At home with...Roger Torode - The Friendly Midland Red 

Brilliant watch. Remember the 174 and 176. Thank you 😊

BMMO/Midland Red is one of the operators I knew little about other than its operating territory and that they built many of their own buses. This excellent upload has gone a long way to filling in many gaps in my knowledge.

Excellent upload, I can just remember some on the DONS and SONS parked up at Bearwood bus station and those splendid large scale models displayed in the windows of Bearwood garage.

Well done Roger,very well documented.I worked on the Midland Red at Kidderminster as a bus conductor the same year as yourself,I also have a photo of you which you may have already,it's when we went on a refresher outing in 1969, after a few years on the Midland Red I ended up joining the police,but now retired of course.

An excellent survey with good range of photos many thanks

Very interesting insight. As a user, school buses from 1946 through to 1958, as a boy a collector of Midland Red Bus Numbers, and later until becoming a car owner in 1962. I was a spectator for the development of the underfloor engine bus from No 3*00 onward,. The pre war buses were still in evidence from Leamington Spa Garage into the 1950's before the front entrance buses were fully available. The sliding door LRR(?) Coach often turned up as the school bus pre 1950.They even had an example from around 1928 up to around 1951 and Crew from the same period. I can recall the bus converted to flat top for tree cutting works in the area prior to the introduction of double decker buses. The Midland Red was an identifiable part of life for the Midlands until Nationalisation. Like my Grand Children I was taken to school on a big 4 litre but it was called a bus and there were sixty or so of us bunked up, not a SUV.

This man wrote Privatising London’s Buses.

Lantern Slides were offered by LT too.. But no piano!

Hi Guy's my name is Mr C. T. Boxill-Harris I was wondering, why coudn't you find a nice fresh shiny Leyland Titan B15's and Repaint them to a Grey Green Color's just like the original Scania Grey Green's which were in the East London bus route's such as 167, 168, 125, 313 and also the bus route 103, if you guy would like to find about 14 Leyland Titan B15's, please could you Repaint them in the Exact Grey Green Bus Color's for us because it would be a Very Very Very Very Interesting Buses to see them Repainted to a Grey Green Color's and I'am a Big Fan of all of the Leyland Titan B15's😉😉😅😅😅😅😀😃😀😀😃😀😃😀😀😃😀😃😀😀😃😀😅😀😃😀😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😅😀😃

