Swilly Bristol RE

‘The Swilly’, or to give it its proper title ‘The Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway Company’ (which last ran trains in 1954), has run road vehicles since 1929 in the spectacular and sometimes remote County Donegal, North West Ireland. Predominantly a Leyland operator, an urgent need for vehicles in 2003 led to a total of 28 former Ulsterbus and Citybus Bristol RELLs with Gardner engines and Alexander (Belfast) bodywork joining the fleet. Used virtually exclusively on school services and in many cases outstationed at drivers’ homes, they often proved elusive to enthusiasts, but our cameras tracked down the majority of them at work between 2004 and 2007. When the last one (451) was withdrawn, by then having reached the prescribed age limit for School Buses, these REs had outlived those in use with Ulsterbus and Citybus by over three years. So sit back and enjoy Ireland’s last Bristols in everyday service!