Bus Shite

[jon.k]

I think that double decker used to drive through Pershore and Evesham until the last few months  (or it was one of a similar vintage). It did seem strange to send such an old bus quite far out of Worcester.

[SunnySouth]

3 minutes ago, jon.k said:

I think that double decker used to drive through Pershore and Evesham until the last few months  (or it was one of a similar vintage). It did seem strange to send such an old bus quite far out of Worcester.

Back in proper ‘Barbie’ days that would have been considered a decent bus in that state

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, SunnySouth said:

They do look smart though! 
 

Have a new Wilty Dorset “Morebus” e400 as per the Bluestar ones. Same cumfy seats (except for that stupid mismatched pair on the front offside upstairs!)

 

Bonus Morebus content, OmniCity slumming it in Swindon until death catches up with it, presumably.

 

We get More bus stuff here in Southampton too. 

What with that and the Southern Vectis stuff it makes me feel like I'm at the seaside sometimes. Until I look around me at the desolate surroundings of Shirley Road. 

We get Salisbury Reds stuff too. Some of which are red as you would expect and some are inexplicably blue. I pinched this off the Internet. 

Obviously they come here on the X7 but we do get them on Southampton local services too. I really want to get a picture of a blue Salisbury Reds bus alongside a red DOE with Bluestar logos. 

[SunnySouth]

20 minutes ago, Yoss said:

We get More bus stuff here in Southampton too. 

What with that and the Southern Vectis stuff it makes me feel like I'm at the seaside sometimes. Until I look around me at the desolate surroundings of Shirley Road. 

We get Salisbury Reds stuff too. Some of which are red as you would expect and some are inexplicably blue. I pinched this off the Internet. 

Obviously they come here on the X7 but we do get them on Southampton local services too. I really want to get a picture of a blue Salisbury Reds bus alongside a red DOE with Bluestar logos. 

Snapped this a while back, Eastleigh gone green!

[Yoss]

18 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

Snapped this a while back, Eastleigh gone green!

Once, and only once, I saw a Brighton and Hove bus coming down Shirley Road in service to really add to the seaside feel. Couldn't get my phone out quick enough though. 

[High Jetter]

26 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Once, and only once, I saw a Brighton and Hove bus coming down Shirley Road in service to really add to the seaside feel. 

I hear they often get lost...

[Yoss]

Just arrived at Heathrow on this. 

 

Who the bollocks are Transport UK? I've not noticed them before. Are they new or have I just been unobservant? Admittedly I don't get up here as often as I used to. 

Legal lettering also throws up West London Bus Ltd and a Camberwell address which is definitely not in West London. I've no idea if they are a new company or one of the old franchisees have rebranded. 

What I do know is Transport UK is just about the most generic and meaningless name you could come up with. Which is probably what they were aiming for. 

[83C]

Transport UK is the group formerly known as Abellio. 

[Yoss]

Ahh, they were the ones having all the industrial action too weren't they. And also part of NS, Dutch state railways in which case its an even stranger name to give them. 

[83C]

7 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Ahh, they were the ones having all the industrial action too weren't they. And also part of NS, Dutch state railways in which case its an even stranger name to give them. 

I should have explained better - it’s a management buyout, NS are no longer involved. 

[Yoss]

Ok, tganks

4 hours ago, 83C said:

I should have explained better - it’s a management buyout, NS are no longer involved. 

OK, thanks. I still think West London Bus is a better and more accurate name than Transport UK. 

[busmansholiday]

I'm not naming the (South Yorkshire) operator, but when I was sent it my guess was correct first time..

[Yoss]

4 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

I'm not naming the (South Yorkshire) operator, but when I was sent it my guess was correct first time..

Surely it's only one ding to stop. 

[busmansholiday]

Modern buses actually ring twice when you press the bell for some odd reason. 

[Yoss]

Ok, I never knew that. 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, busmansholiday said:

Modern buses actually ring twice when you press the bell for some odd reason. 

and you have no idea how much that fucking bothers me! (Well you do now  )

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

Modern buses actually ring twice when you press the bell for some odd reason. 

