VINTAGE football special coaches and a restored 1931 double decker that was found in a field will be hitting the roads this weekend to showcase the history of Birmingham City Transport.
The exhibition from Wythall Transport Museum will be setting off on Sunday, October 2, as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival in the wake of the Commonwealth Games.
The exhibition traces over a century of public transport history in the city, marking the contribution that the city’s transport made to the lives of Brummies, through the travelling public, direct employment and the associated manufacturing of buses in the region.
From 10.30am Birmingham buses from the early 1930s until the 1990s will be heading out as the museum teams up with National Express West Midlands with two modern vehicles in Birmingham City Transport heritage livery.
The free bus rides running all day will include the recently restored 1931 AEC Regent found decades ago in a field in Herefordshire.
The afternoon Happy Hour service running from 2pm will recall the line-up of football specials that ran from Birmingham City and Aston Villa football grounds at the end of every match.
The museum will run a ‘mass exodus’ of football buses in the happy hour.
A demonstration by Birmingham City Transport attired driver and conductor of the corporation’s famous Bundy clocks that stood elegantly at every bus terminus and recorded the departure of every service, guaranteeing that buses kept to time.
At the museum the exhibition includes a part-restored 1913 Tilling petrol-electric powered double decker and a single decker procured for low bridge routes.
Entry costs £10 for adult, £5 for children aged between five and 16 family tickets for two adults and two children cost £25.
Admission Includes free bus rides plus the steam miniature railway will be operating.
Parking is off-site with a low floor bus shuttle service, follow the signs.
The café and shop will be open all day and hot food will be served.
