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2. Shelvoke & Drewry Enthusiasts' Club
Newsletter - Spring 2019.
PLYMOUTH CORPORATION SD BUSES.
By Robert Crawley.
This
picture shows one of the six Freighters operated by Plymouth
Corporation under the transport manager of the time, H P Stokes. The
first three (numbers 22-24) had Hickman bodies and were introduced in
June/July 1922 and the second three (numbers 45-47) had similar Vickers
bodies and arrived in May 1926. All six were withdrawn and sold in
1929/30.
The disposal history we have on these is as follows:
No. 22
was converted to a gully cleansing vehicle in November 1929, withdrawn
by December 1941, believed converted to an ambulance (!) by May 1946 as
fleet number 7521 and sold in 1948 to unknown buyer (probably scrap by
then).
No. 23 was converted to a crane by the Corporation transport department in March 1930 and scrapped in 1932
No. 24 was scrapped in 1932 by the Corporation after a period of no use.
No. 45
Sold to C J Dowell, Sidmouth in January 1930 (possibly via Leyland
Motors acting as a dealer) and withdrawn by them in December 1930
No. 46 was converted to a lorry for the Corporation transport department in December 1930 and withdrawn 1939
No. 47 was transferred to Plymouth Corporation health department and converted to a lorry in 1932
None
of these vehicles have survived into a museum as far as I know.
However, at the Chalkpits Museum at Amberley in West Sussex they do
have a Freighter once owned by the Southdown Company. It is restored
and run up on open days.
Two
SD Freighters once operated along the sea front at Exmouth. Both were
acquired second-hand by a local operator in the town. They had come
from two different owners, one of whom was at Penarth near Cardiff.
Both these vehicles were sold for scrap to a breaker in Honiton (year
unconfirmed) and the story goes that the Penarth vehicle broke down on
its way to Honiton and was simply buried at the roadside in Clyst St
George. I was told this by a man living in Thorverton, who has since
died, who used to live at C St G and saw it happen. At the time he said
he could direct me to the very spot – so could this be an exhumation
job?
Thank you for contacting us and I hope the above information is helpful.
Yours sincerely, Robert Crawley
Chairman May 2011.
West Country Historic Omnibus & Transport Trust 2011.
