Preserved Classic Buses - How Did We Get Here ?


SOME QUICK LINKS WITHIN THIS WEBSITE;   Home   Email me   Events Diary   THE CLASSIC BUSES WEBSITE SHOP   Halfcab survivors list   Links   Classic Irish Buses

OR CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE WEBSITE MENU


Visit the Classic Buses Website shop    for bus books, models, videos & DVDs.


Last updated 20 December 2011

Apart from the foresighted policy by some bus operators (particularly London) of putting aside examples of their early vehicles for posterity, it is normally accepted that the first private individual or group to save a bus successfully in Britain was the legendary Prince Marshall (along with Ken Blacker, Michael Dryhurst and others) in 1956, making their glorious 1929 AEC Regal T31 therefore 'the grandfather of all preserved buses'. Thankfully it is still with us today. Since that time, the number of vehicles in preservation (most of them privately-owned) has blossomed enormously, and even Prince Marshall would look in disbelief at the scale and variety of the modern bus preservation movement.

Five years after the rescue of T31, in the October 1961 issue of the Ian Allan magazine Buses Illustrated, editor Alan Townsin published a list of public service vehicles known to be in preservation at that time. The list was supposedly accurate to July 1961, and was itself based on another list published on 12 August 1961 in the magazine Modern Transport. That original list was compiled largely by John Parke, deputy editor of Modern Transport, with the assistance of (among others) the Hon.Secretary of the Vintage Passenger Vehicle Society, and the Curator (Historical Relics) of the British Transport Commission. My thanks and acknowledgements to all the parties mentioned above for the use of the list.

Fifty years on, that list makes interesting reading. I have reproduced the basic contents of it below (although excluding trolleybuses, of which there were 5). It was laid out in chronological order of manufacture date, and listed the date, the registration, type, body, current owner, and original operator.

I have added a link from each registration number to notes below, with brief comments about subsequent status, corrections to errors and other additional information. On the second list, click on the registration again to return to the original entry.

The total number listed is 76 (in comparison with perhaps 5000+ today), and no post-war vehicles were shown, yet this constituted probably the first attempt to assess the state of the bus preservation movement. The editor noted that "there may well be others, and there are, of course, many interesting old vehicles still in public service" - indeed there were, and thankfully a large number of those were saved too. Anyway, here is the list (virtually verbatim, all mistakes and omissions faithfully reproduced !), and the only significant change I have made is to colour-code the entries.

Green = Survivor today, Red = No longer survives, Black = status not known


THE ORIGINAL LIST

Key to Abbreviations


WHERE ARE THEY NOW (and other notes) ?

(Click on the registration number to return to the original list entry)

