Tilling-Stevens Motors Ltd. 1906-1953 · 2019. 4. 20. · found therein. The engine specifications...

Tilling-Stevens Motors Ltd. 1906-1953

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First Published 2019 by the Local Transport History Library.

With thanks to Barry Nunn and Roger Cox for illustrations.

© Roger Cox/The Local Transport History Library 2019. (www.lthlibrary.org.uk)For personal use only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, transmitted or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical or otherwise for commercial gain without the express written permissionof the publisher. In all cases this notice must remain intact. All rights reserved.

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CONTENTSIntroduction..…….………….…….….….…….……….…….…….…….….….………..……………The Formative Years..….…….……….……….….…….….…….……….….…….….…….…….Tilling-Stevens Motors Ltd….…….….….….…….….….….…..….….….….…..…..….…..Into Public Ownership….…..….…..…..….…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..….…..…….The T.S. Motors Era….…...….…..….…..…..…..…..….…..…...….…..…..…..…………..Postwar Production...…..…..…..…...…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…...…..…………

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Cover Illustration: North Western Road Car No. 170 (DB5070) is a preservedTilling-Stevens TS6 dating from 1925. (Postcard from the LTHL collection).

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Introduction

Tilling-Stevens was an idiosyncratic but highly successful marque of road goingcommercial vehicles that emerged in the early years of the twentieth century. Itmaintained a prominent market position until business realignments outside its controlled to its decline from the late 1930’s and its ultimate sale and closure as anindependent vehicle manufacturer after 1950. Much of the early history of thecompany is unclear, and this article seeks to address some of the uncertainties. Sadly,errors abound in print and on the internet about the Tilling-Stevens company and itsmachines.

Very many pictures on the web randomly describe the TTA1 and TTA2 incorrectly, andthe TS3 is often confused with the TTA2. The TS3 of 1914 was the first bus from theMaidstone factory to allow transverse seating in the lower saloon, but the preservedexample at the Amberley Museum is fitted with a narrow Short Bros body of 1908, andis thus not truly representative of the type. Elsewhere confusion frequently arisesbetween the TS3/A and the heavier, more powerful TS4 which had a bigger engine andhigher bonnet level.

From the B10 onwards, the suffix letter ‘A’ after the model number stood for forwardcontrol in Tilling-Stevens classifications. This was not the case with earlier types suchas the TS3A, a normal control model, where the suffix ‘A’ indicated a design develop-ment. The sometimes quoted model number TS7A results from a similar misapprehen-


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sion. The TS7 was a forward control machine initially designed to meet thespecifications of the Public Carriage Office in London, and the occasional application ofthe ‘A’ suffix is a retrospective addition. Other sites confuse the normal control TS4(though some forward control examples were built) with the forward control TS6,though the latter has escaped the addition of the superfluous ‘A’ suffix letter. The LTHLfleet list for Leicester Corporation correctly shows the first buses in the fleet to havebeen of the TS6 type; the Commercial Motor article of 12th June 1928 gives these asbeing TS4s, but this is an error. Again, the North Western batch DB 5065-88 aresometimes identified as TS4s, yet the preserved example, DB 5070, is unquestionablya standard forward control TS6.

The engine capacities of many of the Tilling-Stevens models have been obtained fromthe bore and stroke figures given in the archived copies of the Commercial Motormagazine, though some inconsistencies and a some errors on the subject may befound therein. The engine specifications for the TTA1, TTA2 and TS3/A are reasonablyassured, but the versatile TS4 was offered with optional engine sizes - 6.4 litres/40hp,6.97 litres/45 to 50hp, and 7.7 litres/55 plus hp. The TS4 chassis became quite popularfor fire appliances until the mid 1920s, the electrical generator being eminentlysuitable for powering pumps and rescue equipment. The chassis so employed werefundamentally modified bus models, but the larger 55 hp 7.7 litre engine wasfrequently specified for the purpose.

According to the Commercial Motor dated 13th November 1923, the forward control


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TS6 employed the same 5.7 litre engine as the TS3A, though improvements to allTilling-Stevens engines were progressively made under the eye of Harry Ricardo, who,before he turned his attention towards compression ignition, specialised in improvingthe gas flow characteristics of side valve engines. When the TS3A was updated andredesigned for forward (more accurately semi-forward) control to meet the PublicCarriage Office specifications for use in London it became the TS7, but this modelappears to have had modest sales success elsewhere.

The Wikipedia entry for Tilling-Stevens has its chronology confused. Unlike theHallford-Stevens, the Dennis-Stevens was not a pioneer design leading up to theevolution of the TTA1. It appeared from 1916, by which time W. A. Stevens hadsevered his connection with Tilling and was working with his new motor industrypartner, Dennis, to develop his business interests.

The Shire publications booklet, “Old Buses”, has a picture of a Douglas Corporationdouble decker purporting to be a TTA1 which, emphatically, it is not. Douglas operatedno examples of the TTA1, and the vehicle shown is a TS3A, almost certainly No. 8 of1922.

The Commercial Motor Archive copy for 7th August 1923 shows a normal controlTilling-Stevens single decker for Douglas Corporation fitted with a windowless NorthernCounties 28 seat body. This vehicle does not appear in any published fleet list for thatoperator.


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Several internet fleet lists for Douglas Corporation show Nos. 13 to 16, the fourTilling-Stevens single deck deliveries of 1925, as TS17A models. This is patentlyincorrect; the TS17A did not appear until 1929, and was a forward control design of16 ft wheelbase intended for double deck bodywork. The 26 seat capacity of the 1925buses indicates normal control, and they were very probably TS3A machines. Subse-quently, in 1930, Douglas Corporation did take seven examples of the TS17A with 34seat single deck bodies.

Certain published fleet lists name the manufacturer of some pre-1930 Tilling-Stevensdeliveries as TSM. The Maidstone firm did not adopt the abbreviated form until August1930, and all vehicles made prior to that date should be shown as Tilling-Stevens.

The Pamlin Print postcard firm of Croydon issued a number of pictures of Tilling-Stevens buses, and the wild inaccuracy of the captions is astonishing. Many machinesare misidentified, and one supposed Tilling-Stevens vehicle on a Pamlin postcard isactually a Thornycroft BC Forward.

One website states that the Maidstone company was taken over by Vulcan of South-port. In fact the opposite is effectively true. Tilling-Stevens purchased the rights toVulcan designs in 1937, and produced them at Maidstone.

It is notable that every Tilling-Stevens petrol electric chassis, right up to the finalTS17A, was powered by a four cylinder side valve engine. No doubt such a motor met


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the premier requirement for torque delivery at lower rpm to drive the dynamo, but itis little wonder that the Tilling group felt that Maidstone’s final throw of the petrolelectric dice for passenger applications in the TS17A measured up poorly against themodern, refined, six cylinder AEC Regent. Later, the wartime searchlight generatorsTS19 and TS20 were powered by Vulcan designed petrol engines. Indeed, it was theVulcan haulage models that really kept Tilling-Stevens going from 1937 through to thesale of the firm to the Rootes group at the end of 1950.

The quoted power outputs of early commercial vehicle petrol engines were generallydelivered at very low revolutions per minute by modern standards. Initially, this wasaround 1,000 rpm, but engine and oil development gradually raised this to 1,300 rpmand later to 1,600 rpm. A governor was sometimes fitted to protect the machineryfrom overspeed damage. We may think that some of these early engines wereunrefined in design, but this is not entirely true. Features such as ball and rollerbearings, and pressure lubrication were often incorporated, but oil technology was inits infancy. The fast revving, highly turbo-charged power plants of the modern ageemploy engineering design principles that have been known and adopted for over acentury. It is the advances in metallurgy, oils and fuels that make today’s enginespossible. The design knowledge existed generations ago.

Contemporary accounts state that the performance of the petrol electric was less thanscintillating on hills, where progress was said to be slow, though the summit wasgenerally achieved. As the engineering of conventional transmission competitors,


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notably the Regent/Regal and Titan/Tiger models, became increasingly sophisticated,the petrol electric system simply failed to compete. Diesel engines were employedexperimentally in a few Tilling-Stevens electrically propelled chassis, and were afeature of the Chivers six wheel TS6 lorry rebuilds, but by 1931, when development ofthe automotive diesel was just beginning to become significant, the petrol electricsystem was no longer regarded as a viable transmission option for commercialvehicles. The greater low speed torque of the diesel would certainly have given betterperformance and greater economy than a petrol engine, and the subsequent adoptionof the principle for railway motive power proved to be outstandingly successful. TheSouthern Region diesel electric multiple units with huge four cylinder English Electricengines proved to be the most reliable of all the British Rail diesel multiple units of theirday. Now, of course, the petrol electric principle has become the basis of hybridpropulsion technology. Plus ça change ............…


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The Formative Years

The principle of driving a dynamo by coupling it to a petrol engine had been tried in anumber of applications by the year 1900. Several inventors conceived differingmethods of harnessing and controlling the power so generated for motorised transportpurposes, initially in railway applications. The Patton system appeared in the USA from1890, but was not notably efficient. One markedly successful early design was theHungarian Weizer petrol electric railmotor of 1903 onwards, which employed SiemensSchuckert electrical equipment and De Dion engines. A total of 65 railcars wasproduced, some of which survived until 1960. However, the adoption of petrol electrictransmission for road vehicles, which had to meet more versatile performance require-ments in respect of speed variation, braking, steering and gradient ability, was a rathermore complex issue. The German born, Belgian based engineer and gunsmith, HenriPieper (1840-1898) invented the “Auto Mixte” petrol electric propulsion system forvehicles before the turn of the 20th century. The Daimler KPL double decker of 1910 -the letters stood for Knight, who invented the sleeve valve engine, Pieper andLanchester, who designed the vehicle - featured integral construction in steel withaluminium panels. It was of forward control layout, was fitted with four wheel brakes,and had all the units attached externally along the outside of the vehicle. Each rearwheel was driven by a separate electric motor.

