trolleybus bodies could usually be distinguished by the presence of one or two thicker pillars on the upper deck side windows.
Some of the vehicles bodied for Railless were tested over the Leeds City Tramways trolleybus routes before delivery. Some other companies also sub contracted Roe to build trolleybuses on their behalf. One example was Karrier Motors, the vehicles in this case being badged as Karrier products.
Roe also produced a number of Lorries and char a bancs. Other excursions included a pair of railbuses on Ford chassis for the Derwent Valley Light Railway, supplied in 1924. These normally operated as a back to back pair with the front vehicle under power and the rear vehicle being hauled with the gearbox in neutral, although they could work singly between York and Skipwith at which places turntables were installed to turn the vehicles around, there being a cab at one end only. Despite impressive fuel economy, the railbuses could not save the passenger service on the DVLR. Following its cessation in 1926 the pair were sold for further service on the County Donegal Railways in Ireland.



Above - ROE bodied Model T Ford railbus on the Derwent Valley Light Railway (Photo John Pease Collection)

In 1928 Roe registered a patent for a machined continuous teak waist rail, which was designed to interlock with the vertical pillars of a bus body and with steel reinforcing strips, which when assembled bound it to the outer body panels. This was an early example of system-built bus bodywork in an age when most bodies were individually craft built.



Above - Early motorbus bodywork owed much to tramway practice, as shown by Roe bodied KH 6239. The bus had a Bristol "A" chassis and was supplied to Kingston upon Hull Corporation in 1928, becoming number 42 in its fleet. It had 56 seats. (Photographer unknown, M. Latus collection courtesy of the late Mike Pearson)

The chassis builder Bristol will feature more heavily later in our narrative, but makes its first appearance in 1929 when it exhibited a trolleybus at that year's Motor Show. Despite producing many thousands of motor bus chassis, this would prove to be one of only two trolleybuses that the firm ever constructed.
Following its time in the limelight, the chassis was despatched to Roe to be bodied. Strangely Roe only built the framework for the body, the vehicle then being sent to John C. Beadle of Dartford in Kent to have its panelling added. Why this was done is unclear, the only other vehicles that would be sent elsewhere for finishing would be the ones in build when the works closed, some 55 years later. The resulting bus was registered DT 2620 and entered trial service in Doncaster in 1930, being given fleet number 31. Doncaster bought the vehicle in 1932 and it ran until withdrawal in 1945.
A second excursion into the world of railway vehicles occurred in 1933 when Roe built a body on a Leeds built Hudswell Clarke chassis for the Army, for use on the Spurn Head Railway in East Yorkshire. Following the end of traffic on this line in early 1951 the Railcar was removed to Bicester Army depot, where the body was removed and the chassis used as a "runner" wagon, in which capacity it survived until at least the early 1970s.
The original company was finally wound up in 1934, following which the board of shareholders agreed to remove the (1923) from the new company's name. During the 1930s Roe concentrated more on its bus building activities gaining a reputation for solidly built and stylish bodies. An indulgence came in 1935 with the construction of a streamlined body on an AEC chassis for exhibit at the Commercial Motor Show and ultimately destined for Leeds Corporation, an ardent supporter of the local manufacturer.



Above - By November 1930 bus bodywork was looking a bit more, well, bus like. This is shown by Leeds City Transport 107 (UA 5856), a Leyland TD1 with Roe 54 seat body. The photo appears to have been taken on Otley Road, Headingley. (Photographer unknown, M. Latus collection courtesy of the late Mike Pearson)

