Assembly Foden, Sandbach Floor type Step entrance Engine Gardner 6LXB | Doors 1 or 2 Chassis Steel ladder frame | |
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Manufacturer Edwin Foden, Sons & Co. | ||
The Foden NC was an unsuccessful design of double-decker bus chassis built by Foden of Sandbach and Northern Counties of Wigan in the United Kingdom between 1975 and 1978.
Contents
Background
Foden was primarily a truck manufacturer, although it had also built bus chassis in the past, whilst Northern Counties was a bus body manufacturer, building bodywork onto chassis produced by other companies. At the time of the design's conception, British Leyland had by far the largest share of the market for double-decker buses in the UK, with its Atlantean, Fleetline and Bristol VR models. The Foden NC was intended to compete against these for a share of this market.
Design
The Foden-NC was a semi-integral design, meaning that it has an underframe (chassis), but that the bodywork is also structurally load-bearing.
The transmission proved to be a weakness, with the Foden transfer box being prone to failures and the Allison gearbox inefficient. Derby City Transport refitted its Foden NC with Voith transmission in an attempt to overcome the problems.
In appearance, the Northern Counties bodywork was very similar to the style built on other chassis.
Production
Only seven vehicles were completed, one of which carried bodywork built by East Lancs instead of Northern Counties. An eighth, partially completed, bus was used for testing.
The vehicles went to the following operators:
Most of the vehicles experienced shorter than average working lives, although two of them (TUB 250R and ROC 300R) still exist, preserved in the care of Aintree Coachlines of Liverpool.