Bus planned for operation: Q83

It seems impossible to believe that the design of the AEC Q - side-engine, full front and no radiator - is over 75 years old.  Yet the first prototype dates from 1932 and London Transport selected the Q as their standard single-decker in 1935.  100 were bought for the Country Area, 80 for Central and 50 Green Line coaches.

 

The Country Buses, of sub-type 4Q4, featured a roof that sloped from front to back and a centre entrance.  The geometry of the side engine meant that the rear axle was right at the back and carried only single wheels rather than the normal double.  One can only imagine that these buses must have created quite a stir.  One of the routes on which they were used when new was the 418 to Kingston from Leatherhead Garage.  After the war, a number moved to the Central Area, in most but not all cases being repainted red.  We are delighted that Cobham's Q83 will be in service on 10 August.

 

 

The red buses, the 5Q5s, were revolutionary in having the entrance (with no door) in front of the front wheels.  Visually attractive, with long side windows and the emergency door moved to the centre at the back (a format to become a standard Chiswick feature), they were introduced in 1936 to, amongst others, route 200 from Merton Garage.  In the end, only 53 of the batch were red, the others going to help out the Country Area.  Sadly, no 5Q5s survive.

 

The Green Line 6Q6s reverted to the centre door of the 4Q4, but without the sloping roof.  Like 4Q4s, some came to work in the Central Area after the war, in this case still in green to Muswell Hill for a few months before the arrival of the first red RFs for the 210.