North Western Road Car Company (1923)
Introduction


[right\|thumb\|A preserved [Bristol RELL](/wiki/Bristol_RELL "Bristol RELL") of the North Western Road Car Co](/wiki/File:Bristol_RE_ECW.jpg "Bristol RE ECW.jpg")
The **North Western Road Car Company** was a bus company in [Stockport](/wiki/Stockport "Stockport"), England, formed in 1923 from the existing bus services of the British Automobile Traction Company Limited (itself a subsidiary of the [British Electric Traction Company Limited](/wiki/British_Electric_Traction "British Electric Traction")) in [Macclesfield](/wiki/Macclesfield "Macclesfield"). The company operated bus services in five counties ([Cheshire](/wiki/Cheshire "Cheshire"), [Lancashire](/wiki/Lancashire "Lancashire"), [West Riding of Yorkshire](/wiki/West_Riding_of_Yorkshire "West Riding of Yorkshire"), [Derbyshire](/wiki/Derbyshire "Derbyshire") and [Staffordshire](/wiki/Staffordshire "Staffordshire")) through a combination of growth and the acquisition of other bus companies, such as the takeover in 1924 of the Mid\-Cheshire Motor Bus Company Limited, which brought new operations in [Northwich](/wiki/Northwich "Northwich") and [Flixton](/wiki/Flixton%2C_Greater_Manchester "Flixton, Greater Manchester"). The company also operated express [coach](/wiki/Coach_%28vehicle%29 "Coach (vehicle)") services to [London](/wiki/London "London"), [North Wales](/wiki/North_Wales "North Wales") and [Yorkshire](/wiki/Yorkshire "Yorkshire").

North Western had garages in:
* Altrincham: Oakfield Street
* Biddulph: Whalley Street
* Buxton: Bridge Street
* Castleton, Back Street[Some Castleton history page 9](http://castletonhistorical.co.uk/assets/e3/58d185ccf411489ef9feb058a03ade/Some_Castleton_History.pdf) open till at least 1967
* Glossop: York Street
* Macclesfield: Sunderland Street
* Manchester: Hulme Hall Road
* Matlock: Bakewell Road
* Northwich: Chester Way
* Oldham: Clegg Street
* Stockport: Charles Street
* Urmston: Higher Road
* Wilmslow: Church Street

[thumb\|Preserved Bristol K5G ECW in Cheetham Hill Road, Manchester](/wiki/File:North_Western_Bristol_K5G.jpg "North Western Bristol K5G.jpg")
The company later became part of the [National Bus Company](/wiki/National_Bus_Company_%28UK%29 "National Bus Company (UK)"), which eventually split it between its neighbouring subsidiaries; its depots in Stockport, [Oldham](/wiki/Oldham "Oldham"), [Glossop](/wiki/Glossop "Glossop"), [Altrincham](/wiki/Altrincham "Altrincham") and [Urmston](/wiki/Urmston "Urmston") areas were transferred to the [SELNEC PTE](/wiki/SELNEC_PTE "SELNEC PTE") in 1972\. The remaining depots and services in Cheshire were transferred to [Crosville](/wiki/Crosville_Motor_Services "Crosville Motor Services"), however the services originating from Warrington, to Altrincham on the direct route service 37 via Lymm Church and the indirect route service 38 via Dunham Massey, and the route to Urmston, service 42, were jointly licensed with Warrington Corporation. In practice Warrington only operated jointly with Crosville on the 37\. Warrington Corporation had enjoyed a good relationship with North Western and the municipality's Wilderspool Causeway depot provided an [outstation](/wiki/Outstation_%28bus%29 "Outstation (bus)") for two North Western buses, a driver and two conductors, who came under the company's depot at Northwich. Crosville exclusively ran the 38 and 42, largely because these less frequent services were interworked and required specially adapted single decker buses to cope with the low height canal bridge at Dunham Massey on the 38\. The buses in question had been transferred from Selnec Cheshire Bus Company to Crosville's Warrington depot for this purpose. The depots in [Buxton](/wiki/Buxton "Buxton") and [Matlock](/wiki/Matlock%2C_Derbyshire "Matlock, Derbyshire") were transferred to [Trent Motor Traction](/wiki/Trentbarton "Trentbarton"). North Western kept hold of its [Manchester](/wiki/Manchester "Manchester") depot for its remaining express coach services, but the company was renamed as National Travel (North West) Limited in 1974\.


Why was the company divided among its neighbouring subsidiaries?