2 restored RED & WHITE BRISTOL RE's:  

 1967 RESL bus: LAX 101E, RS.167

1968 RELH coach: OAX 9F, RC.968

Both powered by Leyland 600 engines, which now makes them unique. 

In 1965 RED & WHITE decided not to buy any more double decker's. The likely reasons for this decision were:

• Bristol RE buses seat 54 passengers, making decker's less necessary;
• Bristol RE's offered cost savings - they could be operated by one man (without a conductor);
• declining passenger numbers meant there was less need for the seating capacity of decker's;
• they had 72 Bristol 'Lodekka' (LD, FS & FL) double decker's that would be in service into the mid-1970's. 

In September 1965 the first BRISTOL RE's for RED & WHITE started to arrive. They were eleven BRISTOL RELL's, 36-foot long low frame models. They had:

• Gardner 6HLW engines;
• 5-speed manual gearboxes;
• air suspension;
• seated 54-passengers;
• ECW bus bodywork;
• electrically powered entrance doors.

Registered GAX 1C to 11C with fleet numbers: R165 to R1165. These buses were intended to replace elderly GUY Arab double decker's on the Cardiff-Chepstow-Lydney-Gloucester trunk route 13 (later re-numbered route 73).

Most of this batch were based in Forest of Dean garages (Chepstow, Cinderford, Coleford, Lydney, Monmouth & Ross). They were all withdrawn between August 1979 & June 1980.

Today, GAX 2C, R265 survives in preservation.

GAX 2C,  R265 New 1965, BRISTOL RELL/ECW 54-seat bus.

At Cardiff Bus Station, 1966.

Photo credit: Andrew Mann (flickr).

Coachwork

From 1965 to 1974 RED & WHITE bought 145 Bristol RE's.

They had most RE chassis types & most Eastern Coach Works (ECW) coachwork styles.

There were:

• 31 RESL's (Short Low bus), ECW
  
• 47 RELL's (Long Low bus), ECW
  
• 67 RELH's (Long High coach), 58 ECW & 9 Plaxton Elite.
  

Four RED & WHITE Bristol RE's survive:

• buses: GAX 2C (RELL) & LAX 101E (RESL);
• coaches: OAX 9F & SAX 1G (RELH's).   

Engines

RED & WHITE had experience of both Gardner & Leyland engines.

Their Bristol RE's therefore had a mix of power units:

• 11 with Gardner 6HLW 
• 26 with Gardner 6HLX
  
• 67 with Leyland 600
  
• 41 with Leyland 680
  

RED & WHITE were unusual in buying so many RE's with Leyland 600 engines. It's what now makes our Ruby unique. 

Photo credits: RAX 1G by Richard Simons (flickr); XWO 173J by Andrew Mann (flickr); YAX 595J from AndrewHAs (flickr); OWO 309M by Les Ronan (flickr)

There was one style of ECW bus body on the RE chassis that RED & WHITE never bought - the large flat windscreen bus of 1968 & 1969. However, in 1980 National Welsh (successor to RED & WHITE), bought 8 of these second-hand from Bristol Omnibus. They only lasted three years until 1983. All were then scrapped. 

One of this batch THU 354G (not operated by National Welsh) does survive today in preservation. 

Pictured is Ruby & THU 354G at the MetroCentre Bus Rally (Gateshead) in May 2014. At this time THU 354G was painted in United red & cream.  It's now painted in original Bristol Omnibus green & cream. Photo here.