Thursday, 10 July 2014

A 100-year-old double-decker that went to war!

 
I was taking a train at West Brompton. Outside the rush hours it is rather peaceful.
 


Soon after I got off the train in Acton Town, I encountered this vehicle:
At first glance you would think it was in pristine condition, but... it refused to go any further.
The men were trying to repair it so it could make its way to the nearby Transport Museum.

I stopped to take pictures of the neatly renovated centenarian and soon was invited to go upstairs.

The B-type was the first successful mass-produced motor bus, designed and built in London. Most buses had been horse-drawn until then.

During WW1 the bus was commandeered for the war effort. It returned to London when the war ended in 1918, I was told. There is more to read about the B-type in the London Transport leaflet I was given by one of the men I met there, but no time to tell you more here and now.


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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous16 July 2014 at 03:47

    It is so beautiful and at the same time so strange to be inside an old vehicle like this one. It can get me to another era. Look around and I can imagine the passengers of that era, the fashion, the style. Maybe, even I can smell the perfumes of that period.
    I know my imagination is running again and making up stories.
    By the way, this little story for the centenarian, aroused my interest and soon I shall visit the transport museum.

    Roula

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  2. Joanna D.20 July 2014 at 02:37

    Hi Roula, Glad you enjoyed the story about the centenarian bus. This branch of The London Transport Museum is in Acton, near Acton Town Station, but the main museum is in Covent Garden. My little boy used to spend hours there while I was taking tourists from one attraction in the area to the other and yet another.
    There is also Motorcycle Museum in Greenford if you are into vehicles! Should you 'land' in Greenford, don't miss two of my favourite churches there: The Holy Cross old and new one. They are very special and the vicar I met there has been one of the greatest clergyman I've ever met. I learnt he retired last year and I really miss talking to him and his wife. I'd love to meet Neil Richardson again and thank him big way for all the lovely soul-nourishing moments and for being there for me.
    x

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