Bombardier Bus building factory in Shannon , Ireland

[@fruitcake4t]

'the bus broke down for a second time'😄 sums up 1980's Ireland

[@mrcorcelstar]

Beautiful little bus, very streamlined ha ha, suit the wash...

[@ALANSWEETIES99]

Alan's Dad: I love this bus... I'll never seen this before! I wish to ride this bus. ^_^

[@Madrarua88]

They were top class buses. The double deckers ran for years. Export orders were achieved to Iraq, but the onset of the Iran / Iraq war put a stop to them. Over 400 were employed in the factory, with hundreds of jobs in support factories. The Unions and politicians in Dublin did everything possible to close the plant as they believed it should have been in Dublin. When the Irish orders were complete, the factory closed in the late 1980's. Shortly after that, the Irish government purchased ex British army buses to be used for school runs; maintained in ..............................Dublin. Working in Bombardier was a great experience with friendships made there still active among ex employees. Many ex employees went on to open new businesses with the skills they had learned.

[@Foloman1]

Madrarua88 Rubbish! Lack of overseas sales did them in. Nothing to do with a conspiracy in Dublin.

[@markblack2156]

Absolute fantasy.....they were noisy fuel hungry junk.....build quality was dire....and the chassis cracking was never eliminated......

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

Did any Irish bus fanatics ever call their KC series "rattle traps," just as we took to calling some of our Flxible Metros?

[@Fcutdlady]

I always remember an angry driver driving a KD double decker bombardier bus on the route 18 on the appian way just outside Donnybrook in Dublin . The bus broke down and the driver, who I knew to talk to, said to me they dragged farmers in from the bogs to build these bloody buses, his opinion not mine! Many of my fellow bus enthiadts look back at these buses with great warmth. I don't. I'm glad a few were preserved, they were an important part of Irish transport history but from a passenger point of view especially for someone like me, who is large sized, they weren't that comfortable.

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

Were you a fan of units KC2 thru KC202 and KD146 that were powered by the Cummins L10 and Voith D851-W7?

[@tonycurtin2376]

The jackeens in Dublin we’re doing their nut that the buses weren’t built there.

[@thecarpetman7687]

@@tonycurtin2376 they were dreadful buses…always made me travel sick because of air suspension system that was poorly calibrated….glad us Dubs had nothing to do with it.

[@derekmulready1523]

An absolute disaster of a bus , the first one KE1spent a minimum of 8hrs a day for 3 weeks at MIRA. Every other bus building company would use the test company for at least 18 months continuing testing. KE 2 was totally different chassis wise, from the first car. Each of them had reinforced mods done on the fuel tanks, wiring, antt-roll bars front and back. If memory serves each car spent up to 6 week's in the Broadstone O/hauls being repaired.

[@D3CKY09]

:O look at how empty shannon is!! I never new they made buses in the estate.

[@slymyb]

was that albert reynolds driving the bus out of the factory?

[@nigelmurphy6761]

yep. he was the Minister For Transport at the time. He also green lighted the DART rail system as well.

[@19Tharg76]

2:12 hilarious

[@Lennon578]

November 1980

[@neo-qg1wh]

2 VZJ registration was issued in this month. XZJ registrations were issued in Jan 1981.

[@jamesfrench7299]

I noticed a VoV style dash used in Mercedes and MAN buses at the time. Who made the mechanicals?

[@looneyirish007]

Detroit Diesel Corporation did the engines, beautiful sound from them

[@jamesfrench7299]

Thanks mate. Interesting concoction of a bus and sad it didn't work out after seeming so hopeful at the beginning. At least you gave it a go.

[@looneyirish007]

@@jamesfrench7299 Think they were 2 strokes. Few vids on here with the sound of them.

[@jamesfrench7299]

@@looneyirish007 I gathered that. Allison transmission I presume? In Australia we had small batches of Leyland B21 rear engine chassis version of the Leyland National with local body work go to a couple of operators and they had Deroit 6-71 two stroke with Allison auto. They were not very successful here due to heavy fuel consumption and were sold off early by one operator due to that. Detroit 2S engines were succesfully used in long distance coach work for many years however.

[@looneyirish007]

@@jamesfrench7299 KC1 was fitted with a supercharged 2-stroke Detroit Diesel 6V-71 engine and an Allison V730 automatic transmission. The axles were Rockwell/GKN axles and the general mechanical running gear was identical to the KD/KE type buses, although the gear ratios would me more like the KD citybus (slow moving traffic) than the KE InterCity coach (which was built for InterCity, high speed driving. in October 1983 and the most notable change from the KD bus was the fitting of a 4-stroke, turbocharged Cummins L10-185 engine and a Voith D851 gearbox, which was more economical to run unit, which parts were cheaper and easier tl access than its wholly American counterpart, and from an enthusiastic point of view, this bus has its own distinctive sound, compared to the loud roar from the Detroit 6V-71, which was an American engined, parts were expensive to obtain and the unit had very poor fuel economy being a 2-stroke diesel engine. The axles were also changed from Rockwell/GKN type axles to Kirkstall axles. The Dunlop "pneuride" suspension was retained and was the same type as the KD type, although the length of the KC bus was approximately 1 metre longer than the KD type. The Cummins engine in the KC was a much more "European" engine with parts easier to source than for the Detroit Diesel engine, parts for which had to be largely sourced from Dallas, Texas. With exception of KC1 and KC2, which were badged as "Bombardiers", the rest of the KC Citybuses were badged "GACs", as by the time KC3 onwards were on the production line, Bombardier had sold their stake and interest in the factory, with GAC taking sole control of the operation, which produced 201 KC type buses out of the Shannon plant

[@trainsify]

Damn Government Playing Political Football With Bombardier & GAC (General Automotive Cooperation) The Factory Would Have Been Still Producing Buses Today Only For Them.

[@trainsify]

Some But Not Many, Try Double Deckers In The 1970's & 1980's & Single Deckers In The 1970's & 1980's.

[@wharris302]

They make trains now

[@nigelpluck3342]

The factory was building buses for about 4 years. One of the worst buses ever built.