That time Vancouver brought over a double decker bus from London, England. It was for the 1936 Golden Jubilee celebrations, and remarkably, omnibus B340 (LA 9928) is one of the few remaining examples that survive to this day.
The first three photos above were taken in Chiswick, London, and photos 2 and 3 show the men who were believed to be responsible for negotiating the loan of the bus, Mr. B.E. Adams (role unknown, possibly with London Transport?), the Agent-General for British Columbia Mr. W.A. McAdam, and the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company Mr. P. Ashley Cooper. The Lethbridge Herald ran the second of these photos on page 5, January 06, 1936, likely taken in late 1935, with the following caption:
One of the two remaining pre-war omnibuses of the London passenger transport board to survive the great war is to be loaned to the city of Vancouver for their jubilee celebrations next year. Mr. W. A. McAdam (LEFT) acting agent-general for British Columbia, and Mr. P. Ashley Cooper, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, inspecting the old war-time bus at the Chiswick (London) garage of the London passenger transport board.
The number of remaining pre-war omnibuses has actually gone up since then. It looks like there are now at least 4 surviving models, though I don’t know if they can all boast pre-war manufacture dates; B43 (1910), B340 (1911), B1609 (1911), and B2737 (1914, but I’m unsure of the month). A fifth bus, B214 LA9802 (1911) has an original chassis, but the engine, wheels and front axle came from the remnants of two other B-Types, while the body was found in a Sussex garden that had originated with an East Surrey B-Type built in 1912. As of 2014, it looks like B214 is once again requiring restoration; I'm not sure what the plans are with this one. If it gets restored in the near future, perhaps we can bump the number up to five. I’ve since learned from a comment by Tony Barfield on flickr that B214 is...
...now owned by the Thames Valley & Great Western Trust and now in store near Windsor. LT Museum purchased THREE B type chassis from the Ward brothers collection near Harrogate, Yorkshire. One they have restored is B1056, which is now the Battle bus.
Additionally, the Self-Preservation-Society notes an unrestored chassis B1056, though I don’t know if this has since been used elsewhere. You can see a photo of this chassis from 2014 here. B5103 was sold back in 2014 for £281,500 at Bonhams (where there’s an extensive vehicle history), though this example dates from 1922.
In a number of photos, the Vancouver Archives refers to the bus as "Old Bill", but the real name "Ole Bill" didn’t really apply to bus B340 at all. A little closer to the truth, CVA 612-004 refers to the bus as "Old Bill’s" brother, though it should have been "Ole Bill’s Brother". It was the London General Omnibus Company B43 that became the WWI memorial known as "Ole Bill", and since the Brits were unable to loan us their national treasure for our 50th anniversary, they sent us the next best Omnibus, B340. CVA 612-006 informs us that the bus arrived at the Ballantyne Pier in Vancouver on May 6, 1936, and CVA 612-007 reveals the bus was a little bit temperamental, and the engine refused to be humoured! Finally, it did manage to get off the ship.
London Transit Museum provides a brief background on the original "Ole Bill", describing how the bus got its name:
A brass shell was mounted on the dashboard, ornate brass plates for the numbers on the bonnet sides and a brass bust of ‘Ole Bill, the cartoon figure created by Bruce Bairnsfather, formed the radiator cap. This association with the hugely popular cartoon character was to rapidly give the bus its nickname of ‘Ole Bill, commonly but incorrectly rendered as Old Bill. The title was derived from Bairnsfather’s first cartoon of two Tommies under fire in a shell hole, Bill saying to his companion, ‘If you knows of a better ‘ole, Go to it!’
B43 had been given a new body and overhauled for the Palace in 1920. Battle honours were added to the windows – Antwerp, Ypres, Ancre and Somme – before being handed over to the Auxiliary Omnibus Companies Association. The veterans used it for parades and funerals. At the King’s behest, the bus and veterans from Underground and the General took part in the first Armistice Day parade from 1920.
B43 remains preserved in the Imperial War Museum in London, while B340 is part of the London Transport Museum Collection. B-Type bus B2737 was recently converted to honour the “Battle Bus” of WWI, and more can be learned about this bus at the London Transport Museum.
It would appear the Vancouver Jubilee committee was still to some extent, re-enacting the end of WWI with this bus, as they filled it with soldiers and flags and paraded through the streets, much like the original "Ole Bill" had done in 1920.
This early double decker bus was of fundamental significance for transit in London, and the ripple effect was felt around the world. Our neighbours in Victoria have been using double decker buses since 2000, much earlier if you include the tourist buses run by Gray Line Tours, and Vancouver has just begun preliminary testing of the next generation double deckers on certain routes. To provide us with some of the significance of the B-Type bus, Doug Rose provides the backstory, along with some remarkable vector drawings that he created, shown above. From his website:
...there are strong arguments to say the B-Type was London’s first ‘standard’ motor bus. Though they were far from all being the same, the model was certainly the first to be mass produced and entered service in late 1910. The chassis, which varied in height, carried wooden bodies from more than one builder, closely reminiscent of their horse bus forebears. Steel wheels of different designs were used, with solid tyres, though there were no front brakes. A product of dominant operator the London General Omnibus Company, the bus was a success. Its overhanging upper deck variations saw a few different seating layouts too, though the norm was 16 lower and 18 upper. The early radiators had a flat top sporting ‘LGOC’, later being replaced by those more curved and displaying ‘GENERAL’. The wheelbase varied and a few single deckers were also built. Experiments with the ‘lifeguards’ between the wheels eventually settled on that shown in this drawing and these were retrospectively fitted to older buses. The bus entered service in 1911 though this drawing attempts to show B340 as closely as possible to how it looks in its state of preservation in 2014; several aspects need to be considered however. Requisitioned for the War effort in 1914 and staying in London, it returned to passenger service in 1916 but with a new body. It was withdrawn in 1924 and retained for preservation. After some meandering of locations and uses, it ended up in the British Transport Museum at Clapham in 1960. It was re-painted in red, as shown here, though B-Types had been a darker red until 1913. On the vehicle though not originally fitted are the front headlamps, added from 1913; the driver’s sun visor is a later addition and a far more modern offside mirror has been added; some of the reproduction adverts use typefaces not designed when the bus was in service.
Looking at those solid rubber tires, I can only imagine the experience must have been a rather bumpy ride! However uncomfortable, they were important first steps on the road to mass transit, and we’re fortunate to have shared in this historic legacy.
