London's Wartime Gas Buses

Capital Transport Publishing, 1997

After a passing mention of the Blackpool St. Annes & Lytham Tramways compressed gas propulsion system of 1896, this book starts in earnest with the gas-run buses of WWI, before moving onto WWII. A surprisingly large number of hugely detailed period photographs have been bought together to illustrate a means of propulsion that was not at all limited at all to the streets of London. Reproductions of ephemera from the time (the memorable instruction to the driver to Poke fire briskly if the engine is pulling badly) enlighten us further. This volume has much to benefit the model bus builder, with not only it's detailed pictures of the gas producing trailers, but some quite detailed line drawings as well. The story ends as late as 1955. An appendix listing all the buses converted for gas operation during the war completes the volume...