Canadian Bus Repatriation To UK May 2010
Our MD Roger Wright had been in discussions with the owners of the Abegweit Tours in Prince Edward Island Canada for some months to buy the former London buses operated on sightseeing tours around Charlottetown.
The vehicles comprised 7 RT type, 2 RTL and 2 Routemaster buses. The company had purchased the vehicles between 1964 and 1983.
First purchase was RTL1076 LUC253 followed by RTL1105 LUC315 in April 1967.
RTL1076 Lined up with some of the other members of the fleet at Liverpool Docks
Over the next few years, as business expanded, RT961 KGU235 (6/69) RT2129 KGK938 (3/72) RT4424 NXP778 (6/73) RT4188 LYF247 (5/79) RT4548 OLD768 (6/79) RT4772 (7/79) RT714 JXC77 (11/79)
Then in May 1983 2 Routemasters became available having gone to New York for a British season these were RM1371 371CLT & RM1620 620DYE.
All the vehicles were in regular use during the summer and for the remainder of the year were kept under cover. Each year Lionel Moss travelled out to Canada to maintain the vehicles prior to the start of the new season.
The owner of Abegweit Tours, Shirley Murphy, had run the company for 15 years following the death of her husband Conn but had decided that it was getting too much to keep the company going. Rather than sell out to another operator in the area she had looked to Lionel to see if he knew anyone in UK who would take all the vehicles and keep them together.
Following the deal the vehicles were driven the 300 or so miles to the docks in Halifax Nova Scotia and loaded aboard ship for the crossing to Liverpool.
Following clearance by UK customs a party of drivers and mechanics travelled by coach to Liverpool and prepared the vehicles for the trip back to our base at Northfleet in Kent.
In convoy, headed by RTL1076, the vehicles made their way south. Stopping off for fuel and food for the crews the party arrived back at base late in the evening of May 17th 2010.
Work has started on getting the first of the buses ready to take to the streets of London once again.