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I drove one that was basically that but with a Paramount body on it...no idea what it based based on other than Volvo as it had a late B58 style dash.  Knowing the company who owned it, wouldn't surprise me if it was a Heinz 57 by that stage in life to be honest.  Two things I remember being that it went like the clappers...if you dared as the suspension was about as softly sprung as normal for a 70s/80s coach...but without making any allowances for the comically short wheelbase.  The see-saw bouncing was truly comical.  Heaven forbid they ever had passengers onboard who were seasick.

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On 11/04/2021 at 13:37, sierraman said:

Bristol LE in Cleethorpes 

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reminds me of a more modern version of a Plaxton peanut I love these really short versions of otherwise fairly full size buses/coaches, something almost comedic about them, but I also think, bet they would be awesome for someone who wants a bus or a coach but does not have a 30ft parking space for one!

On 17/05/2020 at 13:56, quicksilver said:

It's a Bedford J2 with a Plaxton Embassy IV body, nicknamed the Plaxton Peanut. That one was new to a hospital in Ely and is unusual in having a wheelchair lift in the main doorway. I used to see it a fair bit when owned by Eric Flack but he sold it a few years ago.

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Tower Hospital MVE 400H by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

 

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12 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

reminds me of a more modern version of a Plaxton peanut I love these really short versions of full size buses/coaches something almost comedic about them, but I also think, bet they would be awesome for someone who wants a bus or a coach but does not have a 30ft parking space for one!

 

They're probably* no longer than your average Qashqai tbh. Apart from a few less MPG, it's definitely a better choice for a modern family 🤘

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6 minutes ago, Vantman said:

Empress in Hastings still operate a couple of these---

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As LBF mentioned, there's definitely something almost comedic about their proportions. Kudos to any operator running any semblance of a heritage fleet. I still don't get why old coaches don't have much following, general interest or indeed value in this country. 

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I see the remaining Routemasters are finally being ousted from London Town. Inevitable I guess, but still a shame to a Westcountry fella such as I. It was always part of the experience of visiting the place regularly over the years to see the old girls trundling past. What are the Chinese going to print on the London postcards now? 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/13/transport-for-london-retires-last-heritage-service-of-routemaster-buses

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2 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I see the remaining Routemasters are finally being ousted from London Town. Inevitable I guess, but still a shame to a Westcountry fella such as I. It was always part of the experience of visiting the place regularly over the years to see the old girls trundling past. What are the Chinese going to print on the London postcards now? 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/13/transport-for-london-retires-last-heritage-service-of-routemaster-buses

indeed, here are some of my thoughts on the subject from the grumpy thread, as you can probably tell im not very pleased about it! I do hope someday something returns 

Routemasters are not just buses but they are also a Land mark in their own right, its a bit like knocking down big ben because it was slightly expensive to keep ticking!

11 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

the fuckers!

I had heard rumblings they might, but I had really hoped they would not :( 

 

I also feel bad, as I have not had the chance to ride on one in many years now, and Had hoped to rectify that at some point and see who was still there

Mandy the driver and big paul the conductor are 2 people who where very nice to me and put up with me, as I would hop on and then spend the next 6 hours chatting away with Paul (and mandy at rest stops)

then ride back to the garage with them with my hi-vis donned :) and I feel bad for just vanishing one day to never return!

I do hope they are well! the Garage staff at Both Bow and West Ham where also very nice, the main manager at West ham even gave me a bit of a guided tour once :) (I must have pulled quite the face going by his reaction when I saw a Modern at the time Enviro 200 wearing a Routemaster plate VLT14! I was not very pleased about that, thankfully VLT14 has since been reunited with the Routemaster it was stolen from)

 

it is also very sad to see Routemaster operation come to an end in London in general :( 

 

7 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

thats the thing, apart from adverts on the side of the last Routemasters in normal service during 2005

I have never seen it advertised anywhere, the nearest thing to an advert you would see is on the bus stops that the routes served it would say "Heritage route 15 from such and such time"

even I only found out about them after a chance encounter in 2006!

 

so yeah a lot of us do wonder if they actually advertised the fact they exist, if they would have done better!

