Kilmarnock bus station, just as the rain came on...

M161 and 163 CCD are Volvo B10Ms with Plaxton Premiere 'Interurban' dual-purpose coachwork. New to Stagecoach South, they spent a number of years operating express Glasgow - Ayrshire services with Western, and are now part of the Stagecoach Glasgow fleet (an off-shoot of Western) operating Glasgow - Edinburgh 'M8 Motorvator' services - hence the non-standard livery. (Photographed at St. Andrew Square bus station in Edinburgh)

Demand on many of Western's express routes is high enough to warrant the use of a number of articulated coaches, such as 72-seat Volvo B10MA / Jonkheere Modulo, T641 KCS, photographed here in Buchanan Bus Station, Glasgow. This one was bought new by Western in 1999, and was about to leave on the X38 North Ayrshire express route.

T615 DWL is one of a number of tri-axle M-A-N / Jonckheere Monacos on the X77.

R119 OPS, a 51 seat Plaxton Premiere bodied Volvo B10M, new to Western (despite "foreign" registration!) in 1997. Photographed at Buchanan Bus Station on a typical lovely Scottish summer's day...

Similar R121 OPS waiting to load up for one of the North Ayrshire express services.

Alexander RV-bodied Volvo Citybus E864 RCS, now redecorated as a 'Magic Bus' for stage work in Glasgow City. This was among the last new buses purchased by Western Scottish Buses prior to the employee buyout that occurred in the early nineties.

T57 BBW - one of several former Thames Transit 3-axle M-A-N / Jonkheere Monaco Double Deck coaches operating the X77 Ayr-Glasgow express service. Photographed in Buchanan Bus Station, Glasgow.

Again, similar to the 'OPS' coaches pictured earlier, is R105 LSO, loading for a limited stop service to Dumfries.

Another articulated coach on the X76 is 495 FFJ (Previously P973 UBV), a 71 seater Plaxton Premiere bodied Volvo B10MA new to Ribble, and resident for a time with Stagecoach Fife before it was decided that Western needed the artics more than Fife did.

New to Western in 1996, but carrying a registration more relevant to the parent company's headquarters in Perth, N247 XSA is another Volvo B10M with Plaxton Premiere Interurban coachwork. Photographed, in the rain, at Buchanan Bus Station.

Originally WLT560, this AEC Routemaster is now in the livery of A1 buses, a former co-operative of Ayrshire independents now under Stagecoach ownership.

Modern buses can still be seen in the "Three Towns" area of North Ayrshire in this livery - some are pictured later in the collection.

Most Schools duties are nowadays performed using Leyland Titans that started their lives in London.

Alexander R-type bodied Volvo Olympian N859VHH was previously in the A1 fleet, having been purchased for that company following its absorption into the Stagecoach empire.

Stagecoach Western has a number of Volvo / Plaxton "bendibuses" like P564 MSX, seen here - these are mainly used on the X76 route from Muirkirk to Glasgow via Cumnock and Kilmarnock. This one, incidentally, was new to Fife.

T56 BBW, photographed in Ayr bus station, is another of the ex - Thames Transit MAN / Jonckheere Monaco tri-axle double deck coaches.

Carrying the registration of a London Routemaster - a throwback to deregulation days - WLT720 is a Volvo B10MA / Plaxton Premiere, and retains 'megabus.com' livery from its previous use with Stagecoach Bluebird. It was originally P670 LWB, and arrived at Cumnock depot in March '05.

Brian Souter's favourite revenue-earner - the Mercedes-Benz 709D, fitted, in the case of M664 FYS, with Alexander (Belfast) body. Cumnock depot.

Volvo B10M / Alexander PS, M476 ASW was part of the first intake of new vehicles to the fleet under Stagecoach ownership - and, indeed, the biggest influx of new vehicles to Western for several years. Cumnock depot.

Similar B10M / PS, M478 ASW. These marked the start of replacement of the ageing (and, to an enthusiast, sadly missed) fleet of Alexander bodied Leyland Leopards and Seddon Pennine VII's that had been the mainstay of the Western single deck fleet for more than 30 years.

Another B10MA / Plaxton Premiere, P199 OSE was new in 1996. Notice it carries 'Stagecoach West Scotland' fleetnames - could this be the beginning of the end for the good old 'Western Buses' name? I hope not....

