Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
Encyclopedia
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish
bus coachbuilder and operater based in Falkirk
.
In 1924 Walter senior was so confident about the future of the "omnibus" he decided to set up his own company not just to run them - but build them as well. In 1928, several of the major British railway companies bought into the Scottish Motor Traction Company Limited
(SMT). Walter Alexander decided to sell his bodybuilding business to the SMT group in 1929, and through this action, received access to a vast supply of resources and services.
In 1945 the newly elected Labour Government brought about nationalisation of bus services which resulted in W. Alexander & Sons Limited becoming Walter Alexander & Co (Coachbuilders) Limited by 1948.
Between 1948 - 1961 its bus operation were operated a single intraday, before being split into 3 companies: Fife Scottish
, Midland Scottish
and Northern Scottish
.
Coachbuilder's part of the business continued to flourish and expansion was rapid. In 1969 the company bought out Potters, a bodybuilder in Northern Ireland
, and set up a subsidiary Walter Alexander & Co (Belfast) Limited, while within 6 years started selling its first buses to the Far East.
The ownership of the company had been changed several times afterwards: In 1990 the family sold the company to Spotlaunch plc but within two years a management buyout and became a standalone company until 1995 when it was bought by the Mayflower Corporation plc. In 2001, it was incorporated into TransBus International. It is now part of Alexander Dennis
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
bus coachbuilder and operater based in Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
.
History
Walter Alexander, notice a lack expasion by the Falkirk and District Tramways Company's especially in to Grangemouth which never hdd a tram line. In 1913 Alexander's Motor Service was created to provide the service to Grangemouth before expanding.In 1924 Walter senior was so confident about the future of the "omnibus" he decided to set up his own company not just to run them - but build them as well. In 1928, several of the major British railway companies bought into the Scottish Motor Traction Company Limited
Scottish Motor Traction
Scottish Motor Traction was founded in Edinburgh in 1905. It operated buses in much of central Scotland. Aside from its traditional bus operations, it operated an air taxi service with a De Havilland Fox Moth between July 18 and October 31, 1932 and for many years owned Dryburgh Abbey Hotel...
(SMT). Walter Alexander decided to sell his bodybuilding business to the SMT group in 1929, and through this action, received access to a vast supply of resources and services.
In 1945 the newly elected Labour Government brought about nationalisation of bus services which resulted in W. Alexander & Sons Limited becoming Walter Alexander & Co (Coachbuilders) Limited by 1948.
Between 1948 - 1961 its bus operation were operated a single intraday, before being split into 3 companies: Fife Scottish
Fife Scottish
Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was formed as a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Walter Alexander & Sons Ltd and is now part of the Stagecoach Group, trading as Stageoach in Fife.- History :...
, Midland Scottish
Midland Scottish
Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Walter Alexander and Sons Ltd, and operated until 1991 when it became Midland Bluebird Ltd.- Operation :...
and Northern Scottish
Northern Scottish
Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Walter Alexander & Sons Ltd and operated until 1992, when it became Bluebird Buses Ltd...
.
Coachbuilder's part of the business continued to flourish and expansion was rapid. In 1969 the company bought out Potters, a bodybuilder in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and set up a subsidiary Walter Alexander & Co (Belfast) Limited, while within 6 years started selling its first buses to the Far East.
The ownership of the company had been changed several times afterwards: In 1990 the family sold the company to Spotlaunch plc but within two years a management buyout and became a standalone company until 1995 when it was bought by the Mayflower Corporation plc. In 2001, it was incorporated into TransBus International. It is now part of Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis
Alexander Dennis Limited is the largest bus builder in the United Kingdom. It incorporated the three last surviving bus manufacturers which started bus production before World War II: Dennis, Alexander and Plaxton.- History :Alexander Dennis was formed as TransBus on 1 January 2001, after the...
.
