Although to many enthusiasts, municipal vehicles never extended beyond the trams, trolleybuses and buses that were required to provide the basic public service, behind them were a range of vehicles that were required to enable operations to proceed smoothly. These vehicles - tower wagons, tree-loppers, towing vehicles, training vehicles, mobile canteens and numerous others - are vehicles that, historically, have tended to be ignored when writing the history of municipal operators but without which operation would have been impossible. Some of these vehicles were often elderly buses converted for new duties, others were specially constructed for their somewhat specialised tasks; all, however, are fascinating examples of historic municipal vehicles. Gavin Booth, one of the country's leading experts on the subject of public transport history, has delved deep into the archives of many of the country's leading transport photographers to produce a fascinating survey of these often ignored vehicles. Dividing the subject into each of the specialised tasks, he shows how the various types of vehicle evolved during the twentieth century. Alongside the excellent photographs, the author's well-researched text and detailed captions make the book an essential work of reference for all those interested in the history of Britain's municipal bus operations.

From demonstrating a petrol-engined double-decker at the 1905 Commercial Motor Show to building huge 100-seat Olympians for the overseas market, the Bus and Coach Division of Leyland built thousands of vehicles for markets all over the world. At the forefront of vehicle design and development, Leyland produced ground-breaking vehicles such as the Atlantean, the UK's first production rear-engined double-decker bus. Through acquisition and merger, the majority of British vehicle manufacturers ended up under the Leyland banner, resulting in the creation of the mighty British Leyland Motor Corporation, whose subsequent fall from grace has been widely documented elsewhere. This, the third in a series of books showcasing the products of the passenger division of Leyland since 1960, concentrates on double-deck buses and coaches and includes such mythological giants as the Atlantean, Olympian and Titan, among others. It contains 180 photographs, all of which are in colour, all with informative text and captured when the vehicles were in their operating heyday.

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT! How well do you really know your way around Britain? Uncover the history of Britain's roads and work your way around its highways, byways, bypasses and backwaters in these map-based challenges. Test your word-puzzling skills, map-reading savvy, general knowledge and problem-solving prowess, with over 400 mind-stretching questions. Guaranteed to drive your mind round the bend, this is the ultimate quiz to British places for motorists and map addicts. From producing the first road signs and handwriting route directions, to its bestselling atlases and touring guides, The AA has been helping motorists navigate British roads since 1905 - and no one knows Britain's roads better.

Designated as a new town some fifty years ago, Milton Keynes was designed for the car owner, but public transport has provided a vital link for many. The large shopping centre opened in 1979 became the focus point for both town and country routes, with an underused bus station next to the new rail station a short distance away. United Counties provided the backbone of services until 1986 when it was replaced by Milton Keynes Citybus. Recast services at deregulation brought almost 100 minibuses to the area, with bigger buses returning over the following decade. It then passed through several owners over the next fifteen years until coming under Arriva ownership. Independents now run several routes in the area, with Stagecoach running services from its Bedford, Northampton and Kettering depots. National Express has a coachway located by the Park & Ride to provide further interest. In this book, Gary Seamarks takes us on a pictorial journey through the buses of Milton Keynes.

From tiny acorns, mighty oaks do grow, and this is certainly true when it comes to the story of Leyland Motors. From humble beginnings building steam lawnmowers in the Lancashire town of Leyland, the company grew to become one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world. With groundbreaking ideas such as designing buses and coaches with bespoke chassis rather than converted lorry chassis, Leyland vehicles were sold all over the world. Through acquisition and merger, the majority of British vehicle manufacturers ended up under the Leyland banner, resulting in the creation of the mighty British Leyland Motor Corporation, whose subsequent fall from grace has been widely documented elsewhere. This, the first in a series of books showcasing the products of the passenger division of Leyland since 1960, concentrates on single-deck coaches and includes such wellknown 'big cats' as the Leopard, Tiger and Royal Tiger among others. It contains 180 photographs, most of which are in colour, all with informative text and captured when the vehicles were in their operating heyday.

