At some time in it's life, just about every bus gets involved in an accident. Mostly these are just panel scrapes requiring little more than a touch of filler and a splash of paint or a few new panels. Sometimes, however, the accident is heavier and requires more work. And very occasionally the accident is a major one which can put the bus's future in doubt.

Such an accident happened to 124 in 1993,

Despite the amount of work which would be involved, the decision was taken to rebuild 124 which was just 6 years old at the time.

124's chassis was returned to Leyland to be rebuilt which involved straightening the main-frames, fitting new cross-members to the front half of the chassis and a new front axle and steering assembly.

The body was rebuilt by Preston in the Transport Department's workshops and effectively require the replacement of virtually the entire front half of the body forward of the exit doors. One effect of the rebuild was that 124 gained a destination box very reminiscent of the PD3 rebuilds rather than the standard East Lancs design making 124 instantly recognisable, even from some distance.

The following photos, courtesy of Preston Bus, show the work in progress. (Click the thumbnail to see the full-size image)

photo: Mike Rhodes