LATE 1920s MIDLAND RED BUS
Reg No: CN 2870 - new 1927
Operator: Northern General Transport
Chassis: SOS (Midland Red) Queen
Engine: SOS 4.33 litre 4-cylinder petrol
Gearbox: Crash
Body: Brush 37 seats (to Midland Red design)
Midland Red’s desire to build a lightweight bus, seating as many passengers as possible within a vehicle length of 25 feet, led to the introduction of the SOS ‘Queen’ in 1927. It was one of the lightest full-size buses ever produced, weighing only 4 tons 4 cwts 2 qtrs unladen. Over 650 ‘Queen’s and derivatives were built for Midland Red and associated companies and earned a reputation for reliability. Buses rarely lasted much longer than 10 years at this time of rapid design development but, with the Second World War interrupting replacement programmes, some ‘Queen’s gave over 20 years service.
CN 2870 is one of many supplied to the North-East England operator, Northern General Transport, entering service on 1 May 1927. The square sided body was later modernised by Northern; the provision of metal panels over the existing bodyframe played a major part in the vehicle’s survival when it was sold in 1946 to become a caravan in the Northumberland countryside.
The Museum’s predecessor society viewed the relic in November 1974 and, despite the amount of work and lack of running units, purchased it the same day. Terrific news in 1976 was the discovery of another ‘Queen’ chassis, complete with running units, entombed within a building on the South Coast. The building was demolished, the chassis dismantled and a replacement building acquired! As can be seen, substantial work has been done at great expense to ensure that, when finished, the bus will look as it did with Northern in May 1927.
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 Email: enquiries@wythall.org.uk
