The AEC Bridgemaster was a front-engined low-height

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

chassis manufactured by AEC.

History

The AEC Bridgemaster was introduced by AEC in 1956 to meet the demand of low-height double-deckers from municipal and independent bus operators across the United Kingdom, which were barred from purchasing the

Bristol Lodekka The Bristol Lodekka was a half-cab low-height step-free double-decker bus built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles in England. It was the first production bus design to have no step up from the passenger entrance throughout the lower deck; alth ...

. It was designed as a fully-integral vehicle, utilising two sub frames like the contemporary Routemaster. Four pre-production examples were bodied by

Crossley Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group. More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines ...

with an aluminium body; production examples bodied by

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, partly in the London Borough of Brent and partly the London Borough of Ealing. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, toget ...

were introduced from 1958 with steel body frames at the request of

British Electric Traction British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rent ...

. In 1960 a forward-entrance version with slightly different driveline layout was introduced. A total of 180 were produced before it was superseded by the AEC Renown in 1963.

East Yorkshire Motor Services East Yorkshire operates both local and regional bus services in the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, England. Prior to acquisition by the Go-Ahead Group in June 2018, the company was known as East Yorkshire Motor Services. History ...

were the largest customer, purchasing 50.AEC Bridgemaster
Bus Lists on the Web File:AEC Bridgemaster sketch.jpg, AEC Bridgemaster initial styling concept.A.E.C. Limited / Park Royal Vehicles Limited AEC Bridgemaster brochure No. 584.8.58 File:AEC Bridgemaster chassis.jpg, Rear-entrance AEC Bridgemaster chassis layout.A.E.C. Limited / Park Royal Vehicles Limited AEC Bridgemaster brochure No. 676.8.60 File:AEC Bridgemaster body frame.jpg, AEC Bridgemaster body frame. File:AEC Bridgemaster YDH225.jpg, First pre-serial AEC Bridgemaster, registration YDH225, chassis number MB3RA001, bodywork by Crossley with H41/31R layout, entered into service with Walsall in Nov. 1956. File:AEC Bridgemaster 9JML.jpg, Second pre-serial AEC Bridgemaster, registration 9JML, chassis number MB3RA002, bodywork by Crossley with H41/31R layout, in the service of the Birmingham Corporation.

In popular culture

Bulgy the Double-Decker bus, his friend and 25 Australian buses from the

Railway Series ''The Railway Series'' is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twe ...

and the children's television series

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

is based on the AEC Bridgemaster.

References

External links

Bridgemaster Double-decker buses Vehicles introduced in 1956 Half-cab buses {{bus-stub