A bit of an oddity in a Stagecoach fleet, N208 LCK is an integral Optare Excel which started life with Fylde Transport. It came to Western on acquisition of former A1 Service member Docherty of Irvine's service operations. (Docherty still exists as a coach operator).

Much more in keeping with our idea of Stagecoach, P533 ESA, a standard B10M / Alexander PS. This one was transferred from Stagecoach Glasgow in 2000. Unlike the M-reg examples above, this one has low-backed bus seats.

208 and 533. Cumnock depot.

Dennis Dart / Plaxton MPD V151 MVX was new to East London. It came to Cumnock in March '05, and carries Strathclyde Passenger Transport livery for a subsidised service.

M660 FYS, another Alexander (Belfast) bodied 709D. This one joined the fleet from Stagecoach Glasgow in 2000. Cumnock depot.

Ardrossan Depot on a wintry afternoon, with the sun low in the sky...

Ex London Titan B83 WUV is sandwiched by a pair of Leyland Olympians which came from Stagecoach Glasgow. ECW-bodied D142 FYM was new to London Transport. C612 LFT, with Alexander RH body started life with Tyne & Wear PTE, later joining the Busways fleet, and of course passed to Stagecoach on their acquisition of that company.To my knowledge, this is the only batch of R-types with this non-standard front panel design.

New to Stagecoach Bluebird Buses - or W. Alexander & Sons (Northern), as the traditionalist might have it - K515 ESS is a Leyland Olympian / Alexander RL, and joined the Western fleet in 2004.

J198 YSS is a similar Olympian / Alexander RL, also from Bluebird, but did a stint with Stagecoach Glasgow before joining Western in 2004.

A lineup of some of the Mercedes 709D / Alexander (Belfast) minibuses that Brian Souter likes so much...

A Blast from the Past - traditional black-and-white Western coach-fleet livery, on a bus that never saw service with Western in its life. WLT 546 (previously TBC 1X) is a Leyland Leopard / Plaxton Supreme, and is another ex Busways acquisition. It is used on Arran for summer tours. Why they didn't use a Western Y-type Leopard, or a T-type Seddon Pennine for this, I'll never understand...

Previously photographed at Buchanan Bus Station, Glasgow, N247 XSA is a Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premiere Interurban, a standard Stagecoach 'Dual-Purpose' type.

Three standard Volvo B10M / Alexander PS-types, P532 ESA, P556 ESA and M489 ASW. 489 has been at Western all its days, while the two P-reg buses came from Stagecoach Glasgow in 1999 / 2000.

Among the few vehicles still wearing the old Stagecoach Stripey livery, P148 ASA is a Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premiere Interurban.

P536 ESA, another ex Glasgow B10M / PS-type.

... and M481 ASW, another of those that started out with Western This batch, unusually, had dual purpose, rather than bus, seats.

A lineup of Jonckeere - bodied Volvo B10MA bendibuses. T640 to 642 KCS were all new to Western. Second from left, identical T95 JHN came ex Cleveland in 2002. These three have the 'Modulo' dual purpose body; YSV 730 (N561 SJF), on the extreme right, came ex Bluebird in March '05, but was new to Stagecoach Fife. It carries the Mistral coach body.

M726 BCS, one of several Volvo B6s with Alexander 'Dash' bodywork bought new in 1994.

YSV 730 (N561 SJF) is to a higher spec than the T***KCS and T**JHN artics, and as such, was used on longer distance 'megabus.com' routes while with Bluebird.

P149 ASA, another B10M / Plaxton dual purpose bus.

Ardrossan garage also houses the bulk of the A1 service fleet. Unfortunately, very few were in the depot the day I visited, but in time I will include A1 service as a separate collection.

Wearing A1 Service livery, ex- London Volvo Olympian / Alexander R174 VPU stands next to Leyland Olympian / Alexander, D385 XRS, ex Bluebird and in standard Stagecoach colours.

Another Ex London Volvo Olympian / Alexander, R168 VPU.

Among the new breed of buses sporting traditional A1 Service colours, SF53 BYU is a TransBus Trident with TransBus ALX400 body. (To you and me, this translates as a Dennis Trident, and Alexander ALX400 body).

An interesting sight at Ardrossan depot - an Austin FX4 taxi, in full Stagecoach colours! Are they planning a 'megabus.com' type assault on the Private Hire car business..?. ;-)

In fact, the cab is used for staff transport, so will be used, for example, for taking drivers out to changeovers etc. It even carries a fleetnumber, just visible on the bootlid!