“Smooth character”
Compiling the 1955 Ian Allan ABC London Transport, E.J. Smith expressed his admiration for the 65 members of the postwar STD class of Leyland PD1s. The lines may have been smooth, but the mechanicals were not: the Leyland E181 7.4 litre engine was gruff and underpowered, while drivers had to contend with a crash gearbox that compared poorly with the smoother London Transport preselector norm. By 1955, the PD1s had been sent out to quieter East London pastures and were not long for LT service: wholesale class withdrawal and sale to Yugoslavia were imminent.
Altogether smoother was the Vickers Viscount that Air France was advertising for its Paris service. Any passengers on the 20A who noticed that ad would likely have been daunted by the fare of £28/10/0d: that was more than two weeks’ pay for the average person in 1955.
“Smooth character”
Compiling the 1955 Ian Allan ABC London Transport, E.J. Smith expressed his admiration for the 65 members of the postwar STD class of Leyland PD1s. The lines may have been smooth, but the mechanicals were not: the Leyland E181 7.4 litre engine was gruff and underpowered, while drivers had to contend with a crash gearbox that compared poorly with the smoother London Transport preselector norm. By 1955, the PD1s had been sent out to quieter East London pastures and were not long for LT service: wholesale class withdrawal and sale to Yugoslavia were imminent.
Altogether smoother was the Vickers Viscount that Air France was advertising for its Paris service. Any passengers on the 20A who noticed that ad would likely have been daunted by the fare of £28/10/0d: that was more than two weeks’ pay for the average person in 1955.