Birmingham City Transport Running Day Report from Transport Museum Wythall

Published: 11/10/2022

Transport Museum Wythall’s 2022 Birmingham City Transport exhibition, run in partnership with the Birmingham Festival, culminated in a BCT running day on Sunday October 2nd. This was the day for enthusiasts and families to enjoy riding on BCT buses spanning 90 years of Birmingham bus history.

From the magnificent 1931 AEC Regent 486 to a current National Express West Midlands Alexander Dennis Enviro 400, resplendent in the city’s original livery, 20 vehicles provided a busy ‘happy hour ‘ non-stop afternoon service enabling visitors to experience the contrasts in design and development of Birmingham’s buses over the 90 year period. Over 1000 people attended the event setting the third TMW attendance record in 2022.

On display and running were vehicles from the museum collection, joined by visiting examples including BCT Leyland/Park Royal PD2 JOJ 222 from Aldridge Transport Museum and privately-owned BCT Daimler Fleetline/Park Royal NOV 880G and WMPTE Volvo Ailsa/Alexander JOV 738P. Two AEC Matador recovery vehicles were also on standby from BCT and Wolverhampton.

Crowds gathered to hear an explanation of how BCT’s Bundy time clocks worked before the theme for the afternoon, ‘Football Specials’, kicked off the Happy Hour. Football specials ran across the west midlands, lined up awaiting the end of a match to ferry fans home. The buses carried relevant blinds for local teams, showing St Andrews (Birmingham City), The Hawthorns (West Brom) and Villa Park (Aston Villa). 

Three Park Royal bodied Daimler Fleetlines were lined up together (possibly the first time in preservation) showing the single door and dual door variation – 1968 DD 3796, 1968 SD 3780 and 1969 3880.

The intensive service during the day was also supported by two of the museum’s low floor fleet (ADL NXWM’s Trident 4321 and Optare Spectra 4001) on car park shuttles to nearby supporter Phoenix Insurance who provided visitor parking.

The last event of the season is the Twilight Running Day on Sunday October 30th before the museum embarks on a significant over-winter programme of activity both on site and on vehicles in readiness for 2023. A wide range of new events will join the calendar, look out for the announcements on the TMW website and Facebook pages.