A certain Percy Frost-Smith declared that the Pieper propulsion system infringed “his”patents, and threatened to sue in the courts. It is doubtful if he would have succeeded

The Daimler KPL double-decker of 1910 featuredintegral construction in steel with aluminium panels.It was of forward control layout, was fitted with fourwheel brakes, and had all the units attached exter-nally along the outside of the vehicle. Each rearwheel was driven by a separate electric motor. (LTHLcollection).



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as the Pieper principle of the KPL pre-dated the W. A. Stevens system that Frost-Smithclaimed as his property. The Pieper bus was covered by patents of its own, but itscomplexity was probably a limiting factor. The Daimler company was reluctant tochallenge Frost-Smith in the courts, and only twelve KPL examples were manufactured.

Earlier, in April 1903, the first motor bus operated briefly by the London GeneralOmnibus Company was a petrol electric manufactured by the New Jersey, USA firm ofFischer. At 7ft 5ins it exceeded the then prevailing maximum permitted width of 6ft6ins, and was very heavy. Upon examination the Met Police refused to licence it, andthe LGOC shipped it back to the USA and asked for a refund of the cost. Othermanufacturers experimented with the petrol electric concept. The solitary Dodsonbodied Hart-Durtnall petrol electric prototype ran in London from 1905. Greenwoodand Batley and also Straker-Squire brought out petrol electric vehicles in 1907. Otherpioneers with petrol electric transmissions were Dowsing, Jenatzy, Lolner-Porsche,Carolan, Astle-Wallace, Krieger, De Dion-Bouton, Milde, Farrow, and the Germaincompany. Thus petrol electric transmission had attracted many early engineers, butthe real genius behind the practical road going petrol electric vehicle was indisputablyW. A. Stevens.

Following an early career as a physics teacher and consultant electrical engineer,William Arthur Stevens (1864-1935), inherited his father’s timber business in Maid-stone. In 1897 a private concern was formed under the name of Messrs. Stevens andBarker, which then began the manufacture of electric motors, dynamos, generators


The solitary Dodson bodied Hart-Durtnall petrol electric prototype that ran in London from 1905. (LTHLcollection).


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and miscellaneous items of electrical plant. Mr. Barker retired in 1902, and Mr Stevenscontinued the business until May 1906, when it became a private limited liabilitycompany under the title of W. A. Stevens Ltd. The manufacture of electrical andmechanical components continued, but Mr Stevens began experimenting with petrolelectric transmission. The initial result appeared as a petrol electric touring car chassis,which, notwithstanding its purely experimental nature, gave such a satisfactoryperformance that the company was encouraged to develop the principle further. Thepetrol electric system of transmission attracted the attention of Mr Percy Frost-Smith,the Chief Engineer of Thomas Tilling Ltd., who, at a time when mechanical transmis-sions were rather fragile and somewhat difficult to master, saw it as a simple way ofconverting horse bus drivers to the new-fangled motor buses.

The date given for the takeover of the W .A. Stevens concern in Maidstone by ThomasTilling Ltd is variously given as May 1906 (the date when W. A. Stevens Ltd wasformed) or some time in 1911. In 1906 Stevens’ petrol electric transmission ideas werestill in experimental stages, and one wonders why Tilling would have been persuadedto invest so early in such an unproven venture. It is recorded that Richard Tilling metW. A. Stevens for the first time at the 1906 Motor Show which was held in November,where the two parties agreed in principle jointly to develop the petrol electrictransmission for a fleet of London omnibuses. A company called Tilling-Stevens Limitedwas set up in 1906, probably with a minority shareholding in the Maidstone firm,though Tilling, in the person of Percy Frost-Smith, must have worked with W. A.Stevens from 1906 to design the practical omnibus that emerged five years later.


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In London and its surrounding areas the sudden and marked proliferation of motorbuses from 1905 led the Metropolitan Police to view the early examples of mechanicalpropulsion with a deep suspicion bordering on outright hostility. Early in 1906 theCommissioner of the Metropolitan Police issued a set of regulations governing thedesign and construction of buses operating in the area under his jurisdiction. From thisdate the Metropolitan Police Public Carriage Office possessed absolute authority overvehicle design, having the power to stipulate the maximum dimensions of 23 feet inoverall length, 7ft 2ins in width and a maximum unladen weight of 3 tons 10 cwts, withaxle loading limits of 2 tons at the front and 4 tons at the rear. Minimum turning circleswere specified, and severe constraints were placed upon mechanical and bodyworkengineering features right down to the smallest details. (These conditions wereupgraded and revised over subsequent years, but, even by 1924, manufacturers hadto comply with no less than 65 regulations.) A London omnibus that met thesestringent criteria was jointly designed by Mr. W. A. Stevens, Mr Frost-Smith and MrFrank Brown (of David Brown of Huddersfield), the last named contributing the specialfinal drive equipment for an electric motor propelling each of the rear wheels. Thepioneer developments and first commercial applications were in Hallford chassis madeby J. E. Hall in Dartford, a mere 20 miles or so up the road from the Stevens factoryin Maidstone, and the petrol engine used was the Hallford four cylinder unit of 4.713litres, rated under the rather meaningless RAC formula at 24.85 hp. Initially thepioneer bus was called the 'S B & S' for "Smith, Brown and Stevens", but the lorries,and later the buses also, were always branded “Hallford-Stevens” in acknowledgementof the inventor of the traction system. The prototype Hallford-Stevens double decker


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was operated by Thomas Tilling between Peckham and Oxford Street from January1908.

Hallford-Stevens buses also ran in service with an unidentified bus operator inLoughborough, and with the Brighton, Hove and Preston United Omnibus Company,which was not then a Tilling company (Tilling did not acquire control until 1915, whenthe BH&P firm found itself seriously short of vehicles after 13 of its nearly new Daimlerbuses were impressed by the armed forces). The War Office had some Hallford-Stevens vehicles, but it is not clear from contemporary records if these were passengercarrying or goods models. In 1910 the collaboration between J. E. Hall and W. A.Stevens was terminated by mutual consent to allow Hallford to concentrate on its ownmodel ranges, but in that year Stevens developed a new model for export to India.This abandoned the concept of a separate electric motor at each rear wheel, andreverted to trusted transmission principles by coupling a single electric motor to drivea live rear axle through a differential. It is probable that Percy Frost-Smith had someinput into the design.

In a January 1911 edition of Commercial Motor Mr Frost-Smith of Thomas Tilling,clearly not a man inhibited by modesty, was reported to be taking delivery of six newpetrol electric buses of “his own design and construction” - these, it was stated, wereemphatically not Stevens models, though Stevens petrol electric equipment would befitted. One presumes that this referred to the new TTA1, which employed a singleelectric motor in conjunction with a conventional differential and final drive, a principle


The pioneer Hallford-Stevens that utilised an electric motor at each rear wheel, a transmission system thatwas subsequently employed by some USA manufacturers of petrol electric chassis. (LTHL collection).


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that Stevens had already adopted for his 1910 export model. The pioneer Hallford-Stevens had utilised an electric motor at each rear wheel, a transmission system thatwas subsequently employed by some USA manufacturers of petrol electric chassis. Inthe normal control TTA1, the very first production Tilling-Stevens model, the radiatorwas positioned behind the engine, Renault style. From as early as 1910, Mr Frost-Smith had stated his preference for pressurised engine cooling by pump rather thanthe thermo-syphon method adopted by many other early motor manufacturers.

