Tayside Regional Council Ailsa 300 (WTS 272T)
History
Tayside received a batch of six early Mark II Ailsas in 1979, having been an enthusiastic customer for the Mk I version. TVVS now owns four of these vehicles. Originally numbered 272, this bus had a short history as a standard bus as it was converted to an open-top vehicle by Tayside in 1983 and renumbered 300, in the coach series. At the same time, sister vehicle 271 was converted to a driver training vehicle. At the time it was extremely rare for buses that young to end up in either role. Like all of Tayside’s coaches, 300 was named after a local landmark, in this case Broughty Castle. (301, previously 305, the open-top Fleetline, was named Claypotts Castle.)
300 is a highly unusual vehicle, and it is the only Ailsa to have operated as an open-topper. Initially it was used for special events and on a summer service 66 from Dundee to Broughty Ferry beach. That service ran for the last time in 1988 and for the next few years 300 was only used infrequently. A short-lived service 44 linking the centre of Dundee with the new Tesco on Riverside Drive kept it occupied during 1989, but it saw no regular use again until Tayside Buses introduced a City Tour of Dundee in the mid-1990s. When Tayside was bought by Travel West Midlands the bus was repainted in standard ‘low floor’ TWM livery: the oldest bus to receive these colours.
When the City Tour was abandoned in 2000, 300 was once again laid up. By this time the redevelopment of East Dock Street depot left it stored outside, and when it was loaned to TWM to carry West Bromwich Albion on their victory parade following their promotion to the Premiership in April 2002, Travel Dundee intimated that they didn't want the vehicle back. TWM stored 300 for a while then sold it to Full Circle Tours of Oxford, who operated it for a couple of summers in a blue and cream livery. When this operation was taken over by City Sightseeing, 300 was once again withdrawn, and the society bought it in 2005.
Restoration
The bus was rallied for a couple of seasons after acquistion by the Society, still carrying its Broughty Castle nameplates on the Oxford livery. It is currently off the road with work being undertaken on replacing the hub seals and restoring the seats (see picture in gallery). Our intention is to return the bus to the stripy version of Tayside coach livery that it carried between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s.
