< View previous picture - View next picture > Photographer / Copyright Derek Everson Images should not be reused without permission. View vehicle details 76A A286VMB Location Link/s Date added to site 11/12/2021 Printer-friendly version of this page

Details: This Freight Rover Sherpa van was photographed in Crawley Bus Station on 27th October 1992 and was in use with London and Country. Although lacking fleetnames, the emerald green livery and the fleetnumber 76A suggest that A286VMB originated from elsewhere. Rather usefully, the van still carried the legal lettering of its former operator, this being Crosville Wales Ltd, with an address in Llandudno Junction. Crosville was one of the larger National Bus Company subsidiaries, running buses in mid and north Wales and in adjoining English counties. In the run-up to privatisation, it was split into two sections, the Welsh operation becoming Crosville Wales. Things were a bit complicated (but interesting) for the next few years, with most operators having their own livery and identity but with a trend for ownership passing to ever larger groups and for numerous transfers of vehicles between companies. At this time, Crosville Wales and London and Country were both owned by Drawlane (or was it British Bus Group by then?), this later being taken over by Cowie and rebranded as Arriva. When I saw this photo I did wonder if the fleetnumber (76A) was an LCBS one. London Country Bus Services had a main numbering series which reached 71F before the company was split into 4 parts in 1986. They also applied suffix letters to indicate the make, and the letter A had been used for a single Leyland Sherpa bought in 1975, the Sherpa having originally been an Austin design. However, further research suggests that 76A was a Crosville fleetnumber, these being a simple numerical sequence, all with an A suffix (presumably for Ancillary). As an aside, Crosville had a unique system for numbering its large bus fleet. There was a 3-digit number with a 3-letter prefix, the letters indicating the class, model and engine make respectively. I remember this because they had some buses classified as DOGs (Double-deck, Olympian, Gardner engine)! A286VMB only lasted a couple of years with London and Country and it was out of use by 1995.

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