Mcconnachie's Campbeltown Buses

McConnachie's Campbeltown Buses http://john-openshaw.fotopic.net

Here Dunoon's John Openshaw's photographs have been captioned with detail from "On The Buses", a full history of Kintyre's buses, which can be found on the internet at http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/6387339/On-the-Buses

In 1950, McConnachie's, granted licences to serve Campbeltown's new post-war housing estates, bought two secondhand single-deck, Roe-bodied rear-entrance, AEC Regal III's with Wilson pre-select gearboxes, BCP 534 and BCP 535 from Halifax Corporation, here BCP 535 is seen outside the old Post Office in Campbeltown's Main Street, sold off, BCP 535 found her way into The West of England Transport Collection at Exeter.

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In 1950, they bought a new 45-seat Duple-bodied Leyland 'Royal Tiger' with a 0600 horizontal engine, SB 8250, nick-named "The Prefab" was later fitted for ‘one-man operation’ it being McConnachie's long-standing policy to employ conductresses on all their services throughout the year, the coach here in Burnside Street.

McConnachie's bought the first of their three double-decker buses in 1960, a MetroCammell-Weymann AEC 'Regent', KOD 585, with a AEC 9.6 litre diesel and a Wilson preselect gearbox. Contrary to popular local memory, she was bought from the 'Devon General' bus company and driven uneventfully north on the 600-mile plus journey to Kintyre. At the end of her life, in 1967, she again made the journey south, this time to rest alongside the Roe-bodied AEC Regal III ex-Halifax rear-entrance ½-cab BCP 535 of McConnachie’s at The West of England Transport Collection in Exeter.

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McConnachie's other two 'deckers' were ex-London Transport RTL's, 1950 Leyland-built with Metro-Cammell Weymann 'high-bridge' bodies, LLU 907 (RTL 917) and KYY 812 (RTL 842). The 'deckers' were used on the company’s Machrihanish service, particularly in connection with the tour to "The Shores of The Atlantic" then wellpatronised by day trippers from the turbine excursion steamers "Duchess of Hamilton" and "Duchess of Montrose", KYY 812 seen here with The Royal Hotel in the background and two more photographs of her here too.

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Ex-London Transport 1950 Leyland-built, Metro-Cammell Weymann 'high-bridge' bodied RTL KYY 812 (RTL 842) outside The Christian Institute and Woolworth's (above) and (below) in Hall Street.

West Coast Motors took over A. & P. McConnachie's services in 1969 and the two ex-London Transport double-deckers LLU 907 and KYY 812 ended their days in a Coatbridge scrapyard.

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Amongst Dunoon's John Openshaw's collection of photographs http://johnopenshaw.fotopic.net is a photograph of a Guy double decker bus, that here acquired by Dunoon Motor Services from Western SMT, it originally owned by Greenock Motor Services and registered with the Greenock number plate 'VS 4329', the 'VS' Greenock registration numbers later assigned to Luton - Dunoon's buses and coaches were, from around the late 1940's, run by the Graham brothers, Alex running the buses, Dunoon Motor Services, from John Street, which traded as Cowal Motor Services after Alex's death and Harry running Baird's, the coaches, 'Black Cab' taxis and the funeral 'undertaking', which operated from Auchamore Road and latterly operated everything from there - The now late Harry Graham, the family from Kirkintilloch originally, remembered that one of the Guy double deckers, used normally on the Ardentinny and Glenfinnart school bus run, had no starter motor on it and had to be started in the garage, morning and afternoon, before it could go out, the drivers constantly warned not to stall the engine when doing the necessary three-point turn for the return run from Glenfinnart, one driver doing just that and being fortunate enough to discover a heavy horse coming out of the forest, it fitted with chains for dragging timber and it successfully 'tow-starting' the bus, a difficult job as all the Guy buses had 'pre-select' gearboxes, the horse narrowly escaping being run over in the process and the bus driver driver returning 'sheepish-faced' to Dunoon !

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