Bus Shite

[quicksilver]

I posted this recovery truck in the truck shite thread but the bus it's towing is just as interesting.

Behind the cherished reg hides the first production Plaxton President, the genesis of the low-floor double-decker. It first appeared in London as a DAF demonstrator in 1998 carrying S201 JUA plates but doesn't seem to have been licensed as such and only ran on trade plates. That reg was then issued to the first Alexander ALX400-bodied example and this one finally entered service in late 1999 with Arriva as their DLP1 (V601 LGC). 

It was open-topped for the London sightseeing tour in 2006, then sold ten years later to Bathroom Takeaway, who used it as a hospitality vehicle for shows. They donated it to Buses4Homeless, who intended to convert it into a 'health and wellbeing bus' to be operational on a site in London by the summer of 2019, but don't seem to have done anything with it. No idea where it had come from or was going.

[martc]

42nd Street toward 5th Avenue (New York Public Library on the right), circa 1951. I know the Yankee capitalists aren't keen on public transport, but they made some cracking looking vehicles.

[Yoss]

Just seen this news which has come as a bit of a shock if not a complete surprise. 

So finally Solent Blue Line have won. The takeover is complete. And it only took 35 years. 

It was Blue Line starting up that prompted Southampton CityBus, then still in council ownership (or was the brief management buyout phase?) to buy Routemasters which is how I ended up owning one so it's quite a big moment in my life. 

So Blue Line were seen as the enemy until CityBus got rid of the RMs at which point they became the good guys (yes I am that fickle). In time CityBus were bought by First Group and Blue Line, or their Southern Vectis owners, by Go Ahead and at some point renamed Blue Star. But for the last 20 years the blue buses have looked by far and away the more professional outfit than the red ones. 

We currently have a choice of both from here in to town but I always use Blue Star given the choice because they use a fleet of smart Enviro 400s with nice blue velour seats so I can sit upstairs. First use a motley collection of Steetlites with nasty grey pleather (it is so obviously not leather). Except about six months ago four of the Wright Streetdecks as pictured above arrived. But only four. I thought more might arrive but they never did. I bet they regret painting those four now. 

It seems odd to think of Southampton as a blue city but I won't shed a tear at the loss of First Group. They sold Southamptons last bus garage to Sainsburys and moved to an industrial estate instead. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Plymouth 1950s

[martc]

Christmas lights on Northumberland Street, NuT, December 1965.

[SunnySouth]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:06 PM, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Plymouth 1950s

Still going strong!

[808 Estate]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:37 PM, Yoss said:

Just seen this news which has come as a bit of a shock if not a complete surprise. 

So finally Solent Blue Line have won. The takeover is complete. And it only took 35 years. 

It was Blue Line starting up that prompted Southampton CityBus, then still in council ownership (or was the brief management buyout phase?) to buy Routemasters which is how I ended up owning one so it's quite a big moment in my life. 

So Blue Line were seen as the enemy until CityBus got rid of the RMs at which point they became the good guys (yes I am that fickle). In time CityBus were bought by First Group and Blue Line, or their Southern Vectis owners, by Go Ahead and at some point renamed Blue Star. But for the last 20 years the blue buses have looked by far and away the more professional outfit than the red ones. 

We currently have a choice of both from here in to town but I always use Blue Star given the choice because they use a fleet of smart Enviro 400s with nice blue velour seats so I can sit upstairs. First use a motley collection of Steetlites with nasty grey pleather (it is so obviously not leather). Except about six months ago four of the Wright Streetdecks as pictured above arrived. But only four. I thought more might arrive but they never did. I bet they regret painting those four now. 

It seems odd to think of Southampton as a blue city but I won't shed a tear at the loss of First Group. They sold Southamptons last bus garage to Sainsburys and moved to an industrial estate instead. 

Could be an interesting time ahead for bus services.
It all went downhill after Hants & Dorset and Southampton Corporation busses disappeared along with the Civic Centre bus station and Shirley garage

[Yoss]

18 hours ago, 808 Estate said:

Could be an interesting time ahead for bus services.
It all went downhill after Hants & Dorset and Southampton Corporation busses disappeared along with the Civic Centre bus station and Shirley garage

I've posted these before but seeing as you mentioned it... 

