The Friends of King Alfred Buses vehicle is being taken to the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum for restoration following a disasterous fire in 2023, reports Jonathan Welch
Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) says it is delighted to announce that its 1950 Leyland Olympic JAA 708, which had already been fully restored and relaunched in 2012 but was badly damaged in a fire at its storage premises in late 2023, has now left Winchester en-route to the Scottish Bus Museum at Lathalmond in Fife, ready to start its restoration, which will take place over three years.
An operation to transport 708 to Lathalmond began on Friday 24 April, taking it from its current base near Winchester to Lathalmond, where, under the expert leadership of Andrew Crockett, the monocoque chassisless HR40 Leyland Olympic is to be restored to its former self in a carefully planned three-year project.
“We are really delighted to entrust this big undertaking to Andrew,” said FoKAB Chair James Freeman. “Having worked on three of our other vehicles to an incredibly high standard, we know that he has the commitment and capability to make this incredible rebirth happen.”
The bus was reduced to a wreck in December 2023 in the fire, which completely destroyed a number of other vehicles. In March 2024, the wreck was able to be rescued from the destroyed building and taken to FoKAB’s Winchester workshop for careful inspection and review. In August the same year, it was displayed at the Buses Festival at Sywell, and by the end of November, FoKAB Trustees had taken the decision to restore the bus in a three-year programme with a budget of £500,000.
In December, an abandoned Leyland Royal Tiger chassis was acquired, providing a complete set of mechanical equipment identical to that used on the Olympic, and by February this year private commitments totalling £250,000 meant that work could start before public fundraising begins.
In March, The Bus Archive revealed that it has in its posession 150 MCW factory blueprint drawings showing every aspect of the construction of the Olympic and is prepared to make them available for use in the rebuilding, something which FoKAB says will transform the restoration task. The Olympic Fire Appeal to raise the remaining funds for its rebuild will be launched at FoKAB’s 40th birthday party in Winchester on Saturday 31 May.
