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THE NORTH WESTERN ROAD CAR COMPANY (GLOS) LIMITED

FIFTY GLORIOUS YEARS

Large numbers were added to a collection already owned, all of which were repainted into the realistic livery of the North Western Road Car Company based in Stockport, Cheshire, as witnessed by the Leyland Royal Tiger with a Duple Roadmaster body seen above next to a Golden Jubilee liveried air conditioned Mercedes Benz Citaro Euro 4 with the apt registration VW10GLD

Coaches were pale cream with red trim while buses were red with pale cream window frames.  In later years other variations appeared  and a dual purpose scheme was added comprising pale cream upper half with red panels below the windows.  Black with an ivory band eventually replaced this.

Repainting was made possible by the introduction of Airfix - and later Humbrol - paints and also large amounts of Co-Op Fast Red.  However, as the 1960s progressed the coach and single deck bus fleet began to look outdated and no real bus company would have kept such individual vehicles in service for so long.

With Dinky only making double deck buses in 4mm scale many model bus operators turned to Sellotape - painted matt black to replicate windows - Plasticine, car body filler and junior hacksaws to restyle existing models into more modern styles.

In 1969 however, the first modern white metal bus and coach kits were introduced, costing £2.50 apiece and offering modern types of 36 and 33 foot long single deck buses and coaches which joined the fleet in large numbers.

Body and chassis dimensions increased continually with engines and gearboxes mounted at the front end, underfloor or offside under stairs, mid mounted underfloor, rear incline offside, transverse rear underfloor or upright being the most common.

During 50 years of operation the North Western Road Car Company Limited have operated British engineered body and chassis combinations by AEC, Bedford, Bristol, Daimler, Dennis, Ford, Guy, Leyland, Maudsley, Metro-Cammell Weymann, MCW Metrobus and Seddon.

European chassis have included DAF, Mercedes-Benz single deckers ( with double decks considered for 2011), Scania single and double deckers and Volvo buses and coaches.

British bodybuilders have included Alexander ADL, Caetano, Duple, ECW, Harrington, Leyland, Marshall MCW, N.C.M.E., Optare, Pennine, Plaxton, Roe, Seddon, Strachans and Willowbrook.

In 1973 the parent company of North Western Road Car was absorbed into the SELNEC passenger transport authority and gave way to a new arms-length company in Gloucestershire.  The North Western Road Car Company (Glos) Limited was founded and all future vehicle deliveries were registered in Gloucester City and later Gloucestershire.

In 1996 The North Western Road Car Company (Glos) Limited decided to discontinue all of its 38 express coach operations except two London services and sell of most of the coach bodied vehicles to private hire.  This was due to increasing competition from Countrywide and National Express and The North Western Road Car Company (Glos) Limited eventually became a National Express franchisee operating four NX liveried coaches - replaced every seven years - on a single direct London service.

At its height in 1973 however, the North Western Road Car Company (Glos) Limited coach network ( illustrated in simplified form above ) ran to such diverse places as Southend, Milford Haven, Exeter, Aberystwyth and Northampton.

From its beginning with the real-life  - and much admired - North Western Road Car Company, the fictional North Western Road Car Company (Glos) Limited still  retains its red and cream livery with retro band styling on modern public service vehicles.  In 2010 however new model buses - whether repainted die cast or built from brass, white metal or resin kits - can cost up to £38.00 and adding a small fleet of any one type in prototypical procedure can cost as much as a whole new multiple unit train on a model railway.

Long may they keep running from Brocklecote!