[ranjithrnath]

Here is the details of the current 160HP Variants of AL cheetah and viking
There are 2 engine options
160 HP H Series 6ETI3K turbocharged intercooled diesel engine BS3 with inline FIP and mechanical governor
183 HP H Series HA135LT3 turbocharged intercooled diesel with Electronic Diesel Control (EDC) system


Also I'm posting the TATA LP / LPO 1512 BS 3 Variants.
These buses come with a 135 HP CUMMINS 6BT 5.9; Water Cooled Direct Injection Turbo Charged Diesel Engine

[arvi86]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

I wanted to start with Viking, as this is one bus, seeing which I grown developing interests in buses.

First of all, thanks Ashley for opening this thread. Just like you, many of us are big fans of AL Viking buses. Being in Tamil Nadu, you know why. Almost all the buses that I have seen and traveled in as a kid were Vikings. Tatas were rare, very rare in fact.

And man, you are a storehouse of knowledge when it comes to Commercial Vehicles in general and Buses in particular and a total genius as far as Ashok Leyland is concerned.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

A late 80's DCTC Viking

This has got me really nostalgic. I was born in the eighties and had my complete education in Trichy. That explains why. I loved DCTC. Those were times when discussions related to buses in school used to end up in fights/arguments in favor of DCTC, TTC, etc.

[pypkmsrikanth]

I don't know how many remember, in the late eighties TTC had tried a couple of things, one was something called Aerodyne design supposedly shaped for better aerodynamics.

The other was something called "Overtake"button attached to the gear lever and used for temporary power boost. The instructions for the driver strictly talking about short distances for the button to be used. As a kid I was not sure how it used to work.

Both these features used to be on a 133 Chennai - Karaikudi bus bearing TN01 -N - 0001 Regn. No.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by ranjithrnath

Are you sure those 11 shutter variants are 193"WB? But they have FOH. Then how come the 222"WB KeSRTC buses have only 13 shutters?Can you share a pic of 210"WB KL bus?
What about the 10 shutter cheetahs? Aren't they 176" WB..

Unable to conclude by looks and the angle they are taken.
I dont have a specific 193" Viking - that was also missing the first post.
\

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Since the Indian Bus Scene thread is closed, I am just starting a new thread for specific products, inline with GTO's views.
I wanted to start with Viking, as this is one bus, seeing which I grown developing interests in buses.

This is one of the long standing product from AL's stable for more than 35 years. This was born in the year 1976 with a unique door at front over hang. Since then Viking has undergone several changes in the past suiting to various emission and regulation norms which raised as and when.

Ashley2,
Thank you for bringing up such a wonderful thread about AL Viking. We grown using these vikings in our state TN. Private operators or STUs in TN, its all about Vikings here. Last year totally 3000 Vikings were added to TN STUs fleet. Before JNNURM came into picture, all the SLFs which were running in TN is based on Viking platform.

Here is the AC Sleeper bus of Ex TTC(Thiruvalluvar Transport Corporation) which was running between Erode and Chennai. I saw this route mentioned in 1986 route list of TTC(Present day SETC). Fare was Rs.102 and travel time is 9 hrs 10 minutes. I hope this is also based on Viking platform.

Image Copyright: SahadevanVijayakumar of SSC

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

..... I saw this route mentioned in 1986 route list of TTC(Present day SETC). Fare was Rs.102 and travel time is 9 hrs 10 minutes. I hope this is also based on Viking platform....

Is this schedule available in Internet or is it an old hard copy.
Plz post more details of the routes and fare - fare/km?

[dhandapanik]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Is this schedule available in Internet or is it an old hard copy.
Plz post more details of the routes and fare - fare/km?

The route list is a hard copy and scanned copies are available in internet. I'll search and post the link.

Route of the above bus:
R.No: 657.
Chennai-Erode via Villupuram, Ulundurpet, Athur, Salem.
Total KM: 397 KMs
Running time: 9 hrs 10 mins
Body built by TTC itself.
Fare is Rs.102. So Fare/KM comes around 25 paise.

We also had one AC bus running in Madras-Bangalore route.