Civic Centre Bus Station a few days after it closed. 

 

And a couple of weeks later. 

They didn't hang around with this one. Rumour has it Stagecoach got more for selling the bus station and Grosvenor Square garage than they paid for the whole of Hampshire Bus. I don't know if that was just a rumour but either way it is asset stripping at its finest*. 

They then sold Hampshire Bus's Southampton operations to Solent Blue Line (who were in fact Southern Vectis) but with nowhere to run them from. Only Stagecoach could manage that. Ever since then the buses come from Eastleigh every morning. It's only five miles away but imagine the combined mileage of ten miles a day for every bus for the last 35 years. 

 

As for Shirley Garage, that did hang around a while. I think it closed in 1981 but this was taken in 1987 just after it had been torn down. 

We once managed to get through a hole in the fence and in to the garage. I don't know why I didn't have my camera because I used to take it everywhere but the main thing I remember was a kind of signing on desk that had a hand written list of staff names under a sheet of glass. I really wish I'd taken pictures of that. 

The above picture was taken on a tour of Southampton but as you can see it wasn't a tour for normal people. I just include the next two pics from the same tour because I like them. 

A big boat. 

 

And King George V Dry Dock for a real sense of scale. 

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

DAF Domburg with slide out engines.

[busmansholiday]

On 11/30/2022 at 1:06 PM, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Plymouth 1950s

Nope, wasn't converted to open top until the 1960's.

 

Edit : looking at the livery it's in, I'd say that picture is from the early 70's.

[martc]

[MiniMinorMk3]

1932 Lancia Autoalveare

[108]

4 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

1932 Lancia Autoalveare

Speechless! 🤣
 

Apart from:

That’s fantastic. 

[108]

4 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

1932 Lancia Autoalveare

I see 3 levels of windows. Would that make this a triple decker? 
 

[Inspector Morose]

1931 Gilford single deck bus powered by a Junkers opposed piston engine and front wheel drive.

Amazingly, nobody wanted to buy one so the double deck version (yup, the built two of the things) was converted into a front wheel drive trolleybus making it the only one of its kind ever to run in the UK (at Wolverhampton). Unsurprisngly, it wasn't a success.

 

[busmansholiday]

1 hour ago, 108 said:

I see 3 levels of windows. Would that make this a triple decker? 
 

Only if Harry Potter is around.

[Inspector Morose]

The only two built of the snappily named Albion KP71NW. Powered by an 8 cylinder boxer engine made up from two four cylinder blocks, joined at the crank.

Remarkably, the one in the upper picture is thought to stil exist in a private collection in Scotland, the Glasgow bus below was repurchased by Albion to supply spares for the first. But the tale doesn't end there. The body was sold on to Blair and Palmer who built their own coach chassis using commer parts and powered by a TS3 engine and used the ex Albion body as the basis for a coach body for their new chassis. 

[Metal Guru]

Pictures in the BBC Scottish news of a bus crash in Aberdeen due to the snow. One was a bendy bus. Could there be a worse thing to drive in the snow?

[Zelandeth]

27 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

Pictures in the BBC Scottish news of a bus crash in Aberdeen due to the snow. One was a bendy bus. Could there be a worse thing to drive in the snow?

Rules when I was up there were that under absolutely no circumstances were they to be sent out if there was snow on the ground.  Though apparently First Aberdeen have major problems keeping up with maintenance at the moment and are hiring vehicles in from Glasgow to try to make ends meet - so that's likely why.  

[SunnySouth]

12 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Pictures in the BBC Scottish news of a bus crash in Aberdeen due to the snow. One was a bendy bus. Could there be a worse thing to drive in the snow?

A convertible?! 🥶

[sierraman]

I’ve noticed Sheffield had a fleet of bendy buses behind the depot, can’t see any announcement saying they’re reintroduced?

[808 Estate]

Guy Arab recovery bus. Needs some work.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334643135973?hash=item4dea4905e5:g:-KoAAOSwB1RjOXyu

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/q5QAAOSwGDhjOXy3/s-l1600.jpg

 

[High Jetter]

Ex Southdown?

