Welcome! This group of preserved buses and coaches is intended only for" photos of par excellence" ,By invite only. Jon`s pics is hoping to create a good record of buses that have been preserved.over the years. History In common with cars and trucks, preservation of buses in the United Kingdom is a hobby activity enjoyed by many people, both actively or passively. The active preservation and operation of preserved buses is undertaken by private individuals, organised trusts or societies, and even commercial operators. The preserved bus fleet in the UK includes dating from the earliest pre-war models right up to models manufactured in the 1990s. The earliest examples of bus preservation were undertaken by certain bus companies themselves, especially the London General Omnibus Company who set aside a member bus from the B, S and K classes, followed by the London Passenger Transport Board who preserved one each of the NS, LT, ST and T classes. These can now all be seen at the London Transport Museum at Covent Garden. The first example of private individuals preserving a bus in the UK was by four friends, Prince Marshall, Ken Blacker, Ron Lunn and Michael Dryhurst in 1956[1] who successfully purchased a 1929 AEC Regal fleet number T31, registration UU 6646, for the sum of £40. It was the last ex-London General Omnibus Company vehicle to be operated by London Transport. The bus is still in existence and is now part of the London Bus Museum collection, who purchased it in 1994.[2] This was the first of several buses purchased by these four pioneers of the British bus preservation movement, which included a 1935 Gilford 168SD coach, a Leyland PLSC3 Lion, and their first double-decker, a Northern Counties bodied AEC Renown 6-wheeler which cost the large sum (for the time) of £85. In 1958 Ken Blacker, John Cook, Prince Marshall and Michael Dryhurst inaugurated the Vintage Passenger Vehicle Society.[3] The October 1961 issue of the Ian Allan magazine Buses Illustrated published a list of 76 buses believed to be the total number of preserved buses in the UK.[1] As of 2009 it was believed the number of preserved buses in the UK numbered over 5,000. Many non commercial organisations dedicated to bus preservation operate under a charitable status. Some projects receive Heritage Lottery Fund grant funding. Non commercial bus preservation organisations can be both general in scope, or organised around preserving vehicles from a particular geographic area or time periods. Often, organisations will focus on a particular much loved company or operator, such as SELNEC, Southdown Motor Services or Ribble Motor Services, or particular manufacturers such as AEC or Bristol Commercial Vehicles. In cases where large numbers of vehicles were produced, organisations may even concentrate on a single model, such as the Bristol VR or Leyland National. Preserved buses are often included in the collections of Transport Museums, and sometimes feature in general museums. In some cases, museums are dedicated to buses as their main activity. The use of operational preserved buses often contribute to the authentic atmosphere in living museums such as Amberley Working Museum and Beamish Museum. Operational preserved buses are often exhibited at rallies and shows, or are run on 'running days', or in events that are a combination of the two. A preserved bus running a specific shuttle route also often forms part of a larger event such as a cultural festival. Several events in the preservation calendar are regular, usually annual, while others are often organised to commemorate a specific event, such as the anniversary of a particular company or particular vehicle type coming into or out of existence or service. Running days often mark the withdrawal of particular models from a route, or the demise of particular companies. Rallies and shows often combine preserved exhibits and current service vehicles. Candidates vehicles for preservation are often gifted or purchased from their final operator, or are bought from the scrap yard or specialist dealers. Restoration of vehicles often involves mechanical restoration such as repanelling the bodywork, and the reversion of the vehicle's appearance to a particular historical period, by repainting into a particular livery and restoring other parts such as grilles or displays. On occasion, buses have been saved for preservation having been used long after the end of their passenger transport career, and been used in a variety of capacities such as caravans or storage sites, requiring more thorough preservation. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia