Bus Shite

[Inspector Morose]

55 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

as a side note make me wonder what the longest someones reserved a registration for? they obviously must have reserved the 4 registrations long before the last prototypes where made (according to the DVLA RM1 was registered in Jan 56 with RML3 the last prototype to be registered was not done so until Jan 58)

SLT 56 was not RM1 s first registration. It was going to be registered in the RT series (along with the other prototypes) but it was pointed out a brand new bus with an 'OLD' registration wouldn't look that great. I have a feeling it was going to be OLD862 with the others following on fro that. 

[willswitchengage]

5 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

Here's another bus with a Routemaster registration.

Why choose VLT? TfL has more recently used three letter identifiers that made some sense, I can't remember exactly but VLWnnn would mean Volvo Long wheelbase Wright, or something.

[LightBulbFun]

6 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

SLT 56 was not RM1 s first registration. It was going to be registered in the RT series (along with the other prototypes) but it was pointed out a brand new bus with an 'OLD' registration wouldn't look that great. I have a feeling it was going to be OLD862 with the others following on fro that. 

Yeah I remember hearing about that many years ago and was thinking about it just now, quite amusing  was RM1 actually registered under that registration tho? Im honestly unsure, I always thought the prototypes ran around on trade plates before being given their SLT registrations

 

3 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

Why choose VLT? TfL has more recently used three letter identifiers that made some sense, I can't remember exactly but VLWnnn would mean Volvo Long wheelbase Wright, or something.

just because its a Routemaster registration and also hides the age of the bus, its nothing to do with the bus itself (its not its fleet name or anything such)

[cms206]

2 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

Why choose VLT? TfL has more recently used three letter identifiers that made some sense, I can't remember exactly but VLWnnn would mean Volvo Long wheelbase Wright, or something.

It was a way of reusing plates; the Dart was DT32, originally G32 TGW.

[Inspector Morose]

3 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Yeah I remember hearing about that but it was many years ago was quite amusing  was RM1 actually registered under that registration tho? Im honestly unsure, ...

No, none ever ran with their RT series registrations although they were allocated and technically registered with them before they were completed.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, cms206 said:

Best use I've seen of a Routemaster so far, plate raping to put on a Dartline.

10/10, would like to drive frequently.

I was going to come back on that remark by saying the Dart is highly unlikely to still exist so chances of being able to drive frequently are minimal. So I checked the reg in the MOT history checker only to find that VLT 240 is now on a 2011 Hyundai i10! This probably makes you even happier.

So I then tried G32 TGW and that says unknown Dennis with first MOT due September 2021. Not sure what that means. RM 240 is long gone, I think the Dart probably has too. 

[LightBulbFun]

21 minutes ago, Yoss said:

I was going to come back on that remark by saying the Dart is highly unlikely to still exist so chances of being able to drive frequently are minimal. So I checked the reg in the MOT history checker only to find that VLT 240 is now on a 2011 Hyundai i10! This probably makes you even happier.

So I then tried G32 TGW and that says unknown Dennis with first MOT due September 2021. Not sure what that means. RM 240 is long gone, I think the Dart probably has too. 

exported apparently! (although my 3rd party tools dont show an export marker so go figure!)

you can find more general info on a vehicle from the general 1st party vehicle enquiry service here  https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

[cms206]

42 minutes ago, Yoss said:

I was going to come back on that remark by saying the Dart is highly unlikely to still exist so chances of being able to drive frequently are minimal. So I checked the reg in the MOT history checker only to find that VLT 240 is now on a 2011 Hyundai i10! This probably makes you even happier.

So I then tried G32 TGW and that says unknown Dennis with first MOT due September 2021. Not sure what that means. RM 240 is long gone, I think the Dart probably has too. 

Dart was last known in Antigua!

VLT 240 was carried by Titan T1131, DT32, a Citaro and now an i10. RM240 became PSK 823 in 1992 and was scrapped by the end of that year.

The RMs for RMs sake arguement is still something I don't understand and even having driven them I still don't see the appeal, though I'm quite sure we'd have managed 60 years out of a Dart by copious re-engineering, rebodying and repowering

[Yoss]

I'm not going to get into the pros and cons of a Routemaster argument again as I think we've had that conversation before. Each to their own and all that. 

But I like that picture of the Titans, particularly that T240 is on the right. You'd have thought that would have been a more suitable recipient of VLT 240 wouldn't you, especially if it was allocated to the same garage. 

[Inspector Morose]

Hang on. T1131? That was prototype No.5 (originally BCK706R)!

