PRESERVED BUSES & COACHES
| FLEET No | GS 26 |
| REG | MXX 326 |
| MAKE | GUY |
| MODEL | GS |
| YEAR | 1953 |
| BODY | Eastern Coach Works, Lowestoft. |
| OWNER | G & T.Bubb, Gobowen, Wales. |
| HISTORY | At the beginning
of the 1950s, London Transport needed to replace its aging fleet of small
single decker buses. They needed small buses for the sparsely
populated country areas, and only small buses would be allowed to have
one-man operation. AEC and Leyland were not making small vehicles,
so LT turned to the Guy Special . Guy produced 84 chassis with
Perkins P6 diesel engines, and the Eastern Coach Works body seated
26. They were introduced from late 1953. They remained in use
until the 1960s (a few into the 1970s), but were gradually replaced by new
larger vehicles. Large numbers were sold to private operators, and
many have survived into preservation.
GS 26 entered service in 1953, operating from Swanley Garage, subsequently operating north of the Thames. The vehicle was sold to a private owner in 1968, but in the early 1970s was used by a school, and sported a red livery. It was acquired by G & T Bubb of Chatham, Kent in 1975, and was photographed below in 1988. In 2005, G & T Bubb moved to Wales, and the vehicle can be seen in rallies there. The GS 26 history was obtained from the Ian Smith website: click here to view. |
| Above photos taken at: | Steam & Vintage Vehicle Rally, Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot, Hants. |
| Taken: | Summer 1988 |
Photographs © Mike Smith 2010
None to be reproduced elsewhere without permission
mjs@onlineweb.com