The only UK museum dedicated to the story of an independent operator has been officially opened, revealing a collection of everything from ticket rolls to double-deckers and a historic inspector’s cap
Buses editor Alan Millar officially opened the Delaine Bus Museum at Bourne, Lincolnshire on 8 June. Currently the only UK bus museum dedicated to the story of a single commercial operator, the purpose-built facility — on part of the site occupied by the independent operator’s garage and head office — is the responsibility of a charity, the Delaine Heritage Trust, which was established in 2015 to display in perpetuity the collection of heritage buses, photographs, artefacts and memorabilia of the company, which introduced its first motorbus 100 years ago in 1919.
The trust has five Delaine buses from five decades of the 20th century. These are 1956 Willowbrook-bodied Leyland Titan PD2/20 45 (KTL 780), 1960 Yeates-bodied Leyland Titan PD3/1 50 (RCT 3), 1973 Northern Counties-bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68/2R 72 (ACT 540L), 1987 Duple Dominant-bodied Leyland Tiger 100 (E100 AFW) and 1995 East Lancs-bodied Volvo Olympian 116 (M1 OCT).
The museum currently accommodates 47 (MTL 750), a 1958 Yeates Europa-bodie…