Following the outbreak of World War 2 production of new buses was suspended by the Government in order to preserve materials for the war effort; those vehicles in build had their construction stopped. The Charles H. Roe factory initially concentrated on production of vehicle bodies for the war effort such as mobile kitchens and canteens. By 1942 however, operators were crying out for replacement vehicles due to increased traffic as a result of munitions, aircraft and other war-related factories in their areas; bombing losses or simply the expiry of pre-war bodies which were usually designed for a seven-year operating life. The Government thus decided to un-freeze the vehicles whose production had been halted, and these were then sent to wherever the need was greatest, irrespective of who had originally ordered them.
In 1943 this was followed by the production of "Utility" buses to fulfil the requirement for replacement buses. The chassis of these were fairly conventional if rudimentary, but the bodies were designed to use available materials such as "green" (un-treated) timber and were also shaped so that they could be constructed by unskilled workers, so that skilled panel-beaters etc. could concentrate on war production. Roe were selected as a "Utility" bodybuilder, eventually constructing 240 single and over 400 double-deckers. Following the end of the war, and when supplies of materials became available, demand for new buses rocketed.
Various companies had expressed an interest in acquiring or merging with Roe over a number of years. In 1939 both English Electric and Metro-Cammell Weymann had approached with a view either to amalgamation or takeover, whilst in 1945 amalgamation talks were opened with Mumford of Lydney, Gloucestershire. All were inconclusive and so it fell in 1947 to Park Royal of London to purchase a controlling stake in Charles H. Roe Limited, following which three Roe directors were replaced with Park Royal counterparts and Charles H. Roe joined the Park Royal board.
In 1949 Park Royal, and thus Roe, were taken over by Associated Commercial Vehicles (ACV), owners of bus chassis manufacturers AEC (Associated Equipment Company) and Maudslay, and of chassis and body constructor Crossley. Park Royal and Roe continued as independent concerns, but some rationalisation did occur. Production of composite (wood and metal) bodies was concentrated at Roe, whilst all-steel bodies were either constructed at Park Royal or by Roe on frames supplied by Park Royal.



Above - Jumping to 1952, Roe was owned by ACV and was cementing its reputation for building solid, stylish bodywork. This is demonstrated by preserved ex- West Riding Leyland Tiger PS2 733 (EHL 344), known as "Ethel" and seen at the Leeds Elland Road bus rally in 2009. (Photo Martin Latus)
In June 1952, Charles H. Roe resigned as managing director of the Leeds site and instead became company chairman. Throughout the 1950's Roe continued to supply robust and stylish products, notably the "Pullman" body for Leeds City Transport, which featured four large main side windows rather than the normal five small ones, and the "Coronation" trolleybus bodies for Kingston-upon-Hull Corporation, which had front entrances and centre exits long before such features became the norm. Roe also bodied some vehicles for East Yorkshire Motor Services featuring the "Beverley Bar" domed roof unique to this operator and specially shaped to pass through Beverley's North Bar (a medieval gate).



Above - Roe were prepared to build buses to customer requirements as shown here by East Yorkshire 652 (WAT 652), a 1957 AEC Regent V with composite teak/alloy bodywork seating 66. The most notable feature is the domed roof, designed to allow the bus to pass under the medieval North Bar in the town of Beverley. This was a feature of East Yorkshire buses for many years. In those days of manufacturing pride it was usual to photograph each completed vehicle prior to it leaving the works and this is one such "official" photograph. Copies of the pictures could be purchased by the customer. (Roe official photograph, M.Latus collection)

In 1953 the company experimented in tramcar construction, when two vehicles were produced for Leeds City Transport. Further details of these vehicles are included in the tram making article elsewhere on this site.
1953 also saw the first of sixteen "Coronation" trolleybuses supplied to Kingston Upon Hull Corporation. Based on Sunbeam chassis, these vehicles were little short of revolutionary. They were designed for one man operation (i.e. driver only) and featured an entrance door ahead of the front wheels and therefore adjacent to the driver's cab, and an exit forward of the rear wheels. Inside were twin staircases designed to improve the flow of passengers around the bus, with the front one for passengers going upstairs and the rear one for those coming down. A periscope was fitted to allow the driver to monitor the upper deck. Other modern features were an interlock which prevented the bus from moving with its doors open and "Earll Trolley Retrievers". These latter were two rotating drums on the bus rear (one for each trolley boom) around which was a rope attached at its other end to the relevant boom. Under normal operation the drums rotated to and fro, letting out and pulling in the rope to allow the booms to move as required. However if the boom came off the wire, the drum locked and prevented it from flying up and causing damage to the overhead. The lock could be overcome by pulling the rope up and then down, at which it released the rope and allowed it to be used to put the boom back onto the wire.
Due to the demise of trolleybuses in Britain (the last ran in 1972 in Bradford) the trolley retrievers never became commonplace, whilst the twin door arrangement and periscope would appear on motorbuses some fifteen years later. The door interlock would also reappear around that time on vehicles belonging to a handful of operators and usually only on the centre door, whilst twin staircases appeared spasmodically (see the "Rebuilt in Leeds" section at the bottom of this page) until finding their first mass market use on the Wright New Routemaster (or Borismaster) produced between 2012 and 2017.
The last Hull "Coronation" left the Roe factory in 1955. The vehicles never operated in one man mode; such operation of double-deckers was not legalised until the late 1960s. The Coronations were withdrawn in 1964 when Hull ceased running trolleybuses, sadly they were all scrapped by the following year at which point the oldest was just twelve.



