The double deckers inherited from National Welsh were all Bristol VRTs with E.C.W. bodies except for the five Alexander bodied 'XRs' which were new to Tayside.
2 VR/ECWs later joined from Cheltenham & Gloucester after a short period on loan. Later came 3 Leyland Olympian/ECWs from Midland Red South.

The company inherited seven Leyland Leopards from National Welsh.
Five had Willowbrook coach bodies and were in the green and red Swiftlink livery, and two were Plaxtons in Red & White livery.
Plaxton 366 was withdrawn in June 1991 following fire damage. An identical vehicle, UD362 was bought from National Welsh as a replacement.
Unusual purchases in March 1992 were three bus bodied Leopards, (2 Duple, 1 Plaxton) from Capitol, Cwmbran, which were new to Hills of Tredegar.
Three more ex-National Welsh Leopards joined the fleet in 1992. 367 and 385 in April and 370 in May, though this was bought for spares only. These were purchased from Cynon Valley Transport after the vehicles had passed from National Welsh following its attempts to set up operations in Merthyr in February 1992.

During its short spell under Western Travel control, R & W took delivery of 31 MBs, mostly 811Ds and a few 709Ds. These had a variety of bodywork by PMT, Alexander, Marshall and Wright. A large intake (308-325) in 1992 also introduced a smart new livery. The majority of these were 811Ds, except 318-321 which were 709Ds. 318 had a Wright body, while 319-321 carried Alexander Sprint bodies.

The minibus fleet inherited from National Welsh consisted mostly of Carlyle bodied Freight Rover Sherpas, plus some Ford Transits.
A batch of Transits was aquired from North Devon (Little Red Bus) during August 1991. In February 1992 the minibus fleet increased greatly due to setting up operations in Merthyr Tydfil. These consisted of Sherpas from East Kent, Lincolnshire, Midland Red South and Yorkshire Traction and Renault Dodge from Gateshead and Tynemouth. More Transits came from North Devon and Southern National in August 1992 when operations commenced in Aberdare.
The minibus livery remained unchanged for about a year - yellow Bustler with red and white stripes. This was updated in early 1992 when the Barnsley & District style was adopted. The Renault Dodges however had a livery based on the Northern Mini Link style which they were carrying when acquired. This style was also used on the Alexander, Marshall and majority of Wright bodied Mercedes Benz 709s & 811s.

The National Welsh Leyland Nationals came in a number of different liveries; National Welsh, Red & White, NBC poppy red and local coach 'stripey'. The early months of the new company were interesting with the variety of liveries appearing, before a new livery was adopted. That applied to Nationals was dissapointing, (to me anyway!!) as it was almost a copy of National Welsh, with grey bands instead of green.
Those in National Welsh colours quickly had the green bands painted over white - some better than others!! Some in Red & White livery were modified by painting the black skirts red. The NBC liveried vehicles were very interesting with many variations added to the livery, such as more white bands, grey bands added etc. I hope to show these differences in this collection.
Further Nationals were acquired from Badgerline, Bristol, Midland Red South (after a period on loan) and Northern General. More came with the Cynon Valley Transport business in August 1992.

In its short existance, Red & White had a number of vehicles on loan. In the early months this was to cover for shortages and while the company waited for its first new vehicles under Western Travel control.
In February 1992 a handful of buses was hired from Cheltenham & Gloucester companies to cover at Cwmbran depot for vehicles moved to Merthyr during the bus war there.
Later the same year, vehicles from C & G and Midland Red South were sent to Aberdare when Cynon Valley was under threat.

19 Leyland Tiger coaches passed to Red & White from National Welsh. 4 had Duple Laser bodies, while the rest were Plaxton Paramounts.
Their liveries were a mixture of National Express, and National Welsh's Swiftlink and all red coach livery.
Cwmbran depot had three Paramounts in National Express Rapide livery, which were repainted into the stricking multi-striped Red & White coach livery. This work was done by Hants & Dorset Engineering at Southampton.