An item in the 14th September 1911 edition of Commercial Motor states that Tillinghad earlier obtained the marketing rights for the Stevens propulsion system. A licencefee of £3000 (around £2 million today) is sometimes quoted as the price negotiatedby Tilling for the rights to use the petrol electric system in its new London bus fleet.This sum must have been paid to the firm of W. A. Stevens, which could not then havebeen under full Tilling control. The £3000 figure was actually met by the LondonGeneral Omnibus Company under the 1911 agreement between the two operators thatlimited Tilling operations in the Capital to 150 buses. Later, the 21st December 1911copy of that magazine records that, following the failure of the proposed HadleyEngineering Company to attract investment, the Tilling group was interested inassuming full control of the W. A. Stevens concern. This, too, seems to confirm thatthe Tilling-Stevens company of 1906 was initially just a minority shareholder in theMaidstone business of W. A. Stevens.

The might have been story of the Hadley Engineering Company began in 1910, when


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the Bilston, Staffordshire based engineering firm Joseph Sankey and Sons (a forerun-ner of GKN) purchased the former factory of the Castle Car Company at Hadley Castlenear Wellington, Shropshire. Previously a subsidiary of G. F. Milnes of Birkenhead,Castle Cars had been a tramcar constructor, and the factory machinery was capable ofmanufacturing body panels. In 1911, the Sankey body shop was transferred from theBankfield Works, and the wheel shop similarly moved from the Albert Street Works, inboth cases to the Hadley Castle Works, which then became the centre of the Sankeyfirm’s automotive manufacturing. The Castle Works became extremely successful inthe production of pressed sheet steel car and charabanc bodies and in the extensivesupply of the Sankey wheel to British car makers. Sankey then sought an agreementwith Thomas Tilling of Peckham and W. A. Stevens of Maidstone. This envisaged themanufacture of omnibuses and lorries through the sale of the Hadley Works to a newmerged business, to be called the Hadley Engineering Company Ltd. A prospectus wasprepared, and shares offered to the public, but the minimum subscription was not met.Sankey withdrew, and the project came to nothing. It was only then that Tillingstepped in and assumed complete control of the Stevens company in Maidstone.


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Tilling-Stevens Motors Ltd

The first TTA1 example was assembled at the Tilling base in Bull Yard, Peckham, butsubsequent production took place at the Maidstone works under the watchful eye ofMr Frost-Smith, who, in addition to his other responsibilities, now took on the role ofWorks Superintendent. The double deck 34 seat (O18/16R) body of the TTA1 had thesame capacity as the contemporary LGOC B type. The new petrol electric bus weighed2 tons 8 cwt. was designed to carry 2 ton loads and employed a 4.3 litre 4 cylinderengine of 30 hp. The type letters stood for Thomas Tilling, then presumably Auto(-matic?, -mobile?, -car?) to emphasise the gearless transmission. The TTA1 modelwas introduced into Tillings’ London services from 11th June 1911 and, under theagreement with the London General Omnibus Company which limited Tilling operationsin the Capital to 150 buses, these eventually became all of the TTA1 type. At asubstantial promotion luncheon at the Stevens factory in Maidstone on 20th November1911, Mr Frost-Smith conceded that the fuel consumption of the TTA1 was higher thanthat of its mechanical transmission competitors, but the petrol electric system showedclear advantages in terms of maintenance costs and reliability. However, ratherconfusingly, he also stated that the pioneer design had been operating satisfactorilyfor “three years and nine months” which must have been an allusion to the 1908Hallford-Stevens machine.

Thirteen new TTA1 double-deck buses with O18/16R Tilling bodywork went to theBirmingham District Power and Traction Company Limited in 1912, and these passed


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almost immediately to the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limitedof Smethwick in a deal involving a transfer of shares. On 3rd October 1914, thiscomplete batch passed to Birmingham Corporation, together with the depot at TennantStreet and all the BMMO services running entirely within the city of Birmingham.

From 1913, the relatively lightweight TTA1 was joined in production by the morepowerful and robust normal control TTA2 for 4 ton loads. The vehicle weight was 2 tons15 cwt., and the design featured a large radiator with a rectangular bottom edgelocated in the conventional position at the front of the chassis. The four-cylinder enginehad a capacity of 6.4 litres and developed 40 hp. The TTA2 certainly did not meet thestringent design parameters dictated by the Metropolitan Police, and Thomas Tillingdid not operate the type in London. Some later TTA2 deliveries were fitted orre-equipped with the radiused bottom edge radiator shape that was to become familiaron the TS3 and subsequent models.

In 1913, three experimental tramcars of the London County Council were fitted withthe TTA2 engine and electrical system for use in the East End of London where localobjections had prevented the installation of overhead or conduit electrical powersupplies. These tramcars were still capable of using the main power supply whereappropriate. This experiment does not seem to have been developed further.

Neither the TTA1 nor the TTA2 was offered after 1914. The next Tilling-Stevens model,from 1914, was the TS3 for 4 ton loads or up to 50 passengers. The TS3 was a wider


The Tilling-Stevens TTA1 model was introduced into Tillings’ London services from 11th June 1911. The newpetrol electric bus weighed 2 tons 8 cwt. was designed to carry 2 ton loads and employed a 4.3 litre 4 cylinderengine of 30 hp. (LTHL collection).


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vehicle than its predecessors allowing forward facing seats to be fitted in the lowersaloon. None entered the Thomas Tilling fleet in London, but several provincialcompanies took this model to the relaxed design specifications applying outside theMetropolitan Police area. The engine had the same bore but a shorter stroke than thatof the TTA2, giving a capacity of 5.7 litres yielding 40 hp. With the TS3 came thechange in chassis designation from TTA to TS to reflect the name of the manufacturerrather than the major operator. Perhaps this was adopted to encourage sales of thetype beyond the Tilling group, though, at this stage, the Maidstone firm was still aTilling owned subsidiary. No doubt refinements to the mechanical and electricalsystems were incorporated after extensive experience in service with the earlier types.The TS3 had a shorter radiator, the bottom edge of which was radiused to include thewords “Petrol Electric” in a manner that then became adopted as standard for someyears afterwards. Some TTA2 buses were fitted with this later type of radiator duringtheir period of service, which has further confused latter day transport historians,though the correct identity can be determined by the greater body width and lowerdeck transverse seating of the later TS3 model. One of the original TS3 demonstrators,registered KT 610, found its way into the Birmingham fleet via Midland Red in 1914,by which time it had received the new registration OA 5711.

In 1919 the government set up a new department, the Ministry of Transport, tooversee the burgeoning mechanised transport scene. No doubt influenced by somelobbying from the LGOC, the new ministry recognised the need for a larger capacityomnibus to meet the pressure of public demand in London. The Metropolitan Police


From 1914, Tilling-Stevens introduced the TS3 for 4 ton loads or up to 50 passengers. With the TS3 camethe change in chassis designation from TTA to TS to reflect the name of the manufacturer rather than themajor operator. (LTHL collection).


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already had the discretion to permit the operation of vehicles that exceeded the 1906regulations, and the introduction of the forward control AEC K type from 1919 wascovered by an increase in the laden axle weight limits from 2 tons to 2 tons 15 cwts atthe front and from 4 tons to 4 tons 5 cwts at the rear. In recognition of the view thateven this was unduly restrictive, the rear axle weight was increased further in 1920 to5 tons, the vehicle laden weight to 8 tons and the maximum overall length to 25 ft.These relaxed criteria led to the subsequent introduction of the heavier AEC S typeseating 54 passengers.

The improved Tilling-Stevens TS3A became available from 1919 onwards and had arange of specification options. For London operations it took advantage of the relaxedMetropolitan Police regulations then prevailing, enabling 48 passengers to be accom-modated within its normal control layout. The contemporary forward control AEC Ktype carried only 46 passengers. From 1921 Thomas Tilling entirely replaced the TTA1with the TS3A in its London and Brighton fleets, and the model became popular withother operators, notably companies in the Tilling/BAT group. The TTA1 buses releasedfrom London by the new TS3A fleet were dispersed to other operators with Tillingconnections throughout the country, and many of them lasted until 1926, surely aremarkable achievement for a pioneer 1911 design.

Between 1922 and 1924, Midland Red converted 56 TS3A’s to forward control layoutand equipped them with front entrance open top O22/29F double deck bodies for busytown routes. The class was called the FS for forward steering, and the engines were


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fitted with Ricardo’s latest type of side valve cylinder head. The Tilling-Stevens factorycertainly had a hand in this redesign (known as forward dash rather than forwardcontrol at that time) as it classified such vehicles as TS3Z/Birmingham type. Provingto be less than successful in service, these double deckers were all withdrawn in 1928and 1929. Midland Red did not return to the double decker until the advent of theDDRE (often wrongly called the REDD) in 1931.

Tilling-Stevens were quite successful in the export market. For example, in 1922, fourTS3A single deck machines models went to Barcelona, followed by twelve single deckTS4’s and then a substantial number of double deckers. The Commercial Motor of 25thDecember 1923 reports that 42 TS3A O26/22R double deckers were operated inBarcelona, together with ten 64 seat forward control TS6 or TS7 double deckers, butother reliable sources state that all except the first four deliveries were TS4’s withengines that developed 85/90 hp. This suggests that either the 6.97 litre or 7.7 litreengine was specified. The continued availability of the then elderly, normal control TS4design into the 1930’s is extraordinary, and must be a reflection of the type’s reliability.After the devastating Spanish Civil War of 1936 - 1939, petrol shortages prompted theconversion of several TS4 double decks into trolleybuses. The Barcelona fleet wasre-equipped with new buses after World War II.