Above - Kingston upon Hull Corporation Roe bodied Sunbeam MF2B "Coronation" trolleybus 114 (RKH 114) dating from 1955 turns from Prospect Street into Chapel Street in Hull City Centre whilst operating the final trolleybus route, the 63 to Beverley Road. As it does so it passes a Weymann bodied AEC Regent motorbus, number 334 (KRH 344). The latter was new in 1950 and highlights how futuristic the design of 114 and its sisters must have seemed just three years later, when the first of these trolleybuses entered service. Although the photograph is undated, these streets were only used by trolleybuses on the 63 between June and October 1964, the route having been diverted due to the introduction of a one way system, so the picture must have been taken in this four- month period. On 31st October the route was converted to motor bus operation and the last of Hull's trolleybuses were withdrawn. 114 met her end in a Barnsley scrapyard in 1965, aged just ten years, a fate shared by her fifteen sisters. What a waste! (M. Latus collection, original photographer unknown).

Off your trolley!
The normal method of retrieving an errant trolleybus boom was for the conductor to use a bamboo pole which would be carried somewhere on the vehicle. The pole had a hook on the end which would be used to pull the boom down and place it back on the wire. As the Hull Coronations were designed to run without a conductor, the trolley retrievers were fitted to make the drivers life easier. They also had the advantage of stopping the boom from flying up too high and causing damage to the overhead equipment. The prototype Coronation carried a bamboo pole as a back up system, this being fitted in a specially created void in the chassis. Obviously the retrievers worked well enough, as the fifteen production buses dispensed with the back up pole.


1959 saw something of a bombshell for the bus industry in the form of Leyland's "Atlantean" double-deck chassis. This vehicle put the engine at the back and the door at the front, next to the driver-the exact opposite of the usual arrangement until this time. Concern was caused among bodybuilders due to the initial production being bodied only by either Metro-Cammell (Birmingham) or the associated firm of Weymann (Surrey), thus freezing firm's such as Roe out of the market for this revolutionary bus. One of the answers came from Guy Motors of Wolverhampton, who created the "Wulfrunian" chassis in association with Yorkshire operator West Riding. The Wulfrunian had a front engine which was angled over to create space for a front door and featured such radical ideas (for the early 1960s) as independent front suspension and disc brakes. Roe were approached for the bodywork, presumably due to West Riding wishing to support a local manufacturer. Suffice it to say the bus was not a huge success, but Roe bodied 131 of the 137 built. By 1961 the Atlantean had been made available to other body builders and Roe began constructing bodies on it.



Above - By 1967, Roe were bodying the rear-engined Leyland Atlantean. This is one of a batch supplied to Kingston-upon-Hull City Transport as its number 221 (JRH 421E), note the unusual single- piece windscreen. KHCT were also in the habit of taking "official" photos of its buses and this appears to be one such, possibly to show the bus in its new livery, introduced in 1973. Where did all that pride go? (Photographer unknown, M. Latus collection, courtesy of G. Emmett)

In the 1950s the British bus operating industry fell into three categories. Firstly there were the big groups; Tilling (who had been nationalised in 1949) and British Electric Traction (BET). Then came the Municipal (council owned) operations in most towns and cities. Finally came the independents (i.e. independent of big groups or councils). Many independents were quite small but there were exceptions, such as West Riding, who operated over 400 buses from six depots. Tilling also owned chassis manufacturer Bristol Commercial Vehicles and body manufacturer Eastern Coach Works (ECW, of which more later), and these concerns tended to supply most of Tilling's requirements, indeed supply of Bristol/ECW products to non-Tilling operators was forbidden between the early 1950s and 1965. This left suppliers such as Roe to look after BET, Municipal and Independent orders, Roe being particularly prominent in the latter two categories. The winds of change were blowing however. In 1962, ACV merged with Leyland Motors to form the Leyland Motor Corporation (LMC). In 1965 LMC sold a 30% share in Park Royal and Roe to the Transport Holding Company (THC - the government body which owned the Tilling group) in exchange for a 25% share in Bristol and ECW, this allowing the latter two builders products to return to the "open" market. In the meantime, Charles H. Roe had resigned as Chairman on 30th September 1962 and retired. He died on 30th November 1965 aged 78.