Products
Walter Alexander built many different types of bodywork over 50 years, with the most famous being the Y-Type.Railcars
- British Rail Class 143British Rail Class 143The British Rail Class 143 is a diesel multiple unit, part of the Pacer family of trains introduced between 1985 and 1986. They originally worked in the North-East of England but were later transferred to Wales and South-West England....
- on underframes by Andrew BarclayAndrew Barclay & Sons Co.Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. was a builder of steam and diesel locomotives, based in Kilmarnock, Scotland, that was founded in 1840 and is now owned by Wabtec Rail.- History :... - British Rail Class 144British Rail Class 144The British Rail Class 144 "Pacer" diesel multiple units were built by BREL Derby from 1986-1987. A total of 23 units were built, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs....
- on underframes by BRELBRELBritish Rail Engineering Limited , was the railway systems engineering division of British Rail, until the design and building of trains in the UK was privatised in 1993. On 31 October 1969, the company was incorporated as British Rail Engineering Limited.-Main products:The vast majority of BREL's...
Double-deck buses
- A type and J type - double-deck body (for Atlantean/Fleetline) to 1972
- D type, K type and AD type (A for alloy) - lowheight double-deck body (mainly on Fleetline chassis)
- L type and AL type - double-deck body (for Atlantean/Fleetline/VR) from 1972
- AV type - double-deck body for Volvo Ailsa B55
- R type - including RH, RL, RV, RLC, RVC, RHS and Royale - post 1981 double deck body
- ALX series - including ALX400Alexander ALX400The Alexander ALX400 is a 2-axle double-decker bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders...
& ALX500Alexander ALX500The Alexander ALX500 is a 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was one of the ALX-series, which accounted for 5 different models , all of the models except the ALX100 featured the same designs on the front and rear panels that were originally designed for the...
- low-floor bodies - CB type - for China Motor BusChina Motor BusChina Motor Bus Company Ltd. , often abbreviated as CMB, was the first motor bus company in Hong Kong, and was responsible for the introduction of double-decker buses to Hong Kong Island....
- KB type - for Kowloon Motor BusKowloon Motor BusThe Kowloon Motor Bus Company Limited , a company of the Transport International Holdings Limited, is the largest franchised bus operators in Hong Kong, and one of the largest privately owned public bus operators in the world...
- LB type - for New Lantao BusNew Lantao BusThe New Lantao Bus Company Limited – known as New Lantao Bus, or NLB – is a franchised bus company operating in Hong Kong.-History:...
- MB type - for Manila Bus
- SB type - for Singapore Bus ServiceSingapore Bus ServiceSingapore Bus Services was a public bus operator in Singapore formed in 1973 with the merger of three private bus companies, namely the Amalgamated Bus Company Limited, the Associated Bus Services Limited and the United Bus Limited...
Single-deck buses and coaches
- Y typeAlexander Y TypeThe Alexander Y Type was a long-running design of single-deck bus or coach bodywork built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders of Falkirk, Scotland. It was built on a wide range of chassis between 1962 and 1983...
- including AY and AYS types (A for alloy) - W type
- M type - Motorway coach for Scottish Bus GroupScottish Bus GroupThe Scottish Bus Group was a state-owned Scottish holding company that included a number of bus operators covering the whole of Scotland. The group was formed in 1961 as Scottish Omnibuses Group Ltd, to take control of the British Transport Commission's bus operating subsidiaries in Scotland...
Anglo-Scottish services - T type - including AT, TS, TC, TE (A for alloy, S for stage, C for coach, E for express)
- P type
- PS typeAlexander PS typeThe Alexander PS is a type of bus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders, and was produced between the late 1980s and 1990s on Dennis Lance, Mercedes-Benz O405, Scania and Volvo B10M chassis...
- development of P type, popular with Stagecoach and SBS Transit - AF type (Strider)Alexander StriderThe Alexander Strider was a single-decker bus body produced in Scotland by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders between 1993 and 1997. The body was available on Dennis Lance, Volvo B10B, Volvo B10M, Scania N113 and Scania L113 chassis....
