Reg No: JUE 349 – chassis new 1950, body new 1963
Operator: Stratford-upon-Avon Blue Motor Services Ltd (“Stratford Blue”)
Chassis: Leyland Tiger PS2/3
Engine: Leyland O.600 9.8 litre 6-cylinder diesel
Gearbox: Synchromesh
Body: Northern Counties 63 seats
1960s REBUILD FROM SINGLE-DECKER TO DOUBLE-DECKER
Stratford Blue was a subsidiary of Midland Red, but pursued its own vehicle purchasing policy, stocking up with new Leyland Titan PD2 double-deckers and Leyland Tiger PS2 single-deckers in the immediate post-war period. Half-cab single-deckers were already going out of fashion when the six PS2s were delivered in 1950, and by the early 1960s they still had relatively low mileage compared to its PD2s, which were mechanically similar.
Fellow BET company Yorkshire Traction had already begun converting some of its Leyland Tigers by refurbishing the chassis and having new double-deck bodies fitted. This effectively provided a new bus without the cost of an up-to-date chassis. Yorkshire Traction assisted Stratford Blue in converting five of its vehicles, one with a Roe body in 1961, and four with Northern Counties bodies in 1963. JUE 349 is one of the latter. Its fleet number was changed from 51 to 33 when rebodied.
It served eight more years as a double-decker with Stratford Blue, but was withdrawn in 1971, shortly after the company was absorbed into Midland Red. Then, along with two of the other three, it was sold to G & G Coaches of Leamington Spa, where it remained in service until 1981. By now its chassis was thirty-one years old and its body eighteen years old.
Preservation
JUE 349 was acquired for preservation and restored during the 1980s, but later suffered a wanton attack that undid those efforts. It was thus in a rather sorry state when it came to Wythall in May 1996. Fortunately, extensive restoration work by a small dedicated team, which began in earnest in 2015, is due for completion in 2021.