Something old, something new; a quick trip to Doncaster!
Doncaster had received nine trolleybuses between 1943 and 1945 with utility bodies by Park Royal or Brush. They were sent to Roe between 1954 and 1958 to have new bodies constructed, the originals having worn out as was usually the case with utility buses. Roe also bodied ten new trolleybus chassis for Doncaster, beginning in 1955. Thus when Doncaster abandoned trolleybus operation in December 1963, it found itself with nineteen very youthful trolleybus bodies. Rather than try to sell the buses, or scrap them regardless, they sent them back to Roe to have the bodies fitted on new motorbus chassis. The work involved fitting a half-cab to the bodies to accommodate the engine and its bonnet. The buses could be identified by the thicker window pillar (see above) where the base for the trolley booms had been. They survived well into the 1970s, by which time Doncaster Corporation had become part of the South Yorkshire PTE.

Earlier in 1965 Roe had completed its last trolleybus body. It was a double-decker for the TRTB, and was constructed on a 1950 Sunbeam chassis. This vehicle had the last trolleybus body built for normal service in Britain. In the 1980s Alexander of Falkirk built a body on a Dennis Dominator trolleybus chassis for the South Yorkshire PTE, but the resulting vehicle was used only on a demonstration line in Doncaster and never entered ordinary service.
In 1967 BET sold out to the state- owned Transport Holding Company and West Riding followed suit. 1968 saw the Leyland Motor Corporation merge with the British Motor Corporation to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation. Also in this year an act was passed which enabled the formation of the National Bus Company (NBC), formed from the Tilling and BET groups and thus state owned, in 1969. In addition, the Municipal operators around Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Birmingham were formed into Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs), to be joined in 1974 by Glasgow, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.



Above - The largest single customer for Roe products was Leeds City Transport and its successor the West Yorkshire PTE. One of 361 Leyland Atlantean's supplied to the latter from 1975 onwards, 6211 (JUM 211V) is seen here in Eastgate, Leeds in November 1998. By this time the PTE had been replaced by Yorkshire Rider which in turn had become Leeds City Link and then First Leeds. The two buses behind are also Roe products, sister bus 6244 (KWY 244V) and 6433 (KPJ 291W), the latter having been supplied new to London Country Bus Services (part of the National Bus Company) and later acquired by Yorkshire Rider. (Photo Martin Latus)

During the 1970s most of Leyland's single deck chassis were phased out in favour of the integral (i.e. all one structure, no separate chassis and body) Leyland National which was constructed in a purpose built factory in Workington. To fund its construction, the National Bus Company were sold a 50% share in Bus Manufacturers Holdings Ltd (BMH), to whom ownership of Bristol, ECW, Park Royal, Roe and the Leyland National factory was transferred, Leyland retaining the other 50%. Roe maintained a market share supplying the West Yorkshire PTE, South Yorkshire PTE, Independents and Municipals, and as previously mentioned its bodies were based on Park Royal designed frames. This latter fact gained some importance from 1978 as a result of tinkering by Roe's parent British Leyland who now sought to replace its double- deck range by introducing the integral Leyland Titan. This was to be assembled at Park Royal's London works, so to create space Park Royal's traditional body on chassis production was transferred to Leeds. These vehicles were mainly Leyland Atlanteans destined for NBC fleets as an alternative to the "first choice" Bristol/ECW VRT model. Most of the production had been badged as Park Royal - Roe products and it is impossible to tell without reference to the builder's plate within a particular bus which buses were built where, some being constructed in London, some in Leeds and some in Leeds on frames built in London.