[polopm]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

That's a unimaginable speed considering the road condition.
Even till 2004/05, in trichy bus stand conductors will be telling "& hrs Non Stop, Chennai.. Chennai..".
Both Tata and Leyland engines are high rpm engines only. Both are capable of going upto 90KMPH (considering Viking and LPO 1512 alone)

The buses were literally Superfast !
I remember once in 1997/98 - a trip from Madurai Periyar BS to Chengalpattu took 7 hrs 40 mins.. The guy was blitzing fast. This was on a Nesamony service. He was on hot pursuit from a Kattabomman from Thirunelveli. I think the buses had names as well, if I remember one was called Thisai maara paravai ( the bird which does not lose direction - pardon me for the pathetic translation! ) and the other was called Naanjil, If I remember right. I think the Nesamony bus is still in service, the number is TN 74N 474 or so and looks like a match box

During my college days at Madurai, I always preferred the local transport corporations (like Pandian, Nesamony, Kattabomman) who ran the daily buses to Chennai during the night. It was a high prestige route and the buses were in amazing condition and boy they were fast . The local Madurai TTC buses (137S ) were amazingly bad.

[SchumiFan]

Polopm, just reading the names of these buses gives a nostalgic feeling. Always loved Pandian and as you say, the Chennai route buses were superior to the one run by TTC.

The town buses were also better during that period. I don't find the current ones too impressive.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Unable to conclude by looks and the angle they are taken.
I dont have a specific 193" Viking - that was also missing the first post.
\

The kerala MVD website says that its a 176" wheelbase vehicle

[urzdeepu]

I guess this one will be the shortest WB version available in the viking platform. Ashley, can you please throw some light on this one?is this a 156WB version?

[Sridhar K]

Originally Posted by dhandapanik

Here is the AC Sleeper bus of Ex TTC(Thiruvalluvar Transport Corporation) which was running between Erode and Chennai. I saw this route mentioned in 1986 route list of TTC(Present day SETC). Fare was Rs.102 and travel time is 9 hrs 10 minutes. I hope this is also based on Viking platform.

Thanks for posting this. This along with Ashley's post on the vikings brings back nostalgic memories. I had traveled on this bus in May/June 1983 from Erode to Chennai with my dad. If I recall correctly, the bus had a toilet too.

The Chennai-Tiruchi DCTC used to a CRT tube with a scrolling destination of Thi ru ec chi in Tamil which they took out later. The build quality of this bus was on par with private buses of those time.

All the Chennai bound buses of district units - Chozhan, Pandian, Cheran etc. were in great shape when compared to TTC and they were fast. The best ride I had was on a well maintained TTC between Chidambaram and Chennai (covered in ~ 4 hrs 15 mins). Chozhan used to do Kumbakonam Chennai in 5.30 hrs and now they take between 7-9 hrs to save fuel.

The exhaust note of those Leyland Vikings was so heavenly which I miss these days. I was told that before the advent of powerful engines from AL, private operators in TNs used to rebore the engine after registration to increase power. Was this practice really in existence?

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

The exhaust note of those Leyland Vikings was so heavenly which I miss these days. I was told that before the advent of powerful engines from AL, private operators in TNs used to rebore the engine after registration to increase power. Was this practice really in existence?

My dad said they all ran FFE's. My house used to be on the roadside near an incline, You could hear the bassy growl as the drivers used to floor the accelerator while climbing at night!

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by urzdeepu

I guess this one will be the shortest WB version available in the viking platform. Ashley, can you please throw some light on this one?is this a 156WB version?

This is 154" WB version. More popular in hill region.

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

.....All the Chennai bound buses of district units - Chozhan, Pandian, Cheran etc. were in great shape when compared to TTC and they were fast....

Infact every transport division's pride were their buses to Metras (so called Chennai now). Why I am saying this is, my region which was serviced by Rani Mangammal Transport Corporation (RMTC), was not that good in regular buses though Cheran, Pandian, Dheeran Chinnamalai was near by. But the buses to Chennai was in immaculate condition. It was a push back and was better than TTC.

Originally Posted by Sridhar K

The exhaust note of those Leyland Vikings was so heavenly which I miss these days. I was told that before the advent of powerful engines from AL, private operators in TNs used to rebore the engine after registration to increase power. Was this practice really in existence?

With respect to Leyland engines, I am not only fond of loud exhaust throat but also the way the engine starts - almost like a small cry.
I have no idea about the initial re-boring. But it was obvious that it will be done during major over hauling. And after re-boring the sound will still be better (louder).

[polopm]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

With respect to Leyland engines, I am not only fond of loud exhaust throat but also the way the engine starts - almost like a small cry.
I have no idea about the initial re-boring. But it was obvious that it will be done during major over hauling. And after re-boring the sound will still be better (louder).

KPN's VIP (remember those days of TVS Coach , white bus with red and navy blue lines with AL engines) used to be super cool as well. Mostly on time with very good engines, even the push back seats used to be much better. Many times I have got up in the night while travelling to observe the hum from the engines . It was seriously cool with the bus eating up the miles leaving behind the canopy of trees on moonlit nights. Imagine.