Photo © West Yorkshire Road Car Co Ltd/West Yorkshire Information Service Collection. Please do not re-post without permission.

EWY419 was new as one of a batch of 20 conventional Bristol L5Gs with ECW B35R bodies, and was delivered to West Yorkshire Road Car on 13 December 1946, entering service at Harrogate on 1 January 1947, with fleet number 208. In 1952 it was treated to the luxury of a heater being fitted, was renumbered in May 1954 to become SG 103 and continued to run from Harrogate until delicensed on 30 October 1955 for overhaul.
At this point, however, everything changed and unlike other companies, such as United, it became the only post war West Yorkshire L5G to receive a front entrance for one man operation. A description of the conversion appeared in the West Yorkshire Information Service Bulletins of the time. The rear entrance was bolted up and the front nearside panel removed to permit the installation of an electrically operated jack-knife door similar to that used on the EUGs (i.e.LS5Gs). The front bulkhead has been completely rebuilt; the offside half has been removed and an arch fitted to permit the entry of the driver. The original driver's door has been bolted up. A red curtain has been fitted to cover this archway at night. From half way up the nearside of the cab to half way on the nearside of the front bulkhead a cash desk of Formica has been built. This is covered at night by a standard concertina rexine blind. The four front seats have been removed and an arm has been placed in the centre of the rear seat, thus making the vehicle B30F. The standard square type sliding windows had been replaced by full windows throughout and ventilation is effected by means of Beadle-Tilling type adjustable screw vents. The rear indicator has been painted out.
After posing on the Stray for these official photographs, it re-entered service at Harrogate on 10 February 1956. In one-man form it is synonymous with use on the Ilkley - Bolton Abbey - Grassington service (75), but in fact this came later and its initial duties as a one-man bus (the first for West Yorkshire) was on the Harrogate - Cornwall Road (7) local service, which it worked on for the next 3 years (though the WYIS tells us that on Easter Monday 1956 it accompanied SG 112/4 to Newcastle!). It was not until 25 March 1959 that SG 103 was transferred to Grassington, from where it initiated one man operation on service 75. Its place on the Cornwall Road service was taken by LS5G SUG 34, which was one of a then still small number of LS5Gs that had been adapted for OMO.
SG 103 continued to work from Grassington for the rest of its service life, and was withdrawn on 31 October 1962, having been replaced by SMA 1 (807 BWR) the first of a batch of 6 Bristol SUL4As for the company, and which was of similar dimensions to the displaced L5G, ideal for this narrow and testing route. Unusually for West Yorkshire, the L5G was sold by direct sale in January 1963 to Fowler, the Harrogate contractor, and received Fowler's yellow livery. It ran with Fowler until at least September 1968, following which it was doubtless scrapped although the trail goes cold.

Photo taken by West Yorkshire Road Car Co Ltd, February 1956, Harrogate Stray

©1956-2026 West Yorkshire Road Car Co Ltd/West Yorkshire Information Service Collection All Rights Reserved.
You're welcome to print these pages for personal use only or to link to them as long as it's not for financial gain. Photos may not be re-posted anywhere (including facebook, flickr and fotopic sites) without permission. See the Site Map for further details.