King Alfred POU 494 at Sutton Scotney - 1 Jan 2004 (518-06)

Thursday 1 January 2004 – ‘Friends of King Alfred Buses’ (FoKAB) Running Day at Winchester (and surrounding area)

Preserved former King Alfred Motor Services POU 494 Leyland PD2/24 with East Lancs ‘lowbridge’ body. New October 1956. After failing its annual test in 1972 it was sold to a dealer who painted it red and shipped it to the USA as a former ‘London’ bus. Acquired by Trotter Realty Co., in Augusta, Georgia they ran it until 1987 then gave it to the Augusta Richmond County Museum who later agreed to exchange it for another UK bus through James Freeman (one of the founders of the ‘Friends of King Alfred Buses’ society). Restoration began in 1994 and was completed in time for the August 1998 ‘Trans Pennine Run’. It made its debut on the FoKAB running day on 1 January 1999. The annual running day sees different preserved buses running a network of fully timetabled free services to create a 1960s atmosphere. Seen at 0905 in the village of Sutton Scotney when working the 0850 service from Whitchurch to Winchester.