HOU 904 has probably had more owners over the years than most other buses of its period. New in 1950, the Lancet worked for Aldershot & District until 1966. Selected at that stage as being the best of the 'Brabs' being withdrawn, it was purchased for use carrying the elderly on weekend outings to places of interest. Subsequently, this particular Lancet had a series of owners including a PSV operator in Scotland and also operated for a while in conjunction with the Barmouth sea front railway. Eventually, the body frame was in a sorry state and after passing through a couple of dealers the bus settled at Macpherson Coaches in the Midlands. The Macphersons family were keen to have a half-cab to supplement their very modern coach fleet to operate on special workings and private hires. To this end, they transferred the vehicle to a Loughborough body builders and over a period of years had the body frame reconstructed. Although the aim was to re-use as much original material as possible, only about 10% of the frame was fit for re-use and a mostly new timber frame to the original design resulted. After re-assembly and re-certification as a PSV, HOU 904 was finished in its original Aldershot & District green and cream livery and re-entered service in 2001. We are grateful to Macpherson Coaches for arranging for this bus to be operated in service at recent Aldershot & District Running Days. We also thank the Dennis Bus Owners Association for permission to publish this extract. www.dennisbusowners.co.uk © Copyright by ADBIG All Rights Reserved. |
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