Bus Shite

[artdjones]

On 26/07/2026 at 11:59, lisbon_road said:

Winchester yesterday, can't be many of these with Stagecoach now.  Looks a bit battered, like one of those pictures of B-17 Flying Fortresses that just made it back over the channel (this might be a shade melodramatic).  

Winchester benefits from a spacious bus station.  Apparently there are plans to close this and move to on street parking, but not until 2029.  I hope that's long enough that they can change their minds.  I for one really use buses round here.  

 

When councillors see bus stations they drool at all that lovely land going to "waste". If they sell them off that's lots of free money to use on their hare brained schemes.

See Cardiff, which once had a large bus station right next to the main railway station. Now it's had the headquarters of BBC Wales built on it. Why does the BBC HQ need to be there when the old HQ functioned perfectly well on the outskirts of Cardiff? An excellent question.

[Inspector Morose]

7 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

I did less damage to my knuckles driving those Bedfords than I did with six speed Fords. 

EFA

[busmansholiday]

^^^,

 

Ha, ha, I remember one operator I drove for saying "we've given you the Ford (Dominant II ifrc) as you know how to slow down using the gears and the brakes aren't working correctly"....

[SunnySouth]

A few from the Cotswolds show today at South Cerney…

First up, SuperNational!! No, not a cape-wearing bus themed superhero, but in fact an early Mk1 National packed with the very *latest in business technology, such as huge chunky monitors and something which looked very much like a kind of pioneer fax machine - all still in situ on board!

Less excitingly, and lacking a superhero name, a pair of VRs. ‘Barbie 2’ livery, as the fade-out pink was known, is a rare sighting these days; seems an age ago that it was a new thing!

A slightly molested RE. Note “Stroud RE” badges; any ideas anyone??

Open top Olympian in Poppy Red; lovely!

Bit of classic coaching action, very handsome Bristol/ECW combo from legendary coach operator Royal Blue.

Semi-modern; a non-Dart (it’s an Ovlov B6!) and handsome non-London Titan.

“It’s behind me….” - contrasting nicely with the City Line efforts above, a standard issue mid-2000’s Firstbus Wright-bodied Volvo in their modern take on Badgerline colours, escaping off home. Unsure whether this is still in service, it’d be pushing its luck a bit being on a 54 plate, but it did look very much alive including the legal lettering…

A nice pair of bonnets on these classic Beford OBs. 

Aaaand finally, this - a Not Bus, chopped down Leyland Victory wrecker retrieved from Hong Kong! What a beast!

It’s a superb show, enormous showground with every type of vehicle you could imagine - very, very highly recommended if you’ve not been!

[Sportshatch]

[SunnySouth]

On 06/08/2026 at 21:09, Sportshatch said:

Height of sophistication!

[High Jetter]

23 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

Height of sophistication!

Open doors tho!

[artdjones]

3 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Open doors tho!

No A/C in those days.

[High Jetter]

8 minutes ago, artdjones said:

No A/C in those days.

Or elf & safety. Good ole times

[Zelandeth]

15 hours ago, artdjones said:

No A/C in those days.

Don't think I've ever been on a city bus over here with AC, certainly not where it was present, working and switched on anyway!

I lie actually.  ONE double decker did - but that was one of the big Olympians that Stagecoach re-imported from Hong Kong, where it had obviously been a necessity.

Apparently the new ones Oxford are running so have AC for the driver's cab at least (thank goodness) but I didn't detect any evidence of the same being true of the passenger saloon which was like a bloody oven.

[SunnySouth]

On 17/06/2026 at 12:43, cms206 said:

…

Volvo B7RLE HF54 HHK was new as Wilts & Dorset's 132 on the Salisbury Park & Ride, did a spell with Morebus as their 2232 before doing several years with Go-Ahead London as their VWL53, latterly based in Folkestone. Despite the East Yorkshire colourscheme, I don't think it ever actually ran there.

Just thought I’d add some contrast; here’s preserved sister HF54 HFU at a recent bus rally. Looks superb in a fresh coat of its original livery

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Innit:

 

[quicksilver]

On 06/08/2026 at 21:09, Sportshatch said:

IIRC these were very controversial when new. A publicly-owned British bus company buying foreign vehicles really wasn't the done thing, but then along came Deregulation and everyone did it.

[holbeck]

The 'slightly molested' "Stroud" RE above is owned (or at least looked after) by the excellent Stroud RE group

[mat777]

A few more fish in a barrel from Astley Park at the weekend....

 

[andrew e]

Just a heads up this is on today, I'm not really a bus enthusiast but it should be an intriguing day. 

https://imberbus.org

[andrew e]

[martc]

On 31/07/2026 at 22:24, SunnySouth said:

A slightly molested RE. Note “Stroud RE” badges; any ideas anyone??

 

There is a group in Stroud who run several RE coaches, i wonder if it's one of theirs?

[andrew e]

Imberbus 2026: Quite interesting day out - overloaded 3 car unit from Waterloo aside - huge queues (only to start with) and several pub beer gardens were part of the fun. Half were day trippers like me and my mate, half bus enthusiasts. 

Imber village was very interesting (we went there last and had the place to ourselves gone 4pm) definitely worth visiting the village if you get a chance 👍 

Anyway as I'm a car and train guy, with no real bus knowledge, have a snapshot of everything I traveled on instead 😁 I wasn't avoiding anything recent (especially with aircon!) but somehow it didn't occur, such was the variety of old knackers. The BEA liveried was restored to absolutely like new and pulled like a train, definitely my pick of the day!

