Fylde 79

The story of the trunk routes 11/11A from Lytham to Blackpool is told through Titans 19 (1946), 61 (1957), 70 (1964) and Atlanteans 77 (1970), 79 (1975) and 71 (1990s). Bus use went into long term decline in the 1950s and generally buses became bigger and ran less often to reduce costs. Staffing remained the most expensive item and major savings were achieved through one person operation with the driver collecting fares. This did make buses slower, compounding passenger loss.

Lytham planned to introduce this to the 11A in 1973 and ordered six Leyland Atlanteans with bodies by Willowbrook of Loughborough.
Leyland struggled to meet any deadlines at the time and it was not until late 1974 that it built the chassis. By this time Willowbrook couldn't fulfil the order and sub contracted the work to Northern Counties of Wigan, with Willowbrook undertaking finishing work on the interior.

Nos. 78 to 83 (HRN98-103N) were registered in February 1975 with a long career ahead of them. Double deck operation became widespread throughout the network and after deregulation in 1986 the fleet expanded greatly with more bus routes and a lot of school specials. The Fylde operation was bought by Blackpool in 1994 and totally absorbed in 1996 with the Atlanteans renumbered 478-483.

It was not until February 1999 that the first examples were withdrawn and the last three survivors 479, 480 and 483 (formerly 79 etc.) were finally taken off the road with no intention of a reprieve at the end of January 2002, just short of their 27th birthday.

Whilst 480 and 483 were stripped for spares, the LTT were keen to acquire an example for preservation.No.479 was considered to be the most suitable candidate and was purchased in March 2002 for the collection.

Restoration commenced during 2005 with the stripping of the side panels. Some of the lower deck framing requires renewal before a full repanel and some repairs to the fibreglass front parts. 
   
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