874 on the front cover of "Buses" in 2004 

Image courtesy of Ian Allan Limited

This vehicle entered service on Sunday April 3 1960, one of a batch of 20 to replace trams on the Sheffield Lane Top to Meadowhead route, it was one of Sheffield's last rear entrance buses to be purchased.   For 16 years 874 gave good service and proved a match for Sheffield's hills, initially working on cross city route 33 and 75, then 95, 60 and 17 all of which    took    in some of the city's steepest gradients. 

For the technically  minded  874  is  an AEC Regent V 2D3RA chassis.  Originally   powered by the 9.6 Litre AEC AV590 engine , it was replaced  in 2010 by a larger AEC 760 unit with vastly improved hill climbing ability.

Alexanders provided their standard 69 seat bodywork of the era.  Whilst this style was commonplace north  of the border, Sheffield's Scottish built batch of 20 buses was unique to an English operator - 874 is the last surviving member.