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During the last week of November 1969 Liverpool Corporation Transport took delivery of its last bus before it's operations were amalgamated along with that of the corporation of Birkenhead and Wallasey into the newly incorporated Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive or the MPTE as it's usually called which formally took over on the 1st December 1969.
The bus was number 1111, a Leyland Atlantean PDR2/1 with Alexander of Falkirk dual door bodywork seating 79. it was the 1st of a batch of 125 double deck buses that were built as 'One Man Operation' OMO following a recent change in legislation which allowed OMO Deckers which until that time had been restricted to saloons only.
1111, along with three of its colleagues did not enter service until a couple of weeks after the MPTE had taken over, initially operating on the newly reintroduced 510 Liverpool Central Station to Prescot route.
The bus went on to operate in paddenfer service for the MPTE for 12 years running routes operated out of the North Division garages og Green Lane Walton and finally Gillmoss before being withdrawn in July 1982. it then spent just over a further 4 years as a driver trainer for the MPTE.
Fortunately the MPTE generously gifted the bus to a local group of enthusiasts for restoration and it became part of the Merseyside Transport Trust collection on our formation in 1999.
To celebrate it's 50 birthday and to commemorate the formation of the MPTE, the Merseyside Transport Trust took the bus on a members routes tour on 1st December 2019 that took in some of the buses former haunts.
1111, accompanied by fellow resident of the Merseyside Transport Trust collection, 1236... a 1972 Atlantean reminiscing busier times on Liverpool's dock road when the buses were busy carrying the thousands of Dockers to and from work.
For more information on the Merseyside Transport Trust please visit our website www.mttrust.co.uk