Preserved Sherpa

[PM]

Dont know if anyone knew this already but Freight Rover Sherpa 536 is preserved. I for one cant wait to see it as Ive never been on a sherpa and it would go well to help represent post-dereg in bham along with Lynxes/Metrobuses/The wythall trnasit. Ive never been on one-anyone know what theyre like to drive/be a passenger on?

[Paul]

Remember these about 1986 don't think they lasted
Long as wmt brought mcw metroriders from D to F reg
Same time as the timesaver was launched
I could be wrong though

[andy]

They were bloody awful, to ride on or drive! As a passenger any of these early conversion type minibuses were dreadful to travel on unless you wanted someone's backside in your face. But to drive the Sherpas were particularly awful and Engineering Managers everywhere used to ear mark them to be moved on...at MRN they went half and half Sherpas and Transits, the Transits outlived the Sherpas 3 to 4 times over...worst features of the Sherpas were getting stuck in gear or failing to select one atall (dreadful, dreadful clutches and gearboxes), heavy steering, and brakes that could lock up on sight....the only worse minibuses I ever drove were the original Dodge S56 manuals...now there was an awful vehicle to drive!

[PM]

Haha and there was me thinking that Id like one preserved. Tho uve made me want a ride on one now!!

[Justin Tyme]

Haha and there was me thinking that Id like one preserved. Tho uve made me want a ride on one now!!

Well, Peter, Tamworth Bus & Coach have done you a favour - they obtained this example for preservation.  It was new to Midland Red South: -

http://wmbusphotos.com/heartlands/p28.html

Sherpas were very popular for a short period of time as a Ford Transit substitute, when demand for minibuses exceeded supply.  When new they could shift, but this did not last that long and most operators had problems with them.  West Midlands Travel offloaded theirs in a matter of months, while other operators applied drastic solutions such as fitting Transit engines.  But despite their bad reputation it was surprising what they were used for sometimes.  Two journeys that come to mind were on a full Merry Hill Minibuses Sherpa on a very hilly route, and a fast ride on a Crosville Wales one from Bangor to Holyhead - a 90-minute run of nearly 30 miles.

The ultimate "accolade" is that standardising on Sherpas was a major reason for the downfall of National Welsh - the only former National Bus Company to go into liquidation.

[PM]

Those are interesting memories and there are quite a lot now preserved... I hope to travel on one soon and wasnt National Welsh's downfall also brought about by the fact that it tried to run ever Welsh municipal company off the road-it overstretched itself!! Tho standardising on sherpas was probably not such a good idea either............

[Justin Tyme]

... wasnt National Welsh's downfall also brought about by the fact that it tried to run ever Welsh municipal company off the road-it overstretched itself!! Tho standardising on sherpas was probably not such a good idea either............

Yes, I believe it was a combination of these factors.

[matt904102]

merry Hill Minibuses sherpas gave good service for 10 yrs. 7 years more than originally planned. My favourite was 142. It had a Ford Transit engine and gearbox fitted

[andy]

Yeah we had some where they swapped the engine and gearbox too, it was the only way to keep them going! In the end they decided the expense of converting them all wasn't worth it and sold them/scrapped them instead. There were two depot fires at different locations while I was there and somehow, despite numerous transfers, none of the remaining Sherpas ended up getting caught in these! Indeed we ended up getting more transferred in to cover for the losses of Transits and Dodges  >:(