1939 Leyland Cub rear-engined bus

from the London Bus Museum website

The rear-engined Leyland CR-type Cubs

During the 1930s, London Transport (LT) was at the forefront of bus innovation in the UK and its engineers worked with their counterparts at AEC and Leyland pursuing, in particular, the re-siting of the engine in efforts to increase passenger-carrying capacity. These collaborations had resulted in the development of the experimental (and successful) AEC Q-type, with a side-mounted engine (see the Museum's Q-type), and the Leyland TF with its underfloor power unit.

LT had already purchased batches of conventional, front-engined Leyland Cubs but, by 1939, needing further small-capacity buses to replace older types and, having trialed a prototype rear-engined CR in 1938, it took the plunge and ordered 48 more of the revolutionary type.

The CR's engine was mounted longitudinally on the rear of the chassis and power was transmitted through a forward gearbox and back to a de Dion rear axle. The 20-seat bodies featured a sliding door behind the front axle. The buses entered service in both red (Central Area) and green (Country Area) versions but the outbreak of war, and the consequent reduced need for small-capacity buses, meant that they were under-used from the start. They were also fairly unreliable, being subject to over-heating problems and other issues arising from somewhat quirky designs. Keeping them on the road was not a priority in wartime conditions and all of them had been placed in store by 1942.

Even after the War, there was little use for the CRs as their passenger capacity was too small to justify their use in most cases. However, the extreme shortage of serviceable buses meant that they could not be wasted and, somewhat incredibly, some were brought out of storage in 1946 to help out with rush-hour services in central London, working with conductors on board. When this work ceased in 1949, some of them went to the Country Area to work one-person operated services where they lasted until 1953. All were withdrawn and disposed of by 1954, one going to the LT historic collection, from which it was later sold on, and the rest going to dealers, mainly for scrap although a few were exported to Cyprus for further use.

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