THE SHOWBUS UK ANGLIAN BUS IMAGE GALLERY
Eastern Counties | Tilling livery
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 A rare opportunity presented itself in 2005 to get the two restored ECW bodied LS prototypes together at SHOWBUS international, and as an added bonus they were posed under the nose of Concorde. Bristol's dual door prototype, 2800 (NHU2) had just been converted back to dual door configuration from conventional front entrance only. It had remained in service with Bristol until 1967. It passed to Classic Coaches in High Wycombe, but was off the road for around 30 years, venturing back on the scene in 2005. Whilst Bristol had chassis LSX001 on test, Eastern Counties had chassis LSX002 as LL744 (MAH744). Unlike its sister, LL744 only had a 4 cylinder Gardner engine, 2800 losing its initial Bristol six cylinder for a Gardner 5 cylinder. The bus survived in regular service until 1972, escaping in 1954 for a trial with Wilts & Dorset. Eastern Counties realised the significance of the vehicle and looked after it post-withdrawal and it is now part of the Eastern Transport Collection in the Ipswich Transport Museum. |
 The opportunity to unite the two prototype LSX models under the nose of Concorde was one not to miss. It may have been the first time the two buses have been seen together. |
 As can be seen from this nearside view, the Eastern Counties model is single door - and always has been. |
Looking down Concorde's fuselage the two LS rear ends can be seen.
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 Look closely at the front dashes and you will see that Eastern Counties wing motif is set higher than on Bristol 2800 thereby dimpling the line under the windscreen. Subsequent productio LS buses of course had flat bottom windscreens. |
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