Western Scottish Motor Traction Co. Limited was a bus operator in south-west Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 from 1929 to 1985.

The company was formed in 1929 by the renaming of Scottish General Transport Co. Ltd, after the British Electric Traction

British Electric Traction

British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rentokil Initial.- Early history :The company was founded as...

 subsidiary formed in 1913 was acquired by the Scottish Motor Traction

Scottish Motor Traction

Scottish Motor Traction was founded in Edinburgh in 1905. It operated buses in much of central Scotland. Aside from its traditional bus operations, it operated an air taxi service with a De Havilland Fox Moth between July 18 and October 31, 1932 and for many years owned Dryburgh Abbey Hotel...

 group. The SMT group was nationalised in 1949, and Western SMT became part of the Scottish Bus Group

Scottish Bus Group

The Scottish Bus Group was a state-owned Scottish holding company that included a number of bus operators covering the whole of Scotland. The group was formed in 1961 as Scottish Omnibuses Group Ltd, to take control of the British Transport Commission's bus operating subsidiaries in Scotland...

. In preparation for privatisation, the company was split into Clydeside Scottish

Clydeside Scottish

Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd...

 and Western Scottish

Western Scottish

Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd and operated until 1997, when it became Western Buses Ltd...

 in 1985.

In 1984 the company operated buses from depots in the following locations:

• Ayr
  Ayr
  Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
  
  , with sub-depot at Girvan
  Girvan
  Girvan is a burgh in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of about 8000 people. Originally a fishing port, it is now also a seaside resort with beaches and cliffs. Girvan dates back to 1668 when is became a municipal burgh incorporated by by charter...
  
  
• Cumnock
  Cumnock
  Cumnock is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water...
  
  
• Dumfries
  Dumfries
  Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
  
  , with sub-depots at Annan
  Annan, Dumfries and Galloway
  The royal burgh of Annan is a well-built town, red sandstone being the material mainly used. Each year in July, Annan celebrates the Royal Charter and the boundaries of the Royal Burgh are confirmed when a mounted cavalcade undertakes the Riding of the Marches. Entertainment includes a...
  
  , Kirkcudbright
  Kirkcudbright
  Kirkcudbright, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.The town lies south of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, in the part of Dumfries and Galloway known as the Stewartry, at the mouth of the River Dee, some six miles from the sea...
  
   and Lockerbie
  Lockerbie
  Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
  
  
• Carlisle
• Greenock
  Greenock
  Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
  
  
• Inchinnan
  Inchinnan
  Inchinnan is a small village in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The village is located on the main A8 road between Renfrew and Greenock, just southeast of the town of Erskine.-History:...
  
  
• Johnstone
  Johnstone
  Johnstone is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.The town lies three miles west of neighbouring Paisley and twelve miles west of the centre of the city of Glasgow...
  
  , with sub-depot at Largs
  Largs
  Largs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" in Scottish Gaelic....
  
  
• Kilmarnock
  Kilmarnock
  Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...
  
  
• Thornliebank
  Thornliebank
  Thornliebank is a small suburban village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, south of Glasgow. It is served by Thornliebank railway station and lies to the east of the M77 motorway.-History:...
  
  , with sub-depot at Ardrishaig
  Ardrishaig
  Ardrishaig is a lochside village at the southern entrance to the Crinan Canal in west Scotland, in Argyll. Ardrishaig had 1,283 inhabitants in 2001....
  
  
• Paisley
  Paisley
  Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...
  
  
• Port Ellen
  Port Ellen
  Port Ellen is a small town on the island of Islay, in Argyll, Scotland.Port Ellen is named after the wife of the founder, Frederick Campbell of Islay. Its previous name, Leòdamas, is derived from old Norse meaning "Leòd's Harbour"....
  
   on the Isle of Islay
• Rothesay
  Rothesay, Argyll and Bute
  The town of Rothesay is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay which offers an onward rail link to Glasgow. At the centre of the town is Rothesay Castle, a ruined castle which dates back to the 13th...
  
  
• Stranraer
  Stranraer
  Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
  
  , with sub-depot at Wigtown
  Wigtown
  Wigtown is a town and former royal burgh in the Machars of Galloway in the south west of Scotland. It lies south of Newton Stewart and east of Stranraer. It has a population of about 1,000...
  
  

• A.W.