You can see why British Rail preferred to leave these running when parked, despite the environmental issues around that and fuel costs! It also saved on replacing batteries.
Early rear engine double deck buses were also generally slow starters, more so if parked outside in cold weather! I recall Gardner 6LXs and 6LXBs often took nearly 2 minutes to fire up with clouds of smoke beforehand. I bought a mask for those occasions, then had to wait about 30 minutes for some heat to warm up the bus and ensure the airlines for the brakes were OK to use. Oddly, the earlier front engined buses with Gardner engines were reasonable starters and your left leg was always warm on cold days as close to the engine......
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