In the early 1920’s, Madrid took 50 TS3A saloons. Slightly later, a fleet of fortyTilling-Stevens petrol electrics was operated in Buenos Aires. In 1924 the ChinaGeneral Omnibus Company of Shanghai commenced operation with a fleet of 50


Barcelona had a substantialnumber of TS4 double-deckers from 1922. (LTHLcollection).


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Tilling-Stevens petrol electrics before subsequently switching over to the geared B10model. Perhaps we now tend to look upon the petrol electric of the 1920’s assomething of an oddity and an engineering cul-de-sac, but it was reliable and highlyregarded by many operators in its time.

It is sometimes suggested that the B9 was the first non petrol electric Tilling-Stevensmodel, but this is not so. Tilling-Stevens did manufacture a significant number ofmechanically geared lorries, beginning with one and two ton models, coded TSB1 andTSB2, from 1913 onwards. These small machines were sometimes supplied withoutthe distinctive vertical bars in front of the radiator. Apart from the transmission, thechassis of Tilling-Stevens geared haulage types were fundamentally the same as thoseof the petrol electric passenger models. (Indeed, not until 1931 did the MaidstoneCompany offer a specific goods chassis.) Many of these geared lorries were suppliedto the British and the French forces for front line use in France and Flanders. Theheavier TSB3 and TSB4 models were added in 1919.

Initially, the mechanical gearbox lorries lacked a curved lower edge to the radiator thatotherwise carried the words “Petrol Electric”. Later on, certainly by 1922, geared lorrieshad that curved lower edge restored to carry the word “Maidstone”. An interestingpoint arises here. It has often been stated that the British Military did not favour thepetrol electric system, and only vehicles with mechanical transmissions were comman-deered for use in supporting the front line. That very many geared buses were soappropriated by the military is incontrovertible, and it is true that they were replaced


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quite often in the home market with Tilling-Stevens petrol electrics. However, between1914 and 1918, in addition to the geared machines, the Maidstone firm producedaround 300 petrol electric TS3 lorries for the War Office, which rather qualifies thehitherto received opinion. According to the Commercial Motor (15th May 1919),Tilling-Stevens petrol electric lorries saw wartime service on the Western Front as wellas being employed as searchlight generators in Britain.

After the war, some of these petrol electric lorries went on to contribute another facetto the early bus scene. They were bought by the Birmingham and Midland MotorOmnibus Company, already operators of Tilling-Stevens buses, whose Chief Engineer,Mr L. G. Wyndham Shire, used the lorry chassis as the basis for further developmentwith conventional clutches and gearboxes. These ultimately metamorphosed into theearliest examples of the BMMO SOS breed. There was an exchange of informationbetween Birmingham and Maidstone to the benefit of both parties, and, for a whilethereafter, new SOS buses were built on Tilling-Stevens chassis frames. In a letter toCommercial Motor dated 19th November 1948, Mr F. J. Hughes of Tilling-Stevensacknowledged that the experience gained in these early SOS projects greatly influ-enced the design of the highly successful B9/B10 series of 1926 onwards. (Incidentally,that same letters page includes sundry offerings from correspondents of the meaningof the initials “SOS”- Shires Own Specification, Science Over Strength, Shires OwnSpecial, Shires Orthodox System. Another theory suggested that it arose from theinvasion of “pirate” operators in the territory of Midland Red - an “SOS” went out toTilling-Stevens for a suitable mechanically driven machine. The debate remains


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unresolved to this day).

The TS4 model, contemporary with the TS3A, was a versatile, heavier duty, normalcontrol design for provincial operation for 4/5 ton loads or up to 50 passengers.Visually the more powerful TS4 had a higher bonnet level than the TS3 and TS3A. TheTTA2 6.4 litre engine was available as an early option for this chassis, but, in mostexamples, the stroke of this engine design was lengthened to 6ins increasing thecapacity to 6.97 litres, still rated under the inaccurate RAC system at 40/50 hp. Yetanother engine option further increased the bore to 5ins, giving a capacity of 7.7 litres.The TS4 was a versatile model, with the option of petrol electric or conventionaltransmission. Many were sold as lorries and fire appliances, but most were bodied aspetrol electric buses, single and double deck. A forward control variant was lateroffered until superseded by the TS6, though the more economical TS3A remained thepopular choice for UK provincial operators.


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Into Public Ownership

The Tilling-Stevens company ceased to be a directly owned subsidiary of Tilling whenit was floated on the Stock Exchange on 27th November 1919. The share capital was£650,000. Richard Tilling and Percy Frost-Smith were among the directors, but notablyabsent was W. A. Stevens who had left the firm early in 1915 to form Stevens PetrolElectric Vehicles Ltd of 82 Victoria Street, London SW1. One wonders if the dominatingpersonality of Percy Frost-Smith might have been an influencing factor, and, despiteFrost-Smith’s pre-war claims to have been the inventor of the petrol electric transmis-sion, it is notable that W. A. Stevens retained his intellectual rights to manufacture hisdesigns elsewhere. In 1916 Stevens entered into an agreement with Dennis Bros. Ltd.of Guildford, whose petrol electric vehicles based upon the “subvention” or “subsidy”chassis had radiators larger than other Dennis types and were sometimes simplybadged “Stevens”. The initial examples were constructed as searchlight lorries ormobile workshops for military applications. The first buses put into service by CardiffCorporation, then only a tram operator, were six single deck Dennis-Stevens machinesof 1920, followed by six double deck examples in 1922. They remained in the bus fleetuntil 1931, but two, rebuilt as tower wagons, soldiered on until 1951. The lacklustresales led to the joint venture between Dennis and Stevens being abandoned, andCardiff then opted for Dennis buses with mechanical transmissions.

Percy Frost-Smith, whose health had been suspect between 1915 and 1918, alsoparted company with the Tilling Group and Tilling-Stevens Motors Limited. Perhaps the


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health issues influenced his move, but in 1921 he embarked on a career as a transportconsultant and (jointly with a Mr Philip V. Powell) as a vehicle designer. The fruits ofthese endeavours ultimately emerged as the straight frame F-S Petrol Electric doubledeck omnibus for the independent or “pirate” market in London. Unfortunately, the“pirates” proved to be unconvinced by his design. He operated his fleet of F-S busesfrom Railway Arch No 192 in Hercules Road, Lambeth, but, despite employing wellproven components such as four cylinder 6.23 litres White & Poppe engines developing40hp at 1,000 rpm, and Kirkstall/David Brown transmission units, the mere sixexamples constructed proved woefully unreliable. On 1st December 1924, with nofurther production in sight, the renamed F-S Petrol Electric Omnibus Company wasdeclared bankrupt. The health of Percy Frost-Smith declined rapidly under the strain,and he was diagnosed with cancer; on the 24th December 1924 he passed away at theearly age of 48. It is recorded that the wife and children of this once influential manwere left destitute and had to be rescued by means of a public appeal.

Meanwhile, back at Tilling-Stevens, the company reported a loss of £148,212 for theyear 1921, equivalent to £6.3 million today. Matters recovered somewhat by thefollowing year, when a trading profit of £34,779 (roughly £2 million today) was posted.When set against accrued losses and liabilities, the final figure was a loss of £143,522.However, the difficult trading conditions of the time are reflected by the correspondingfigures released in September 1922 by Leyland, when the total debit balance for theLancashire firm was the staggering sum of £993,907, £52 million in today’s terms.


Percy Frost-Smith operated his fleet of F-S buses from Railway Arch No 192 in Hercules Road, Lambeth, but,despite employing well proven components such as four cylinder 6.23 litres White & Poppe engines developing40hp at 1,000 rpm, the mere six examples constructed proved woefully unreliable. (LTHL collection).


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Contemporary Maidstone designs were the straight framed TS5 and TS6, which wereintended for provincial use, and thus not subject to the very restrictive MetropolitanPolice specifications for service in London. The normal control 30 hp TS5 of 1918onwards used an updated version of the TTA1 4.3 litre engine for 2 ton loads or 20/25seat bus bodies; it had a low bonnet and the small radiator lacked the ‘Petrol Electric’wording cast at the base. The TS6 was a forward control machine of 1921 for 5 tonloads/up to 64 passengers, and was usually powered by the 5.7 litre engine of theTS3A. The 6.97 litre 50 hp engine fitted with Ricardo designed cylinders and alloypistons was listed as an option, though the accommodation of this bulkier unit withinthe TS6 bonnet structure must have proved a challenge. Leicester Corporation hadeight TS6 buses delivered in 1925 with Brush H26/24RO open staircase double deckbodywork. Around 1927 it re-bodied its earlier six 1924 TS6 saloons with Brush doubledeck bodywork of the same type. Wolverhampton, seemingly satisfied with its TS3/Asaloons of 1917 to 1921, then became a buyer of the TS6 model.

