At the end of the 19th century, London traffic depended entirely on the horse, and statistics for 1900 show that there were 3,681 horse buses and 1,473 horse trams which carried an estimated total of 868 million passengers.
The horse bus of 1900 seated 26 passengers and each route had its own distinctive colour scheme.
Within 13 months of the introduction of the 'B' type Bus, the last horse bus of the General Omnibus Company Limited ran on the night of 25th October, 1911.

The (Y12-1) 1899 London Horse-Drawn Bus was introduced in 1959. It was fitted with no less than eight decals which is probably a record number.

Livery: (Transfers)
'LIPTONS TEA' on both upper sides of upper decks.
'LONDON GENERAL OMNIBUS COMPANY LTD' and 'VICTORIA & KINGS-CROSS' in yellow on both sides of lower deck.
'HUDSON'S SOAP' in blue and white on both sides of driver.
'SANITAS FLUID DISINFECTANT' in blue on white panel with 'COLMAN'S MUSTARD' in red on yellow panel on rear upper deck.
'PICADILLY CIRCUS' in yellow with Heinz Pickles and Horlicks advertisements on rear stairs panel.

Variations/Rarities: It always had a red body but the shades used can vary.
It had beige upper deck passenger seats and driver. The driver had black trim added to his hat which is often worn at the top due to it rubbing inside the box while in transit. The final issue had the upper deck seats and driver painted in a creamier light brown.
The horses were painted brown on the early issues and dark brown on the later ones. The horses manes were painted white on both versions and the horses collars were trimmed in gold.
The wheels were of a spoked type which were always painted black.
First issues of the horse drawbar had a single rivet thin bar connection to the body. This was enlarged to an oblong plate with 2 rivets for more strength.
Soon after it's introduction the lower side decals were enlarged slightly and the new type were printed in brighter colours
There are 2 versions to the lower side transfer with relation to the 'O' or 'M' letter above the '&'.

Lower Decal Type 1
'M' of OMNIBUS directly above '&'
'D' of LIMITED above final 'S' of CROSS
(Shorter and Duller)

Lower Decal Type 2
'O' of OMNIBUS directly above '&'
'E' of LIMITED above final 'S' of CROSS
(Larger and Brighter)

There are no rare variations of the London Horse-Drawn Bus but a short run at the end had the seats in an almost cream colour and are very scarce.

Scale: 1:100

1899 London Horse-Drawn Bus

Horse collar - partial or all gold

Horse bar rivet type
(A - Single rivet; B - Two rivets)

Top line lower decal text setting

Code 3 - Green London Horse-Drawn Bus