[busmansholiday]

Right, Xmas is approaching and time is getting short to post pics so lets see if we can finish off Sheffield half a century ago before my Mrs wants to make me do other less useful things.

We left it with the B and C fleet single decks, so here's the double deckers that were around then that I've (scanned) pictures off.

The last new purchases by the B fleet were a batch of Park Royal bodied Atlantean PDR1/2 with standard Sheffield style bodies. The only difference was the fitting of a bumper at the front as seen on the first of the batch, 1101. They were renumbered 204-219, 1101 becoming 217 (the logic being that other than the first three the last number of the fleetnumber and registration would be the same). The scene is Bradfield Road, Hillsborough, Supertram now runs down this bit of road on the Blue route. Just behind me and on the opposite side of the road was the old Malin Bridge Tram Depot, the frontage of which has been preserved and a medical centre (?) now resides where the trams were kept.

The 'Famous Five' as they were called by local anoraks were the last five 1955 27'6" Roe bodied Regent IIIs to run for the Corporation.  Here's the last two of the first 'UWE' batch outside Leadmill Road Depot after an enthusiasts tour to mark their final withdrawal.

Here's 1273 from the next "VWE" batch in Sheffield Bus Station, nice HA Viva in the background beyond the A fleet Roe bodied Titan PD2/30.  Attempts to buy one for preservation were thwarted by the scrap men who seeing the tin fronts, thought they were Regent Vs and bid a lot higher than the enthusiasts who wanted one could afford. Needless to say, when the scrap me got them and found their mistake they were quickly chopped up.

Purchased for the low bridge on the Dinnington route (before tehy altered the road), these Weymann bodied Regent Vs were fitted with low bridge (ie side sunken gangway) bodies. They ended up on my local school route, yes I banged my head when I forgot and sat downstairs. Rotherham Corporation Bridgemaster and a Lincolnshire ECW bodied MW complete the picture.

Being partly owned by the Corporation and the railways gave access to the products of Bristol and ECW. The result was small batches of ECW bodies on Leyland chassis. We've had the MW bodies on Leopards, here's the ECW 'K' body on 1294, a Leyland Titan PD2. Alongside is another B fleet example, 1295, with a Roe body, Greenland Road garage if I remember correctly. The C fleet also had some similar examples with both ECW and Roe bodies, Roe bodied 3156 (latterly 1156) is preserved.

Purchased for the longer distant routes, platform doors were specified on a batch of 30' Roe bodied Regent Vs. Here's 1336, sister 1330 is preserved.

Another batch of Atlanteans in the B fleet were these early PDR1s with Weymann bodies like 1353. One, 1357, when only around 5 years old, was destroyed by a fire on the top deck and was rebodied with a Park Royal body in 1968 (like the first picture of 1101). Happily because of it's newer body it survived into preservation, having been a driver trainer and also used for experimental repaints into alternative liveries for the PTE. They were renumbered into the 22* series, 1353 became 223.

Surprising purchases in 1964 by the B fleet were a batch of Park Royal bodied Regent Vs with forward entrance bodies and semi auto gearboxes (the C fleet also purchased two examples). Here's 1373 passing down Exchange Street under the bridge that linked the Sheffield Markets.  All now demolished.

Amazingly the Corporation and the A fleet also bought a batch of similar but Weymann bodied Regent Vs, here's 1381 (originally 271 but renumbered into the B fleet series to make way for new vehicles) on the appropriately named Flat Street.

 

By for now.

 

[PhilA]

Quite a lot of the early images in this thread are broken; I remember a Battery operated coach (national express?) that was being experimentially tried, with a big battery trailer attached with an umbilical.

 

Does anybody have pictures and history?

[Inspector Morose]

1 minute ago, PhilA said:

Quite a lot of the early images in this thread are broken; I remember a Battery operated coach (national express?) that was being experimentially tried, with a big battery trailer attached with an umbilical.

 

Does anybody have pictures and history?

This one?

[PhilA]

3 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

This one?

That's the beast. Thank you!