The semi forward control, straight framed TS7 of 1921 was primarily designed forLondon operation, and it retained the 5.7 litre 4 cylinder engine of the TS3A and TS6models. Designed for 4 ton loads or up to 64 passengers (though the lower capacityfigure of 48 was adopted in London) the model conformed with Metropolitan Policerequirements. A provincial version was also available, and in 1924 fifty examples ofthis type were exported to the China General Bus Company in Shanghai. The TS7became the next standard bus in the London Tilling fleet which amassed a total of 166double deckers and 12 single deckers in 1923/24 to add to the existing TS3A London


A Southdown Motor Services Tilling-Stevens TS6. The TS6 was a forward control machine of 1921 for 5 tonloads/up to 64 passengers, and was usually powered by the 5.7 litre engine of the TS3A. (LTHL collection).


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fleet of similar size. The O26/22R open top double deck bodies were built by Tilling atLewisham and Lee. The 12 single deckers had B30R bodies also by Tilling, and wereused on the Penge - Chislehurst route 109 (later the 227) which went under a lowbridge at Shortlands. These single deckers were erroneously described as TS6 typesin Commercial Motor dated 3rd November 1925.

Thus, by 1924, Tilling-Stevens was offering five different models - TS3A, TS4, TS5,TS6 and TS7, though there was a degree of commonality of components.

The cranked chassis frame AEC NS type, with a floor level some 11½ inches lower thanthat achievable with earlier UK bus designs, appeared from 1922. On solid tyres, therear loading platform was just 14½ inches above the roadway, and access to the lowersaloon was achieved by a further step of 11 inches. This floor height of 2ft 1½ ins couldnot be matched by contemporary Tilling-Stevens petrol electric buses which employeda higher, straight frame to accommodate the bulky dynamo and motor beneath thesaloon floor. The laden floor height of the TS7 on solid tyres was 2ft 8ins. Subsequentconversions to pneumatic tyres raised the height further. Thus the Maidstone compa-ny’s petrol electric products of the time always looked rather antiquated against theirmarket competitors.

In the early 1920’s the fire appliance range was given the classification TSF, with asuffix number indicating the maximum load.


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The Maidstone company dabbled in the single deck trolleybus market during the1920s. Tilling-Stevens trolleybuses were given the classification RC for “Railless Car”but this was not always applied. The best trolleybus customer was WolverhamptonCorporation which took thirty two between 1923 and 1926, all with centre entranceChristopher Dodson bodywork in the first stage of a tramway replacement scheme.These were based upon the TS6 chassis in which the engine and dynamo were replacedby BTH electrical equipment. All were withdrawn in 1934. Beyond these, trolleybussales were poor. Halifax bought an RC2 and fitted its own 26 seat front entrance bodyin 1924. It is recorded to have performed very successfully in service, and wascertainly superior to its Halifax trolleybus stablemates, two ex-Dundee Railless ma-chines. Sadly, the atrocious state of the roadway led to the later abandonment of thesolitary trolleybus route between Pellon and Wainstalls in 1926.

In 1924, Tilling-Stevens came up with a petrol electric trolleybus, the PERC1, said tobe designed by Mr J. B. Parker of the Tees-side Railless Traction Board. Based on theTS3A, it was offered as a solution to the problem of feeder services to a trolleybusnetwork. Once the vehicle had linked up with the main system, it would connect to theoverhead supply and operate as a normal trolleybus. When it reached the outerterminus the engine could be started from the overhead electricity supply and the buswould then run onwards independently as a petrol electric. Originally of normal controllayout with a Roe B26F body, it was later rebuilt to forward control and B32Fconfiguration. This unique vehicle remained in the Tees-side Railless Traction Boardfleet until 1936. A later development embodying the principles of the 1924 PERC1


Tilling-Stevens’ best trolleybus customer was Wolverhampton Corporation which took thirty two between1923 and 1926, all with centre entrance Dodson bodywork based upon the TS6 chassis in which the engineand dynamo were replaced by BTH electrical equipment. (LTHL collection).


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emerged as a normal control petrol electric trolleybus based on the TS17A chassis,which was supplied to Italy in 1931.

The only other trolleybus sold by Tilling-Stevens to a UK operator went to IpswichCorporation in 1925. This had a 30 seat front entrance body by the local firm ofRansomes, Sims & Jeffries, which then became the preferred supplier of trolleybuschassis to Ipswich for several years afterwards. Surprisingly, Maidstone Corporation,which was replacing its tram network with trolleybuses from the early 1930s, did nottake any Tilling-Stevens trolleybuses, though it did buy petrol electric and gearedbuses from the Maidstone based manufacturer.

In 1924 the Tilling-Stevens company concluded arrangements with Skoda in Czecho-slovakia whereby the vehicles were marketed throughout Eastern Europe under thename of Skoda Tilling-Stevens. A similar agreement was made the following year inAmerica with the Gray Motor Corporation which enabled Gray to obtain exclusivemanufacturing rights for the electrical equipment in the USA.

Towards the end of 1925, the Tilling Group board stated that “it was undesirable forthe Company to be financially interested in the motor manufacturing trade, and it hadtherefore taken the decision that Thomas Tilling would cease to hold shares or befinancially interested in any company engaged in that trade, or be represented on theboards of any such companies. Accordingly, Thomas Tilling company had disposed ofall the shares held until recently in Tilling-Stevens Motors”.


In 1924, Tilling-Stevens came up with a petrol electric trolleybus, the PERC1, said to be designed by Mr J.B. Parker of the Tees-side Railless Traction Board. Based on the TS3A, it was offered as a solution to theproblem of feeder services to a trolleybus network. (LTHL collection).


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This announcement, which was reported in the 17th November 1925 issue of Commer-cial Motor, is of interest in two respects. Firstly, it runs counter to the widely held beliefthat the Tilling Group disposed of its Tilling-Stevens holding in 1930. Secondly, thisstated view of the Group policy was completely reversed when it took over United’sLowestoft coachbuilding business in 1929. However, in 1925, Richard Tilling was stillin charge, and remained as Chairman until his death in 1929 at the age of 78. Theabrasive J. F. Heaton was then elected Chairman of the Tilling Group, and most of theremaining Tilling family members resigned from the board in protest. (Alan Townsinhas described Heaton as “a control freak”) Heaton then went on to pursue policies ofhis own choosing. The joint purchase with the LNER of United Automobile Services in1929 brought “The Coach Factory” of Lowestoft (later Eastern Coach Works) into theTilling/BAT fold, but the previous management team of United had already taken avehicle purchasing decision that was to prove of major significance to the future ofTilling-Stevens.

By 1928 the sales of Bristol chassis had dropped to a very low level, a reflection uponthe economic circumstances of the time rather than the quality of the product, and thefuture of the Bristol manufacturing arm was seriously in doubt. The appointment in1928 as United’s Chief Engineer of B. V. Smith, who had been trained at BristolTramways, led to the placing of an order late in that year for 130 examples of theBristol B type. This was the biggest single order that Bristol had ever received, and itundoubtedly saved the struggling company. The subsequent 1929 Tilling/BAT andLNER acquisition of United Automobile automatically brought with it the Lowestoft


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coachbuilding activity, but the purchase of the Bristol business came about in a rathermore complex manner. The Great Western Railway had eyed the local bus transportscene in Bristol for some time and wished to take a financial stake, but lacked thestatutory power to operate tramways or taxis. Instead, the takeover of the BristolTramways & Carriage Company, together with its vehicle manufacturing arm, waseffected in 1931 through the Tilling/GWR jointly owned much smaller Western Nationalbusiness, a latter day instance of David conquering Goliath. The transfer thereafter ofTilling engineering allegiance from Tilling-Stevens to Bristol dramatically affected thefutures of both manufacturers, the first for ill, the other for good. For a few yearsTilling-Stevens continued to fulfil outstanding orders with TBAT operators, but, by themid-1930’s, Tilling had resolutely switched its purchasing preferences to Bristol.

