Names on the buses

835 Ernie Johnstone

Connections with Brighton and Hove : The miniature buses lovingly crafted by Ernie Johnson were a popular feature before and after the Second World War. He started in 1935, influenced by the thousands of coaches that came to Brighton beach in summer. The coaches were small but people could ride in them using pedal power. They were particularly popular at Peter Pan’s Playground and on Madeira Drive in Brighton. They were properly registered to be on the road and some of the number plates would be worth thousands of pounds today Johnson built 57 models altogether including one double decker and a fire engine. Their popularity slowly declined but lasted until the 1960s. A few still survive in private collections. Ernie came from a family of motoring enthusiasts and had a great talent for making models. While they were not strictly accurate, they captured the feel of genuine full size buses and coaches.

835 Mercedes Streetdeck on Route 7 - carried name since November 2017.