GD6

Although Midland Red designed and built many of their buses, there were some exceptions. Just after WWII they needed more than they could build themselves, so to make up for the shortage they bought some Guy Arabs, which were given the code GD6 (the G was for Guy, a Wolverhampton company). These were quite old-fashioned in appearance compared with the D5's which Midland Red had started making themselves immediately after the war. They were all based at Dudley bus garage - there is some suggestion that the D5's struggled with the very hilly area, and the more powerful Guys may also have been bought for that reason. I have a model of a D5 which I built from a white metal kit many years, but I'll have to extract it from the display case I put it in before I can photograph it, so that won't appear for a while (actually I suspect I have posted it here already, but several years ago). I used to see the GD6's almost every day on my way to and from school, and they also ran along Priory Road, where the nearest bus stop to where I lived (and still live). The D1 and D11 routes were very short, just from the centre of Dudley to Priory Estate, passing Priory Park, where many of my blips have been taken. I can't find my old records, but I believe I recorded seeing all but one of the fleet of GD6s.