Often little known and generally unfamiliar to the passengers that used tramways, works trams were an essential facet of the efficient operation of any system - large or small - and this book is a primarily pictorial overview of the great variety of works trams that served the first generation of tramways in the British Isles. Although construction of most tramways was left to the contractor employed on the work, once this was completed the responsibility for the maintenance and safe operation of the system fell on the operator. The larger the operator, the greater and more varied the fleet of works cars employed; specialist vehicles were constructed for specific duties. Smaller operators, however, did not have this luxury, relying instead on one or two dedicated works cars or, more often, a passenger car temporarily assigned to that work. This book is a pictorial survey to the many weird and wonderful works cars that once graced Britain's first generation tramways.

This is the story as told by a man who was both a devoted fan and a loyal team member of British Racing Motors. He saw and was involved in the repeated failures and humiliating times of the 1950s, through the gradual progress of winning minor races to Jo Bonnier winning the first World Championship Grand Prix in Holland in 1959. It culminates in the ultimate honor in 1962, when, in East London, South Africa, Graham Hill drove the BRM to victory to win both the drivers World Championship and the Constructors Championship for the BRM team, thereby making a considerable contribution to British motor racing history.

Hub van Doorne and his brother Wim set up a transport engineering company at Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 1928. The official name was to become Van Doorne's Aanhangwagenfabriek, which translated as 'Van Doorne's trailer factory', and the company was subsequently known as DAF. In 1948, DAF's first prototype lorries were produced and the company maintained the reputation for quality products established by their earlier trailers. A few DAF lorries were exported to the UK in the early 1960s and, within a few years, driven by the newfound legality of sleeper cabs and the production of their own 2600 cab, DAF was a major player in the industry. Constant innovation in cabs and engines eventually led DAF to become the top-selling heavyweight truck brand in the UK. With its exceptionally diverse range, DAF enjoys an enduring popularity among truck and lorry enthusiasts. This book explores the company's history with a lavish collection of images and detailed captions.

The Ford Transit is one of the most successful commercial light vans of all time and it has been the best selling light van in the UK and other parts of the world for over fifty-two years. In this invaluable book, Peter Lee discusses the entire Transit range, including the wide variety of body types from 1957, when project planning was put into place, through to the present day with a peek into the future of Ford's famous van. Written by a leading expert and promoter of the Ford Transit and including many previously unpublished photographs and rare designs, this book is an essential read for anyone with an interest in the history of Ford Transits, and of light commercial vehicles in general.

In 1904, when Leicester Corporation opened its state-of-the-art electric tram network, it enjoyed a monopoly on routes and convenient central terminal points. But soon the first small independent motor bus companies became active, and by 1921, Midland Red - shortly to be the largest operator in England outside London - was busily establishing itself. The city fathers were faced with a quandary; protecting their territory and services, and possibly extending them, albeit in the face of determined competition, whilst at the same time endeavouring to provide termini that were as invitingly close to the city centre as possible. In this they were assisted by the 1930 Transport Act, which provided the template for fifty years of fairly peaceful co-existence between Leicester City Transport and Midland Red. That is until the provisions of a new Act in 1980 set them at loggerheads again. Leicester's Trams and Buses - 20th Century Landmarks examines in detail the background behind five key events - the opening of the electric tram network in 1904 and its closure in 1949; the arrival of Midland Red in Leicester in 1921, via the protracted planning for Leicester's first proper bus station, to the so-called bus wars in the deregulation and privatisation era of the 1980s. It concludes that it was the pursuit of policies, at local and national government levels, which ultimately led to opportunities being missed that could have provided Leicester city and county with a fully integrated modern-day network.

Designing and building your own motorcaravan gives you the freedom to create a distinctive holiday home tailored to your needs - and also enables you to control the cost. Whether you want to fit out a van, renovate a camper, revive an old model or build one from scratch, this manual will take you every step of the way. This new edition includes up-to-date information on electrical systems and water supplies, as well as sought-after storage options and weight-saving tips when working with wood. Armed with all the facts - and many step-by-step instructions - building your own motorcaravan quickly becomes achievable.