Extended Bodies for Most of the Buses Much as I am not comfortable to ask the depot why they stopped running the London Suburban Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel Engine Olympian ECW’s on routes N26, 30, 121, 230, 271, 349, N279 And 158 why can’t we make the same make of the Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel Engine Olympian ECW Buses but Modernise the insides of these Buses. Also make it low floor up and down and also extend the middle body part of these vehicles a little bit more so there will be more space for the wheelchair users. By the way, if you could remake and Modernise these vehicles could they also make it into a Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel Engine Olympian ECW Version’s that if it will be possible and to Modernise the insides of these Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel Engine Olympian ECW’s make it low floor up and down and also extend the middle body part of these vehicles a Little bit more so there will be more space and even a London Suburban Scania N230UD Enviro 400 MMC and also extend the middle body part of these vehicles a little bit more. Why couldn’t we have those London Suburban Buses Pale red on the top roof Pale red again on the top middle Milk Chocolate brown on the middle Creamy white on the Bottom Middle and Milk Chocolate Brown again on the Bottom on most of those kind of those Particular Double Decker Vehicles. Could you put the Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox in the Scania N230UD Enviro 400 MMC and also put the Loud 3-Speed Voith Diwa Gearbox in the Volvo TD102KF Engine East Lancs Olympus and also extend the middle body part of these vehicles a little bit more and also turn most of them to a London Suburban Buses. By the way could you also make the routes N26, 349, 121, N279 and 271 into a London Suburban Buses and have a mixture of a Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Scania N230UD Enviro 400 MMC and Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel Engine Olympian ECW Version’s. Could they also transfer the Arriva Bus Depots from Hackney to Stagecoach company so they can replace all the Arriva buses so that all of them can go to Birmingham and Leeds and they can be replaced by Stagecoach Loud 3-Speed Voith Diwa Gearbox Volvo TD102KF Engine East Lancs Olympus and also Extend the Middle body part of these Vehicles and that includes A Mixture of a Stagecoach Loud 3-Speed Voith Diwa Gearbox Volvo TD102KF, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 6LXCT Engine Northern Counties Palatine One and that Includes a Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Scania N230UD Enviro 400 MMC Vehicles A Little Bit More. Can Arriva London Bus Company’s Replace Most of their Wight Buses so they can also transfer them to Birmingham and Also Manchester so they can be Replaced by Loud 3-Speed ZF Ecomat Gearboxes Volvo D10A Engine East Lancs Olympus and also Extend the Middle body part of these Vehicles A Little Bit More Thank You Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Much. Oh buy the way could the bus Factory Companies also Make More of Those Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel engine Olympian ECW Vehicles And that also includes Those Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Cummins L10 Enviro 400 MMC And also Extend the Middle Body part of those Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel Engine Olympian ECW Vehicles and the Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Cummins L10 Enviro 400 MMC Vehicles and that also includes The Loud 3-Speed ZF Ecomat Gearboxes Volvo D10A Engine East Lancs Olympus A Little Bit More And Paint Those 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Cummins L10 Enviro 400 MMC Vehicles and also those Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Gardner 6LX and Gardner 6LXC Diesel engine Olympian ECW Vehicles and that also includes The Northern Counties Palatine One with a Volvo TD102KF, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 6LXCT Diesel engines with a Loud 3-Speed Voith Diwa Gearboxes and The Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Scania N230UD Enviro 400 MMC Vehicles and also The Loud 4-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Automatic Gearbox Cummins L10 Enviro 400 MMC Vehicles to the Grey Green Colours Just Like The Other Original Scania Grey Green on the Bus Route 313 and the 103, If all The Leyland Titan B15’s are Fully Red and even Mostly Red, could they also Repaint All of The Leyland Titan B15’s into Grey Green Colours Just Like The Other Original Scania Grey Green on the Bus Route 313 so they can Reuse them for Only Every 5 and a Half Months and also Reuse them on those Rail Replacement London Bus Routes if that will Be Alright for Only Just Every 5 and a Half Months and also Reuse Those Buses Only on the London Bus Routes witch are The 341, N41, 34, 123, N29, 149, 221, N73, 121, 86, 30, 262, 147, 396, 41, N26 so Please make sure that the builders can do as they are told!!!! And Please do something about these Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Important Professional Ideas Please Please Prime Minister and also Includes the Mayor of London.😉😉😉😉😉😄😄

Yet somehow we ended up today with almost no indigenous bus/coach building industry. We now import them.

Hi Guy's it is Mr Cannadine T. Boxill-Harris again I was thinking, Why couldn't you find other more 23 nice fresh Shiny Leyland Titan B15's and repaint them Also into a Imperial Cream and Green like the Essex East London Bus route H1 and 100 so they can Share a chance to run on the London Bus route such as the N6, 230, and that includes the bus route Number Four, if you guy needed that interesting idea's to let us know on the comment's down below so you can reuse those Imperial Cream and Green Leyland Titan B15's on those interesting London bus Route, Please Please can you reuse them within the Begining of Every November within Every Five and a Half Months Thank You Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Much Guy's😉😉😉😅😉😉😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😀😀😃😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😀😃😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😀😀😃😅😀😀😃😅😀😃😀😃😀😀😃😉😃😀😃😅😃😉😀😉😀😉😃😉😃😀😀😃

"Barry LeJeune ​Hello Everyone. Sorry Roger. You are in competition with the PM's announcement." Boris & Covid can wait. BMMO is far more interesting!

LLEW JONES. LLANRWST 2:28 2:35