On 17 Jun 2004 14:00:10 GMT, Adrian
wrote:

Peter Beale ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying :

Former British Reg No :- BSL161, LSJ872, JSJ767

Those are all "age-related" numbers issued fairly recently

SL and SJ would have been Scottish registrations under the old system
- can't lay my hands on my 1960s Readers' Digest Book of the Road
which listed them. Could they have been some sold to Stagecoach in
Scotland, with LT hanging on to the *LT *** numbers?

They were, but they were number series that never got issued before the
annual suffix was introduced - so they've been kept (with others) for issue
to newly imported pre-63 vehicles or to pre-63 vehicles that have somehow
lost their original numbers.

http://fleetdata.co.uk/agerelated.html

I seem to remember (but can't find my sources) that this type of new
number issued to an old vehicle is specifically non-transferable, so
it can't be sold on as a 'cherished number'. Also the policy has
changed over the years. At one time any vehicle from before 1964
needing a new number would have been issued with an A suffix, and a
few Routemasters acquired such numbers during the 1980s. There's at
least one A-suffix Routemaster still in service on the 19.

Martin