The Trust membership scheme currently has almost 300 members who share an interest in Ribble Motor Services and the work we do to preserve the company’s history. The annual subscription is £25 and members receive a full colour magazine four times a year as well as access to our members Facebook page and the chance to participate in our work.
You can apply for membership by completing the application form via the Contact Page
As well as supporting our overall aims members also have the chance to work directly with the Trust. A whole range of opportunities awaits – some members work regularly at our depot on vehicle preparation, regular maintenance and vehicle restoration. We have plenty of tasks for those with specific skills and those who help in a more general way. Others help out at events by conducting on the bus service, carrying out marshalling, talking to visitors. There’s plenty of enjoyment as well as hard work and a lot of satisfaction in helping a restoration project to completion or successfully delivering a major event.
If you would like to know more and possibly take a look around do get in touch.
1019 RE Coach
Reg: PTF 714L
Chassis: Bristol RELH6L
Body: ECW C49F
Built: 1972
Although Ribble built up a sizeable fleet of RE buses the preferred chassis for coaches remained the Leyland Leopard. However, in 1972 ten REs with ECW coach bodies were acquired. These were numbered 1012-1021 and they were delivered in National white coach livery. This particular model used Plaxton Elite front and rear screens which made them look quite different from earlier ECW coaches. In 1977 1019 was altered to 47 seats with the installation of a luggage pen and it was repainted into NBC dual purpose livery – poppy red to waist rail, white above.
In 1982 1019 along with 5 others was sold to Crosville where it became ERL 526. When that company was divided at privatisation it went into Crosville Wales. It was subsequently sold to Northern Bus, a keen user of REs, who later sold it to Hastings & District. Its final operator was Wightax on the Isle of Wight. Upon withdrawal, it was acquired by the RE Group at Hastings before being acquired by a RVPT member in 2005. It is now undergoing restoration in our depot and the plan is to restore it in the DP livery as a 47 seater.