Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Company Ltd, as the name
suggests, served the woollen towns of West Yorkshire from its
headquarters in Dewsbury, with a history going right back to the early
20th Century when it started out running trams. Situated on
the foothills of the Pennines, YWD operated reliable, high powered buses
to combat the undulating routes across the county, where its red and
cream fleet provided the main choice of transport in the days when not
so many people owned cars. The company was eventually acquired by
Arriva, which in turn was bought by the National Bus Company but in
recent years and many mergers and amalgamations later, its roots are
once more embedded in Arriva Yorkshire.
Our 1:76 scale replica decorated in its familiar red and cream, lined
out in the gold, black and white finish of the original, reflects an
era when the company operated excursion coaches, perhaps including days
out for the mill workers of West Yorkshire. Registered KHD 904, the YWD
logo is printed in red and gold under the ‘Excursion’ wording above the
silver and black radiator grille. To the side, behind the nearside
front wheel, the Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Company address in
Dewsbury features in black on the cream skirt. Interior seating is red
and no doubt in real life, passengers could sit in great comfort looking
out of the superbly wide coach windows, taking in the scenery.