The Chivers jam making company of Histon, Cambridge, used secondhand Tilling-Stevens buses for staff transport, and bought others that it converted into deliveryvehicles, probably with the help of the Maidstone factory. One remarkable conversionwas that of a TS3 delivery van, which, in 1926, became a six wheeled double deck bus,bodied by Chivers themselves, that had a capacity for 89 passengers. This bus fell foulof the Construction and Use Regulations of 1930, and it was subsequently rebuilt as alorry. Chivers also bought a number of Tilling-Stevens double deckers from NorthWestern in 1930, and converted them into six wheel dropside lorries. The vehicles areoften erroneously described as conversions from the TS5 type, which was a 2 tonnormal control model for 20/25 seat psv bodywork. These forward control lorries wereconverted from double deck forward control TS6 double deckers. However, in addition


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to the third axle configuration, the front end structure of these machines indicates thatsubstantial reconstruction of the original TS6 chassis took place. These lorries werepioneers also in being powered by Gardner 5L2 oil engines delivering 62 bhp at 1300rpm - perhaps that is how the TS5 misapprehension arose - but the petrol electrictransmissions must have been upgraded to cope with the heavier loadings. Theseremarkable Chivers engineering conversions could only have been undertaken in closeco-operation with the Tilling-Stevens factory, and it is probable that the extensivereconstruction incorporated features adopted earlier in the six wheel TS15A design of1928. Nevertheless, one might ponder upon the cost effectiveness of these Chiversprojects.

I cannot find any reference to a Tilling-Stevens model with the number “8”.

Petrol electric vehicles were more expensive to buy than the contemporary gearedmachines from competitors, and to broaden the appeal of the Maidstone products, thenext Tilling-Stevens passenger type to appear from 1926 was the mechanically gearedB9. This chassis, intended for single deck bodywork, was available with straight ordropped frames, the forward and normal control versions being classified B9A or B9Brespectively. Rather optimistically, the modestly powered new chassis was given thename “Express”.

By 1928 further development led to the lower framed B10A and B10B, and thesebecame the most commercially successful Tilling Stevens types after the initial heyday


One of the Chivers conversions that could only have been undertaken in close co-operation with theTilling-Stevens factory, and it is probable that the extensive reconstruction incorporated features adoptedearlier in the six wheel TS15A design of 1928. (LTHL collection).


North Western B10A2, one of the lower framed B10A and B10B chassis, that became the most commerciallysuccessful Tilling Stevens types after the initial heyday of petrol electric operation. Some 2000 B9/B10machines had been sold at home and overseas by the mid-1930’s. (LTHL collection).


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of petrol electric operation. Some 2000 B9/B10 machines had been sold at home andoverseas by the mid-1930’s. An East Surrey B10A2 chassis of 1928 was fitted with aShort Bros lightweight metal framed O24/22R double deck body, and operatedsuccessfully for some years, though no more were purchased - East Surrey’s financialand operating ties with the LGOC increasingly governed commercial decisions in favourof AEC. Also in that year twenty B10A2 chassis were exported to the China GeneralBus Company in Shanghai to be fitted with locally built single deck bodies. Remarkably,several of these were later converted into three axle double deckers. All variants of theB10 were powered by a 5.12 litre four cylinder petrol engine with a three bearingcrankshaft designed by Harry Ricardo, who (surely optimistically) claimed that his newengine delivered an efficiency of 97% yielding a nationwide average fuel consumptionfigure of 9 mpg. Power output was initially 63 bhp, but this was progressively upratedto around 75 bhp in later years. The engine drove via a single plate clutch into a fourspeed gearbox, and thence to an underslung worm rear axle. Initially the B10 hadbrakes on the rear wheels only. Subsequent chassis variations were designated B10A2,B10C2 and B10D2, though I cannot establish exactly what the differences betweenthem were. The typical 1929 B10A2 for 32 passengers had a 16ft wheelbase with servoassisted four wheel brakes.

In 1932 a B10 was exhibited at the Glasgow Motor Show with an early form of theSalerni fluid coupling between the engine and the gearbox. This did not attract a greatdeal of interest, though the Italian inventor, Piero M. Salerni continued with designsfor a fully automatic transmission right up to the start of World War II. A non-Fascist


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with a British wife, Salerni spent much of his life in Britain, and worked for the Ministryof Aircraft Production during World War II until intransigent officialdom ordered hisarrest as an alien on 10th June 1940. Even Beaverbrook’s Ministry could not effect hisrelease. Together with other Italian and German internees and some German prisonersof war, Salerni was despatched from Liverpool destined for Canada on the linerArandora Star. On 2nd July 1940 the ship was torpedoed by U47, and sank with theloss of 805 lives, most of whom were the Italians and Germans being detained in thelower decks. Sadly, Piero Salerni was one of them.

For Tilling-Stevens the B10 was a major commercial success, but the Maidstone firmpersevered with the petrol electric system.

As mentioned above, the Chivers jam firm of Cambridge had rebuilt a TS3 lorry into asix wheel double decker in 1926, and the Maidstone company must surely have hadmajor input into this project. In 1928 Tilling-Stevens offered a new three axle petrolelectric double deck chassis, the TS15A. (What happened to the model numbers 11 to14 inclusive, I wonder?) Development had enabled the electrical components to be ofreduced physical size and a dropped chassis frame was adopted. The Ricardo designedfour cylinder engine of 6.97 litres, probably a developed version of the motor used inthe TS4, was now rated at 95 bhp at 2000 rpm. However, outside London, the days ofthe six wheeler were effectively over by this time, and no more than two appear tohave been constructed. The first one, UK 5366, entered service in 1929 with Wolver-hampton Corporation with a Dodson H34/32R body. The other, fitted with a curious


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twin doorway and staircase H35/29D body by Massey was operated from September1929 by the Merseyside Touring Company of Islington, Liverpool, which ran a servicebetween Bootle and Liverpool.

In the year 1928, the High Court ruled that the petrol electric vehicle was classified asan electric machine and thus taxable at half the rate of a vehicle with a conventionaltransmission. This should have proved a fillip to petrol electric sales, but the ruling wasrevoked in 1929. Incidentally, a letter in the Commercial Motor magazine of May 1928informs us that the free wheeling feature had been a feature of petrol electrics fromthe very beginning. (Very much later free wheeling transmissions became illegal in theUnited Kingdom.)

The company’s last passenger petrol electric offering emerged as the dropped frameTS17A (again, the number 16 appears to be absent), essentially a two axle version ofthe TS15A. Probably to mollify the Metropolitan Police, brakes were fitted initially tothe rear wheels only. It was available in single or double deck form, and a 52 seatdouble deck example was displayed at the 1929 show. The new chassis retained the6.97 litre engine design used in the TS15A and inherited the same drive line in whichthe electric motor and dynamo were arranged to allow the lowest possible floor level.A loaded frame height of 2ft was claimed, three inches higher than an AEC Regent. Tooffset the weight penalty of the electric motor and dynamo, elektron was employed forengine crankcase, cab floorboards and other non stressed components. The Gardner4L2 was listed as an engine option, but there is no record of such an installation.


No more than two examples of the TS15A appear to have been constructed. This is the twin doorway andstaircase Massey-bodied chassis operated by the Merseyside Touring Company, Liverpool in 1929. (LTHLcollection).


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Two 16 ft wheelbase double deck examples were operated experimentally in 1930 byThomas Tilling in London, and the archaic appearance when compared with contempo-raries from AEC, Leyland, Daimler and Dennis, all of which were powered by modernoverhead or sleeve valve six cylinder engines, is striking. The subsequent rejection ofthe TS17A by the Tilling group in favour of the Regent was surely unsurprising.Nonetheless, Douglas Corporation, a convinced operator of petrol electrics, took seven16ft wheelbase TS17A single deckers with Northern Counties B34R bodies in 1930.These, however were the last Tilling-Stevens machines to arrive in that fleet, and,rather surprisingly, they were withdrawn by 1945, whereas some of the older TS6buses lasted until 1949.


Tilling-Stevens’ last passenger petrol electric offering emerged as the dropped frame TS17A, essentially atwo axle version of the TS15A. Two 16 ft wheelbase double deck examples were operated experimentally in1930 by Thomas Tilling in London. (LTHL collection).


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The T. S. Motors Era

From August 1930, the firm began calling itself T. S. Motors, branded as TSM on vehicleradiators, and gave the following reasons:-

(1) To remove the lingering impression that our products are confined to the manufac-ture of petrol electric vehicles

(2) To emphasize that the operating company bearing an almost similar name has nofinancial or other interest in our company, and such support as we receive hasdepended and is dependent on the merits of the Express gear-driven chassis.

(3) To assure Government, railway and municipal authorities that when purchasing ourpassenger-carrying vehicles they do not support in any way their competitors, sincewe have no financial or other interest in any operating company or group of operatingcompanies, nor are we ever likely to adopt such a policy.

Right up to the commencement of the 1930s, Tilling-Stevens/T.S.M retained thedecidedly dated radiator shape that gave the appearance of a much older design thanthan those offered by its competitors. At last, well overdue, a much more modern frontend was adopted for most models from about 1931.