[Inspector Morose]

Towards the end of 1974, Leyland and the National Bus Company at the request of the Department of Environment converted the solitary Ribble 10.3-metre Leyland National (OTF 354M) to battery/electric. Approximately 7-tons of batteries were carried in a specially built two-axle Dyson trailer permanently coupled to the bus. In order to conserve the maximum amount of electrical energy for traction, a diesel heating system was installed and a regenerative braking system was incorporated in the normal braking system. The bus had a top speed of 39mph and had a range of 50 miles on a 8 hour charge, the batteries had a four year operational life.

 The overall length of the bus and trailer was nearly 45 feet which made it about longer than legally permitted on UK roads. This caused problems on re-certification and so special permission was granted to allow the bus to operate but not on public roads. The only roads it therefore could operate on was the Runcorn Busway in Cheshire which was part of the Runcorn New Town housing development as it consisted almost of exclusive roads only used by buses and nothing else. After completion, the battery-electric Leyland National was transferred to Crosville's Runcorn depot but it retained the Poppy Red livery with just the Ribble fleet names replaced with Crosville ones.

Due to the limited range  it spent a lot of time out of service while the batteries were charged, but it was a worthwhile experimental exercise. The special dispensation granted to the NBC to operate the bus originally ended on 31st October 1976 but was extended until some time in 1978. 

After the trial, it was concluded that a battery-electric bus was not practicable. Rather than converting the National back to standard it was dismantled by Crosville to provide body components to repair a badly damaged fellow.
 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

On 12/7/2022 at 6:51 PM, Inspector Morose said:

1931 Gilford single deck bus powered by a Junkers opposed piston engine and front wheel drive.

Amazingly, nobody wanted to buy one so the double deck version (yup, the built two of the things) was converted into a front wheel drive trolleybus making it the only one of its kind ever to run in the UK (at Wolverhampton). Unsurprisngly, it wasn't a success.

 

Here, we see the genesis of the oversized radiator grille.  Gilford got there before Audi and BMW! 🙌🙌🙌

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

This one?

 

5 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

Towards the end of 1974, Leyland and the National Bus Company at the request of the Department of Environment converted the solitary Ribble 10.3-metre Leyland National (OTF 354M) to battery/electric. Approximately 7-tons of batteries were carried in a specially built two-axle Dyson trailer permanently coupled to the bus. In order to conserve the maximum amount of electrical energy for traction, a diesel heating system was installed and a regenerative braking system was incorporated in the normal braking system. The bus had a top speed of 39mph and had a range of 50 miles on a 8 hour charge, the batteries had a four year operational life.

 The overall length of the bus and trailer was nearly 45 feet which made it about longer than legally permitted on UK roads. This caused problems on re-certification and so special permission was granted to allow the bus to operate but not on public roads. The only roads it therefore could operate on was the Runcorn Busway in Cheshire which was part of the Runcorn New Town housing development as it consisted almost of exclusive roads only used by buses and nothing else. After completion, the battery-electric Leyland National was transferred to Crosville's Runcorn depot but it retained the Poppy Red livery with just the Ribble fleet names replaced with Crosville ones.

Due to the limited range  it spent a lot of time out of service while the batteries were charged, but it was a worthwhile experimental exercise. The special dispensation granted to the NBC to operate the bus originally ended on 31st October 1976 but was extended until some time in 1978. 

After the trial, it was concluded that a battery-electric bus was not practicable. Rather than converting the National back to standard it was dismantled by Crosville to provide body components to repair a badly damaged fellow.
 

hah thats quite fitting that the one(?) Electric National happened to be Lancashire registered, as while that was being converted
 

Fred Miller Ltd was busy refurbishing and converting Petrol Tippen Delta to Electric Tippen Delta's   complete with new Chassis numbers  (they where treated as new vehicles effectively)  and thus all  gained new Lancashire marks, take for example RTF114M pictured bellow  

As far as am I aware this mass conversion of over 500 Petrol Delta's to Electric makes it one of if not the first case big case of Petrol to electric vehicle conversion?

 

as a side note that battery trailer looks suspiciously like one of these...

(which is fitting also as it too is Electric battery powered LOL)