Tayside Regional Council Ailsa 300 (WTS 272T)

300 at Dundee Law © Mike Assiph

Chassis Volvo Ailsa B55-10 Mk II chassis no. 78009     ♦    Body Alexander AV O44/31D body no. AV23/3977/18

History

Tayside received a batch of six early Mark II Ailsas in 1979, having been an enthusiastic customer for the Mk I version. Four of them are now preserved. 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 When this operation was taken over by City Sightseeing, 300 was once again withdrawn, and the society bought it in 2005.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 has been on the road fairly regularly since then. 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.

Following Dundee United’s victory over Ross County in the 2010 Scottish Cup, a victory parade was held in Dundee and the victorious team travelled through the streets of the city on the top deck of 300, repeating a job it had undertaken after United’s previous Scottish Cup victory in 1994.

Video

Photo gallery

  • 300 parked at East Dock Street doing nothing, not untypically, in Tayside Buses days. It carries the livery applied to all the company’s coaches at this time. When initially converted it was in plain white with a blue waistband.
  • Parked next to Leyland Leopard 543 at Lathalmond
  • After years of exposure to the rain, the upstairs seat frames have been shotblasted and repainted.
  • 300 suitably decorated for the Dundee United parade on 16 May 2010.
  • 300 leaving the Hilton Hotel in Dundee carrying the victorious Dundee United team.
  • 300 leaving Tannadice Park after collecting the victorious Dundee United team.
  • 300 passes through the crowds in Dundee High Street.
  • Carrying a slightly younger group of footballers, 300 pauses by the Burns statue outside the McManus in Dundee.