VCS marks 85th anniversary

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One of Midland Red’s famous BMMO C5 motorway coaches, dating from 1959 and now preserved by Roger Burdett, was one of the vehicles displayed on the Friday. It is seen leaving VCS, homeward bound at the end of that day. DAVID BELL

As reported in CBW last week, Victoria Coach Station (VCS) marked its 85th anniversary with displays of vehicles that had either served or represented types that had served the facility.

Four departure bays were allocated for the occasion with 11 historic and two modern coaches booked to appear each day. Details of 38 historic vehicles organised by the Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust from which those appearing would be drawn were included in a special event programme published by Transport for London which manages the site. The first day, a Friday, was actually the exact anniversary date. Around 13.4m passengers now use VCS annually.

A vehicle that regularly visited VCS in its day was this 1966 Thames Valley ECW-bodied Bristol FLF 6G based at Maidenhead which operated on express route B from Reading to London. Richard Rampton entered the bus on behalf of the Thames Valley and Great Western Omnibus Trust. DAVID BELL

 

One of the last ECW-bodied Bristol FLF6Gs to enter service, a 1968 Eastern National vehicle that was notable in having just 55 coach seats. It was displayed by G Claydon and Paul Harrison on behalf of the Castle Point Transport Museum Society. DAVID BELL

 

Glynn Thomas of Bexley entered a 1937 East Kent Park Royal-bodied Dennis Lancet 2 that was used on summer duplicates between the south east coast and Victoria up to its withdrawal in 1956. It was part of the display on Saturday. DAVID BELL

 

One of the modern vehicles making an appearance on the Friday was a megabus.com Plaxton Elitei-bodied Volvo B11R which had a special destination display to mark the occasion. DAVID BELL