[LightBulbFun]

32 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

Hang on. T1131? That was prototype No.5 (originally BCK706R)!

looks like it

the plate change record is interesting because TMX535R is an age related plate given back in the 1993, and back then when you put on then took a private plate off a vehicle they did not give you the plate original  but just gave you an age related plate

I always wondered if you could claim back the originial plate (since it automatically just goes on retention and they obviously give it back these days when put on and take off a private plate) evidently it looks like you can  

(the plate history looks familiar I wonder if I have looked it up before...)

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

while on the subject of a vehicles history I was curious if someone could explain to me how keepers worked when it came to PSV vehicles? I always assumed the registered keeper was whichever company owned the vehicle etc

but i Know RML2760 has been through a different companies in her existence 

(I always regret never getting a chance to ride on her back to the garage back when she was still running heritage Route 15, with an original AEC engine and tungsten lighting, being one of the very few RML's to not have been refurbished in the 1990s, I did get a chance to catch her in service, but never with big paul the friendly conductor who would let me and mum ride back to the garage)

yet she only shows 2 total keepers (the 2013 one i assume being when she was donated to Cobham bus museum?)

and even assuming the keeper count only goes back to 1983 id of still expected a couple keeper changes because I London transport obviously disappeared then East London then stagecoach etc  so im curious who the keeper was between 1968/1983 and 2013!,

 

[Richard_FM]

4 hours ago, Yoss said:

I was going to come back on that remark by saying the Dart is highly unlikely to still exist so chances of being able to drive frequently are minimal. So I checked the reg in the MOT history checker only to find that VLT 240 is now on a 2011 Hyundai i10! This probably makes you even happier.

So I then tried G32 TGW and that says unknown Dennis with first MOT due September 2021. Not sure what that means. RM 240 is long gone, I think the Dart probably has too. 

I found this out when I first bought the photo & checked out the details.

[Richard_FM]

Three more period bus pictures:

[Asimo]

Just 100horsepower for a double-decker?

[Inspector Morose]

Deutz - smooth* and vibration free* 

To be honest, they sounded bloody great though. With no water jacket to quell the noise, those re-engined Guys were a little on the raucous side for passengers. Provincial were masters of rebuilding second hand Guys for their fleet using that engine coupled with new bodywork, sometimes utilising parts of the original body, sometimes not. Apart from a few one offs with other fleets, there was no larger Deutz engined bus fleet in the country.
 

The question,  100hp? Yes, thats about right for the time. The lower powered 5 pot Gardners of the era were less than that but what they lacked in horses, they gained in torque and that’s what you wanted to shift a weight around (albeit slowly).

Now you can get engines that provide more than twice the power with half the capacity. Torque isn’t so important with the advent of multi-ratio torque converter transmissions and the like.

[Yoss]

21 hours ago, Inspector Morose said:

Hang on. T1131? That was prototype No.5 (originally BCK706R)!

 

21 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

looks like it

the plate change record is interesting because TMX535R is an age related plate given back in the 1993, and back then when you put on then took a private plate off a vehicle they did not give you the plate original  but just gave you an age related plate

I always wondered if you could claim back the originial plate (since it automatically just goes on retention and they obviously give it back these days when put on and take off a private plate) evidently it looks like you can  

(the plate history looks familiar I wonder if I have looked it up before...)

 

 

Blimey, it's a small world isn't it. That Titan ran in Southampton for a couple of months with Solent Blue Line, the only Titan to do so as far as I know. I have a picture of it somewhere but I've just spent 45 minutes looking for it and come up with nothing. It was in Windermere Avenue on the 160 or 170. I have thousands of photos up there and no real cataloguing system. It would have been 1987 or 88 as it was when we had the RMs. It looked this at the time:

I tried googling BCK706R Southampton and Blue Line but it came up with nothing. Which means I really should find it. It wasn't here long and Blue Line had a habit of acquiring weird demonstrators for a few weeks. Perhaps I need to publish my pictures of the Southampton bus wars (it's not all RMs) because I reckon I have more than anyone else. 

[Yoss]

Looking at Ian's Bus Stop it was sold back to LT from Ensigns in December 1987 which fits as the bus wars started in May of that year. Looks like Blue Line hired it from Ensigns. 

[Inspector Morose]

The prototypes seemed to have a charmed life with 2 still in existence, BCK being one of them. 

I'd love a look at the Southampton wars as that was one area that I didn't go and photograph during the 'fun' times - I concentrated on South Yorkshire with the Northern Bus REs!

[Six-cylinder]

What have I seen this morning?

It was reversing out of a driveway in a village near Milton Keynes. I stopped to look properly but it ran away in the opposite direction and I did not have time to chase it.

