EPR000316 ENGLAND (1934). Westminster, Traffic on Regent Street, 1934

Hanover Street

Maddox Street

Conduit Street

Corner of New Burlington Street

This one could have been part of London General's fleet of 550 cabs: 320 of which were Citroens. A cab with a similar number - ALU 579 - has been preserved and is known as a 'Chinese Austin' as 197 of the Citroens were remounted on Austin 12 chassis in the 1930s, the hybridisation prompting the nickname

Destination/start: 'Oxford Circus'

Destination/from: 'Park Royal'. Route 112 with a sub category - A or B perhaps

Morris Ten. The Morris Ten announced 1 September 1932 was a medium-sized car introduced for 1933 as the company's offering in the important 10 hp sector of the British market. It continued through a series of variants until October 1948 when along with Morris's Twelve and Fourteen it was replaced by the 13.5 hp Morris Oxford MO.

1929 Model AA heavy-duty truck

No 153 bus. Route: West Hampstead - Plumstead Common, LT style, 6-wheeler vehicle. In 1929 AEC introduced a new range of chassis, that the London General Omnibus Company adopted as its standards: the 27ft six-wheeled Renown (LT); the 25ft four-wheeled Regent (ST): and the 26ft single decker Regal (T) (all legal maximum lengths in the capital at that time.) The Renown in a longer form also became available for single deckers, the LTL class, that were numbered in the LT series. The use of a six-wheel chassis came from the London bus company's wish to pack in as many passengers as possible, within the legal constraints on length, weight and axle loading imposed by the Metropolitan Police and the Traffic Commissioner. That only 54 (or 60 in the production run) could be seated in a vehicle a foot longer than an RT or a Routemaster was a consequence of the severe weight limits then imposed. The Traffic Commissioner would not let such long vehicles go everywhere either, and imposed considerable restraints on the routes they were allowed on, so many routes were limited to the 50-seater STs. (It was a long time before deregulation and 36 foot buses!). At the start they had petrol engines, but experiments with diesel engines soon convinced London Transport that this was the way to go with the LT class. A conversion programme in 1934 saw many of the LTs converted, with their petrol engines going to new STL buses. Most of the remaining double-deckers were converted in 1939 and 1940 but a substantial number retained petrol engines to the end of their days, including nearly all the open staircase variety. These should have been replaced by new RTs in 1940, but the war delayed this programme. So it was still possible after the war to travel in central London on an open-staircase petrol-engined bus: but not for long!

MG F-type Magna. Launched in 1931, the F-type Magna was designed as a mid-range MG of about 12hp. A special 6-cylinder 1271cc version of the 4-cylinder Wolseley Hornet engine was made for the Magna. The F-type was based on a longer D-type chassis and was sold as a four-seater.

1930 AEC Regent I Tilling ST bus. ST922 (in pic) is the sole survivor of the Tilling ST with open staircase and entered service with Thomas Tilling, a prolific south London operator, in November 1930. The bus was taken into London Transport stock with the formation of that company in 1933. Later it was kept at Tunbridge Wells garage as a “Guard Room” from August-December 1940, and then sent on loan to the Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Co, Smethwick from December 1941 to November 1944. On return to London, it stayed in service until the end of 1946. In early 1947, it was then converted into a mobile staff canteen, serving as fleet number 693 J, until withdrawal in November 1954. Disposal was to British Road Services in May 1955, passing to a dealer, until purchased by Mr P Marshall for restoration in December 1966. It eventually returned to London service, on sight seeing route 100 in the early 1970s. It was re-certified for passenger service to run for London Transport on daily seasonal sightseeing duties. Even more remarkable was the extremely high level of reliability of ST 922 during its “summer seasons” when operating generally for around 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

No 153 bus. Route: West Hampstead - Plumstead Common, LT style, 6-wheeler vehicle. In 1929 AEC introduced a new range of chassis, that the London General Omnibus Company adopted as its standards: the 27ft six-wheeled Renown (LT); the 25ft four-wheeled Regent (ST): and the 26ft single decker Regal (T) (all legal maximum lengths in the capital at that time.) The Renown in a longer form also became available for single deckers, the LTL class, that were numbered in the LT series. The use of a six-wheel chassis came from the London bus company's wish to pack in as many passengers as possible, within the legal constraints on length, weight and axle loading imposed by the Metropolitan Police and the Traffic Commissioner. That only 54 (or 60 in the production run) could be seated in a vehicle a foot longer than an RT or a Routemaster was a consequence of the severe weight limits then imposed. The Traffic Commissioner would not let such long vehicles go everywhere either, and imposed considerable restraints on the routes they were allowed on, so many routes were limited to the 50-seater STs. (It was a long time before deregulation and 36 foot buses!). At the start they had petrol engines, but experiments with diesel engines soon convinced London Transport that this was the way to go with the LT class. A conversion programme in 1934 saw many of the LTs converted, with their petrol engines going to new STL buses. Most of the remaining double-deckers were converted in 1939 and 1940 but a substantial number retained petrol engines to the end of their days, including nearly all the open staircase variety. These should have been replaced by new RTs in 1940, but the war delayed this programme. So it was still possible after the war to travel in central London on an open-staircase petrol-engined bus: but not for long!

Pyne Brothers truck on delivery.

Three taxi's waiting for money