"Anyone who has ever driven on a U.S. interstate highway or eaten at an exit-ramp McDonald's will come away from this book with a better understanding of what makes modern America what it is." - Chicago Tribune "A fascinating work... with a subject central to contemporary life but to which few, if any, have devoted so much thoughtful analysis and good humor." - Minneapolis Star-Tribune "Divided Highways is the best and most important book yet published about how asphalt and concrete have changed the United States. Quite simply, the Interstate Highway System is the longest and largest engineered structure in the history of the world, and it has enormously influenced every aspect of American life. Tom Lewis is an engaging prose stylist with a gift for the telling anecdote and appropriate example."-Kenneth T. Jackson, Harvard Design Magazine "Lewis provides a comprehensive and balanced examination of America's century-long infatuation with the automobile and the insatiable demands for more and better road systems. He has written a sprightly and richly documented book on a vital subject."-Richard O. Davies, Journal of American History "Lewis describes in a convincing, lively, and well-documented narrative the evolution of America's roadway system from one of the world's worst road networks to its best."-John Pucher, Journal of the American Planning Association "This brightly written history of the U.S. federal highway program is like the annual report of a successful company that has had grim second thoughts. The first half recounts progress made, while the second suggests that the good news is not quite what it seems."-Publishers Weekly "Lewis is a very talented and engaging writer, and the tale he tells-the vision for the Interstates, Congressional battles, construction, and the impact of new highways on American life-is important to understanding the shape of the contemporary American landscape."-David Schuyler, Arthur and Katherine Shadek Professor of the Humanities and American Studies at Franklin & Marshall College, author of Sanctified Landscape: Writers, Artists, and the Hudson River Valley, 1820-1909 In Divided Highways, Tom Lewis offers an encompassing account of highway development in the United States. In the early twentieth century Congress created the Bureau of Public Roads to improve roads and the lives of rural Americans. The Bureau was the forerunner of the Interstate Highway System of 1956, which promoted a technocratic approach to modern road building sometimes at the expense of individual lives, regional characteristics, and the landscape. With thoughtful analysis and engaging prose Lewis charts the development of the Interstate system, including the demographic and economic pressures that influenced its planning and construction and the disputes that pitted individuals and local communities against engineers and federal administrators. This is a story of America's hopes for its future life and the realities of its present condition. Originally published in 1997, this book is an engaging history of the people and policies that profoundly transformed the American landscape-and the daily lives of Americans. In this updated edition of Divided Highways, Lewis brings his story of the Interstate system up to date, concluding with Boston's troubled and yet triumphant Big Dig project, the growing antipathy for big federal infrastructure projects, and the uncertain economics of highway projects both present and future.

The BMW brand has always stood for a dynamic driving experience and pioneering innovations - in terms of both design and technological solutions. Today BMW is the world's leading manufacturer of premium automobiles. BMW has been building fascinating automobiles for over 90 years. The slogan "Sheer Driving Pleasure" has long defined the character of the brand. It is a promise delivered on by BMW vehicles the world over day by day, and is constantly created anew by BMW developers. The publication will show the details of what makes up the BMW brand. Text and images will show and explain the innovations featured in each vehicle and how BMW created an intelligent networking between the driver, the vehicle and the environment. The publication will feature the world renowned BMW 3 series, the BMW 6 series as well of course the legendary "M" series. A special section will be devoted to the BMW motorcycles, actually the first ever vehicle produced by the company was a motorcycle. Other chapters will lay focus on BMW motorsport, the high-end engineering process, the brand itself and the advertisement of it. It all cumulates in look back at the past 100 years - from 2016 to the very first day of BMW.

Living in a 1966 Albion Chieftain lorry, converted to a home, Traveller Dave has spent much of the past two decades in Europe, working on farms and travelling around, all the time taking photographs of the other interesting traveller homes he has seen. From mid-1980s Glastonbury to France and Portugal, all manner of vehicles are shown here, creatively converted to full-time homes. Making their homes from redundant buses and lorries, travellers have made a fantastic variety of one-off mobile homes using their own creativity and materials they have recycled or restored and Traveller Dave has managed to photograph and document these colourful vehicles from the early 1980s onwards. Inside the pages of Traveller Homes, Traveller Dave takes us on a journey through the years, showing us how this alternative lifestyle has created a multitude of unique vehicles, each tailored to its owner's personal style and taste. Be surprised and amazed at the variety, creativity and style to be found within.