[catsinthewelder]

Looks a bit like this 61 Bedford Duple Vega

http://www.countrybus.com/Wakes/1 of 3 Wakes Services Vehicle History and Pictures Jan 64-Dec 69_files/image077.jpg

[SmokinWaffle]

I've admired this thread from afar for a while - who knew buses could be so interesting.

 

Does anyone have any pictures of Nu Venture buses that ran in the Medway Towns from 2004ish to 2010? Used to get those to school, Leyland Titans I believe. Many memories there.

I remember emailing them when I was 13 asking how much one was to buy - and it was around £1500. Crazy. Even wanted a shitey old bus back then.

[busmansholiday]

If you want some decent old shite, Torquay. Apart from.the 1948 all Leyland PD1 ex Southport that runs an open top tour, this is also kept outside the railway station.

[Vantman]

4 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

 

 

Does anyone have any pictures of Nu Venture buses that ran in the Medway Towns from 2004ish to 2010? Used to get those to school, Leyland Titans I believe. Many memories there.

I remember emailing them when I was 13 asking how much one was to buy - and it was around £1500. Crazy. Even wanted a shitey old bus back then.

Try here----https://www.flickr.com/groups/1863650@N20/pool/

 

[Yoss]

On 9/22/2020 at 8:49 PM, Inspector Morose said:

The prototypes seemed to have a charmed life with 2 still in existence, BCK being one of them. 

I'd love a look at the Southampton wars as that was one area that I didn't go and photograph during the 'fun' times - I concentrated on South Yorkshire with the Northern Bus REs!

I'll try and put a few pics together in the next few days. Looking back the variety was staggering compared to now (just First Bus and Blue Star/Unilink who are part of Go Ahead). Hopefully in the next week, I'm at a crucial point in the model railway which I need to finish first. 

[Eyersey1234]

I can't remember if I have posted this or not but here's our Beverley Bar bus. VKH 44 is a Willowbrook bodied AEC Regent V complete with a roof designed to fit through the Beverley Bar, the only surviving medieval gateway into Beverley. 

[Eyersey1234]

At one time most of the East Yorkshire fleet was built to fit under the Beverley Bar, the exceptions being some lowbridge buses to go under the railway bridges at Hornsea and North Cave. New roads built in the 1970s mean that buses no longer need to go through the Beverley Bar. 

[catsinthewelder]

2 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

I can't remember if I have posted this or not but here's our Beverley Bar bus. VKH 44 is a Willowbrook bodied AEC Regent V complete with a roof designed to fit through the Beverley Bar, the only surviving medieval gateway into Beverley. 

I was talking to @Mrs6C and someone else about those the other week but couldn't remember which town it was.

[Inspector Morose]

Fitting buses under bridges used to bring out the creativity of bus builders with East Yorkshire taking top marks with their insistence on a bespoke roof profile right up to the rear engined era. (By the way, that EY Regent V above is a super rare exposed radiator variant with most having ‘tin’ fronts)

They were not the only ones though with North Western having lowered and specially profiled roofs to fit under awkward bridges. Today in the era of strict standardisation most double deck buses are one of two (or possibly three at a pinch) heights - full height at 14’ 6” or thereabouts or a lower height of 13’ 8”.

Llanelli once had a peculiar problem of especially low bridges on some of its routes necessitating the need for local operator South Wales ordering a batch of low height single deckers built on double deck Regent V chassis (they were generally lower built than the single deck variant).

[LightBulbFun]

39 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

Fitting buses under bridges used to bring out the creativity of bus builders with East Yorkshire taking top marks with their insistence on a bespoke roof profile right up to the rear engined era. (By the way, that EY Regent V above is a super rare exposed radiator variant with most having ‘tin’ fronts)

They were not the only ones though with North Western having lowered and specially profiled roofs to fit under awkward bridges. Today in the era of strict standardisation most double deck buses are one of two (or possibly three at a pinch) heights - full height at 14’ 6” or thereabouts or a lower height of 13’ 8”.

Llanelli once had a peculiar problem of especially low bridges on some of its routes necessitating the need for local operator South Wales ordering a batch of low height single deckers built on double deck Regent V chassis (they were generally lower built than the single deck variant).

ohh thats a funky looking thing, weird to see such a "modern" looking half cab single decker, also reminds me of the arson attack victim RM1368 which replaced RM8 as the Chiswick test vehicle

(always wondered what the interior of RM1368 looked like. did/does it have seats and lighting? I remember asking someone many years ago and they said it just had the bench seats, but thats it, but that was many years ago and just word of mouth iv never actually seen any pictures sadly)