SMS 337
There's never a dull day at Reliance Bus Works ... save for our own personal black cloud!
This morning before leaving home I was advised by a member of staff that 'That bus has arrived from Malta'. When eventually I got to the yard, there was a low loader owned by a Maltese firm, with a Romanian registered tractor unit, driven by an Italian (who didn't speak any English), with a re-patriated London Transport AEC Swift aboard.
SMS 337 was one of a large number of such vehicles exported to Malta in the 1980s and which (some in modified form, some fairly original) eked out a respectable life on the hot Mediterranean island.
EGN 337J was one of those which survived to the end of the classic British bus in Malta in largely un-modified form working for the Ministry of Education. The latter fact made it a good candidate for preservation. It's life as such began on the island, but recently it was sold on and has now returned to the UK for ongoing preservation. Having had a look underneath it today the chassis is in absolutely perfect condition with only the slightest signs of surface rust. With batteries fitted, it fired into life within a turn even though the outside temperature here was but 4 degrees 'c'.
SMS 337
There's never a dull day at Reliance Bus Works ... save for our own personal black cloud!
This morning before leaving home I was advised by a member of staff that 'That bus has arrived from Malta'. When eventually I got to the yard, there was a low loader owned by a Maltese firm, with a Romanian registered tractor unit, driven by an Italian (who didn't speak any English), with a re-patriated London Transport AEC Swift aboard.
SMS 337 was one of a large number of such vehicles exported to Malta in the 1980s and which (some in modified form, some fairly original) eked out a respectable life on the hot Mediterranean island.
EGN 337J was one of those which survived to the end of the classic British bus in Malta in largely un-modified form working for the Ministry of Education. The latter fact made it a good candidate for preservation. It's life as such began on the island, but recently it was sold on and has now returned to the UK for ongoing preservation. Having had a look underneath it today the chassis is in absolutely perfect condition with only the slightest signs of surface rust. With batteries fitted, it fired into life within a turn even though the outside temperature here was but 4 degrees 'c'.