Carlyle Works Limited
Encyclopedia
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach is a passenger carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
es and later midibus
Midibus
A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which generally are larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long...
es, located in Egbaston, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Carlyle Works was the central engineering works for Midland Red
Midland Red
Midland Red was a bus company which operated in the English Midlands from 1905 to 1981. It was the trading name used by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company , which was renamed Midland Red Omnibus Company in 1974...
, once one of the largest bus operators in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The company was famous for building its own buses and coaches, under the BMMO name. These buses were typically very innovative and were the first to introduce many advanced features. When the development and production of its own vehicles became prohibitive in the late 1960s the central works continued to provide heavy engineering services for the company. In 1968 Midland Red
Midland Red
Midland Red was a bus company which operated in the English Midlands from 1905 to 1981. It was the trading name used by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company , which was renamed Midland Red Omnibus Company in 1974...
became part of the National Bus Company, and Carlyle Works provided engineering services for other National Bus Company operators. These services included major vehicle modifications and adaptations.
In the mid-1980s minibuses became very popular for operators, allowing them to provide higher frequency service on routes that could serve areas larger vehicles could not access. Carlyle developed a range of bodywork for minibuses, notably Ford Transit
Ford Transit
The Ford Transit is a range of panel vans, minibuses, and pickup trucks, produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe.The Transit has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term...
conversions.
The National Bus Company was privatised in the late 1980s, and Midland Red was divided into five operating companies plus the Carlyle Works. On 5 March 1987 Carlyle Works Limited became the twenty second company to be privatised. It was purchased by Frontsource Limited, a private company set up by Robert Beattie to manage the central works facilities of eight former NBC companies.
Carlyle set about building upon its minibus expertise, and developed bodywork for the Freight Rover
Freight Rover
Freight Rover was a British commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom.-History:The company was created as a division of the Land Rover Group of British Leyland in 1981, creating a new single brand for BL's panel van business.Under later company organisation...
chassis. These sold well, especially to former NBC operators. Designs for Mercedes Benz 700 and 800 series and Iveco vehicles followed.
In 1989 the body designs for the Duple Dartline were acquired from Trinity Holdings, who were closing the Duple business. This body was designed for the Dennis Dart
Dennis Dart
The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
and was adapted to 8.5m, 9.0m and 9.8m lengths. Carlyle completed 140 of an order for the 8.5m vehicles from London Buses Ltd
London Buses
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme...
. Warrington Borough Transport
Warrington Borough Transport
Warrington Borough Transport is a bus operator running a network of services within the Borough of Warrington, England and into the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown and Northwich. The network of services is marketed under the Network Warrington name, with both names...
bought most (13) of the 9.0m versions. The 9.8m version was bought by China Motor Bus
China Motor Bus
China Motor Bus Company Ltd. , often abbreviated as CMB, was the first motor bus company in Hong Kong, and was responsible for the introduction of double-decker buses to Hong Kong Island....
(later New World First Bus
New World First Bus
New World First Bus Services Limited , abbreviated as First Bus and "NWFB", is the third largest public bus operator in Hong Kong.NWFB was established in 1998, taking over China Motor Bus's franchise on 1 September 1998 to provide bus services on Hong Kong Island together with Citybus...
) and Luton & District. Small numbers of each were bought by other independent operators.
New orders became increasingly hard to find, as the minibus vogue had ended and competing bodywork for the Dennis Dart was proving more popular. In 1992 Carlyle closed. The rights to the Dartline were sold to bodybuilder Marshall.