Bus Shite

[lisbon_road]

Photo shamelessly ripped from internet of a former London trolleybus in Bilbao in Spain converted to diesel power.  There's reference to something similar being done with trolleybuses in South Africa.  I've actually got some pictures of British trolleybuses working in Johannesburg taken by my father in probably about 1981.  

 

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, lisbon_road said:

Photo shamelessly ripped from internet of a former London trolleybus in Bilbao in Spain converted to diesel power.  There's reference to something similar being done with trolleybuses in South Africa.  I've actually got some pictures of British trolleybuses working in Johannesburg taken by my father in probably about 1981.  

 

Blimey!

So some people did have the thought to use and convert them. I can imagine the body itself was a good subject for continued use as a bus. I wonder if any survive?

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, lisbon_road said:

 

What I do know is that I think trolleybuses are a fine technology.  An electric bus without batteries?  What's not to like about that.  

I think the same. What a stupidly short sighted idea it was to get rid of them all. None of the downsides of battery power but all the benefits of electric. 
 

[Metal Guru]

14 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I think the same. What a stupidly short sighted idea it was to get rid of them all. None of the downsides of battery power but all the benefits of electric. 
 

The last time I saw a trolley bus was in Vancouver about 10 years ago. It was struggling in traffic due to bad parking making it’s limited manoeuvring a problem.
 

[wesacosa]

Pinched from Facebook, hopefully MT Davies doesn't mind

I was delighted to find a picture of my old school bus. I think this must have been taken a good few years before I would have been on it (from 1989) as it seems to be doing continental tours in this picture.  I don't think it did too much more than the school runs then 

I used to cycle a mile to my grandads house as he was a neighbour of the lady coach driver who seemed to keep it at her house rather than the depot and then get the bus to school. 

Seems to have disappeared off the road in 1997

Blue bird had a fleet of 60s/70s/80s Bedfords of different types. It was a different bus coming home as for some reason there was a route that dropped me closer to my home but that only ran in the return direction oddly

This one was odd in that the door close seemed to operate when the clutch was depressed rather than on a dash button 

[mk2_craig]

On 04/12/2025 at 17:34, martc said:

^^^^ mmmm, I wonder if they're as bad as the BMC buses which very much came and went? I know I'm a bit of a Chinese apologist but I think I'd go for a Yutong over an Oktacar. Not that I've any bus experience what so ever.....

Now earning some revenue for their owner:

The Vectio comes with air con as standard, the bump in the roof may have fooled a lot of people here into thinking that they are battery powered. 

 

[busmansholiday]

4 hours ago, lisbon_road said:

 do remember seeing pictures of diesel chassis that had been fitted with used trolleybus bodies.  The give-away was a thick pillar between windows which was where the electricity would go.  I suspect that there were not very many. 

Doncaster did this.

[Zelandeth]

56 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

Pinched from Facebook, hopefully MT Davies doesn't mind

I was delighted to find a picture of my old school bus. I think this must have been taken a good few years before I would have been on it (from 1989) as it seems to be doing continental tours in this picture.  I don't think it did too much more than the school runs then 

I used to cycle a mile to my grandads house as he was a neighbour of the lady coach driver who seemed to keep it at her house rather than the depot and then get the bus to school. 

Seems to have disappeared off the road in 1997

Blue bird had a fleet of 60s/70s/80s Bedfords of different types. It was a different bus coming home as for some reason there was a route that dropped me closer to my home but that only ran in the return direction oddly

This one was odd in that the door close seemed to operate when the clutch was depressed rather than on a dash button 

Door being tied to the clutch was quite common on 60s and 70s stuff - definitely among Volvo, Bedford and Ford anyway.

I *definitely* didn't nearly chop one of my mates in half accidentally as he was climbing aboard his own coach once when I forgot that.

[EyesWeldedShut]

This was my school bus type 1974 - 76 (ish) (Photo lifted from http://www.photo-transport.co.uk/buses/stranraer/photos1/photos1.htm)

We'd sit behind the driver just to watch him pull/push the door open with a bloody great big lever operated system* that looked ace (to an 11 year old at any rate) - imagine our dismay when they were replaced by Alexander Leopards with a 'pfffft-pish' pneumatic door. We'd just sit behind the driver in those and, instead, marvel at the gated semi-automatic gear shifting - we were very easily impressed back then.

* I cannot find a picture (or video) of that in operation.

[Inspector Morose]

On 04/01/2026 at 14:34, The Old Bloke Next Door said:

Poor old LEN101, the Wulfrunian that slipped through the net after it was rescued  then badly damaged when a bus ran into it and then scrapped. It was the last surviving non-West Riding Wulfrunian.

[Remspoor]

On 05/01/2026 at 16:00, lisbon_road said:

Photo shamelessly ripped from internet of a former London trolleybus in Bilbao in Spain converted to diesel power.  There's reference to something similar being done with trolleybuses in South Africa.  I've actually got some pictures of British trolleybuses working in Johannesburg taken by my father in probably about 1981.  

 

 

On 05/01/2026 at 17:10, danthecapriman said:

Blimey!

So some people did have the thought to use and convert them. I can imagine the body itself was a good subject for continued use as a bus. I wonder if any survive?

