Clydeside 2000 had its origins in the mid-1980s when the Scottish Bus Group was enlarged from seven operating subsidiaries to eleven. One of the new operators to emerge was Clydeside Scottish in March 1985, and this was responsible for more than 300 buses operating from depots including Greenock, Inchinnan, Johnstone, Largs. Paisley. Rothesay, and Thornliebank.
The privatisation of the Scottish Bus Group was announced in 1988, along with a plan to merge the Clydeside Scottish and Western Scottish operations under the latter's control. However, with the agreement of Western’s management, the Clydeside staff teamed up with Luton & District to finance a £25 million buyout, and the new independent Clydeside 2000 began trading on 14th October 1991.
The new company soon expanded, but in November 1995 British Bus, which by this time had taken over Luton & District, took full control of the company. A fleet reduction soon followed, and the name changed to Clydeside Buses in late 1995. The following August, British Bus was acquired by the Cowie Group, but Clydeside Buses continued until November 1997 when the Cowie Group was absorbed into the Arriva operation.
This Clydeside 2000 twin pack is the second special gift set produced under the EFE Road banner after the Ensignbus Cravens RTs in 2024. It pays homage to Clydeside 2000 by featuring two notable vehicles from its once extensive fleet. The first of these is AEC Routemaster RML registration WLT900, which is depicted in its circa 1992 condition in Clydeside 2000’s smart red and yellow livery. As fleet number G99, it is presented as working a local service with a Greenock Town Centre destination.
The second vehicle in the gift set is one of the ubiquitous Alexander Y-Type bodied Leyland Leopards, which again is adorned with the bold Clydeside 2000 livery as carried in the early 1990s. This dual purpose 49-seater carried fleet number 630 and came to Scotland following a career with Lancaster City Transport. It is depicted working Service 17 to Glasgow via the Clyde Tunnel.
The Routemaster model is based on EFE Road’s refined and updated RML tooling, which incorporates full bodyside panel lines for the first time on an EFE RML. The Y-Type features Alexander’s later style of front grille design with twin headlights, and comes with 4-leaf doors – a combination never seen before on an EFE Y-Type.
- Colours/details of final model may vary from illustration
- Authentically detailed die-cast models from EFE Road
- Complementary to OO scale model railways (1:76 scale)
