Glasgow trams led to the elimination of the service and the four buses were sold to
Western SMT in 1932. Single-decker buses were instead employed on the Linwood to
Hawkhead service and were joined in 1940 by the first of seven ex-Glasgow Leyland Titan TD1 double-deckers to cope with increased traffic. A limited company was established in 1953, and around the same time, the livery changed to orange and cream, the colours of the former Young of Paisley fleet.
Services increased significantly in 1963 after
Rootes (later
Chrysler
FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...
and then
Talbot
Talbot is a dormant automobile marque introduced in 1902 by British-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément ...
) opened its car plant in Linwood. The 1959
Elderslie to
Penilee service and the Hawkhead route were extended, with the Hawkhead route connecting with the
Glasgow Subway at
Govan subway station
Govan subway station is a station that serves the area of Govan in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located on the south side of the River Clyde. Just south of the station is the main depot and test track for the Glasgow Subway. The station is located ...
. In 1973, Grahams of Paisley took over the Paisley Bridge of Weir service provided by Pattison of Paisley, dedicating two vehicles to this route. Garner, Bridge of Weir, participated in furnishing this service until late 1968. Grahams of Paisley extended some Linwood buses to
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
in early 1969 to replace the Garner service.
History turned a full circle in 1977, when the
Greater Glasgow PTE sponsored a “Linwood Clipper” service, worked jointly by Grahams and Western SMT, which ran from Linwood to central Glasgow via the
M8 motorway. For a time, Grahams also participated in the Kilmacolm to Glasgow "Link Line" services following the elimination of train services in January 1983, but later withdrew from the routes.
Fleet
Double-decker
Guy Arab
The Guy Arab was a bus chassis manufactured by Guy Motors. It was introduced in 1933 as a double deck chassis.
In 1942, Guy launched a modified version with wartime constraints requiring components previously made of aluminium to be made from ...
s were the standard intake between 1944 and 1963 but finally disappeared in 1977. Their place was taken by
Daimler Fleetline
The Daimler Fleetline (known as the Leyland Fleetline from circa 1975) is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis which was built between 1960 and 1983.
It was the second of three bus models to have a marque name as well as an alphanumeric ...
s, which were replaced by new or second-hand
Leyland Atlantean
The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland Motors between 1958 and 1986.
Only 17 Atlantean chassis were bodied as single deck from new.
It pioneered the design of rear-engined, front entrance ...
s and the ex-
London Transport Daimler Fleetlines. A
Ford R1114 demonstrator, bought in 1972, was the first single-decker for many years and was followed by an assortment of single-deckers, mostly
Leyland Leopard
The Leyland Leopard was a mid-engine design, mid-engined single-decker bus and single-decker bus, single-decker coach (bus), coach chassis manufactured by Leyland Bus, Leyland between 1959 and 1982.
History
The Leyland Leopard was introduced ...
s, to work on the Bridge of Weir and Linwood Clipper services. One of the more unusual vehicles operated was a former
Alexander
Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here ar ...
bodied M-Type
Volvo
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
which had started life with
Western SMT on its Glasgow to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
service.
At the close of business about 30 vehicles were operated.
Demise
The company ceased trading on 29 April 1990, having been up for sale for over a month. Replacement services were provided by
Western Scottish and
Strathclyde Buses. The Western Scottish replacement routes largely operated under route number 28.
[Western News (Journal of the Western Enthusiasts Club), May/June 1990 issue]
References
{{Defunct British Bus Companies
Transport companies disestablished in 1990
1990 disestablishments in Scotland
Former bus operators in Scotland