Above - The Roe bodies supplied to National Bus Company (NBC) subsidiaries were all of this style which had been first produced by Roe's former parent, Park Royal. Leeds City Link 6428 (KPJ 257W) was another ex- London Country bus acquired by Yorkshire Rider, seen in York Street, Leeds in October 1997. (Photo B. J. Latus)

The Titan was beset with problems caused by industrial disputes at Park Royal, many operators severely reduced or cancelled their orders due to long delays in delivery, and most of those who did take delivery found the bus to be a horrendously complicated machine. Park Royal closed in 1981 with the Titan being offered to ECW at Lowestoft who declined to take it on. Production eventually moved to Workington, although by now only London Transport was interested. To protect its market share, Leyland incorporated the running units of the Titan into a conventional chassis known as the Olympian. This became the new NBC standard, bodied by ECW for the usual "low height" (13'8 tall) variant or by Roe for the "high bridge" (14'6 tall) version. Roe also supplied Olympians to West Yorkshire PTE.
Other products built at Cross Gates as the 1980s dawned included six articulated buses built on Leyland DAB chassis using modified Leyland National body sections and a number of Executive coaches semi integrally built onto a Leyland "Royal Tiger" chassis and known as the Roe Doyen. In 1982 Leyland had purchased the NBCs 50% share of Bus Manufacturers Holdings so that it now owned 100% of that concern. Bus orders were falling rapidly, partly as a result of uncertainty over the impending deregulation of the bus industry and the privatisation of the NBC, and partly due to the ending of the grant, instigated in 1968 whereby the government paid up to 50% of the cost of a new bus provided it was suitable for one man (later one person) operation. Leyland had also been rocked by the demise of its Austin car manufacturing subsidiary, and faced with the need to economise announced that it would be closing the Roe works in 1984.
The announcement in May of that year sparked a campaign by Leeds City Council to save the works and the 440 jobs within it, but despite various meetings, press coverage and hopes that funding would come from the West Yorkshire Enterprise Fund, the factory closed on 14th September 1984. Around 1/5 of Roe's production since 1928 had gone to Leeds City Transport and its successor, West Yorkshire PTE (1,307 and 646 buses respectively), so it was perhaps fitting that the last complete vehicle to leave was West Yorkshire PTE Leyland Olympian number 5144 (B505 RWY) on 31st August 1984. A further six buses were present in the works at the time of closure, also West Yorkshire PTE Olympians, 5501- 5506 (B141-5/506 RWY), these were sent to ECW at Lowestoft for final finishing consisting of fitment of seats and exterior painting, all departing Cross Gates within the first two weeks of September 1984. Thus the curtain fell on the Leeds bus manufacturing industry. Or so it seemed..



Above - The last complete bus to leave the Roe works was this vehicle, West Yorkshire PTE Leyland Olympian 5144 (B505 RWY), seen in later life with Leeds City Link departing Bradford Interchange in November 1997. (Photo - Martin Latus)

Internal Website Links
Lists
List of buses and trolleybuses bodied by Leeds City Transport
List of Wilks & Meade bodied buses

External Website Links
Leeds Transport Historical Society
Dewsbury Bus Museum
Crich Tramway Village
Bus Lists on the Web
Wikipedia article on R.E.T. (in German)
North East Check
Archive images on Leodis.net Search Results for 'Roe'

Bibliography
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Postlethwaite, Harry; Super Prestige 16; Rossendale Transport. Venture publications 2007.
Allen, David. W; Super Prestige 6; West Riding 1. Venture publications 2004.
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King, J. S; Bradford Corporation Trolleybuses. Venture publications 1994.
Klapper, Charles; The Golden Age of Tramways. Routledge and Kegan Paul 1961.
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Berry, Michael; Leeds Trams and Buses. Amberley Publishing 2013.
Buckley, Richard; Trams & Trolleybuses in Doncaster. Wharncliffe Books 2003.
Kennedy, Mark; Streets of Belfast. Ian Allan 2003.
Miller, Patrick; Provincial- The Gosport & Fareham Story. The Transport Publishing Company 1981.
Otter, Patrick; Yorkshire Airfields in the Second World War. Countryside books 1998.
Twidale, Graham H. E.; Leeds in the Age of the Tram, 1950- 59. Silver Link Publishing 1991 and 2003.
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Roger Davies and Stephen Barber; Glory Days - Wallace Arnold. Amberley Publishing 2019, ISBN 978-1-4456-9463-4
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Acknowledgements
This article was produced by Martin Latus