and Clydebank Motors of Clydebank. These two firms were acquired in 1936, which strengthened the company's position in western Dunbartonshire. Nationalisation of the railways in 1948 made the state the major shareholder in the SMT group of companies, and the group was itself fully nationalised in 1949. At that time, some of the group's smaller subsidiaries were wound up, including Lanarkshire Traction, which was fully absorbed by Central SMT. By this time, Central was firmly established as the dominant bus operator in Lanarkshire and western Dunbartonshire. This dominant position was furthered by the takeover of John Laurie and Company of Hamilton in 1961. During this period, Central was consistently the most profitable company in the Scottish Bus Group. From the late 1970s, the trading name of the company became 'Central Scottish'. In preparation for deregulation of the bus industry in 1986, and the eventual break up and privatisation of the group, the Scottish Bus Group restructured its subsidiary companies in 1985. As part of this, Central SMT was renamed Central Scottish Omnibuses. The Dunbartonshire and north Glasgow operations became part of a new company, Kelvin Scottish Omnibuses., but Central gained the former Eastern Scottish operations in the Monklands area of Lanarkshire. On deregulation Central, together with fellow SBG subsidiaries Clydeside Scottish and Kelvin Scottish, launched a revised network of services within the city of Glasgow in direct competition with the city operator, Strathclyde Buses. A high profile, high frequency cross city service, together with a number of minibus services were started, though Strathclyde Buses retaliated by extending their own network deep into Lanarkshire. Whereas Strathclyde Buses services into East Kilbride and beyond proved popular at Central's expense, Central's city services failed to gain popularity and often ran empty. In the face of growing competition, it was announced that Central Scottish would be merged with Kelvin Scottish in an attempt to make the larger company more attractive to potential buyers. However, the planned merger was deeply unpopular with Central's staff, as flexible rostering agreements, fully in place with Kelvin, had not yet been implemented at Central. This resulted in a disastrous strike in early 1989, and the company's network was paralysed for weeks on end. While Central's buses remained in their depots, Strathclyde Buses and a number of independent operators stepped in and took over much of the company's route network. By summer 1989, the dispute had ended, and in a