With oil engines becoming of increasing interest to operators, Tilling-Stevens experi-


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mented with a Gardner L2 engine in a petrol electric chassis, and undoubtedly hadmuch involvement in the 5L2 powered six wheel conversions into lorries of the ex TS6North Western buses for the Chivers company. The same diesel option (along with theusual petrol alternatives) was offered in a four ton lorry, the first Maidstone builtchassis specifically designed for haulage duties. Previously all haulage models from theMaidstone factory had been adaptations of passenger carrying designs. The GardnerL2 engine was used by a number of contemporary chassis makers for pioneer dieselapplications, though, being a maritime power plant, its relatively high weight and lowgoverned speed - 1300 rpm for automotive applications - meant that it was not ideallysuited to the task. A B10A was shown with an L2 engine (probably a 4L2) at the 1930Municipal Tramways and Transport Association Meeting in Manchester. The higherspeed lightweight development, the legendary LW series, emerged from Patricroft in1931.

From 1931 the maximum dimensions and laden weights for PSV’s were raised; doubledeckers were increased in length from 25ft to 26 ft, and single deckers from 26 ft to27ft 6ins. T.S.M. model numbering then became rather more complicated. Petrolelectric designs retained the TS nomenclature, but mechanically geared machinesadopted the following codes.

First letter = Model type. The letter “B” had already been used and it was incorporatedinto the new scheme. Subsequent letters from “C” were used in alphabetical sequence.


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Second group = Engine power (petrol) or manufacturer / no. of cylinders (diesel). Thepetrol engine codes were:

“60” for the new 95 bhp @ 2,000 rpm or 109 bhp @ 2,500 rpm 7 litre six cylinder unit.“49” for the 106 bhp 6.97 litre and “39” for the 63/75 bhp 5.12 litre four cylinder unit.These were all side valve engines embodying Ricardo principles.

Diesel engines were given a figure for the number of cylinders followed by a code letterdenoting the manufacturer - L for Gardner, M for Meadows, P for Perkins.

Third letter = Driving position. A was the letter for forward control. B denoted normalcontrol. Later production forward control B10’s had the suffix letter ‘A’ followed by thefigure 2. Subsequent options incorporated the letters ‘C’ or ‘D’ in place of ‘A’ whichmeant a chassis specification variation, not the driving position. These letters possiblyreflected the increased 27ft 6ins length permissible from 1931.

Fourth number = Wheelbase. 4 meant a wheelbase of around 13½ feet, 6 the doubledeck figure of around 15½ to 16 feet, 7 for around 17½ feet, and 8 for 18ft 7½ ins.

Accurate details of all the models produced in the 1930s are difficult to establish, butsome examples are given below. In truth, sales were limited, and it is likely thatseveral options did not exist outside the catalogue.


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B39A7 and B49A7; updated versions of the B10 Express types offered from 1932. Thefigure 39 indicated the basic 5.12 litre Ricardo four cylinder engine which, by that time,gave 74 bhp. The 49 engine was the four cylinder 6.97 litre unit used in the TS17Apetrol electric. As with the older B10 classification, some variants had C or D suffixes.The B type was replaced by the modernised H type in 1935 (see below).

C60A7; 1931-1935. This new saloon type with the Ricardo designed B60 six cylinderside valve petrol engine was introduced to compete with the Regal and the Tiger. Saleswere modest. A C6LA7 Gardner powered variant was offered. Maidstone Corporationtook four in 1932/3, the last Tilling-Stevens machines to enter its fleet, but these werepowered by Crossley VR6 47/99 oil engines. Six examples of the same type withCrossley engines were supplied to the China General Omnibus Company in Hong Kong.

D60A6 and D60A7; 1931-1935. Double and single deck models for 52 and 36 seatbodies respectively with the B60 petrol engine. D6LA6/D6LA7 and D5LA6/D5LA7 withthe Gardner 6LW or 5LW engine were also listed.

E60A6 and E60A7; Contemporary with and mechanically identical to the D type above.I have not been able to establish what the differences were, but the maximum lengthfor double-deckers increased in 1931 from 25ft to 26ft and some operators stillfavoured the shorter length - the 25ft Leyland TD1 continued in production anddemand after the introduction of the 26ft TD2. Perhaps the D and E types merelydiffered in length. E6LA6/E6LA7 and E5LA6/E5LA7 options were again listed.


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F; not identified, though the fire engine ranges were given the F suffix from the 1920’s.

G; not identified.

HA39A7; 1935-1939. Single deck 7 ton chassis, an updated development of the provenB type. This was promoted as the New Express for 32-39 seat bodies with the 5.12litre four cylinder petrol engine, rated at 74 bhp at 2,100 rpm. The less commonHA49A7 was a more powerful model using a version of the 6.97 litre engine that hadbeen fitted to the TS17A. H4LA7/H5LA7 options with the Gardner 4LW/5LW enginerespectively were also listed. The short wheelbase 5LW powered H5LA4 was producedup to 1942. Goods versions were offered.

J5LA7; 1935-1937. Single deck chassis for 36 seat bodies with the Gardner 5LW engine.

During the 1930s, the T.S.M. designs suffered severe competition from advancedmodels produced by other manufacturers, notably AEC and Leyland. In 1932 thecompany introduced a 4 ton goods chassis powered by the then new Gardner 4LW, but,in the depressed times, it made little impact upon the market. In the same year T.S.M. entered into discussions with Karrier Motors with a view to purchasing the strug-gling Huddersfield firm. The talks stalled in February 1933 when a receiver wasappointed to T.S.M. itself, though production was maintained. Karrier in turn went intoreceivership in June 1934 and was bought by the Rootes group, which closed theHuddersfield plant and moved production to Luton. Richard Clayton of the family who


A 1936 HA39A7 model, a single deck 7 ton chassis, that was an updated development of the proven B type.This was promoted as the ‘New Express’ for 32-39 seat bodies with the 5.12 litre four cylinder petrol engine,rated at 74 bhp at 2,100 rpm. (LTHL collection).


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had founded the Karrier business was a supporter of the earlier T.S.M. bid, and he thenjoined the Maidstone firm. A trading loss of £7,974 was reported by T.S.M. for the yearended 31st December 1934, to which figure was added a further £2,000 to cover stockwritten off, presumably mostly obsolete petrol electric componentry. This left the firmwith an accrued debt of £156,231 (£10 million at today’s prices).

Throughout the 1930’s, the precarious financial position of T.S.M. was reportedregularly in the trade press, and this may have deterred some prospective vehiclepurchasers fearful of the demise of the company and the disappearance of mechanicalsupport. Many manufacturers were failing during those depressed times and suchapprehension was not unfounded. Nonetheless, T.S.M. struggled on, but in 1935,perhaps as a sign of desperation, a 4 ton goods model with the name Merlin wasoffered. This was assembled almost entirely from existing and proprietary parts, andwas powered by a Hercules engine sourced from the USA. Few were sold.

By 1937, T.S.M. had dropped the abbreviated branding and reverted to the full nameof Tilling-Stevens. The firm astonished the market at the 1937 Commercial MotorShow by displaying a six wheel passenger chassis called the Successor. This had a 7.45litre, 110 bhp, horizontally opposed, wet liner, direct injection, eight-cylinder oil enginewith a five bearing crankshaft and integral balance weights. The minimal number ofbearings suggests Ricardo involvement in the design.

The engine was mounted behind the front axle to which was bolted a vacuum operated


Tilling-Stevens astonished the market at the 1937 Commercial Motor Show by displaying this six wheelpassenger chassis called the Successor. This had a 7.45 litre, 110 bhp, horizontally opposed, wet liner, directinjection, eight-cylinder oil engine with a five bearing crankshaft and integral balance weights. (LTHL collection).


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Maybach seven-speed preselective gearbox which utilised constant mesh gears anddog clutches rather than epicyclic gears. The propeller shaft ran to the underslungdrive on the third axle, the four wheels of the rear bogie being independently sprung.Insofar as it embodied a host of new and, perhaps, untried ideas, it might be regardedas the Guy Wulfrunian of 1937. A four wheeled goods version called the Yeoman wasalso displayed. In reality, it is almost certain that neither of these innovative machinesever ran under the power of the eight cylinder engine. Reputedly the crankshafts keptdisintegrating under test, and, as with the 1931 Gilford low floor double decker, certainparts of the display engines were made of dummy materials. Nothing was subsequent-ly heard of those ambitious 1937 designs, but the futuristic C34C Duple body on theSuccessor show model was modified by April 1946, either by the dealer Mitchell ofLondon SW12, or by Alf Susans t/a Fountain Coaches of Twickenham, to fit the frontengined, AEC powered chassis of ex-LGOC LT1000. In July 1949, this strange vehiclepassed to White Heather Coaches of Southsea who ran it until 1957.

In November 1937, Tilling-Stevens acquired the model ranges and petrol enginedesigns of the Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co of Southport, Lancashire, hopingthereby to extend its influence more successfully into the haulage vehicle market.Formed in 1902 to build motor cars, the Vulcan company had suffered a chequeredcareer after 1918, and, despite adding buses and lorries to its ranges in the 1920’s, itwent into receivership in 1931. The receiver managed to keep production going until1937, when the entire share capital was acquired by J. Brockhouse and Company. TheVulcan Works premises were retained for general engineering as Brockhouse Engineer-


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ing (Southport), but the rights to the motor vehicle side of the business were sold toTilling-Stevens. Production began again at Maidstone from 1st March 1938, and Vulcangoods models thereafter became the major contributor to the financial position of theTilling-Stevens concern. Nonetheless, in November 1938 there was a capital reductionfrom £650,000 to £256,000 after heavy losses in previous years.

