As a small child in Paisley I used to travel regularly on Young's Bus
Service routes until the company was taken over by Western S.M.T. in 1951. The
glorious orange & buttermilk livery of Youngs' was not lost to Paisley however,
as remaining supplies of paint were sold to another local bus company,
Grahams, who continued to use these superb colours on their fleet for more than
thirty years.    Harry

In 1951 they were Scotlands largest independant operator.

Several independants were acquired the largest being Young's Bus Service Ltd of Paisley and James Sutherland (Peterhead) Ltd which were taken on 1st March 1950 by the British Transport Corporation as transferred to the appropriate subsidiary company the following year (Western SMT & W Alexander  & Sons respectively)  RAYMOND THOM
 

This was a family business run by Mr W Young and 2 sons, Robin & Gordon. The service ran between Glasgow, Paisley, Johnstone & Largs. The head office was in Gordon St Paisley and they had a large depot in Mary St Johnstone where they carried out all kinds of repairs from engine overhauls to bodywork and electrical. The family also had a large express delivery & funeral undertaking service so they were well known throughout the area. MR A CHURCH 168759

Although I was born and raised in Paisley, I don't remember seeing or travelling with Young's buses, as when they were taken over by Western SMT I was only 2 years old !

At the time of being taken over by Western SMT (1951), the fleet of about 95 double deckers comprised mainly Daimlers, Guys and Leylands. A further 22 Daimler and Guy vehicles were owned by a subsidiary company - "Paisley & District Omnibus Company" . This company operated many of the local services in the Paisley area, whilst Youngs operated the longer range routes to the Ayrshire coast and Glasgow.

All of the 2 fleets were absorbed into the SMT fleet and survived for many years before being replaced by more modern vehicles in the 60's and 70's. For all of these years the vehicles continued to be the mainstay of the Paisley and Ayrshire services, and carried registrations in the town's distinctive "XS" series.

I don't think Youngs ever operated RT's or AEC's of any kind though, so although in the correct colours I'm afraid I don't think your model is representative of the Youngs fleet.

The principal town service operated by Youngs was a very enterprising continuous loop around the main peripheral housing areas (Ferguslie Park, Lochfield, Gallowhill), which passed through the busy town centre 3 times on each circuit ! The potential for timetable disruption as traffic in the town centre got heavier and heavier over the years was always present as a result.

These routes continued unaltered by Western SMT until deregulation in the 70's, and I have many happy memories of travelling on some of the ex Young's vehicles during this period.

The origins of the company can be traced back to the 1890's, when William Young commenced a horse bus service from County Square to Meikleriggs in Paisley. William Young had a one time been a coachman to the Coats family, owners of the famous Paisley thread mill company J & P Coats.

The young family commenced motor bus services in the 1920's.

For more information about Youngs, and the many other independent bus operators in the Paisley area, you should obtain copies of the excellent "Wheels around Paisley" and "Wheels around Renfrewshire" by Robert Grieves ( a former Youngs driver!). They are published by Stenlake Publishing (www.stenlake.co.uk).

Finally, as one of your other correspondents rightly says, the Youngs livery was used by Graham's Buses of Paisley, but sadly they are no longer in business either. But the glorious orange and buttermilk still lives on ! It is now used by private hire operator Marbill of Beith, and can still be seen every day in Paisley on school runs !

Alan Quinn

My father was a driver for at least seven years for Young's Bus Company.
His shift started and ended at the Broomielaw, Glasgow.
He was given an award for seven years of safe driving for the company.
My mother and I had to travel to Paisley to use the gift certificate that was part of the award.
We used the certificate in what seemed like a huge shop to me at the time.
The last time that I remember being on 'Dad's Bus' was on the trip to Paisley Ice Rink with some school chums. I think that this would be about 1946 and I was so proud that the driver was my father.
Bus driving was considered a 'reserved occupation', and so my father was never called up for service in world war two.

June Price McCarthy.

I lived in Paisley while Young's were operating the yellow buses, then when S.M.T. took over, and took the bus regularly.  Also, the garage area on Gordon St. was right behind where my father had a business, on Causeyside Street. After S.M.T. operated the buses, Young still had an undertaking and taxi business.

We knew some of the family, including Bobby Young, who worked out of Gordon Street. His sister Belle married a friend of my mother.

In the 40's and 50's from Paisley to Glasgow still seemed quite a long way, and people were very dependent on trams (now long gone, I hear) and buses.

I have been living in California for many many years, but can still see those two-deckers bearing down, in rail, sleet, sunshine or whatever. Thank you for the memory.

Olive S.