Fire damaged JAA 708 at the BUSES festival, Sywell - 1 Sep 2024 (P1190421)

Sunday 1 September 2024 – BUSES Festival, Sywell Aerodrome

The Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB), a preservation charity founded in 1985 in the memory of the Winchester based King Alfred Motor Services (KAMS), suffered a major blow in early December 2023 when one of their prized preserved vehicles was burnt out at a storage location.

The vehicle, a 1950 Leyland Olympic registered JAA 708, was the first underfloor-engined bus to operate in Hampshire. It had been repatriated from Ireland during the early 2000s and after a number of years being restored made its public debut in time for the 2012 London Olympics.

It was displayed at the ‘BUSES Festival’ rally (hosted by ‘BUSES’ magazine) as part of the charity’s fund raising effort to restore the vehicle again.

To assist in the movement of the bus ‘post fire’ new road wheels and steering wheel have replaced those consumed in the fire.

Parked alongside to give a downward view of the damaged bus is HOR 590E FoKABs Roe bodied Leyland Atlantean PDR1/2 that was new as a normal covered top bus to KAMS in April 1967.