 

 

[SunnySouth]

9 hours ago, andrew e said:

Imberbus 2026: Quite interesting day out - overloaded 3 car unit from Waterloo aside - huge queues (only to start with) and several pub beer gardens were part of the fun. Half were day trippers like me and my mate, half bus enthusiasts. 

Imber village was very interesting (we went there last and had the place to ourselves gone 4pm) definitely worth visiting the village if you get a chance 👍 

Anyway as I'm a car and train guy, with no real bus knowledge, have a snapshot of everything I traveled on instead 😁 I wasn't avoiding anything recent (especially with aircon!) but somehow it didn't occur, such was the variety of old knackers. The BEA liveried was restored to absolutely like new and pulled like a train, definitely my pick of the day!

 

 

Lovely stuff! I went for the first time, superb day although mega busy to begin with! A pretty unique experience all round, well worth getting yourself on something open topped for a full run across the plain, some fascinating sights out there.

A few from me:

 

[lisbon_road]

Very sad news that we have lost David Hoare, who owned Chepstow Classic Buses and was a very influential figure in saving various older buses.

We have a few people on here who have worked for Chepstow.  Does anyone know what will happen to the company now?

Having worked in the area, I had many chances to photograph them at work, hence the attached picture.

Thoughts with his family.  

[Inspector Morose]

The erstwhile Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company Limited has always fascinated me. Any company that decides that, instead of buying buses from people who set out to build them, no, they should build them themselves. Oh yes, and have disc brakes in the 1960s, when disc brakes on cars weren't exactly commonplace.  And integral construction and independent front suspension using rubber in torsion as the springing medium. Better to build their own engines too, just to be on the safe side. Utterly bonkers for an operator, don't you think?

Going to such extremes didn't mean the pennies weren't watched, though. Engines, suspension and brakes were all common parts throughout the fleet, and designs were generally evolutionary in nature.

In 1967, the last new BMMO single deck dsign entered production at their own works on Waterworks Road, Birmingham. Mechanically, it was pretty identical to the previous S17, but the body was to a new design, using the framing from the CM6 motorway coach as a starting point. The multiple small side windows of the earlier S17 were replaced by six longer windows per side. The front and rear were modernised with a slight peak at the front and rear domes, capping the one-piece fibreglass roof (made in-house, naturally). The S21 was built for semi-fast crew-operated routes and so were pretty well furnished inside, with semi-coach seating to suit the routes they were meant to operate. Forced air ventilation (nozzles above the seats on the underside of the luggage racks) was used instead of opening windows. Destination gear was front only, with only a small number blind aside the two piece desination display, as the route number didn't need to be read from a distance.

After the S21, there was a need for a service bus that could deputise on the fast runs if needed, but usually would be used on the longer bus routes. The S21 design was modified with a larger number blind box and the seating inside was less posh. Enter the S22

Now we need a bus for the rest of the routes. The same design was used yet again but stripped back even further in spec. Gone were the luggage racks and rear boot, and opening windows replaced the forced-air ventilation. Seating was of the standard bus style of the time, and the bus was fitted out from new for a one-man operation. And lo, we have another class, the S23.

This was to be the final BMMO built buses, as the financial strain of building your own bespoke fleet finally caught up with them, coupled with the steady drain of staff to nearby Longniddrige. The final S23s were partially completed and then driven to Plaxton in Scarborough for final fitting out in 1970.

Okay, it's very costly to bespoke-build your own fleet of buses, but BMMO still managed to watch the pennies enough to squeeze every last bit of use out of every design. Three virtually identical buses, but with three different roles within the company, and with that standardisation of design came maintenance, spares, and operational savings that could not be matched by any other company running an 'off-the-peg' fleet. Maybe they weren't that foolish after all?

[martc]

Talking of homemade, this looks like it was designed by a committee. Any idea what it is?

[Inspector Morose]

5 hours ago, martc said:

Talking of homemade, this looks like it was designed by a committee. Any idea what it is?

As a Barton bus, it'll always be a bit weird but compared to some of their creations, this is pretty tame. 

Originally built as a single deck with a willowbrook body, this was rebodied for Barton with a Northern Counties double deck body. 

Look up Barton and their rebuilds, they're pretty interesting stuff. 

[Inspector Morose]

Posted, just because. Nice, isn't it? Leyland engine too.

Sadly, it was destroyed in the Bicester fire last year.

[hairnet]

Mother fucker

[artdjones]

22 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

Posted, just because. Nice, isn't it? Leyland engine too.

Sadly, it was destroyed in the Bicester fire last year.

I remember coming back from Tewkesbury on OAX8F around 1978. The driver had large sideburns and drove very hard. After a little while there was an impromptu stop to allow my two younger brothers to deposit the Knickerbocker Glories they had eaten in the Tewkesbury Wimpy onto the grass verge.

[lisbon_road]

48 minutes ago, artdjones said:

I remember coming back from Tewkesbury on OAX8F around 1978. The driver had large sideburns and drove very hard. After a little while there was an impromptu stop to allow my two younger brothers to deposit the Knickerbocker Glories they had eaten in the Tewkesbury Wimpy onto the grass verge.

The OAX batch seemed to be just one of those that got everywhere.  I don't have any pictures of '8' but here is '6' in London in about '81 (I think).

[artdjones]

41 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

The OAX batch seemed to be just one of those that got everywhere.  I don't have any pictures of '8' but here is '6' in London in about '81 (I think).

Best express coaches of the time, except for the luggage space being a bit limited.

That's 8 in Cardiff in the DP livery. 

[Inspector Morose]

2 hours ago, hairnet said:

Mother fucker

Meh, my photo's the right way round.