THE Scottish Vintage Bus Museum has just finished restoring a 1982 Leyland Leopard bus.

The Lathalmond attraction, just north of Dunfermline, has completed working on the familiar vehicle and members of the public will soon get the chance to come along and view it.

John Newton, who took on the challenge with other volunteers and restored it back to its former glory, told the Press that the museum is, “a very happy cheerful place to visit, we get so much joy out of our hobby, and we absolutely love to show people our projects and our pride and joys”.

The museum is open on Sundays from April to October, and soon the venue will have its open weekend, across August 17 and 18.

John said: “I am very proud of my friends and fellow enthusiasts that volunteer their time to work on restoring tired and often decayed ex-service buses back to their former glory when they first left the factory. The vehicles range from an old 19th Century Edinburgh tram right up to buses that left service in the 90s. There is also a bus built after the millennium, so no matter what your age is there is a part of history here at the SVBM.

“The last year and nine months has seen the restoration journey of my 1982 Leyland Leopard bus, registration PSX 189Y. I have chosen this bus to feature as it is one of the most local buses resident in the museum. This bus numerically was the last of this particular type to be delivered to Fife Scottish Omnibuses. Stagecoach then put this bus into storage with its Stagecoach striped livery and was the last Leyland Leopard in service to leave Dunfermline Bus Station.

“For many years this bus may have been seen rotting away in the Rennies yard up near Wellwood, but it has now been restored and will be available to run on onsite and will be used to travel to and from our Open Weekend on August 17/18.”

He continued: “The workshop is available to all members of the SVBM and this is where the experts work their magic, generally retired bus professionals from local bus companies.

“David Warren featured heavily in the dismantling and rebuild of my bus, he was a coach builder for Lothian Buses for 47 years. He has been on this journey with me and it is a testament to his skills and dedication that the project was so successful.

“Andrew Crockett and Raymond Devlin work on site most days helping and assisting whenever they can to us members with our projects, they in fact painted the bus after Andrew had re-panelled it. I’m sure you will agree when you see this bus what an achievement this is.

“Bill McAlpine, Jim Methven, John Brooksbank and Scott Robertson all volunteered and played their part tremendously to rebuild this bus and have it all serviced ready for the road.

“You can come and visit the workshop and see the progress of each project which means there is something different on each visit. I am extremely proud with the finish on my bus and of all the work that has been put into this, I can’t thank everyone enough.”

Highlighting what is available at the Lathalmond site, he said: “In our display hall there is a fantastic display of buses and includes a cafe where there is a range of food and drinks and a shop where you can buy memorabilia, models, books and other fantastic things, and again our team of dedicated volunteers will go the extra mile to make you happy and give you the best experience possible.

“We also have a Railway Museum with rolling stock that you can have a run on so there really is something for everyone.

“Our Open Weekend is on the 17th and 18th of August this year and we will be operating free vintage shuttle buses to and from both Dunfermline Bus Station and Halbeath Park and Ride.

“There are over 170 buses resident on our 49-acre site and many visiting vehicles attend the Open Weekend to add to the attraction. Throughout the year we host several other vehicle events such as vintage car rallies and Truck events.

“We will all look forward to welcoming you to the Bus Museum at the M90 Commerce Park, Lathalmond, just off Junction 4 very soon and to see the breathtaking buses.”

To find out more about the open weekend, please visit: www.svbm.online