Photo © David Beilby. Please do not re-post without permission.

The first new vehicles bought after Neath & Cardiff went under BET control comprised this batch of six Guy Arab LUF chassis with Park Royal C41C bodies. They had 6HLW engines and six-speed gearboxes and were well-suited to Neath & Cardiff's operations. KCY492 was first registered on 4th June 1954 and as well as the six in this 1954 batch (KCY 488-493) another six followed in 1955 (LCY 778-783).
This coach was one of the first of the type to be withdrawn, on 1st November 1965, but it was considered that too much work was required to bring the bodywork up to standard and therefore all twelve had been withdrawn by the end of 1966, replaced by an influx of secondhand coaches from Trent and SUT. This meant that the fleet consisted only of AEC Reliance chassis.
It was standard Neath & Cardiff practice to show the names of principal places served on the coving panels. Unfortunately Park Royal positioned them wrongly on this batch with Pyle (which you may just be able to make out above the second side window) positioned incorrectly between Bridgend and Cardiff. Park Royal must have known something as Cowbridge was permitted as a picking-up point from July 1954 and was later added in the same position instead of Pyle.

For those who recognise the photograph, it is from a negative that was formerly in the collection of R. H. G. Simpson, and in this case may well have been taken by him, although a significant part of his collection wasn't.

Photo taken by R. H. G. Simpson, collection of David Beilby, May 1958, Cardiff Bus Station
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