Bus Shite

[cms206]

Today's steeds - both defected for a lack of passenger doors and not being red...

[High Jetter]

How is that, after the smoke?

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 24/12/2023 at 16:09, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Birmingham Corporation travelled no further than this point- to the right in this pic was Midland Red territory

[cms206]

10 hours ago, High Jetter said:

How is that, after the smoke?

Quiet 🤣 That said by the time I'd picked up 37486 yesterday the two X19s in front of me were missing so I got absolutely slaughtered - left Easterhouse with 59 on board, more or less unheard of but shows at least that people are willing to wait for us.

I suppose as we're now into the new year it's time for another London update.

Returned to London on Sunday 10th of December for a run of ten shifts; 62 on the 11th, 462 on the 12th, 145 on the 13th, 179 on the 14th, 167 on the 15th & 16th, 145 on the 17th, 462 on the 18th, 62 on the 19th and finished with a 2204 finish on the 462 on the 20th, after which I drove home overnight.

My time in the capital has been largely uneventful; no blameworthy accidents, no broken windows, bugger all... until Friday 15th December.

1147 sign on, 1217 pick up on duty 0309 - for most shifts on the 167, 179 and 462 you travel passenger on a 145 into Ilford to pick your bus up at Hainault Street stances - where 36660 awaited me on allocation 155/167.

Departed on time looking forward  to a decent shift. The 167 is a pretty well timed run and it's a nice route to drive, possibly with the exception of Buckhurst Hill station at busy times. Stopped at the first bus stop on Barkingside High Street heading to Loughton on my first run, set down passengers, picked up and went to pull into a gap in traffic and a pedestrian took a seizure and fell off the pavement in front of the bus... and ended up under the platform. Red button emergency call, police, fire and ambulance out, thankfully I didn't go right over him but major shitting of my pants did occur. By the time the mobile controller had made it out to me I'd missed three trips and I was shaking like a shitting dog, so he drove the bus back to the garage where I had to fill in a mountain of reports before being accosted by the union man.

"Andy? Come with me." We walked into the shed. "10325. Get in, we're going for a drive."

And drive we did. A "comfort drive" as Steve called it. Getting straight back in the saddle is definitely the right thing to do and after a drive up through Becontree to Chadwell Heath and back, I was given the option to finish my shift... so I did. 36660 was locked down until it had been safety checked and had another rolling road brake test, so 36657 was my second steed on 167s.

For three trips. As I broke down on the fourth at Loughton and had to limp the bus back out of service with a burst levelling valve... 3 completed journeys out of eight.


An updated tally...

Current score at Barking, ones with asterisks are since the last update

 Enviro 400MMC

10310, 10312, 10313, *10314*, 10315, 10319, 10320, 10321, 10324, *10325*, 10326, 10328, *10331*, *10332*, 10350

Enviro 400MMC Hybrid

12399, 12400, 12403, 12404

Enviro 400 'Classic'

10174, 10175, *10176*, 10178, 10179, 10181, 19764, 19773, 19774, 19775, 19776, *19781*, 19783, 19784, *19839*, 19852, 19854

Enviro 200MMC

36632, *36633*, 36636, 36637, 36638, 36639, 36640, *36657*, 36658, *36659*, *36660*, 36661,  36663, *36668*, 36669

Enviro 200 'Classic'

36363


I started back at Cumbernauld on December 29th with an 0500 spare in which I did a single X25 journey on 10918, 309 duty on the 30th saw two trips on the X19 with 37494 and 37495 (another one ticked off) and a 10am spare on the 31st in which I did absolutely nothing. Was off the 1st and 2nd but did 20 duty yesterday with 37484, 37486 and 10516 (another other one ticked off - and what a belter it was too!).

20 duty tomorrow, spare on Saturday and next week's shifts... who knows? My garage are expecting me to be back in London but London are steadfastly stating the 14th so who knows.


Next update... whenever.

[cms206]

... and a quick end of year photodump.

[dollywobbler]

Wow. Didn't know there were now green BJmasters. What are they actually like to drive? Have they ditched the hybrid bits?

Oh and well done for getting back into the saddle after the near-squish. Not an easy shift.

[cms206]

10 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Wow. Didn't know there were now green BJmasters. What are they actually like to drive? Have they ditched the hybrid bits?

LT2 is the only green one, echoing RM2 which was also green when new in the 50s.

 

They're all still hybrid but as to what they're like to drive... no idea. We don't have any at Barking and I never got type trained on them at Bow! They go well for their size and I'm told they drive pretty well too, probably aided by the long wheelbase. They're really well screwed together too but not the most reliable in their "old age".

 

[LightBulbFun]

40 minutes ago, cms206 said:

LT2 is the only green one, echoing RM2 which was also green when new in the 50s.

