Oxford Diecast 76LRT010

Mexborough & Swinton Leyland Royal Tiger

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI images rather than photographs

Prototype Eras
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest
Era 5 (1956 to 1966) British Railways Late Crest
Era 6 (1967 to 1972) British Rail Blue (Pre-TOPS)
Era 7 (1972 to 1982) British Rail Blue (TOPS)

Manufacturer description

Bus enthusiasts in South Yorkshire will be particularly pleased to see this refreshing release of the Leyland Royal Tiger coach, decorated in the colour scheme of bright leaf green and cream of the Mexborough & Swinton Traction Co. Ltd. 

The company, founded in October 1912, was based in Rawmarsh near Rotherham in the then West Riding of Yorkshire and they introduced the Leyland Tigers towards the end of their highly successful trolleybus era in the early 1950s. The company went on right until the late 1960s, developing a close relationship with Yorkshire Traction, which they then became part of before both were consumed into the National Bus Company in 1969.

The Leyland Royal Tigers, used by many of the major bus companies were manufactured between 1950 and 1954 and featured an underfloor engine on a heavyweight bus or coach chassis.

 Here we see our coach, registered LUF 637, off to Wembley under Private Hire. The post-war colour scheme superseded the original brown and red corporate colour scheme and looks very cheerful, especially with the wealth of chrome and the gold company lettering along the sides. The green masking extends to the wheel centres too, while the interior seating is moulded in tan.

Note too, the famous Leyland Royal Tiger leaping out of the badge under the windscreen. 

 With the vehicle’s statutory 30 mph speed limit in place, as printed on the side of the bus, it would have taken quite a while to get to Wembley down the old Great North Road but who knows, there may have been a football match at the end of it!

Catalogue listing

Oxford Diecast Mexborough & Swinton Leyland Royal Tiger – model 76LRT010 – represents a British Railways late‑crest vehicle.

The die‑cast coach depicts a Leyland Royal Tiger in the bright leaf‑green and cream livery of the Mexborough & Swinton Traction Co. Ltd., a South Yorkshire operator founded in October 1912 and based in Rawmarsh, near Rotherham. The company introduced Leyland Tigers in the early 1950s, later becoming part of Yorkshire Traction and, in 1969, the National Bus Company.

Leyland Royal Tigers were built between 1950 and 1954 on a heavyweight chassis with an under‑floor engine. The model shows registration LUF 637, displayed in a post‑war colour scheme with extensive chrome, gold company lettering, green masking on the wheel centres and tan interior seats. The badge of the Leyland Royal Tiger is shown leaping out from beneath the windscreen, and the side of the bus bears the statutory 30 mph speed limit.