Times were hard in Spain They where using RHD ex LT trolleybuses too

https://vellapontevedra.blogspot.com/2013/05/la-parada-del-trole.html

 

 

[cms206]

Despite my best efforts, I'm still in Manchester - hopefully another gig is on the horizon so keeping everything crossed.

Some more pictures of modern toss... I seem to spend most of my time on the 20 group (20/21/22/520) and the 36/37 Manchester services.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[Yoss]

Actually saw one of these tri axle Volvos in the flesh today. 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

11 hours ago, cms206 said:

Despite my best efforts, I'm still in Manchester - hopefully another gig is on the horizon so keeping everything crossed.

Some more pictures of modern toss... I seem to spend most of my time on the 20 group (20/21/22/520) and the 36/37 Manchester services.

I remember that B9TL as WVL365. It was popular in the summer unlike sister WVL366! 

[JonS]

Ex First of some sort.

Tetleys of Leeds, with fleet names for a change

[quicksilver]

5 hours ago, JonS said:

Ex First of some sort.

Tetleys of Leeds, with fleet names for a change

Tetleys were bought by First last summer. That one was transferred from the Leeds city fleet I guess.

[busmansholiday]

On 05/01/2026 at 20:34, Inspector Morose said:

Poor old LEN101, the Wulfrunian that slipped through the net after it was rescued  then badly damaged when a bus ran into it and then scrapped. It was the last surviving non-West Riding Wulfrunian.

Sad, yes, but of the two survivors, only one, WHL970 was new to West Riding. The other UCX275, was new to County Motors of Lepton, hence it's Huddersfield registration.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[lesapandre]

Broken down double-decker bus in London today and this immense monster was on hand to tow it. Massive diesel purring away.

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

Broken down double-decker bus in London today and this immense monster was on hand to tow it. Massive diesel purring away.

I’ve always wondered what it’s like trying to drive one of those around London and big cities with another big vehicle being towed!? It must be a nightmare at times.

[Yoss]

Off on my travels again. Get dropped off at Hatton Cross to find the Piccadilly Line shut but a rail replacement bus arrives almost immediately. I just like this picture for all the reflections on the wet road. 

Now at the gate. It's one of the downstairs gates so we have to get a bus to the plane. Nice that it has destination blinds for the flight but it makes me wonder how long it would take to get to Bucharest in this. 

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[busmansholiday]

20 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

I’ve always wondered what it’s like trying to drive one of those around London and big cities with another big vehicle being towed!? It must be a nightmare at times.

I got the pleasure* of dragging a tri-axle Neoplan decker back from Battersea to Sheffield one Sunday on the back of a Scammell wrecker (when the PSV regs allowed you to do so if you had the all "all PSVs licence"). It was errr, entertaining!!

[danthecapriman]

4 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

I got the pleasure* of dragging a tri-axle Neoplan decker back from Battersea to Sheffield one Sunday on the back of a Scammell wrecker (when the PSV regs allowed you to do so if you had the all "all PSVs licence"). It was errr, entertaining!!

How long did that take!? 😄
 

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

Quote

 

 

[busmansholiday]

21 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

How long did that take!? 😄
 

Depends if you include blocking Battersea Bridge (your not supposed to turn right), but 40 mph top speed made it slow (I did manage to read a couple of newspapers spread across the steering wheel).

[Yoss]

A couple from Romania the last few days. 

This must be the bus equivalent of the Citroën Ami in that it's hard to tell the front from the back (this is the back if you're wondering). 

Meanwhile a lot of Sibius full size fleet are electric too now. They have these charging points at the station so you can top up between duties which makes a lot of sense. 

You an see the bus behind has just arrived at the charging station though it hasn't plugged in yet. They have little pantographs on the roof so they look like trolleybuses but aren't. They have a similar system in Brașov 

 

Meanwhile back in the capital they are still using elderly Ikarus trolleybuses. These were here when I last visited a couple of years ago. I thought they'd be gone by now but apparently not. I don't even know of any left in their native Hungary. 

Hashtag @martc

Bit basic inside and not in the least bit accessible. 

 

 

[martc]

12 hours ago, Yoss said:

A couple from Romania the last few days. 

This must be the bus equivalent of the Citroën Ami in that it's hard to tell the front from the back (this is the back if you're wondering). 

Meanwhile a lot of Sibius full size fleet are electric too now. They have these charging points at the station so you can top up between duties which makes a lot of sense. 

You an see the bus behind has just arrived at the charging station though it hasn't plugged in yet. They have little pantographs on the roof so they look like trolleybuses but aren't. They have a similar system in Brașov 

 

Meanwhile back in the capital they are still using elderly Ikarus trolleybuses. These were here when I last visited a couple of years ago. I thought they'd be gone by now but apparently not. I don't even know of any left in their native Hungary. 

Hashtag @martc

Bit basic inside and not in the least bit accessible. 

 

 

Absolutely ace Ikarus spots, thanks. Good to see some still in active service, but not surprising as electric vehicles are (were!) far less complex than their IC brethren.

11/10.

[Yoss]

2 hours ago, martc said:

Absolutely ace Ikarus spots, thanks. Good to see some still in active service, but not surprising as electric vehicles are (were!) far less complex than their IC brethren.

11/10.

I imagine these are far less complex than an IC equivalent but I'm not so sure that's still the case. I'm sure these modern Solaris and SOR things are far more complex. Especially as most of them now have batteries too for running off the wires.