 

I also hate the excuses they give, especially the not accessible part, one of the stipulations for when the 2 Routes where setup was that they simply ran along part of the same Route as regular buses did

so no one would be disadvantaged sitting a wheel chair at a bus stop where only Routemasters served (ie they never went anywhere a regular bus of the same route number did not go)

so I feel that excuse is a bit moot! since there will always be regular buses serving the same route so no ones at a disadvantage 

 

and then the Emissions things, well all the heritage RMs where sadly Dartmaster-ed examples with horrible Cummings engines and Hopper windows already so no one would scream bloody murder if they stuck some more modern engines in

which has already been done!

https://www.automotiveworld.com/news-releases/iconic-54-year-old-london-routemaster-joins-cummins-euro-6-clean-bus-lineup-iaa/

 

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While we are at it let’s knock down the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, they can’t be very environmentally friendly. Buckingham Palace, that could be demolished to build a scheme of leasehold flats for the hippies to live alongside the tramps in. Think of all the people you could house there. In fact while we are at it let’s pedestrianise the entire Centre of London from the M25 inwards. Soho, that’s a bit sexist these days with its Sex shops, let’s turn it into a scheme of flats. The Thames, that’s quite polluted, let’s turn it into a wildlife sanctuary. If we can get all this done all these people who are supposedly choking to death in London every day will be cured. 

Moving further out Stonehenge isn’t very accessible, let’s bulldoze it.  Build some flats there instead. Call it Stonehenge Mews. That will do. Eventually we’ll get as far as The Giants Causeway, the access to thats pretty poor so we’ll smash it to bits and build some affordable flats there as well. 

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I hadn't even realised the heritage route had gone seasonal. I only used it twice but Dartmasters are just too depressing. I got used to the 1990s refurbs eventually, it's just a lorry engine replacing the original. But the Dartmaster has a whole new drive train and doesn't even move like an RM so I'm not that upset and to be honest I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. I admit it was nice to see them from a distance but that's it. 

So forget euro 6, why not go full electric. There are companies that will convert any classic car to electric so can't we scale it up a bit. There's plenty of room under that ultra high, non DDA compliant floor? But as mentioned in the articles above this is purely a financial move anyway so that's not going to happen. 

Fortunately there are several private hire companies operating reasonably large fleets in the London area so I usually see at least one every time I'm up there. Admittedly I have no idea what the ULEZ means for them. I know they are exempt in themselves as private vehicles but I don't know if it's different for commercial use (like tax and MOT). 

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This was (pics from the web) the first coach I drove carrying passengers (driving test for the company was a Duple Dominant II bodied Bedford) back in 1978.

3926184557_19e978f2b7_b.thumb.jpg.4935ab9ab2018988cce7753c37d52577.jpg

This,474, was our only semi auto Reliance, all the rest were a mix of synchro (both ZF and AEC's own), or crash box. I only got this on my first day because the traffic dept cocked up and had allocated me this,

images.jpeg.a3d69443767d91c252eff209652acd14.jpeg

424, the last Reliance delivered in the old SUT red and grey, but it was away on tour (I did get to drive it before it went to LCBS).

Seems like yesterday, but it's actually 43 years since I was chucking these around for a living !!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right, lets have some more of my shite B&W pics from the early 70's, and back to God's favorite city. As always, I've chosen pics with chod in them where possible.

The early seventies saw a fair few new deckers enter service, both single and dual door examples. As we're working through the fleet incrementally, we'll start with the single door Fleetlines.

There were two batches of these, one with Park Royal bodies (on the left), and one with Alexander bodies (on the right). The Alexander ones caused quite a stir with enthusiasts as Sheffield had only had 21 Alexander bodied deckers (and 4 Y Type singles) before, twenty were on AEC Regent V chassis as part of the tramway replacement scheme, and a lone Leyland PDR1 Atlantean. Of course these days, you cannot move for Alexander, or rather ADL deckers.

The single deck to the left is a Willowbrook bodied Ford of Eagre's of Gainsborough.

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The next couple are of the inside of newly delivered 240, lets start with the cab.

The master panel on the bottom left, top row START (pull to turn on the main switch), FOG, main beam warning light, S & T (side and tail lights), HEAD.

Bottom row, START button, oil pressure warning light, charging warning light and STOP button. The box to the right is an automatic counter to tell the driver how many seats are left upstairs. It worked on two pressure plates on the staircase, depending on which one activated first it ether reduced or increased the numbers. Of course, students didn't* deliberately miss steps then press the floor plates to cock up the system.  The left hand pedal is the door opening and closing device.

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Lower saloon of 240, women wearing scarfs, men wearing hats, and Kennings (through the front window) flogging BL's finest Marinas.

