Walter Alexander RB194 (KWG 655)
History
This vehicle is a remarkable survivor. Delivered new to Walter Alexander at Dundee in 1958, it passed to the new Northern company on its formation in 1961. After withdrawal from passenger service it became a driver trainer. It was then sold to a farmer in Aberdeenshire, where it remained, out of use, for 20 years. Northern relied on Titans as its standard double-decker for many years. The only other survivor appears to be NRB301, a PD2 which was one of many bought secondhand from Western during the 1970s.
Restoration
Despite sitting out of use for several decades, when the current owner purchased the vehicle at the end of 2006 the engine started first time. The bus was painted in this orange and cream livery, with a handpainted broadside advert for the company’s express coach services to London. The vehicle moved south from Aberdeenshire in August 2008, and in July 2010 it was moved to the premises of an operator in Dundee where restoration has now begun. We are very grateful for the support of Airport Travel Dundee and Claverhouse Group for their generous support of this restoration.
It is planned to restore the vehicle to the later version of Northern livery which it carried at the end of its service life, depicted in this view of another bus from the same batch at Dundee bus station in 1977. Although the vehicle looks tatty it is substantially complete, and once cleared of junk the interior turned out to be substantially complete. A start has been made on sanding down the bodywork, and the rear platform and the bottom half of the staircase have been removed for rebuilding. Some reconstruction will also be required at the front end of the bus, where some of the nearside wheelarch is missing.
A gallery of photographs showing the restoration in progress can be found here.
