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Accession 618 17/01/09
1938 Bedford
WTB with Heaver C25F body.
This was delivered
new to Taylors' Central Garage (Exeter) Ltd in June 1938. It was
sold via an Exeter dealer in February 1952, to Vic's Tours of St.
Mary's on the Scilly Isles, the very extremity of the West Country.
EFJ92 operated with Vic's for a further 19 years until October 1971
when it entered preservation in London by a former Exonian. It then
took part in the Trans Pennine Run before passing into ownership of
the Dunlop Rubber Company. Legend had it that the seats fitted in
this vehicle were made of Dunlopillo sorbels, the first such
application, hence Dunlop’s interest in the vehicle. In 1985 the
coach became part of the Greater Manchester Transport Society’s
collection and much work was devoted to its fabric restoration. Due
to a policy change the vehice was offered for sale and purchased by
WHOTT in January 2009. It was soon discovered that much of the
wooden body frame was rotten so over a lengthy period Terry Damerel
single-handedly removed panels and WHOTT volunteer, Alan Ellis,
rebuilt sections of pillars. The coach is now much admired at events
such as Dorchester and Weston super Mare and in 2024 spent two
months on show in the former WEMS garage at Burnham on Sea. |
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