The Merseyside Transport Trust

Operating service 11 when new, then as a mobile exhibition unit, and being re-pannelled during restoration.

L835 was one of the final batch of 60 Atlanteans (L820-L879)
delivered in 1967 to Liverpool Corporation. As seen above,
L835 was originally of single-door layout with H43/35F seating
arrangement,

In September 1969 it was one of 50 of the batch converted for
one-man operation by Pennine Coachcraft of Oldham. This work
consisted of replacing the existing staircase with a central, forward
ascending one and a centre exit. This reduced the seating capacity
by seven to H43/28D.

Other work carried was the relocation of the simplified destination
display which enabled the driver to change the display without
leaving the cab, and the fitting of a periscope which allowed the
driver to view the upper deck. This dual-door design was known
internally as the "Maxi"

It was soon found that the centre exit made little difference to the
loading times and was the cause for concern regarding the rise in
boarding and alighting accidents.

The remaining Atlanteans were converted by Pennine for one man operation by just fitting a periscope and repositioning the destination display. This also resulted in no loss of seating capacity and became known as the 'Mini'. L835 passed to the MPTE in December 1969 and led a particularly normal life until withdrawn in February 1980, having worked from Green Lane depot, and later from Speke.

Fortunately it was sold to a church in Warrington to be converted to an exhibition unit and although work commenced it was never completed. In 1981 it was acquired by British Telecom, Liverpool District, for use as a mobile phone shop/exhibition unit but the work was never carried out as it was found that it would not fit in any of their workshops and the driver licensing arrangements were more complicated than first thought.

After three years of storage at various British Telecom depots on Merseyside, L835 was kindly donated to the Mersey & Calder B.P.G. in May 1984. It was restored in 1984/1985, receiving a full set of seat frames and cushions to replace those removed in 1980.

During 1990, due to loss of undercover storage at the Large Objects Store (a Merseyside County Museums Project, which closed due to redevelopment), L835 along with some of the more 'modern' examples of the Mersey & Calder fleet had to be stored in the open for a number of years. Unfortunately, L835's condition deteriorated during this period, a reminder to everyone about the importance of secure undercover storage facilities

L835 has now been fully restored and since 2007 has been used at most of the MTT events.

At Liverpool South Parkway Interchange during our Running Day in 2009.