 

They're all still hybrid but as to what they're like to drive... no idea. We don't have any at Barking and I never got type trained on them at Bow! They go well for their size and I'm told they drive pretty well too, probably aided by the long wheelbase. They're really well screwed together too but not the most reliable in their "old age".

 

interesting! I have seen it around a few times, but I never put 2 and 2 together (pun mostly not intended LOL) and realised that it was LTZ1002 that they had specifically painted green for that RM2 reference, I thought they just painted it green to cash in on that London Transport nostalgia,

 

I have to say tho, the cream band bugs as me as its just slightly too thick, it should be the thickness that it is underneath the blind box, but it just a hair or 2 thicker then that it just looks odd as a result

oh and of course its the wrong shade of green and so are the London Transport fleet names for that matter would of it killed them to get those details right?

*grumbles into anorak* 

but its neat to see someone recognise their past, espically with that RM2 reference, its nice to know someone in TfL still knows their onions.

[martc]

North and South of the Tyne -

Central Station, NuT, 1982.

Gateshead.

[Joey spud]

I got sent this image the other day by a vague contact on Facebook so don't know if it happened recently or years ago.

Either way I guess the chat up in the office with the boss after it happened didn't include coffee and biscuits.

[cms206]

5 minutes ago, Joey spud said:

I got sent this image the other day by a vague contact on Facebook so don't know if it happened recently or years ago.

Either way I guess the chat up in the office with the boss after it happened didn't include coffee and biscuits.

Last week apparantly!

[Joey spud]

Oh fuck. I guess there must be a set procedure/assistance for placing a bus over an inspection pit ?

[Matty]

37 minutes ago, Joey spud said:

I got sent this image the other day by a vague contact on Facebook so don't know if it happened recently or years ago.

Either way I guess the chat up in the office with the boss after it happened didn't include coffee and biscuits.

For whatever reason, at first glance I thought tilt test. Fuck that's quite bad

[Zelandeth]

Oh they've done a good job of that...still trying to work out precisely how, but that's a mess and yeah, must have been a very bad day for someone.  That's going to be a slightly interesting recovery operation I'd think, especially given it doesn't look like there great access from the offside to approach with heavy lifting gear.

[Matty]

I'd assume it would have to be jacked

[martc]

NuT

[martc]

A couple more photos of one of the 1955 Citroën U55 Cityrama sightseeing buses as discussed previously.

[Metal Guru]

6 hours ago, martc said:

A couple more photos of one of the 1955 Citroën U55 Cityrama sightseeing buses as discussed previously.

Why did these not catch on? You see rail cars in touristy places with such roofs , but sight seeing buses are normally open top, totally unsuitable for half the year in places like London. 

[quicksilver]

11 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Why did these not catch on? You see rail cars in touristy places with such roofs , but sight seeing buses are normally open top, totally unsuitable for half the year in places like London. 

Heat issues? Can't have big opening windows anymore in case people fall out, so unless it's got very good air con all that glass is going to make the passengers awfully hot and sweaty in the half of the year when open-toppers are suitable.

And the expense of replacing so much glass that would be such a tempting target for vandals.

[martc]

11 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Why did these not catch on? You see rail cars in touristy places with such roofs , but sight seeing buses are normally open top, totally unsuitable for half the year in places like London. 

I guess panoramic roofs are the compromise between being able to look up at sights, structural integrity, temperature regulation and safety.

In fact they have recently introduced them to some service buses in that there London (route 63 apparently). Although not sure if one (or is it two?) panels count.

https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/london-bus-route-sun-roofs-24896528

Also -

I'm guessing the trunking on the right contains some sort of cooling air/demisting system.

https://www.thefoodaholic.co.uk/2018/07/bustronome-restaurant-review-sightseeing-fine-dining-london-bus.html

[SunnySouth]

On 07/01/2024 at 11:32, Joey spud said:

I got sent this image the other day by a vague contact on Facebook so don't know if it happened recently or years ago.

Either way I guess the chat up in the office with the boss after it happened didn't include coffee and biscuits.

How the fuck do you manage to get both sets of o/s wheels down there ffs?!! I’d like to think I’d have left it at just the one

[rattlecan]

I put a few NCB trucks in the other thread, so here are some buses as well

[Six-cylinder]

Which Coach company is this?

Lancaster Road Cressex Industrial Estate, High Wycombe, Bucks. Late sixties early seventies the photo is captioned.

I remember Jeff's Coach's was this Jeff's or another company.

[jon.k]

5 hours ago, rattlecan said:

 

Loving the NCB pictures @rattlecan. I was staying with my parents in South Wales the other week and a man drove past in a series 2 landrover wearing an NCB coat... it was like time travel!

[Inspector Morose]

4 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Which Coach company is this?

Lancaster Road Cressex Industrial Estate, High Wycombe, Bucks. Late sixties early seventies the photo is captioned.

I remember Jeff's Coach's was this Jeff's or another company.