Why, FFS?

[quicksilver]

Just a few from the Wythall Transport Museum's Bank Holiday Monday event.

How things changed at Midland Red from the bespoke S12 to the highly standarised Leyland National.

The first of WMPTE's small batch of Titans, which I think is a recently completed restoration.

Great to see @Inspector Morose's first bus still alive and well. LOL at the combination of Cocks and NOB.

One of the Jumbo Fleetlines.

This slightly scruffy Metrobus on Sercks was my favourite.

The latest restoration making its debut that day was this Stratford Blue Leyland, not a Titan but a rebodied single-deck Tiger. The heavens opened the moment it was driven into the open for the first time.

And finally, the sole surviving Midland Red D10, well ahead of its time with an underfloor engine, disc brakes and power steering  in 1960. Although it didn't go out that day, I'm told it is roadworthy.

[Inspector Morose]

I see that 4413 still has the running board I made for it 32 years ago! IIRC Kevin Hill owns it now so It's in very safe hands. 3913 (or is it?) is Fuzz Townsends but the last I heard was that he was willing to part with it. 7001 is to do with Mat Parker who was one of the ones involved in the breathtaking restoration of standard 2548 so it's not surprising that 7001 has turned out so well.

As a side note - this is JUE349s second restoration with the first happening in the late '80s by G&G of Lemington Spa. I remember bumping into it at the Black Country Museum there when it was being used on a private hire. Sadly it got vandalised badly and was left to rot before being sold to BaMMoT; it is nice to see it finally progressing.

The D10? Yeah, it's still cool, that one. Weird engine layout where the engine is lying down with the heads pointing towards the centre of the bus. This meant that the crank side (the deepest bit of the engine) was under the passenger seats and so avoided the ministry minimum road clearance rules - a bit of clever thinking really. My favourite bit is the CAV gear control mounted flush with the wood effect formica around the cab area. Full of nice touches, that thing. I was taught my craft as a youth by the chap who roadtested the uncompleted shells of both D10s while they were being built at Carlyle Works,

[LightBulbFun]

@Yoss facebook's suggested for you algorithm seems to be getting awfully smart

but what I cant help but notice is the GB sticker on the back of your RM, please tell is a remnant of some epic road trip in it to some eastern European country and used it to A frame back a Skoda or Tatra or something?  

[Yoss]

6 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

@Yoss facebook's suggested for you algorithm seems to be getting awfully smart

but what I cant help but notice is the GB sticker on the back of your RM, please tell is a remnant of some epic road trip in it to some eastern European country and used it to A frame back a Skoda or Tatra or something?  

Keith bought the bus from Reading Mainline in about 2000 and sold it on to me in 2006. We had sold it to Reading Mainline in 1994. 

When I got the bug and the means to buy another one in 2001 I asked Keith first if he wanted to sell he said no so I ended up with RM 2213. But then in 2006 he emigrated to Madeira and sold his fleet so I had to hastily sell 2213 to get 2037 back. Not that that was a problem, RMs are quite easy to sell. 

That GB sticker was still there when I got it back but I'm not aware of Keith ever taking it abroad. 

Funnily enough I took this picture at Heathrow yesterday. 

Is it the first 2037 since my bus left in 1987?

[quicksilver]

19 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

I see that 4413 still has the running board I made for it 32 years ago! IIRC Kevin Hill owns it now so It's in very safe hands. 3913 (or is it?) is Fuzz Townsends but the last I heard was that he was willing to part with it. 7001 is to do with Mat Parker who was one of the ones involved in the breathtaking restoration of standard 2548 so it's not surprising that 7001 has turned out so well.

As a side note - this is JUE349s second restoration with the first happening in the late '80s by G&G of Lemington Spa. I remember bumping into it at the Black Country Museum there when it was being used on a private hire. Sadly it got vandalised badly and was left to rot before being sold to BaMMoT; it is nice to see it finally progressing.

