Bus Shite

[Yoss]

20 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

Does the Black Prince of bus fame have owt to do with the Black Prince of narrowboat hire fame?

* Library photo.

Probably not as that is a Redditch area code and the bus company were based in Leeds. 

[worldofceri]

48 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Probably not as that is a Redditch area code and the bus company were based in Leeds. 

I think they (boats) have more than one hire base but you’re probably right.

[Inspector Morose]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

Probably not as that is a Redditch area code and the bus company were based in Leeds. 

Of course I had to have a little dig around. No, the two aren't in any way related, the boat hire company is registered in Hertfordshire and was set up in 1987, whereas the bus company started around 1969 in Morley. 

[High Jetter]

I think that appears on the canal shite thread.

[mk2_craig]

Here's some proper mouldy old bus shite, could also have deposited this in the Twinned Spots thread I suppose. Seen last weekend.

Two old Plaxton Pointers now well past their 30th birthdays.   Let's have a look inside:

That clearly isnt going anywhere immediately.  What about the other one?

Not much better.

In fact I think it's fairly safe to say these have both carried their last passenger, so what's the story here?  They're actually parked up in a yard on the outskirts of St Peter Port in Guernsey, it seems they and two or three others were sent over shortly after Covid outbreak but I'm not sure if the intention was for the local contractor (at that time under the same HCT Group ownership as Jersey's bus operator) to actually get some service use out of them.  HCT transferred their Channel Islands contracts to another company shortly before entering administration in 2022, the Guernsey service has since passed to Stagecoach South West so it's anybody's guess who actually owns these old wrecks.

Footnote, there were another two of these nearby, both on Guernsey registration plates, one missing front/rear panel and probably towed in dead, the other one actually looked serviceable so might still be on the road.  Various other derelict heaps on site too.

 

[busmansholiday]

Modern, driverless electric bus that was being demonstrated in Lowestoft today that sis went on.

 

 

[Metal Guru]

4 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

Modern, driverless electric bus that was being demonstrated in Lowestoft today that sis went on.

 

 

That’ll be fun late at night filled with pissheads. 

[Inspector Morose]

I have a bit of spare time tonight. Fancy a bit of a photo shop of some of my old photos? No? Tuff, I'm going to anyway.

Back in the good old days, you didn't just scrape photos from the internet to post on your site/forums/(insert social media site here) and claim credit. Nor did you write prompts into your favourite AI picture generator for it to come up with something almost but not quite like a photo of a bus that would lead your followers into believing you were some bus spotting god (HA! Like that would exist).

Back in the day (waiving fist at clouds), you actually went out and physically captured your prey using nothing more than an expensive SLR camera, rolls of equally expensive film (with only 24 or 36 free shots on them! Blimey!). Once you ran out of film, you came home, sent the films away and waited to see how many of the few pictures you took came out out of focus, under- or over-exposed or just plain crap. Of course, travelling to far-flung reaches of the universe, like Barnsley, or  Basingstoke cost money, so you couldn't just pop back to get another shot if the first didn't turn out. Every shot had to matter, so generally only interesting stuff was hunted down and (hopefully) captured on film.

Pre-internet research for interesting places to visit consisted of the monthly BUSES magazine (whose info would generally be relied upon to be around 2-3 months out of date) or, if you were one of the serious guys, photocopied sheets from the PSV Circle, a sort of masons for bus spotters.

So this is a roundabout way of saying, these are MY photos, taken with my own blood, sweat and wallet. Not like some who glide through Google or flick through, erm, Flickr for their quarry. 

And breathe.

So let's start off with a rather well known private operator Stevensons of Spath. They expanded rapidly after deregulation and gathered many wonderful specimens from all manner of places. They even bought new stuff to liven up the older examples of the fleet. Mr Peddle was a known 'enthusiast' (less so, wearing on the sleeve, more discreet notes in a leatherbound diary sort of enthusiast) and so could be counted upon introducing many weird and wonderful types to the midlands, like Dennis Dominos, Wrights bodied Swifts, and nearly all of the prototypes of the second generation rear-engined double-deck designs.

[Inspector Morose]

Sorry, this one's going to be a big post.

Being a Midlander, my focus on photographing was always going to revolve around the biggest operator, WMPTE and its successor companies. Sales of older stock happened infrequently, and so those who had escaped the scrapman and gained second or third lives elsewhere were of interest to me. There was always something fascinating in seeing a familiar shape dressed up in different livery and operating many miles from where they had lived most of their lives. The lucky few got preserved, and I have owned two that have gone on to become fairly well known in the ranks of preserved vehicles; sadly, my early efforts rarely get a mention in the long and prolific histories touted at their showings. Bitter? Moi? Just a little.