That was Jeffways & Pilot of HighWycombe. They merged sometime in the '50s I believe and combined onto the site shown in your picture. I think it was bought by the Kirby Group sometime in the '70s (not too sure on that one) which imploded sometime in the 1990's.

The odd thing here is that there is still a Kirby's coaches who have been operating for as long as the other one but they are based in Rayleigh, Essex. This Kirby's is of note in that they imported the first Setra coach into the UK in 1972 (and still own it).

Jeff's was another well-known coach company, more so in recent times (even though they were started in the late 1950s) but they were based in Helmdon, newar Brackley. They collapsed in 2012, bought by Bowens then collapsed again, this time terminally in 2015.

[quicksilver]

5 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

That was Jeffways & Pilot of HighWycombe. They merged sometime in the '50s I believe and combined onto the site shown in your picture. I think it was bought by the Kirby Group sometime in the '70s (not too sure on that one) which imploded sometime in the 1990's.

The odd thing here is that there is still a Kirby's coaches who have been operating for as long as the other one but they are based in Rayleigh, Essex. This Kirby's is of note in that they imported the first Setra coach into the UK in 1972 (and still own it).

Jeff's was another well-known coach company, more so in recent times (even though they were started in the late 1950s) but they were based in Helmdon, newar Brackley. They collapsed in 2012, bought by Bowens then collapsed again, this time terminally in 2015.

<pedant> It was Jeffs, not Jeff's. The founder was a Mr Jeffs, not a bloke called Jeff. </pedant>

Even the company got it wrong though as I remember at least one vehicle with legal lettering reading "Jeff's Coaches Ltd", a company name that never actually existed.

[Six-cylinder]

2 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

That was Jeffways & Pilot of HighWycombe. They merged sometime in the '50s I believe and combined onto the site shown in your picture. I think it was bought by the Kirby Group sometime in the '70s (not too sure on that one) which imploded sometime in the 1990's.

The odd thing here is that there is still a Kirby's coaches who have been operating for as long as the other one but they are based in Rayleigh, Essex. This Kirby's is of note in that they imported the first Setra coach into the UK in 1972 (and still own it).

Jeff's was another well-known coach company, more so in recent times (even though they were started in the late 1950s) but they were based in Helmdon, newar Brackley. They collapsed in 2012, bought by Bowens then collapsed again, this time terminally in 2015.

Yes the names Pilot and Kirby ring bells from my childhood around High Wycombe.

The other company that got our school contracts was Ivins of Prestwood. I remember them having a 1960 Bedford with what they called a Chinese gearbox and a Leyland Leopard we only got to ride on if they were going straight on to another non school job. The Bedford would not start outside the school one day and I watched the driver bleed the diesel by cracking open the nuts on the injectors, then 40+ years later when I ran my JCB out of diesel I remembered and bled my digger successfully.

Good drivers, different times, the owners son asked one evening if the last 4 of us wouldn’t mind going back to the yard with him to drop the coach off and he would take us home in his father’s Jaguar MK1 saloon as he was short of time and needed to go straight off afterwards.

My friend’s son Jack started his driving career for Jeffs at Helmdon, initially restricted distance as he was still quite young.

[quicksilver]

42 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Yes the names Pilot and Kirby ring bells from my childhood around High Wycombe.

The other company that got our school contracts was Ivins of Prestwood. I remember them having a 1960 Bedford with what they called a Chinese gearbox and a Leyland Leopard we only got to ride on if they were going straight on to another non school job. The Bedford would non start outside the school one day and I watched the driver bleed the diesel by cracking open the nuts on the injectors, then 40+ years later when I ran my JCB out of diesel I remembered and bled my digger successfully.

Good drivers, different times, the owners son asked one evening if the last 4 of us wouldn’t mind going back to the yard with him to drop the coach off and he would take us home in his father’s Jaguar MK1 saloon as he was short of time and needed to go straight off afterwards.

My friend’s son Jack started his driving career for Jeffs at Helmdon, initially restricted distance as he was still quite young.

Blimey, there's a blast from the past. You must have downloaded that a long time ago (before we met) as it's from my old site on fotopic, who went bust in 2011. It was one of the first photos I took with my first digital camera in October 2003 (over 20 years ago!), parked in the old coach park at Milton Keynes shopping centre where the hideous hotel is now.

[Six-cylinder]

18 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

Blimey, there's a blast from the past. You must have downloaded that a long time ago (before we met) as it's from my old site on fotopic, who went bust in 2011. It was one of the first photos I took with my first digital camera in October 2003 (over 20 years ago!), parked in the old coach park at Milton Keynes shopping centre where the hideous hotel is now.

I have it marked up as the bus Jack did his traning on.

This one is marked up as Jack's first bus.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Ayr, 1974/75 - Western SMT town service Heathfield > Glencairn > Heathfield
Somebody popped this up on FaceAche and the Saab in front of the Cortina was thought to belong to my uncle - until I pointed out his was a saloon,