- for full-size rear-engined chassis - AM type
- Sprint - minibus body
- DashAlexander DashThe Alexander Dash is a midibus body built by Walter Alexander Coachbuilders of Scotland during the 1990s. It was one of the variants of Alexander's AM-type body and was usually combined with the Dennis Dart and Volvo B6 step-entrance bus chassis....
- midibus body (for Dennis DartDennis DartThe Dennis Dart is a rear-engined midibus built by Dennis in the United Kingdom. More than 11,000 were built during 18 years of production....
/Volvo B6Volvo B6The Volvo B6 is a midibus manufactured by Volvo between 1991 and 2000. Its low-floor variant, the Volvo B6LE, was first built in 1994.The Volvo B6/B6LE chassis was built to compete with the Dennis Dart/Dart SLF chassis. It could be fitted with Volvo TD63E/TD63ES engine...
)
- Ultra - Alexander (Belfast) version of Swedish Säffle body for the Volvo B10LVolvo B10LThe Volvo B10L is a rear-engined, low-floor single-deck city bus chassis built by Volvo between c. 1993 and c. 2005. An articulated version of the B10L, known as the B10LA, was also produced.-United Kingdom:...
- ALX series
- ALX100Alexander ALX100The Alexander ALX100 was a minibus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. Over 150 bodies were built between 1997 and 1999, exclusively on the Mercedes-Benz O814D Vario and O810D van chassis, and was fitted with seating capacities between 25 and 31 passengers.The ALX100 was a replacement...
- minibus - ALX200Alexander ALX200The Alexander ALX200 was a midibus body built by Alexander of the United Kingdom. It was one of the ALX-series, which accounted for 5 different models , built for new generation bus chassis produced since late 1990s.It was designed by John Worker, and was launched in summer...
- small low-floor single-deck - ALX300Alexander ALX300The Alexander ALX300 is a full size single-decker bus body built by Alexander at Falkirk, Scotland, United Kingdom, which was first built in 1997...
- full-size low-floor single-deck
- ALX100
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Alexander (Belfast) buses
- X type - for Leyland LeopardLeyland LeopardThe Leyland Leopard was a mid-engined single-deck bus and coach chassis built by Leyland between 1959 and 1982. It was popular with bus and coach operators throughout the British Isles...
and Bristol REBristol REThe Bristol RE was a rear-engined single-deck bus chassis built by Bristol Commercial Vehicles from 1962 until 1982. It is widely considered the most successful of the first generation of rear-engined single-deckers.... - N type - for Leyland TigerLeyland TigerThe Leyland Tiger, also known as the B43, was a mid-engined bus and coach chassis which was built between 1981 and 1993. This name had previously been used for a front-engined bus built between 1920s and 1950s. It replaced the Leyland Leopard, which had been in production for over 20 years...
, LynxLeyland LynxThe Leyland Lynx is a single-decker bus built by Leyland between 1984 and 1992. It was designed to replace the ageing Leyland National.Production vehicles began to enter service in 1986. From 1990 to 1992 the updated Lynx II version was produced...
, and B21 - Q type - for Leyland Tiger and Volvo B10MVolvo B10MThe Volvo B10M is a popular mid-engined bus and coach chassis built by Volvo between 1978 and 2001. It was built as the successor of the B58 and was equipped with a 9.6-litre horizontally-mounted Volvo THD100/THD101/THD102/THD103/THD104/DH10A diesel engine mounted under the floor, near the middle...
- D type - for Leyland OlympianLeyland OlympianThe Leyland Olympian was a double-decker bus built by British Leyland/Leyland Bus in the United Kingdom from 1980 to 1993. It was the last Leyland bus model in production before the demise of Leyland Bus.-Construction:...
and Volvo OlympianVolvo OlympianThe Volvo Olympian was a rear-engine double decker bus built by Volvo at Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. It was first built in 1992 and entered production in March 1993, replacing the Leyland Olympian....