During World War II, Vulcan specialised in searchlight trucks. The normal control TS19and the mechanically geared semi forward control TS20 allowed the engine to engagethe electric generator to power the searchlight. The TS20 also found application as aworkshop in field hospitals where the 24 volt generator was used to power medicaltools and equipment. The Tilling-Stevens company declared a profit at 31st March1941 of £76,066 (equivalent to about £4 million today) so, by that time, despiteaccrued liabilities, the balance of trade was modestly sound.

From 1938, the China General Omnibus Company had favoured the short wheelbase30 seat H5LA4 for steeply graded routes in Hong Kong. Twelve examples of this modelwere diverted to the home market in 1942, and these were the only Tilling-Stevensbuses to be supplied during the war.


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Postwar Production

Once hostilities had ceased, the first vehicles to emerge from the Maidstone works in1945 were Vulcan haulage models 6PF and 6VF for 6 ton loads with Perkins P6 dieselor Vulcan four cylinder 78 bhp petrol engines in conjunction with a four speed gearbox.Passenger versions for full fronted 27 ft. long bodywork used the same engine options.

For a short time, the 7GF, a 7 ton goods model with the Gardner 4LW, was also offered.The post war Vulcan haulage vehicles were a straightforward development of the 1939models and these continued to be a useful generator of income for the Maidstone firm.The new passenger vehicle ranges from Tilling-Stevens appeared in 1946. No furthermention was made of the advanced concept Successor, though the company perse-vered, unsuccessfully, with the eight cylinder horizontally opposed engine until about1946. The post war Tilling-Stevens machines were all of conventional design, and theradiator was a larger version of the pre war style, now with a slightly curved profile.The dropped frame K6LA7 had a Gardner 6LW driving into a direct top five-speedgearbox with sliding mesh engagement for first and second gears and constant meshfor the others. The offset underslung worm driven rear axle had the high ratio of 4.2to 1 to suit the direct drive 5th gear, though lower options were available. Dewandretriple-servo vacuum brakes were fitted. The electrical system was rated at 12 volts.The K5LA7 version had the 5LW engine, and fifty two of this model, together with fiftysix of the shorter K5LA4, were delivered to the China Motor Bus company in Hong Kongfrom February 1948 until 1952. Kowloon Motor Bus, also in Hong Kong, took fifty of


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the K5LA7 type in 1947/48. At the time, these were the largest Tilling-Stevens fleetsin the world, and the buses certainly proved their worth, lasting in service until 1967.

Perhaps surprisingly, no attempt seems to have been made by Tilling-Stevens to offera 16 feet wheelbase K6LA6 for the double deck market, though the limited availabilityof Gardner engines may well have been a factor in this decision.

September 1948 brought two further models. The new, compact and powerful 135 bhpMeadows 6DC630 engine of 10.35 litres was fitted to the K6MA7, which also had a 24volt electrical system. A full fronted lighter model with a straight chassis frame, theL6PA7, effectively just an extended version of the Vulcan 6PF passenger model, waspowered by the Perkins P6 engine developing 70 bhp at 2200 rpm. This drove througha single-plate 12 ins clutch and a five speed direct top gearbox. Braking was providedby a continuous flow hydraulic servo-pump driven from the gearbox mainshaft by twinv-belts.

All these models were entirely competent performers, though the lively Meadowsengine soon revealed rather high fuel consumption and dubious reliability characteris-tics, and operators using it (mostly in Guy Arabs) often replaced it with an alternativepower unit.

In the immediate post war period, the economic emphasis of the Labour governmentwas on export business, with materials being allocated to manufacturing companies


Dating from 1949 this is a post war Tilling-Stevens dropped frame K6LA7 with conventional design andpre-war style radiator with a slightly curved profile, seen here with Altonian Coaches it is now in preservation.(Roger Cox).


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accordingly. By that time, Tilling-Stevens had retained very few overseas customersother than those in Hong Kong, and the company voiced its displeasure at theperceived unfairness of government policy towards suppliers to the domestic market.Furthermore, the nationalisation of road haulage threatened sales of the Vulcan lorryrange.

Without significant export orders or a major presence in the home market whenranged against its bigger manufacturing competitors, the firm directed its passengervehicle range towards the independent sector. In 1950, having run up a loss of£31,027 in the previous year, the company brought out a revised medium weightrange of Vulcan haulage and Tilling-Stevens PSV models, together with some battery-electric vehicles. The new passenger model was designated L4MA8, and was essential-ly an extended version of the L6PA7 chassis with a wheelbase of 18 ft 7½ins allowingthe fitment of full fronted 30ft by 8ft bodywork. A five speed gearbox was fitted, andthe continuous flow hydraulic braking system was carried over from the L6PA7. A 15ft3ins wheelbase Perkins or petrol powered version for 26ft bodies was offered as theVulcan 6PF, sometimes referred to as the PPF1. With a fond, backward glance at theoutstandingly successful B10, the flat framed L4MA8 was optimistically branded the“Express Mark II”. The power unit was the very new Meadows 4DC330 oil engine, afour-cylinder 5.43 litre direct-injection unit which had counter rotating weights onshafts coupled to the crankshaft to reduce vibration. However, this feature must haveabsorbed some of the power, for the output was a modest 80 bhp at 2200 rpm. Bycomparison, the contemporary Gardner “K” type 4LW developed 75 bhp at 1700 rpm


In 1950 Tilling-Stevens introduced the L4MA8, that was essentially an extended version of the L6PA7 chassiswith a wheelbase of 18 ft 7½ins allowing the fitment of full fronted 30ft by 8ft bodywork. (Barry Nunn).


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from 5.6 litres. At 1700 rpm, the Meadows engine would have been producing onlyaround 60 to 65 bhp and delivering markedly inferior torque to the Gardner. No doubtthe Meadows, which had the timing gears located at the rear of the crankcase, wasselected for its smoother running and compact design. Tilling-Stevens claimed that theExpress Mk II could deliver fuel consumption figures of 16 to 20 mpg and was two tonslighter than the contemporary Leyland Royal Tiger, which was hardly a meaningfulcomparison. Sadly, the real or imagined merits of the Express Mk II did not convincethe operating industry, and sales were modest, despite the low chassis price of £1395,some £900 less than the earlier K6MA7.

In September 1950 the Bedford SB appeared, and priced at £690 for a bare chassis,or about £2000 with a Duple Vega body, it immediately captured much of thelightweight market that Tilling-Stevens had been courting. At the same time, themodern Bedford 7 ton S type haulage range presented a severe challenge to the salesof Vulcan 6/7 ton lorries, by then of dated design.

At the end of 1950, the Maidstone firm sold out to the Rootes Group, which maintainedmodest production of the existing Tilling-Stevens and Vulcan models until both rangeswere withdrawn from the market in 1953. New examples of the Express Mk IIpassenger model were then being offered at prices well below the official listed figure.Realistically, by 1950, Tilling-Stevens was in terminal decline, and the Rootes dealmust have been warmly welcomed by the directors and shareholders. The Maidstonecompany went on to earn justified acclaim as the manufacturer of the three cylinder


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TS3 opposed piston two stroke diesel. Although the German Junkers Jumo engine isoften thought to be the inspiration for the TS3, recent research indicates that thedesign owed much to the Italian Cappa engine of 1935. The pioneer work on the TS3two stroke engine was undertaken in 1948 at the Rootes plant at Stoke, Coventry andthe engineers involved resolutely maintained that the ‘TS’ nomenclature stood for ‘twostroke’ not ‘Tilling-Stevens’; indeed, the transfer of development and production toMaidstone did not occur until 1953. Notwithstanding its characteristic exhaust bark,the TS3 engine became the standard, reliable power plant in Commer lorries andcoaches, and in chassisless coaches produced by Beadle and Harrington. The laterintroduction of less raucous diesel alternatives in Bedford and Ford chassis led to thedwindling and ultimate demise of demand for the TS3 power in passenger vehiclesapplications. Chrysler progressively assumed full control of Rootes and, in 1968,cancelled the TS3 engine production (and its promising four cylinder development) infavour of Cummins power units - decidedly prematurely as it turned out, but that isanother story.

The 1917-1920 built Tilling-Stevens factory in Maidstone still stands, with Grade IIlisted status, an outstanding example of an industrial building in the Kahn DaylightSystem.

© Local Transport History Library 2019

Additional information, corrections and photographs are always welcome.Our general email address is: [email protected].

Tilling-Stevens Motors Ltd. 1906-1953 · 2019. 4. 20. · found therein. The engine specifications...

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