 

[Inspector Morose]

So there I was, travelling about and around, photographing buses from various parts of the country. Unbeknownst to me, I was actually capturing the ever-changing landscape of the towns and cities I visited. Buses are a large part of the everyday life we see when we're out and about. They're always there, but we rarely see how they change; shape, colours, size. I was out there freezing for a moment, that mundane landscape.

[SunnySouth]

22 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

Modern, driverless electric bus that was being demonstrated in Lowestoft today that sis went on.

 

 

Ideally located to drop it straight into the sea.

[Inspector Morose]

Do I still do it? Yeah, sometimes. The film camera has long been superseded by digital, and I don't have to wait weeks to see my results. Doesn't make me any better, unfortunately. The subjects change (don't buses look younger than back when I were a lad) and occasionally they're foreign, but I'm still out there, from time to time, snapping away with buses in my viewfinder.

 

That'll do for tonight. Cheerio.

 

 

[cms206]

2 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

This ended up in my manor in British Bus days, along with Stevenson's 126 (MFR 18P)

Both only lasted a matter of weeks as they were deemed too fucked even for the prolific Leopard botherers at Clydeside 2000 and weren't even renumbered. 63 was, interestingly, the only PSU4 operated by Clydeside and 126 filled in a gap as Clydeside 2000 had bought sisters MFR 17P and WFV 19/20R direct from Lancaster, along with MFR 301/5/6P and WCW 307-314R.

[calebaaront]

First Hampshire & Dorset’s ADL Enviro200 Dart (44916) has been de-liveried. This bus will be going up  North to a smaller Operator to help with some contract work for the summer. 

[calebaaront]

First Hampshire & Dorset ADL Enviro200 Dart (44917) This bus will be following 44916 up North for some contract work for the summer then it’ll be coming back down South as it’s being preserved by yours truly!  

[High Jetter]

I'm not a big bus fan, but the routes of the 138 & 119 around S. E. London intrigued me as a kid, as did maps. Later, moving to the town that had the first Municipal Omnibus service in the UK, my interest grew, slightly.

Later in life I met a proud enthusiast of the service, who had many model buses, then my Dad, a local councillor, sat on the planning and transport committees.

 

[SunnySouth]

A selection of First ‘Midland Red’ E400s, blatantly making absolutely no effort at all to be even slightly red. Although one of them has managed a bit of Rainbow!

 

[dollywobbler]

Thanks Inspector. Enjoyed those pics very much.

[worldofceri]

23 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

 

 

I spy Uttoxeter bus station.  I remember them building that Kwik Save behind the bus there. Must have been a long time ago. I think the Town Circular went past my house but I never got the bus as the distance was easily walkable. I’d be interested in any other Uttoxeter images as much for the background as the buses.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[busmansholiday]

On 01/03/2026 at 21:29, calebaaront said:

First Hampshire & Dorset ADL Enviro200 Dart (44917) This bus will be following 44916 up North for some contract work for the summer then it’ll be coming back down South as it’s being preserved by yours truly!

Everyone to their own I suppose.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[Inspector Morose]

Another spare moment, another photo mega dump.

Coaches never really sparked my interest like service buses did. Don't know why, really, as there was much more variety and style in the various chassis and body combinations that could be seen. Still, occasionally, a coach or two would wander past my viewfinder, so it would be rude not to, wouldn't it?

 

 

[Sportshatch]

On 26/02/2026 at 17:03, Inspector Morose said:

Black prince had some proper shonky buses, I think they bought other companies cast offs.

[Sportshatch]

Crossgates, Leeds

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[cms206]

23 hours ago, The Old Bloke Next Door said:

 

EGA 79 still exists in the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

Western's JN2104 is pictured at Renfrew Ferry; new to Youngs Bus Service (hence the Paisley XS plate rather than the more usual Ayrshire CS/SD/SJ plates more associated Western SMT), it's a Northern Counties bodied Albion Venturer M81 new in November 1936 as Young's no.104. It passed to Western SMT with the rest of the undertakings in - from memory - January 1951, along with the depot at Gordon Street in Paisley which latterly served as head office for Clydeside Scottish. The depot exit/entrance onto Gordon Street is still extant but the garage itself is now a housing estate.

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

[egg]

Canterbury, liked those little hopper buses that went round the city.