W Alexander & Sons

As a boy I longed to ride on a shiny blue Alexander bus, but sadly I never got to ride on one while they were in service. I was a city boy and rarely ventured outside Glasgow in those days.

Leyland TS2 (1929): Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, Lathalmond, Fife

W. Alexander & Sons was one of Scotland’s most influential and long-lived bus and coach operators, founded in 1913 by Walter Alexander in Camelon, near Falkirk. What began as a small charabanc and excursion business grew into a major transport group serving large parts of central, eastern and northern Scotland, with routes linking towns and cities such as Falkirk, Stirling, Perth, Dundee, Kirkcaldy and Aberdeen.

Alongside running buses, the company also became a pioneering vehicle bodybuilder through its coachbuilding arm, producing the famous Alexander bus bodies that were used not only on its own fleet but across Britain and overseas. Through expansion, nationalisation, regional reorganisation and eventual privatisation, the Alexander name left a lasting mark on Scottish public transport.

Leyland Tiger PS1 (1950): Museum of Transport Greater Manchester

Alexander: Bus & Coach Operator & Coach Builder

• 1913: Walter Alexander began running charabanc excursions and informal omnibus trips. Early vehicles were open charabancs which were convertible New Belhaven charabanc/lorries.
• 1914 to 1919: Regular local bus services established. The first closed buses appear around 1919. Local routes such as Falkirk to Kilsyth were operated as Walter Alexander expanded from private hires and excursions into scheduled bus services.
• 1924: On the 23 May the company registered as W. Alexander & Sons Ltd and began building bodies for its own fleet. Alexanders started building bus bodies initially for its own services. Early fleet comprised a variety of locally-built bodies on commercial chassis.
• 1928 to 1929: Expansion and acquisition by larger groups (SMT control from 1929), through acquisitions (e.g., Scottish General Omnibus Group, Pitlochry Motor Services, Simpson’s & Forrester’s) Alexanders’ operating area grew across eastern Scotland. In 1929 the Scottish Motor Traction Company (SMT) took control, integrating Alexanders into a wider Scottish network. Routes now extended beyond Falkirk to cover areas north of the Forth.
• 1930s: Inter-urban and municipal contracts, replacing trams in some towns. Alexanders acquired local municipal contracts (for example replacing tram services in Kirkcaldy in 1931) and ran inter-urban services linking towns such as Falkirk, Stirling, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and coastal/West routes. The fleet expanded with more purpose-built buses and coaches.
• 1930s to 1940s: Coachbuilding grows, Alexanders bodies used across the SMT group. Walter Alexander’s coachbuilding operation (later Walter Alexander Coachbuilders) produced bodies for the company’s own fleet and for other SMT companies; typical vehicle chassis in this period included Albion, Leyland and AEC types with Alexander bodies.
• 1947 to 1949: Nationalisation leads to separation of coachbuilding (Walter Alexander & Co. formed), with nationalisation of bus operations under post-war legislation, the coachbuilding workshop was transferred into a separate company (Walter Alexander & Co (Coachbuilders) Ltd) in 1948/49 so that coachbuilding could remain in private/independent ownership while bus operations entered public ownership. The fleet continued to use Alexander bodies on common British chassis.
• 1940s to 1950s: Large mixed fleet of front-engined single-deckers and coaches with services across central & north-east Scotland. Alexanders ran an extensive network that reached from Glasgow and Oban (south-west) to Aberdeen and Forres (north-east), operating local town services and long inter-urban coach runs. Vehicles included front-engined single-deckers and purpose-built coaches (Alexander bodies on Leyland, AEC, Bristol chassis).
• 1961: The company split into three regional operating companies. W. Alexander & Sons was divided into W. Alexander & Sons (Fife) Ltd (Kirkcaldy), W. Alexander & Sons (Midland) Ltd (Falkirk) and W. Alexander & Sons (Northern) Ltd (Aberdeen) to make management and later national/group administration easier. The original blue livery and Bluebird coach identity continued to be used by successors. Routes and depots were reorganised along those regional lines (Fife, Midland, Northern).
• 1962 to 1983: Introduction and widespread use of the Alexander “Y-Type” single-deck body. Walter Alexander Coachbuilders launched the highly versatile Y Type body (from 1962), which became standard on many Leyland Leopard and other chassis across the Alexander fleets and the wider Scottish Bus Group. Chassis commonly fitted with Y-Type bodies included Leyland Leopard, AEC Reliance, Bristol RE, Bedford series, Volvo B57/B58, among others.
• 1960s to 1970s: The adoption of modern double-deck and rear-engined designs (Atlantean/Fleetline, Daimler Fleetline, Bristol VR, later Volvo/ Leyland rear-engined types). Alexander operating companies used double-deckers such as Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline with Alexander double-deck body types (A, J, L, R types, etc.). These served busy urban and inter-urban corridors such as coastal trunk routes, Perth/Glasgow, Perth/Edinburgh.
• 1978: The Scottish Bus Group rebranded. As part of SBG rebranding, the former Alexander companies took on regional SBG fleet names (Fife Scottish, Midland Scottish, Northern Scottish), while continuing to operate the same regional routes and to use Alexander-built bodies on standard chassis.
• 1970s to 1980s: The fleet was modernised. Y-Type successors (P Type, PS Type) and a broad mix of Leyland, Volvo, Daimler, Dennis vehicles. Alexander coachbuilders produced the P-Type (from early 1980s) then PS Type bodywork. Ooperators used Leyland Leopards, Leyland Tiger, Volvo B10M, Dennis chassis and later low-height/low-floor developments. These vehicles were used on inter-urban express services and local town/urban networks.
• 1985 to 1980s: Reorganisation took place for deregulation with SBG boundary realignments. Five operating companies were formed in preparation for bus deregulation (Transport Act 1985) the Scottish Bus Group reorganised areas and from Alexander successors created companies such as Fife Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, Midland Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, Northern Scottish Omnibuses Ltd and Strathtay, Kelvin Scottish, etc. Many of the same routes continued under these new companies.
• 1980s to 1990s: As the Scottish Bus Group was privatised in units (announced 1988), Alexander descended operating companies were sold and rebranded. For example Midland Scottish became Midland Bluebird and later merged/sold into larger private operators or became part of regional private groups. Core routes remained but ownership and liveries changed.
• 1990s to 2000s: There were coachbuilder corporate changes. The original Walter Alexander Coachbuilders went through corporate consolidation (Mayflower acquisitions in the 1990s, TransBus formation in 2001, administration and the management/ investor buyout creating Alexander Dennis in 2004). The coachbuilding heritage and many Alexander body designs survived within Alexander Dennis. This manufacturer continued to supply bodies and whole buses to UK operators, including former Alexanders successors.
• 2000s to present: Many Alexander-bodied vehicles were preserved and the Alexander name carries on via Alexander Dennis (ADL), who are one of the largest bus manufacturers in the UK, producing a range of vehicles, including double-decker and single-decker buses, along with electric and hybrid models.

Guy Arab mkIII (1948): Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, Lathalmond, Fife

Albion Valkyrie PW65 (1932) reg WG1448: Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, Lathalmond, Fife

Leyland Lion LT5B (1934) reg WG2373: GVVT Bridgeton Bus Garage Glasgow

AEC Regal with Alexander C35F body (1946): Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, Lathalmond, Fife

Sources

• Falkirk Collections
• Our Stories Falkirk
• Wikipedia: W Alexander & Sons
• MDS Books
• UK Parliament: The Scottish Bus Group
• The Classic British Isles Buses Website

Further Information

• A list of transport museums in the UK