LGOC B-type

B-type buses were built in Walthamstow and replaced the X-type bus. It had a 34-seat capacity and is often considered to be the first mass-produced bus.{{cite web |url=https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/collections/collections-online/vehicles/item/1981-514?&apiurl=aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkubHRtdXNldW0uY28udWsvdmVoaWNsZXM/c2hvcnQ9MSZza2lwPTAmbGltaXQ9NDg=&searchpage= |title=B-type LGOC open top motor bus bonnet No B340 registration mark LA9928, 1911 |access-date=2018-05-23}} The first bus began carrying passengers in 1911.{{Cite book |last=Ward |first=Rod |title=AEC Album Part One: to 1945 |publisher=Zeteo Publishing |year=2007 |pages=7 |OCLC=1014414977}} By 1913 over 2500 had been built.

The B-type was designed by Frank Searle, who was chief engineer of the LGOC. It had a wooden frame, steel wheels, a worm drive and chain gearbox. Its top speed was {{convert|16|mph|abbr=out}}, which was above the legal speed limit at that time of {{convert|12|mph}}. However the vehicle could reach {{convert|30|-|35|mph}} under the right conditions.{{cite web |url=http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/OnlineResources/X20L/Themes/1/1095/ |title=Exploring 20th Century London - Buses |publisher=Museum of London |access-date=2008-05-30 |date= |format= }}

B-types carried 16 passengers inside and had seats for 18 on the uncovered top deck. These outside seats were fitted with wet-weather canvas covers. Electric lighting was introduced from 1912, and headlights in 1913. Before this, it was thought that interior lighting would render the bus sufficiently visible at night.

A total of 900 of the buses were used to move troops behind the lines during World War I.{{cite book |last=Livesey |first=Jack |title=Armoured Fighting Vehicles of World Wars I and II |publisher=Southwater |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84476-370-2 |page=84}} After initially serving without any modifications and in their red-and-white livery, they were painted khaki. It was soon found that the glass windows on the lower deck were prone to breakage, mostly from contact with the men's rifles and packs. The glass was therefore removed and replaced by planks nailed to the sides of the vehicle.Destination Western Front: London's Omnibuses Go To War. R. Larkin, 2010. {{ISBN|978 0 956501400}} Others were converted to lorries or vans, with the bus bodies being placed in storage. Ward, 2007, p.9

The B-Type could carry 24 fully equipped infantrymen and their kit. Some were converted into mobile pigeon lofts to house the pigeons used for communication along the front. They served until the end of the war when they were used to bring troops home.

File:B43OleBillatIWMLondon.jpg

File:OldBill comic character.jpg
If you know of a better ‘ole . .]]

The Imperial War Museum preserves a B-Type bus, B43, which was built by AEC in 1911 and ran on London bus routes until being purchased by the War Office in 1914.{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/70000241 |author=Imperial War Museum |author-link=Imperial War Museum |year=2012 |title=AEC B Type Bus (B43 Old Bill) |work=Imperial War Museum Collections Search |publisher= |access-date=18 February 2012}} B43 served in France and Belgium until 1919 when it was repurchased by the LGOC. On 14 February 1920 B43 was inspected by King George V at Buckingham Palace, becoming the first bus any British monarch had ever boarded.{{#tag:ref|The inspection was filmed by a newsreel cameraman for Pathé Gazette.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/old-bill-king-inspects-bus |year=1920 |title=Old Bill - King Inspects Bus |access-date=15 August 2012 |publisher=British Pathé |work=www.britishpathe.com }}|group=nb}} During the early 1920s the bus was retired from service and preserved by the Auxiliary Omnibus Companies Association, who renamed it Ole Bill after Bruce Bairnsfather's celebrated caricature of a British soldier. Ole Bill continued to appear in commemorative parades,{{#tag:ref|At least two such appearances were recorded by Pathé cameramen in 1930 and 1960.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/steadily-shoulder-to-shoulder/ |year=1930 |title=Steadily... Shoulder To Shoulder|access-date=15 August 2012 |publisher=British Pathé |work=www.britishpathe.com }}{{cite web |url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/old-bill-aka-historic-transport |year=1960 |title=Old Bill AKA Historic Transport |access-date=15 August 2012 |publisher=British Pathé |work=www.britishpathe.com }}|group=nb}} before being presented to the Imperial War Museum in April 1970.{{cite web |url=http://archive.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.3213 |date= |access-date=15 August 2012 |work=Imperial War Museum: Your History |title=Ole Bill Bus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213051610/http://archive.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.3213 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}

In 1920 more than 60 buses were converted to single deckers with new bodies based on that of the K-type.{{cite book |editor1-last=Taylor |editor1-first=Sheila |title=The Moving Metropolis |date=2001 |publisher=Lawrence King Publishing |location=London |isbn=1 85669 326 0 |page=125}} The last double decker was withdrawn from regular service on 12 October 1926, though a few were held in reserve until 9 August 1927. The single deckers were all withdrawn by 18 October 1927. In all, over 2,900 had been built.{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Charles E |title=The Early Motor Bus |date=1974 |publisher=London Transport |location=Westminster |page=25}}

File:Aftermath Arras.jpg|British troops boarding "B types" following the Battle of Arras (May 1917)

File:Bus pigeon loft.jpg|As mobile pigeon loft in WWI

{{Portal|Buses}}

• List of buses

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

{{Reflist}}

• Thackray, Brian (2001). The AEC Story:Part 1. Venture Publications Ltd. {{ISBN|1-898432-37-6}}
• Thackray, Brian (2004). AEC Vehicles: Origins to 1929. Venture Publications Ltd. {{ISBN|1-898432-44-9}}
• Townsin, A. A. (1980). Blue Triangle. Transport Publishing Company. {{ISBN|0-903839-34-2}}
• Robbins, G.J., & Atkinson, J.B. The London B-Type Motor Omnibus, 1970
• Bruce, J.G. & Curtis, C.H. The London Motor Bus, London Transport, 1973. {{ISBN|0-85329-036-9}}

{{Commons category|LGOC B-type Bus}}

{{AEC range|state=collapsed}}

{{WWI British Soft Vehicles|state=collapsed}}

Category:AEC buses

Category:Double-decker buses

Category:World War I vehicles of the United Kingdom