As rush hour came to a close on the evening of May 25, 1950, one of Chicago's new fast, colorful, streamlined streetcars-known as a Green Hornet-slammed into a gas truck at State Street and 62nd Place. The Hornet's motorman allegedly failed to heed the warnings of a flagger attempting to route it around a flooded underpass, and the trolley, packed with commuters on their way home, barreled into eight thousand gallons of gasoline. The gas erupted into flames, poured onto State Street, and quickly engulfed the Hornet, shooting flames two hundred and fifty feet into the air. More than half of the passengers escaped the inferno through the rear window, but thirty-three others perished, trapped in front of the streetcar's back door, which failed to stay open in the ensuing panic. It was Chicago's worst traffic accident ever-and the worst two-vehicle traffic accident in US history. Unearthing a forgotten chapter in Chicago lore, The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster tells the riveting tale of this calamity. Combing through newspaper accounts as well as the Chicago Transit Authority's official archives, Craig Cleve vividly brings to life this horrific catastrophe. Going beyond the historical record, he tracks down individuals who were present on that fateful day on State and 62nd: eyewitnesses, journalists, even survivors whose lives were forever changed by the accident. Weaving these sources together, Cleve reveals the remarkable combination of natural events, human error, and mechanical failure that led to the disaster, and this moving history recounts them-as well as the conflagration's human drama-in gripping detail.

Edinburgh is reputed to have more buildings designated as of ‘special architectural or historic interest’ than any other city in the world. These range from rows of Georgian terraced houses and individual Victorian tenement blocks to such diverse structures as the diminutive Greyfriars Bobby sculpture and the Forth Rail Bridge. Many of the buildings were constructed from sandstone, from a proliferation of local quarries and which could be found in a variety of different colours. The city’s local transport system has a similarly rich history, and this book looks to celebrate these two popular elements in the city’s contemporary setting. Featuring unique and previously unpublished images of Lothian Transport buses sharing the scene with some of these historic buildings, this book will delight anybody who shares a fondness for Auld Reekie.

A visitor to one of the principal cities of the East or West Midlands during the 1970s would not have failed to notice that all the incumbent local bus operators were still running buses which still resembled types which could be seen throughout Britain between the two World Wars – that is double-deck buses with the driver seated in his own cab area with an open space over the adjacent engine shroud. Whilst the vast majority of these also had an open entrance at the rear, there were some types which the passengers could board or alight through a doored-entrance at the front. With a wonderful selection of photographs that will delight enthusiasts of all ages, Mike Rhodes looks back on the twilight years of half-cab buses in the Midlands.

Lancashire and its neighbours Greater Manchester and Merseyside form one of the most populated parts of England. In this book Peter Tucker takes us on a lively photographic tour of the region’s transport scene. The journey takes us everywhere from the Fylde coast to the peaceful Lune Valley, as well as the old industrial towns of Accrington, Blackburn, Nelson and Preston. Also featured are the bustling metropolitan boroughs that make up Greater Manchester and Merseyside, plus towns as diverse as Bolton, Ramsbottom and St Helens. Buses in Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside is packed with quality photographs and information about this fascinating part of England. It is sure to delight those interested in the transport history of the North West.

The low-floor bus was first introduced to the streets of London in 1994 with a fleet of sixty single-decks entering services with London Buses Limited, passing quickly to the new privatised operators. These vehicles were not that popular, and no further examples arrived into London until 1996 in the form of the Dennis Dart SLF. It was almost another two years before the first low-floor double-deckers entered service in the capital. The early 2000s saw low-floor buses flood the capital, mainly of the DAF and Dennis variety, with a smaller number of Volvos entering service. The second generation of low-floor vehicles were introduced to the capital in 2006 in the form of the Enviro range produced by Alexander Dennis Limited. The Enviro 200 and 400 models were taken into stock by many London operators, but some chose other models. With 180 wonderful photographs, David Beddall has produced a fascinating tribute to this part of London's bus history.