Author's collection
Author's collection
Ian Dinmore
This vehicle is still in existence in the USA - look here and here for more info and pictures.
Authors collection
Alan Rimmer
The Leyland Experimental Vehicle (LEV)
| The forerunner of all those nasty railbuses was the Leyland Experimental Vehicle,
a joint venture between Leyland and BR to combine the worst features of
rail and bus. Here are some pictures of the some of the early railbuses at the RTC
and at the test track. There were five single car railbuses built and which BR had on trial and miraculously they have all survived - look here for information and pictures. |
Click on the picture for a bigger image
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The first LEV was un-powered and
is shown here in the sidings at the RTC around 1978
Author's collection |
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A bigger and better picture at
RTC in June 1978 Author's collection |
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LEV1 at the south portal of
Stanton Tunnel in 1979 Ian Dinmore |
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A view of the Wickham version of
the railbus
(known as R3 and built especially for the USA) at the test track. The
vehicle had an overall length of 18.3m rather than the LEV1's 12.3m. It is pictured on the straight between
Old Dalby and Grimston,
looking north; note the Covered Way and Grimston Tunnel in the background. This vehicle is still in existence in the USA - look here and here for more info and pictures. Authors collection |
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The second BR version of R3
(known as Rb3) pictured at the Control Centre at Old Dalby on
test in the early 1980s Alan Rimmer |
For more pictures and information of the various prototype versions look here on on my train testing site