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East Lancs provided a batch of AN68's in 1973 (I cannot find a B&W of the Alexander bodied Atlanteans before these), amazingly, several were exported to Australia when withdrawn and one has returned and is preserved. A former B fleet Park Royal Atlantean on the right.

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The 1964 Commercial Motor Show, like so many, contained a Sheffield vehicle, in this case 340. It was easily distinguishable at a distance by the Atlantean badge above the cab window and "LEYLAND" on the engine bustle.

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You'll get used to this location, it was a couple of minutes walk from where we lived, and the 13/4 (operated by Greenland Road garage) and 18 (operated by Herries Road garage) bus routes were rife with a variety of the corporations finest* buses.

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Working up the fleet numbers, there were then a batch (well two reg sequences) of Neepsends finest* local creations on PDR1/2 chassis.

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Typical N/S wiper location on these fine* beasts.

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Same location, different day and a Weymann bodied PDR1. Just how much would that VW van be worth these days, although I'd prefer the Farina MG or the landcrab myself.

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I've mentioned 369, the sole Alexander bodied PDR1 above, here it is at Low Bradfield, surrounded by Fords,  on Sunday December 12th, 1971.

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Why do I know it's that exact date?, because we were on an enthusiasts tour using 1957 Roe bodied Leyland Titan PD2 835, that was due for withdrawal.

Here we all are, note the petrol station in the distance.

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Enjoy.

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just came across my uncle's stash of late 1970's to late 80's bus pornography on his Flickr account, and instantly thought this stuff would be right at home here:

Premier Travel RVE297S

That's him driving over a particularly humpy bridge in rural Essex in 1982, his passengers stood in the cold to shed some weight for better ground clearance.

Here are a few other pics, a lot more on his Flickr account for those interested:

United WHN592MSussex Bus XPD127NLondon Country SPK114MPremier Travel JVE373PThamesdown Transport AMR138BSafeguard UGB14R

 

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4 hours ago, cms206 said:

Some recent drives - been pimped out a bit recently.

These three are also not all they seem... @quicksilverknows the answer, but @LightBulbFunmay find interest in his chosen specialist field of tax classes.

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Ooh thats weird, they dont show up on the DVLA 1st party tool, at all and the 14 platers show as having Void VRM's on my special 3rd party tools while the 69 plater does not show up at all

and the only extra info provided on 14 platers is the VIN number, everything else is strangely blank

 

iv only really seen this a handful of times for example with this AC Acedes Mk11 Model 57, which shows up in the same way on 3rd party tools, but this one does at least show up on the 1st party DVLA checker!

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and this Stanley Argson UPA224 is another similar one (but again still shows up fine on the 1st party DVLA checker)

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the only one I know of that acts in the exact same way as those buses is GPA627J is one that does exactly the same as the buses (shows up as Void on 3rd party tools with no info bar a chassis number and does not show up on the DVLA 1st party tool)

that one is an AC Model 64 but not a known survivor/one I have a picture of

never been able to quite figure out whats gone on... (although im pretty sure LPD806D and UPA224 are vehicles archived off the main DVLA computer and then brought back onto it with a V62 so I suspect that might have something to do with how they show up strangely)

 

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11 hours ago, cms206 said:

Some recent drives - been pimped out a bit recently.

These three are also not all they seem... @quicksilverknows the answer, but @LightBulbFunmay find interest in his chosen specialist field of tax classes.

Military?

Have a bet they are internal transport at Faslane.

Been on a few military bases with squadies and there's usually some plain white buses / coaches you don't recognise.

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1 hour ago, busmansholiday said:

Military?

Have a bet they are internal transport at Faslane.

Been on a few military bases with squadies and there's usually some plain white buses / coaches you don't recognise.

Bob on.

The 69-plate was apparantly delivered as YX69 NOU to Ryder (I think, if The Internet is to be believed), the others were delivered to the MOD.

Unusual for the white fleet - only five were delivered to the Ministry as far as I'm aware, these are chassis 14095/6. There are some Plaxton Cheetahs and Cheetah XLs, but the vast majority are Volvo Panthers.

 

Bizarrely the British Army do have an Army green Irizar i6 on army plates which seems a bit odd for them when the white fleet is predominantly Plaxton.

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5 minutes ago, cms206 said:

Bizarrely the British Army do have an Army green Irizar i6 on army plates which seems a bit odd for them when the white fleet is predominantly Plaxton

I understand it's the communications vehicle in the nuclear convoy that moves the warheads to / from Faslane (I've seen it a couple of times, and there's a blue one as well).

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