Tayside Regional Council 276 (WTS 276T)
Chassis Volvo Ailsa B55-10 Mk II chassis no. 78007 ♦ Body Alexander AV H44/31D body no. AV23/3977/16
History
Tayside received a batch of six early Mark II Ailsas in 1979, having been an enthusiastic customer for the Mk I version. 276 differed from the others in that it was fitted with a Voith D851 automatic gearbox, rather than the SCG gearbox used in all other Ailsas at the time. The new Dennis Dominator and MCW Metrobus, which were launched in 1978, used the same gearbox, and there was an understandable incentive for Volvo to try out a gearbox that was not supplied by its major competitor (the SCG gearbox was a British Leyland product). 276 was the first Ailsa to be built with this gearbox.
276 spent the first six months of its life on loan to Volvo Bus (GB) as a demonstrator (along with sister vehicle 275, now scrapped). As well as travelling all over the UK, Volvo took the bus to the first Congress of the UITP in Helsinki, and the bus still carries a plaque commemorating this visit. 276 finally entered service in Dundee in September 1979, on routes 26/ 28/ 29 between Douglas and Charleston. The following year, it was used in vehicle trials in Dundee along with standard Ailsa 273, a Dennis Dominator and an MCW Metrobus. 276 was fitted at this stage with an Evershed electronic destination display, but like most early displays of this type it proved unreliable: it required a replacement panel and was quickly removed.
Although the next delivery of Ailsas were to Tayside’s normal specification (Commercial Motor, which sponsored the trials, reported that the Voith gearbox had proved to be less popular with drivers than the SCG box on 273), all of Tayside’s later Mark III Ailsas used the Voith box. 276 settled down to a conventional existence, latterly working on the Fintry service. It was withdrawn in late 1996 and sold to a Perthshire farmer for use as a berry bus (the same farmer who owned two other former Tayside Ailsas, 126 and 273).
Restoration
Towards the end of its life at Tayside 276 received a single door conversion in which the centre doors were sealed up, a metal framework placed in the stairwell and covered with linoleum, and the wiring isolated. This was relatively easy to reverse and the door now works again.