Isle of Man Road Services No.117 – MN5105

IOMRS No.117 was new in 1927 and is a Leyland Lion PLSC1 with Massey B28R bodywork. It was delivered to Manxland Bus Services Limited, then passed to Isle of Man Railway before finally joining the IOMRS fleet in 1930.

Leyland Motors Ltd, based in Lancashire, produced the Leyland Lion (PLSC1) bus chassis between 1926 and 1940. The chassis featured a low frame allowing for easier entry by passengers The Lion also had pneumatic tyres for increased passenger comfort.

No.117 has a front mounted petrol engine to the left of the driver and a salon behind with 28 seats. Its entrance was just behind the rear axle.

The chassis is 8.4m (27ft 6in) in length the maximum permitted in the UK in the 1920’s for a two-axle single decker bus.

The PLSC1 chassis was very popular with over 4000 being built for service in the UK and further afield.

Massey Brothers (Pemberton) Limited based near Wigan in Lancashire started their coachbuilding activities in the 1920 and by the mid-1930’s they were supplying bodies for trolleybuses and buses operated by many municipal and independent bus operators in the UK. Massey’s bus body manufacture continued until 1967 when they merged with the Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company.

Source: “British Buses Since 1950: Trendsetting Designs” by Gavin Booth (ISBN: 978-1-80282-240-3)