Frequently asked questions
What do the funny codes mean?
Body codes use a standard system where the first letter indicates the type of body, as follows: B Single-deck bus; C Coach; DP Dual-purpose (ie bus bodywork with coach seats); H Highbridge double decker; L Lowbridge double decker (a bus with a sunken gangway at one side on the upper deck to lower overall height); O Open-top. This is followed by a number indicating seating capacity (two figures divided by an oblique indicate a double deck vehicle, the first figure indicating upper deck capacity and the second figure lower deck capacity). A final letter indicates the door position: F Front; R Rear; D Dual doors.
Chassis codes vary between manufacturers, and can be a little esoteric. Leyland, for example, used codes beginning with ‘P’ (for ‘postwar’) for all chassis introduced until the early 1970s. So Leyland Leopards were PSU (Postwar Single-deck Underfloor-engined), followed by a number that signifies the length of the chassis and a letter denoting minor revisions.
Daimler codes were similar, beginning with ‘C’ (for ‘Coventry’), ‘R’ signifying a rear-engined chassis and ‘G6LXB’ indicating a Gardner 6LXB engine.
Certain operators’ fleet numbering systems make most chassis codes seem understandable. Several of the buses featured on this site were new to parts of the Walter Alexander company, which was split in 1961 into three component parts, Midland, Northern and Fife. Each persisted with a variation of Alexander’s type code system, which used an alphabetical code for each vehicle type, followed by a sequential number. Single deckers had codes which used varying degrees of logic: A for Albion, G for Guy, P for Leyland! Postwar Leyland Tigers became PA and PB. The new companies added a letter to the start of each code to signify ownership, but they maintained the system and Leyland Leopards became FPE, MPE and NPE. Double-deckers used R codes: RB was a Leyland Titan and RF was a Daimler Fleetline.
After the split, each individual company applied the codes with varying degrees of consistency and logic. So FGA was a Fife Guy Arab, but FRD was a Fife Bristol Lodekka. In the 1980s the individual companies became less consistent, so Leyland Olympians at Northern were NLO while Fife’s were FRO. Both used LT for 1980s Leyland Tigers, but Northern only applied it to early coaches, and also used NBT for buses and NCT for its later coaches. Other companies in the state-owned Scottish Bus Group were just as bad, the most notorious example probably being the depot codes of Edinburgh-based SMT, which included ‘D’ for Galashiels and ‘G’ for Dalkeith!
Strathtay Scottish used a simplified form of Alexander’s type codes when it was formed in 1985, before moving to a simple numerical system in the early 1990s. Fife, Midland and Northern all moved to similar systems around the same time, with blocks of figures still representing particular types of vehicles. Dundee Corporation and its successors always used a numerical system, but applied in a different way, where each successive delivery used up the next free batch of numbers. Often some renumbering of older vehicles was required to make this work.
What is a berry bus?
This is a general term for a time-expired vehicle used by farmers to transport temporary farm workers from towns and cities. (Also, a derogatory term for any tatty or elderly looking bus.) They were particularly popular with fruit farmers on Tayside, where berries are the principal crop—hence the name—but vehicles were often used in a similar way by other farmers and building contractors. One bus operator, Meffan of Kirriemuir, also supplied vehicles for this kind of work. The use of buses in this way began to decline from the 1980s onwards, for a variety of reasons, among them the tightening up of driving and maintenance legislation, and the growing use of foreign labour on farms.
The huge benefit of berry buses for the preservation movement is that it helped to ensure the survival of a large number of vehicles that might otherwise have been lost.
Why doesn’t the site display properly?
Internet Explorer on the PC has trouble dispalying some aspects of the site’s layout, documented here. Otherwise, if you have a specific problem, feel free to email us on taybus @ mac.com (remove the spaces), but bear in mind that this is my first attempt at hand-coding a website so please be gentle!
I know about a bus you might be interested in
Please let us know! We don’t have unlimited resources, but especially if it’s a vehicle with a connection to the Dundee or Tayside area we may well be interested.
There’s a lot of vehicles here. Do you own them all?
The Society owns a small number of vehicles. The other vehicles are owned by one or more individuals who are members of the society.
I’d be interested in helping out. Can I join?
Yes please! For more information, go the Membership page.