Barton Transport was a bus company that operated in Nottinghamshire from 1908 until 1989. History Early years In October 1908, Thomas Henry Barton used a Durham Churchill charabanc to start the company's first service, between Long Eaton and the Nottingham Goose Fair. (Many years later, in 1953, Barton built a replica of its original Durham Churchill vehicle, using a Daimler chassis dating from 1911.) Barton had already had experience of operating a motorised bus, in Mablethorpe, some nine years earlier. During World War I, the fleet was used to transport workers to and from the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell. Also during the War, Barton pioneered the use of town gas as fuel, converting the whole fleet to run on it. The gas was stored in a large "bag" on the roof of the bus, and the company also manufactured these bags for sale to other operators. The 1920s saw fierce competition in the British bus industry. Barton imported Lancia chassis from Italy, which were lengthened and fitted with a patented tag-axle by Barton. The vehicles were known as "Bartons Gliders" and their speed and smooth riding provided a competitive advantage. Barton scored a first by operating the first diesel-engined passenger-carrying road vehicle, a Lancia, in 1930. Barton had earlier been an engineer at Hornsbys where he had worked on the early development of "oil engines" (he always refused to use the term "diesel"). Leylands were purchased from the mid-1930s and made up a large part of the fleet by the beginning of World War II. Starting in 1939, a fleet of Leyland Titan TD5, TD7 and rebodied TD1 double-deckers with stylish, front-entrance, lowbridge bodywork by Duple and Willowbrook was purchased, which appeared very modern by the standards of the day. Postwar Although Barton gained a reputation for having a varied fleet of vehicles during the 1950s and 1960s, from 1946-9 the vast majority of new chassis were from Leyland, and virtually all coachwork was from Duple. The Duple A type coach was chosen for PS1 Single deckers, some featuring a more compact front-design allowing up to 39 seats in the then maximum overall length of 27 ft 6in. The 40 postwar double deckers on PD1 or PD1A had an updated version of the forward entrance lowbridge body with more brightwork and power-operation for the entry door. Barton was a prolific rebuilder of buses — between 1950 and 1955, fifty-eight