OAX 9F. A 1968 Bristol RELH with Leyland 600 engine & Eastern Coach Works body.

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Luxury travel, swinging sixties style

This is the story of RED & WHITE Services Ltd and one of their classic British-built coaches new in 1968. We call her Ruby. Her details are:

type:       RELH (Rear Engine Long High)
finished:  16 September 1967
cost:        £3,358
Engine:   Leyland Motors Ltd
type:       Horizontal 600, diesel (9.8L)
Gearbox: Self-Changing Gears  
type:       5-speed, semi-automatic
Body:      Eastern Coach Works
finished: 10 February 1968
cost:       £3,600

The luxury interior had 47 leather-trimmed seats (with arm rests, ashtrays & footrests); fluorescent lighting; forced-air ventilation; floor-mounted heaters; electrically powered folding doors and aisle carpet.

RED & WHITE received our coach on 5 March 1968. Two days later they registered her OAX 9F with fleet number: RC.968. 

Ruby was 1 of 10 Bristol RELH/ECW mark-1 coaches delivered to RED & WHITE in spring 1968 (registrations: OAX 1-10F). They joined 11 similar coaches (new in 1966), with Gardner engines (GWO 1-11D). In 1969 the company bought 11 more (SAX 1-11G) which, like ours, was powered by the Leyland 600 engine. 

Initially, Ruby was based at Aberdare depot, but soon transferred to Tredegar, from where she worked for 13 years. She also worked short periods from Chepstow and Monmouth depots.

Ruby's main Associated Motorways express coach services were: 
South Wales Valleys - Cheltenham; Swansea - Cheltenham and Cardiff – London (Victoria Coach Station).

On summer weekends she was used on holiday express services to seaside resorts like: Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Minehead, Paignton and Weymouth. See her destination blind. 


In 1974 Ruby lost all trace of red. She was painted into the National Bus Company all-over white ‘NATIONAL’ coach livery. In 1979 she was down-graded to a dual-purpose bus and painted half poppy-red and half white. She then ran limited-stop bus routes from the South Wales valleys into Cardiff and Newport. 


Ruby was withdrawn by National Welsh in July 1983 after 15-years service. Between 1968 and 1983 a great deal of economic, industrial and social changes took place. Ruby was bought for preservation in September 1983 and has had 6 owners since then.


She’s now unique - the only Bristol RELH with ECW mk-1 body fitted with a Leyland 600 engine. Similar coach (SAX 1G) survives, but has not been roadworthy for over 25 years.


Over the last 10 years a lot of restoration work has been undertaken. And work is ongoing!  


Why Ruby ?

Ruby's chassis was completed in September 1967 - which was known as the "summer of love" (due to the hippy festivals that year).  Our coach was bought by a company whose name and livery included red. So, we named her Ruby (after the red gemstone associated with love). Oh and yes, we do love her too! 


Enjoy Ruby's gallery & YouTube experiences.


Thanks for visiting. 

  

Jonathan & Ruby                                                                          

Updated:20/11/24

Click on a logo (below) for information and pictures about each company.

REjoice in the rhythm of the ride

Enjoy more of Ruby on YouTube

1964 to 2024

It's now 60-years since the first 122 production models of the Bristol RELH with Eastern Coach Works mk-1 bodies went into service with coach operators across England and Wales in 1964.


Pictured here, 861 UAE the first production coach.


Read the full story & see more pictures >

Between 1963 and 1970, Eastern Coach Works built 413 bodies on Bristol RELH chassis.

For details of the number of these coaches delivered to new each operator click here.

25 survive of which 14 are restored and roadworthy. 

OAX 9F (Ruby) pictured in 1968 at Victoria Coach  Station, London, in her first year of service .
Courtesy of Alistair Holt / the KDH Archive (flickr).

L to R - Brand new: OAX 3F, OAX 5F and OAX 10F, plus 2-year old GWO 11D at the Central Works, Bulwark, Chepstow in March 1968.

 RED & WHITE 
magazine
LIMITED   EDITION
16-page, full colour A4-size glossy magazine about Ruby (front cover shown).

It gives details of the companies that built her; the companies she operated for; the routes she used to run and information about her restoration. Includes original Bristol RELH chassis drawing from 1966.
 just £2.50
(2nd class postage in a hard tube costs an extra £2.20). 
Please email: info@redandwhitebus.com to order a brochure.
Payment by Paypal please.

Proceeds go towards the upkeep of Ruby. Thanks!
Ruby's brochure cover
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