It was on 3 November 1968 that the trolleybus system in Reading operated for the last time and to mark the 40th anniversary it was decided by the Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft Board that the twilight trolleybus running day planned for Sunday 16 November 2008 would take on a Reading theme.
Two Reading trolleybuses, 113 and 181, were definitely available for service and 144 would also be if a rear spring could be repaired in time. 174 was available for demonstration runs only as the seats were being re-trimmed and 193 could not operate at all as it is awaiting re-fitting of seats and a repaint before being put back into service.
The Chief Executive Officer at Reading Buses, James Freeman, who is also a Vice-President of the BTS, saw an opportunity for one of his new bio-ethanol buses to take part in the running day in order to demonstrate two alternative forms of public transport to the diesel bus, and also to create an interesting contrast of Reading buses past and present.
The plan was for bio-ethanol bus 1114 (the only bus fitted with a tachograph) to travel up on the Saturday and to depart from Sandtoft late afternoon the following day. The Reading Evening Post carried a feature on this event in which the public were invited to make the journey on 1114 for the minimal cost of £10, although they had to find their own accommodation for the Saturday night.