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KYY 535
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Here's a classic picture of London Transport
AEC Regent III RT1708 in service in 1960. One wonders which
newspaper was bought by busy people who didn't think. Photo
by Phil Davies.
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Former London Transport
RT class Regent IIIs were be found running the summer open-top
service on the channel island of Guernsey up to 2000. Number
14, originally RT2494 (KXW 123), was seen at work in the 1994
season. With the demise of Guernseybus, the three open-top
Regents plus an unused closed top model and a brace of open-top
Leyland PS1 Tigers all went to dealer Nash of Weybridge for
preservation or resale. RT2494 is now privately preserved
in Guernseybus livery. |
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Another of the
Guernseybus trio of open-top Regents passed to Blue Triangle
and subsequently to the London Bus Company heritage operation
when Blue Triangle was sold to Go-ahead. It was seen near
Great Dunmow in 2006 on a Blue Triangle summer Sunday operation. |
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Green London Transport
Regent III RT3775 spent some time as a member of the London
& Country (the renamed London Country South West) heritage
fleet. It was seen on a "Santa special" duplicate
working at Walton on the Hill in December 1994. The
bus was later sold and is now in private preservation following
a spell in the Ensignbus heritage fleet. |
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One of the operational
RTs in the Ensignbus fleet, Cravens bodied RT1431 was seen
at Lakeside shopping centre in December 2005 whilst operating
a pre-Christmas special duplicate working of the company's
X80 service to Gravesend. Ensign runs these |
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Ensignbus green
RT1499 is another fully licensed for public service. The London
low-emission regulations limit use in the central area, so
they are usually confined to special services in the surrounding
area. RT1499 was seen at Epping on an RT running day in April
2009. |
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Ex London Transport
Regent III RT3062 can still be found on the road, as it is
fully PSV licensed with Roger Wright's London Bus Company.
Along with other RTs in the fleet, it is generally confined
to special duties and running days, such as when pictured
at Warley village on an RT running day in April 2009. |
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A popular and increasing
use for classic AEC Regents and Routemasters is for wedding
hires. Ex London Transport RT1396, owned by AlphaBus, was
seen in this role at Putney in September 2006. Photo
by Mike Tamkin. |
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An ex London RT
on public service in deepest Dorset in 2011. Shaftesbury &
District have been helping Verwoodbus by providing a vehicle
for their Friday service from West Moors to Poole. Usually
a forward entrance Routemaster is used but on 11th April it
was needed elsewhere so RT4777 got the job instead. It was
pictured at Bournemouth, with RF421 in attendance as a duplicate.
Photo by Peter Legg. |
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6801 FN
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East Kent ran a
large fleet of Regent Vs with Park Royal front entrance bodywork,
and some of these were even converted for one person operation
in the mid 1970s. After becoming redundant at Canterbury following
OPO conversions, 7801 was seen while on loan to sister company
Maidstone & District in May 1978 to assess the feasibility
of running these vehicles on crew operated services in the
Hastings area. This bus in now preserved by a member of the
Friends of the East Kent (FoTEK). |
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PFN 853
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The first batch
of East Kent Regent Vs had unusual full-front bodywork. Four
of these outlived the rest of the batch by being converted
to open-top for the Isle of Thanet service. After a spell
in preservation, PFN 853 passed to London sightseeing firm
the Big Bus Company. It was seen at Charing Cross station
in August 2004. It subsequently passed back into preservation
ownership in 2006. |
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MFN 941F
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Some of the last
Regents went to East Kent (although Douglas Corporation got
the last). One of the last batch, 7941 was seen at
Folkestone bus station in August 1982, some two years before
it was eventually withdrawn in 1984. Photo
by Christopher Chatfield |
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MFN 946F
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East Kent 7946
was withdrawn from service early and spent many years as a
ticket office at Hastings for Maidstone & District and
Hastings & District. It was then returned to service,
passing via Hastings Buses to South Coast Buses, where it
saw sporadic use on contracts and reliefs right into 1999.
Here it is on a Hastings Pier service in the summer of 1994,
still in H&D livery. This bus was later transferred
within Stagecoach back to East Kent as a special events vehicle,
repainted in traditional livery, and appears regularly at
rallies in the area. Further pictures are on the Before
and After page. Additional info
from Paul Houselander and M&D
and East Kent Bus Club. |
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JTE 546
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JTE 546 is one
of a pair of ex Morecambe and Heysham AEC Regents run by Quantock
Motor Services on their summer heritage services linking
in with the West Somerset Railway. It was seen at the
2000 Cobham rally. It was sold in 2011 to owner by the
Black Sea. Photo by Malcolm Crowe |
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YCY 804, a former
South Wales AEC Regent V with Willowbrook body, in service
with Oxfordshire independent Charlton-on-Otmoor services in
1977. This operator still runs today, with a couple of rural
routes into Oxford and a number of school services. Photo
by Mike Penn |
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Provincial no.
34 is a 1937 Regent I with 1955 Reading 56 seat bodywork,
photographed in July 1969. During the NBC era Gosport
& Fareham operated as a subsidiary of Hants & Dorset,
retaining a green livery and the Provincial name, before being
totally absorbed and then reappearing as a separate company
in 1985 with the split up of H&D. Now the name has
disappeared completely following various takeovers, disposals
and mergers along the Hampshire coast. Photo
by Gerry Cork |
