HOW TO BUY

Widnes Corporation ran a very successful operation until 1974, when the fleet of 40 buses passed to the then new Halton Borough Council.  When Widnes needed buses in the early 1950's, London Transport were selling off the "Post War" Regents which had been delivered in 1946.  Widnes acquired 4 from the dealer, North of Leeds and they gave several years good service before they were withdrawn in 1960/62.  Our model is shown en route to the famous Transporter Bridge, a moving platform, which carried cars and light vehicles across the Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey.  No buses ever crossed on the Transporter and Crosville buses operated from the other side.

Birmingham has had the power to run buses since 1903,  but it was 1913 that a service from Selly Oak to Rednall was started.  A proud heritage was built up in this, the second city of the British Isles, it's citizens taking great pride in their buses which were garbed in a livery of Dark Blue and Cream.  The Daimler was probably the most popular make of bus used but during the was years the Guy Arab also joined the fleet and when these buses were life expired for passenger duties,  they made an ideal subject for conversion to other purposes.

AEC REGENT - WEST BRIDGEFORD

In 1913 West Bridgeford U.D.C. became the first Urban District Council in Great Britain to be granted powers to operate motorbuses.    Services originally operated on various routes in West Bridgeford to the Nottingham Tramway Terminus on the north side of Trent Bridge, but in 1928 joint services were commenced into Nottingham, between the U.D.C and the Corporation.

The Council's first buses were five Dennis vehicles with Dodson bodies.     On the outbreak of the 1914-1918 was these chassis were commandeered by the war department, the bodies later being mounted on "Allday and Onions" chain driven chassis.    In the early 1920's "Straker Equire" vehicles were favoured, but in 1925 the first A.E.C vehicles entered service, two double deckers similar to the London General "N>S>" type, these were followed by four A.E.C.413's and ten A.D.C. 416 saloons, and then from 1930-1939 by twenty "Regents", the first two having bodies to the "L.G.O.C." S.T. design.

In 1945 a Daimler C.W.A.6. entered service, to be followed in 1947 and 1949 by ten Regent Mk 3's and an A.E.C Regal saloon.    In 1952 a new joint service was commenced to Clifton Estate, with Nottingham City Transport and South Notts Bus Company, "Lowbridge" type buses were required for this service and three pre-war Regents were converted to this configuration, whilst in 1954 two new Regent 6812A's were acquired with "Willowbrook" Lowbridge bodies, these were numbered 11 and 21, ORR 139/140 respectively, the latter vehicle is now in preservation.

Between 1955 and 1968 a total of 17 new A.E.C. vehicles entered service, 11 Regent "5's", 2 Renowns and 3 Swifts, together with a secondhand "MK 3" from Halifax, and 2 C.W.A.6's from Huddersfield, the latter 2 having Duple Lowbridge bodies whilst the A.E.C.s had bodies by "Park Royal' (4)m "Reading' (3), and the remainder by East Lancs.

In 1968 the "Council" ceased bus operation and the fleet of 28 vehicles, by then all of A.E.C. manufacture, passed to Nottingham City Transport.

LEYLAND ATLANTEAN - Network 26

In 1992 Citybus won the franchise to operate 26 routes on Hong Kong Island and 2 cross harbor routes all of which started on the 1st September, 1993.  Over 200 buses were required for the operation and of these, 100 were planned to be second hand non air-conditioned buses.
To meet this requirement, 101 Leyland Atlantean buses were purchased from Singapore and refurbished to bring them up to Hong Kong standards.  The most obvious part of this work was the fitting of an Alexander "R" type front to give a common look across the Citybus fleet.  A total of 97 entered service, initially for three years after which they sould be withdrawn from service and replaced with new air-conditioned buses.   However some continued on in service until March 1998.
"Network 26" was the name used to refer to this network of routes and was featured on the side of all the buses as well as on bus stops and timetables.

Kowloon Motor Bus-Chassis: Daimler CVG6LX.

This model is totally fictitious, using the long established AEC Regent casting from Corgi.   The bus is meant to represent a Metsec bodies Daimler, Fleet No 549.
This vehicle was one of a batch of 200 and was first registered in November 1972.   The bodywork was built-up from MetSec (Metal Sections) ckd (completely knocked down) parts.   The body design represented the first departure by KMB from the traditional rear platform and staircase, having front staircases with double-width forward entrance and a single width exit in the center, although on some buses, the entrance/exit was reversed.
D549 was withdrawn in 3988, but was reinstated in July 1990, being converted to open-top in February 1993.
The reunification of Hong Kong with China on July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of China, was a unique and glorious moment in history. To mark this momentous event, this limited edition commemorative 1997 KMB open-top bus model with the official "Association for Celebration of Reunification of Hong Kong with China" livery is presented as a keepsake of this historic occasion.