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The main account follows the establishment of the Elgin–Lossiemouth service in 1919, describing vehicles, fares, operations, and public enthusiasm during the transition from horse-drawn transport to petrol-powered engines.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/","Story & Novel",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/our-buses-past-and-present-preface-elgin-and-forres-areas/407079/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/our-buses-past-and-present-preface-elgin-and-forres-areas/407079.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Patrick","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why does the author compile this publication?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The author explains that distractions keep people from recording everyday life, and that a long working association with the bus service led to collecting transport-related artefacts and preserving local memories.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How did the Elgin–Lossiemouth bus service begin in 1919?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"On 13 July 1919, Mr Alexander Aitkenhead and Willie McDonald inaugurated the Elgin–Lossiemouth service, leaving Elgin from a stance between the Fountain and the Plainstones under the name of the Elgin and District Bus Company.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What was bus service operation like in the early days?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"There was no timetable; buses ran all day picking up and dropping off passengers. 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|\n| --- | --- |\n\nOUR BUSESPAST AND PRESENTELGIN AND FORRES AREAS  \nbySammy Fraser  \n388·3661  \n# PREFACE\n\nIT SEEMS to me that with so many distractions to occupy our spare time —sport,television,radio,video,etc.,—little effort or time is spent in recording for posteritythe everyday happenings of our mundane life to give what would be a living impressionof some of the personalities and \"worthies\"of the period.  \nPerhaps it is because of this consciousness and my working association with thebus service over the past thirty years that I have developed an acquisitive urge to specialisein collecting artefacts with a transport connotation ranging from bicycles to railway time-tables.  \nMy latest compulsion has been to delve into the story of the development of publicroad transport in this rural area of North-East Scotland.It is a comparatively brief yetfascinating history.It was the dawn of a new age when the petrol-driven internalcombustion engine started to take the place of the horse-drawn brake or wagon.In factit is less than 70 years since this happening.  \nI thought it worthwhile to try and gather as much information from those still alivewho lived through the early stages of that transitional period.I am grateful to all whohave assisted me with contributions,photographs and reminiscences,in particular June  \nA.Macrae and William Gray.On the other hand,I cannot guarantee complete accuracyfor all that has been put in print for,with age,memories can sometimes be slightlyconfused.It has given me great pleasure in compiling this publication,with the welcomedguidance and help of the printers throughout,and I hope that it will give the readera more intimate recollection of the immediate past which is slowly slipping away from us.  \nA.S.Fraser  \nElginNovember 1983  \nOUR BUSES PAST AND PRESENT  \nTHIS is the story of the growth of bus services in one small corner of the North-Eastof Scotland and of how the present-day service was developed from that initiatedby Mr Alexander Aitkenhead in 1919.It is from the foresight and skill of such menthat the road-passenger facilities of today have evolved.  \nMr Aitkenhead was a native of Aberlemno in Angus who,in his early twenties,wentto work in Edinburgh.In the Scottish capital he was one of six drivers operating thefirst six motor buses run by the S.M.T.  \nThese buses were 10-seater ones and ran between the General Post Office andHaymarket Station.  \nIn their infancy,these buses were built for utility and incorporated few,if any,comforts.In bad weather drivers had more than their fair share of it for there wereno protective windscreens;it was also a case of chain-driven solid tyres and paraffinheadlights.The speed limit in those days was 12m.p.h.It was on the 13th July,1919,that Mr Aitkenhead and a fellow worker,Willie  \nMcDonald,inaugurated the Elgin-Lossiemouth bus service which left Elgin from a stancebetween the Fountain and the Plainstones and traded under the name of Elgin and DistrictBus Company,later to become“The Grey Line”.It was a 32-seater Albion bus,chain-driven with solid tyres.Alexander Aitkenhead sat at the driving wheel wearing a parsongrey trilby hat.He was never without his hat and Willie,the conductor,always worea dark suit —uniforms had not been thought of at that time.You can imagine theexcitement and very real interest taken by the general public in this new mode of transport;and especially on Friday market days,when the Plainstones area was crammed withfarmers.It was the meeting place where much farm business was done;indeed this wasso right up till the late 1930s.The vastly increased motor traffic of today makes itimpossible for crowds to congregate on the Plainstones.  \nThe return fare(pre-decimalisation of course)Elgin to Lossiemouth was sixpenceand to the Stotfield Terminus it was eightpence;the single fare to Stotfield was fourpence.  \nThere was no timetable","cbCaijlMCEV6QmjH","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijlMCEV6QmjH","pdf",5469502,48,"English","# Preface\n# Our Buses Past and Present\n## Origins of the Grey Line bus service (1919)\n## Early routes, fares, and operations","[{\"question\":\"Why does the author compile this publication?\",\"answer\":\"The author explains that distractions keep people from recording everyday life, and that a long working association with the bus service led to collecting transport-related artefacts and preserving local memories.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the Elgin–Lossiemouth bus service begin in 1919?\",\"answer\":\"On 13 July 1919, Mr Alexander Aitkenhead and Willie McDonald inaugurated the Elgin–Lossiemouth service, leaving Elgin from a stance between the Fountain and the Plainstones under the name of the Elgin and District Bus Company.\"},{\"question\":\"What was bus service operation like in the early days?\",\"answer\":\"There was no timetable; buses ran all day picking up and dropping off passengers. Runs were often packed, and extra passengers on the bonnet could occur, with those who could not board waiting for the return journey.\"}]","OUR BUSES PAST AND PRESENT - Preface - Elgin and Forres Areas | PDF",1790570133,74]