  • XM 215, Thames Ironworks; Now with Louwman Collection, Holland.
  • EC 934, Commer 20hp ; still with Sloan family, Tunbridge Wells .
  • LN 4743, LGOC 'B'; Actually an AEC 'B' with LGOC body. Now at Imperial War Museum.
  • LA 9928, LGOC 'B'; Actually an AEC 'B' with LGOC body. Now at London Transport Museum.
  • W 963, Daimler (NC); Daimler CJA with 1953 body. Still with Barton family.
  • BM 2856, Commer WP3 25hp; Body by Commer. Tappin family. Displayed at Oxford Bus Museum.
  • CD 9456, Guy (NC); Presumed scrapped in the early 1960s, ex-Guy Motors Collection.
  • BK 2986, Thornycroft J;  Portsmouth Museums. On display at Milestones Museum, Basingstoke.
  • XC 8059, AEC 'K'; Now at London Transport Museum.
  • ----, Unic MIA2; Believed to be the chassis eventually restored by N.Anscomb, Horley with a replica charabanc body and registered XH 4004. Subsequently sold to Spain 1999.
  • EP 1673, Ford Model TT; New to Jones, Welshpool. Ruston & Hornsby body. Private owner, Shrewsbury.
  • DD 475, Ford Model T ; Actually Ford TT. Healey B14 body. Privately owned, Lydney.
  • CD 7045, Leyland G7; Actually Leyland N Special, Southdown 135. Owned by Stagecoach. Displayed at Scottish Vintage Bus Museum.
  • XM 7399, AEC 'S'; Now at London Transport Museum.
  • MN 2615, Tilling Stevens TS3A / chassis only, (ex Douglas Corpn.). Now at LT Museum.
  • MR 3879, Reo Speed Wagon; at Black Country Museum.
  • YR 3844, AEC NS (ex LGOC); London Transport Museum .
  • UO 1477, Austin 22hp ; Privately owned, Sidmouth.
  • UO 2331, Austin 22hp ; Colin Shears, Northam.
  • J 8462, Leyland Lioness PLC1; original registration YT 3738 now regained. Body by Leyland, but rebuilt by Thurgood in 1938 before moving to Jersey. Privately owned, Northwich.
  • KW 474, Leyland Lion PLSC1 (ex Blythe & Berwick etc.) ; Still with LVVS.
  • KW 1961, Leyland Lion PLSC3 (ex Blythe & Berwick etc.) ; Private owner, Yorkshire, under complete restoration.
  • J 4601, Leyland Lion PLSC1 (ex Jersey Motor Transport) ; Now JCP 60F, Science Museum.
  • UU 6646, AEC Regal (T) (ex LGOC) ; LBPT, Brooklands.
  • CC 9305, Dennis GL (ex Llandudno UDC) ; Privately owned, Rye. Displayed at Dover Transport Museum.
  • CC 9424, Dennis GL (ex Llandudno UDC) ; Smith (Northern Star), Pickering. In PSV use.
  • KW 6025, Leyland Lioness PLC1 / chassis only; Given a replica C??D body in 1981 and exported to the James Leake Collection in Oklahoma; For sale (apparently in Canada?) in 2009 for US$ 150,000.    
  • DM 6228, Leyland Lioness LTB1 (ex Brooke Bros., Rhyl) ; Stanier, Luddesdown .
  • BR 7132, Leyland Lion LT1 (ex Sunderland Corpn.) ; Southdown Omnibus Trust.
  • VL 1263, Leyland Lion LT1 (ex Lincoln Corpn.) ; Still with LVVS.
  • TF 818, Leyland Lion LT1 (ex Lancashire United) ; Still with LVVS .
  • DR 4902, Leyland Titan TD1 (ex Western National etc.) ; Now with The Science Museum .
  • WH 1553, Leyland Titan TD1 (ex Bolton Corpn. etc.) ; LVVS, Lincoln .
  • UF 4813, Leyland Titan TD1 (ex Southdown) ; Stagecoach (operated by Sussex Coastline) .
  • UY 6596, Thornycroft A2 (ex Worcester College for the Blind) ; Privately owned, Frodsham (was rebodied as a lorry, but then received replacement United B28D body).
  • LJ 2941, Leyland Titan TD1 (ex Hants & Dorset) Scrapped in 1964.
  • GK 3192, AEC Regent (ST) (ex LGOC etc.) ; London Transport Museum .
  • EX 2877, AEC Regent / United H48R, VPVS Cobham 1980s, broken for spares.
  • GK 5323, AEC Renown (LT) (ex LGOC etc.) ; London Transport Museum.
  • GK 5486, AEC Regal (T) (ex Green Line etc.) ; London Transport Museum.
  • VO 6806, AEC Regal (ex Bevan & Barker etc.) ; Science Museum .
  • VF 8157, Chevrolet LQ (ex Bush & Twiddy etc.) ; Ipswich Transport Museum.