The D10? Yeah, it's still cool, that one. Weird engine layout where the engine is lying down with the heads pointing towards the centre of the bus. This meant that the crank side (the deepest bit of the engine) was under the passenger seats and so avoided the ministry minimum road clearance rules - a bit of clever thinking really. My favourite bit is the CAV gear control mounted flush with the wood effect formica around the cab area. Full of nice touches, that thing. I was taught my craft as a youth by the chap who roadtested the uncompleted shells of both D10s while they were being built at Carlyle Works,

Thanks for the extra info. I read somewhere that Fuzz has parted with 3913 and Graham Bethell owns it now.

[Inspector Morose]

Sounds about right. Here’s the thing about 3913. Way back when, when we were scouring the country to find the surviving jumbos ( and ending up with 3997) we cam across 3913 which was still, being used by the Wickford Majorettes. Although in reasonable condition, a swift reach under to feel the stress panels resulted in large handfuls coming away in our hands, not just bits but huge lumps of the stuff all along the bottom.

Now I know when it was restored, 3913 has dome stress panel repairs but they seemed to be  no way as comprehensive as the damage we came across back in the early 90s. It’s not saying that it had had some repairs before entering preservation but there were some other candidates that were in better condition.

3886 was a Wolverhampton jumbo that ended up as a mobile exhibition unit. Is entirely plausible that the two were combined to make a good one out of the two with the identity of 3913 to make it a Birmingham Jumbo to compliment 3997 (a Wolverhampton example)

3975 was a proper Birmingham jumbo that was owned by Partidge of Hadleigh along with 3997. It was sold on to Jolly Rodger of Pocklington and we borrowed it on occasion for rallies and such. It was in very good original condition inside and out with very good stress panels under the skin. It disappeared after Jolly Rodger went bump and if it is that one, why use the identity of another Birmingham example (apart from the fact that 3913 was used for the official photos of the type when it was brand new).

Does it matter? Not really, 3913 is the last Birmingham jumbo left now so its not like it was for any nefarious reason. It’s just ironic that if it is 3886, the only two Birmingham spec jumbos left are ones that were actually ordered by Wolverhampton Corporation with Roe bodies, the order being altered to full Birmingham/Park Royal spec after WMPTE took over both corporations.

[Remspoor]

18 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

what I cant help but notice is the GB sticker on the back of your RM, please tell is a remnant of some epic road trip in it to some eastern European country

From when I was a kid  I remember seeing a small number of RTs having GB plates on the rear. It was like a badge of honour. We did not have RMs in my part of the world at that time.

This may be of help.

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/research-guide-no-40-overseas-bus-tours.pdf

 

[Yoss]

Some random Romanian bus shite. 

Braşov first. A Menarinibus. No me neither, but a quick Google suggests they were an Italian company that went bust in 2015 but the name was taken over by a Turkish company. 

 

A Solaris electric bus that took me from the station to the city centre. 

 

It's not often you see a bus towing a bike rack. 

 

And the oldest thing I saw in Braşov. 

 

A couple more Mercs in Sinaia. 

This one took me to a cable car base station that is already 1000m up. Hellfire route. 

Ploiești next. One extreme to the other here. From another new Solaris electric bus. 

To these. 

[Yoss]

And on to Bucharest. Paging @martc, Ikarus alert. 

Actually this is all trolleybuses. 

 

[Yoss]

Actually the two buses I claimed were Solaris aren't. They are from a company called SOR from the Czech Republic. They're a new one on me. The fifth picture down in the Bucharest trolleybus post is a Solaris though. I do need to brush up on my eastern European bus manufacturers. 

[martc]

Ikarus's are ace; thanks. But the French do a good line as well -

[martc]

Altogether now, in a Sting like voice, 'an Englishman in Noo Yoik'

 

[martc]

London Victoria Coach Station in 1957. The journey took 50 days and cost £85 (£1720 today).

You can go slightly further today, but it's a little more expensive, but I'm not sure if the Calcutta journey included board and lodgings.

I can't be arsed to look, but is this the longest coach journey from/to the UK?