After the war, the single-deck fleet was in poor shape, with
many early buses overdue for replacement. However, with
attention understandably focussed on the need for new
double-deckers, the stop-gap decision was made to purchase for the
Central Area a number of AEC Regal IIIs (50 buses classified
14T12) and Leyland Tigers (131 in total, classified
TD).
These buses
were standard products and did not reflect the advances made by
London Transport before the war. The Regals were
delivered in 1946, followed by the first 31 Leylands, all with
bodies by Weymann. The second batch of 100 TDs followed in
1948 with bodies by Mann Egerton, to a design very
similar to those provided by the same company for the Country Area
AEC 15T13s. However, unlike these last of the T class which
had RT-type engines and transmission, the later TDs still had
crash gearboxes.
The first batch of TDs went to Muswell Hill for the
212, and TDs were used on a number of routes
around London, including the
236 and
210. Kingston received a batch in
1949, in theory for the
215 and
206 but as was usual at Kingston they appeared on
all the single-deck routes, including the
213. They arrived in Edgware for the
240A that summer,
together with extra new buses for Muswell Hill to use on the
251. The latter were replaced by
RFs in 1953, but Edgware's TDs stayed for over twelve years.
With the 1958 bus strike and the resulting reduction in bus
traffic, they became surplus to requirements and last ran in
service in 1962 on the
240A at
Edgware.