Arriva London PDL70 Preservation

21/12/2024

Absolute corker of an image from Flickr user Martin Ruthe's Transport Photos who has captured PDL70 only two years old operating Route W15 to Hackney Central passing through Walthamstow😍

TfL route W15

27/11/2024

📣 Wednesday 27th November

A long awaited update today and its very interesting to say the least.

• Firstly the dashboard which decided to fail a couple of months back bar two lights and the warning alarm has now been completely resolved with a nice fresh dash installed which was sourced from the scrapper several months ago.

• The horrid, tired and old steering wheel which I believe has never been changed in its twenty-two year history has also been changed for a new one thank god for that!

• New mirror arm was fitted to the offside to replace the tired and rusty one that was quite an eyesore, though we need to order another one for the nearside now!

• The "new" windscreen that was sourced has also arrived but not fitted yet as that will be arranged with PSV Glass as soon as possible but it is nice to finally have it here.

• Lastly now and the big one, last month we learnt that the bus was completely flat with the batteries putting out no power to the bus at all so it was evident we needed brand new which we purchased today along with brand new terminals, The terminals and tray are severely corroded/rusted this created an issue in itself as getting the old ones out became a difficult task therefore we decided the new batteries will remain out the bus for now as we quite frankly didn't want them to fall straight through the tray as it wouldn't be worth putting the bus itself and the new batteries at a risk.

Just to add to that however we did make a makeshift stand (don't ask) for the new batteries to fire the bus up and thankfully it fired first time and all the new dashboard working exactly as it should which was a relief😓

The future and work to be done🛠

• Priority number one is to source and find someone able to supply and fit a new battery tray so the new batteries can go in safely and the bus can have power again.
• Fix the marker lights front and rear if we can locate the issue causing them to be permanently off.
• Sort the welding on the chassis that's required as well as sand it down and treat.
• Fix the leak on the reservoir or hoses, yet to be 100% identified.
• Windscreen to be fitted.

That's all the remaining issues we have (for now, touch wood) once these have been resolved it'll be prepped for MOT and fingers crossed we get a pass, as of right now though it will remain VOR for the time being and will not be attend any events!👍

Some photo's attached for your viewing, sorry about the big read. Take care everyone🙂

12/08/2024

📣Hooton Park Bus & Aviation Day

Sunday 11th August we attended the Hooton Park Bus and Aviation Day albeit arriving quite late however still presented with a warm very warm actually and wonderful day.

PDL70 was allocated two trips on the H5 between the event and Eastham Ferry with both having full loads and performing splendidly with that and the heat throughout the day.

Take a look through all the shots across the weekend📸

Now the bad news from the weekend😔 unfortunately PDL70 has suffered quite the Hydraulic leak whilst returning to base, We were always aware of the timid leak and topping up regularly to keep on top of this however Sunday seems to have put it a little too much stress onto it we now have to take time to pinpoint the problem and get this fixed as soon as possible being the biggest priority.

Following this i regret to announce that PDL70s entry to Buses Festival at Sywell Aerodrome on September 1st 2024 will now be withdrawn which will make Hooton our last event of 2024 and we can now focus on fixing it up and MOT Prep.

08/07/2024

📣Llangollen Railway Classic Transport Weekend

Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of July we attended the Llangollen Railway's Classic Transport Weekend at Glyndyfrdwy despite such a rainy weekend this really was such a well organised and enjoyable event.

PDL70 had a near flawless weekend and carried its first passengers since re-entering preservation between Glyndyfrdwy and Corwen performing like a dream even with a full load on one trip and this presented so many amazing photo opportunities, the only flaw was the failure of the 70s dashboard which will be replaced as soon as it possibly can and before our next event.

Take a look through all the shots across the weekend📸

We look forward to seeing you at the next event we attend which will be the Hooton Park Bus Running Day on Sunday 11th August 2024🗓

30/06/2024

13/06/2024

📣 Throwback Thursday

June 17th 2014 almost a decade ago PDL70 or as it was known in this scene 0922 with Arriva Cymru (Arriva Buses Wales) photographed by myself in the early evening at Rhyl Bus Station performing its common circular duties on route 36 between Rhyl and Prestatyn.

03/06/2024

Some photograph from Tom, really do love this one at Egerton Bridge in Birkenhead photographed whilst on route back to base in Wrexham😍

Pictured at Egerton Bridge in Birkenhead is this preserved Dennis/Transbus Dart MPD with Plaxton Pointer 2 bodywork. It is registered LF02 PTZ and was new to Arriva London in 2002, passing to Arriva Buses Wales in 2011 and latterly with Blackpool Coach Hire until 2024.

02/06/2024

NWVRT 👋

PDL70 has arrived and is on display at the annual open day of the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust she's quite tucked away but you can easily find her📷

Please be reminded that this vehicle is not to be entered without me being present, thank you!😊

01/06/2024

📣 Saturday 1st of June!

PDL70 went out for a little run today get the fluids flowing and wheels turning around Wrexham today in preparation for attendance at tomorrows NWVRT, performance was absolutely flawless as always.

We look forward to seeing you all at tomorrows event don't forget to share all your photos and videos with us!🥰

29/03/2024

Hello and Happy Easter everyone👋

Just wanted to provide a quick update lots of things are going on behind the scenes PDL70 at the moment is enjoying a good rest over the easter period whilst we source things required and plan on doing the work that needs to be done with a new windscreen and front indicator units being sourced and the chassis work which is one of the major jobs we need to complete.

I am sure all of you are eager to know when it'll make its debut in the event scene so as of right now we have five planned events to attend those are

• North West Vehicle Restoration Trust Annual Open Day (Sunday 2nd June 2024)✅
• Llangollen Railway Classic Transport Weekend (Sat 6th & Sun 7th July) ✅
• Hooton Park Bus Running Day (Sunday 11th August 2024)✅
• Buses Festival, Sywell Aerodrome (Sunday 1st September 2024)❎
• The Chester & Wrexham Charity Heritage Bus Running Day (1st of January 2025 TBC)❎

18/03/2024

Following on from the previous post here's a few shots from our little adventure around Wrexham with PDL70 seen in various places across the town!📸