  • GW 713, Gilford 168OT (ex Ealing Direct Coaches) ; S Marshall, Surrey .
  • DX 9547, Gilford AS6 (ex Mulley, Ixworth) ; Malcolm Skevington, Leighton Buzzard.
  • J 1199, Leyland Titan TD1 (ex Jersey Motor Transport) ; Now SV 6107, Stanier, Luddesdown.
  • UF 7428, Leyland Titan TD1 (ex Southdown etc.) ; Southdown Omnibus Trust.
  • TV 4847, Leyland Cub / ??  C26, Shears (ex Skill's, Nottingham etc.) Scrapped at Winkleigh around 1965, but the registration survives on a preserved Leyland lorry.
  • AG 6740, Reo Gold Crown, VPVS (ex Liddell, Auchinleck) ; Gerald Emerton, Nantwich .
  • WG ??, Albion Valkyrie (ex Alexander) ; Actually WG 1448, R Mackie, Glasgow.
  • J 6332, Leyland Titan TD2 (ex Jersey Motor Transport) ; Michael Banfield, Staplehurst.
  • RB ???, Morris-Commercial Dictator (ex Chesterfield) ; Actually RB 5509, David Walmsley, Essex, needs total rebuild.
  • AYV 651, AEC Regent (STL) (ex LPTB etc.) ; London Transport Museum.
  • JG 4234, Dennis Ace (ex East Kent) ; Gerald Emerton, Nantwich .
  • TJ 6760, Leyland Lion LT5A (ex Lytham St.Annes) ; Under restoration, Derek Calrow, Bury.
  • CN 6100, N.G.T. SE6 (ex Northern General) ; Northern Omnibus Trust, Durham.
  • BXD 576, AEC 'Q' (ex LPTB etc.) ; London Transport Museum.
  • AAA 756, Albion Victor (ex King Alfred) ; Dave Hurley, Worthing. Displayed at Scootish Vintage Bus Museum.
  • CTW 210, Dennis Ace (ex Eastern National) ; Phil James, Blaenporth.
  • JR 3520, Gilford 168SD (ex C.R.Robson, Hexham) ; J.Francis, Broughton, Lincs,who has rebuilt it as a half cab! For sale 2011.
  • AAX 27, Leyland Bull TQ2 (ex West Monmouthshire) ; Stored in the open for many years and deteriorated badly until only the chassis remained. Was eventually cut up in the 1990s.
  • FW 5698, Leyland Tiger TS7 (ex Lincolnshire) ; Still with LVVS .
  • BTB 928, Leyland Lion LT7C (ex Lytham St.Annes) ; Lancastrian Transport Trust.
  • CLX 548, Leyland Cub SKPZ2 (ex LPTB) ; Privately owned.
  • DLU 92, AEC Regent (STL) (ex LPTB etc.) ; LBPT, Brooklands, but on loan to Ensign, Purfleet .
  • DLU 400, Leyland Titan TD4 (STD) / Leyland H56R, VPVS (ex LPTB etc.) Saved in 1960 for preservation, but subsequently scrapped around 1961.
  • ZC 714, Leyland Titan TD4 T.M.S.I. (ex Dublin United etc.); Still with T.M.S.I.
  • DUF 179, Leyland Tiger TS7 (ex Southdown); Ensignbus, Purfleet 2012.
  • ECV 412, Dennis Ace (ex Pearce, Polperro); with Grayshott Coaches, Hindhead 1980s, then vandalised and scrapped.
  • EFJ 666, Leyland Tiger TS8 (ex Exeter Corpn.) ; Still with Colin Shears, Winkleigh .
  • CBC 321, AEC Renown (ex Leicester) ; Actually CBC 921. Now with Leicestershire Museums.
  • AJN 825, Bristol K5G (ex Westcliff etc.) ; 825 Preservation Group, Essex.
  • FJJ 774, Leyland (TF) (ex LPTB etc.) ; London Transport Museum .
  • FXT 120, Leyland (CR) (ex LPTB etc.) ; Privately owned.

So there you have it. Out of 76 saved motor buses in 1961, only 7 (or possibly 8) were lost along the way (unless you know better?), which is a 90% success rate over a 50 year period. I think we should be pretty pleased with that, especially in the light of the host of other treasures that have turned up in barns subsequently. So, next time we spot one of these gems at a rally perhaps we should thank those early pioneers.

Do give me a call if you have any comments or corrections. Thanks again to Ian Allan and Alan Townsin, and also to Dave Hurley for keeping me updated on the current status of many of these vehicles.


To the Classic Buses Home Page

You can Email me here.


SOME QUICK LINKS WITHIN THIS WEBSITE;   Home   Email me   Events Diary   THE CLASSIC BUSES WEBSITE SHOP   Halfcab survivors list   Links   Classic Irish Buses

OR CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE WEBSITE MENU


SB