< View previous picture - View next picture > Photographer / Copyright Philip Hambling Images should not be reused without permission. View vehicle details 46F FCD243X M2 WYC736H 932 WYC736H 921 FCD243X 932 Q894JKO Location Link/s Dartford Garage Date added to site 14/09/2020 Printer-friendly version of this page

Details: Two service vehicles were found at Dartford Garage in January 1988. The main subject is an AEC recovery truck fitted with an 'Ergomatic' cab, though the actual model has been quoted as both a Mercury and a Matador. Two such vehicles were bought by London Country Bus Services from International Wreckers in 1976 and given the fleetnumbers M1 and M2 and a yellow livery. The vehicle shown here was M2 and was new in either 1969 or 1971, depending on the source. Registration number WYC736H was also quoted (which would suggest the 1969 date was correct), though the vehicle was normally used on trade plates. When LCBS was split up in 1986, M2 passed to London Country South East, which was soon renamed Kentishbus. The traditional green livery was replaced by a modern cream and maroon scheme, and all the vehicles and routes were renumbered. M2 was repainted and became 932 (the number is just visible in black lettering on the maroon band on the driver's door). Changes in trade plate legislation saw the vehicle given a new 'dateless' registration Q894JKO. 932 lasted until at least 1993 but was presumably withdrawn not long after that. Lurking in the shadows is Ford Cargo dropside lorry FCD243X, still in LCBS green but with a Kentishbus cream panel applied to the front. This had been LCBS 46F (new in 1981), was renumbered 921 by Kentishbus and was also withdrawn by the mid-1990s. The fact that these two vehicles require five vehicle details links between them highlights something of a flaw in the design of this website. Each vehicle entry can only have one set of details (owner, reg, number, livery etc). So, when significant details change, an additional entry has to be made. Because of this, the AEC has an entry as LCBS M2, another as Kentishbus WYC736H and a third as Kentishbus Q894JKO. Similarly the Ford has an entry under both LCBS and Kentishbus. This is not really a problem with photographs but it does mean that sightings and notes (which only link to one vehicle ID) can be spread around rather than combined. This is something I will be looking into when designing the next version of this site.

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Posted By	Comments	Date/Time
Ray	DVLA currently shows WYC736H as live on a 1/10/1969 2850cc AEC in red	Tue 15/09/2020, 14:45