Liveries - Old & 'New'

Periodically I enjoy searching the registration of GCT 113 online to see if anything other than the more obvious images present themselves. Thanks to Google, and those who've taken the time to photograph and - most importantly - upload them, there are now countless photographs of GCT 113 in her recreated GCT guise.

Searching Facebook can also provide some interesting results, including some hitherto unseen photos of this Grimsby-Cleethorpes Transport stalwart over the past three years in private preservation.

Yet today, two images sat side by side in a Google search made for a decent comparison. On the left is Andy Reeve-Smith's photo taken of GCT 113 in Grimsby's Riverhead Bus Station in 1991 and on the right is a portrait image of GCT 113 attending her first rally in private preservation while wearing the recreated GCT livery - at the Fenland BusFest in Whittlesey during May 2018.

Twenty-seven years separate these two images. I was heartened by how close the modern-day livery looks compared to the original. In 1991, GCT 113 had worn the orange and white for around two years, having first been treated to it in 1989. In 2018, GCT 113 had worn the livery for precisely one month.