Editorial
Well, this week is later but that is because there will not be an update, which will only happen during the week of August 26th. I have a hospitalisation next week and so am taking the week off from OCBP !
Your support for the page continues to be excellent, which can be seen from the content of each issue.
As ever we have some great contributions from readers which also include a trip abroad for one lucky chap.
Marcus Lapthorn visited Switzerland
I spent a very enjoyable few days travelling by
rail from the UK to Switzerland and return. It is such a beautiful country where
everything is clean and tidy and the air is largely free of pollution. The views
from the trains are absolutely stunning, as we crossed many viaducts and
bridges.
All taken at Tiefencastel
Image of an advert of a vintage bus now used for
tourism.
Odd, how going back many years buses and other road use saw right hand drive
vehicles!
Even if the UK has largely rejected "bendi-buses" Switzerland has not as seen in
the second picture above at Davos
Basel
Basel is a city on the Rhine River in northwest Switzerland, close to the country’s borders with France and Germany. Its medieval old town centers around Marktplatz, dominated by the 16th-century, red-sandstone Town Hall. Its 12th-century Gothic cathedral has city views, and contains the tomb of the 16th-century Dutch scholar, Erasmus. The city’s university houses some of Erasmus’ works.
If one is travelling from Germany or France by train or car this is often the first really large city in Switzerland. There are even 1st, 2nd and 3rd class dining rooms on the Hauptbanhof!!
Sadly the weather for Marcus was not so kind on the days
in Basel
Many thanks to Marcus for this contribution which is a little different from many of our pieces.
David Allen sent pictures of Gloucestershire Vintage Show
Visited Gloucestershire Vintage Show near Cirencester
02/08. Very good show with some buses present. Thought you might like some pictures.
Lots of OB’s
From the variety one can see that, even with the OBs there was a lot to interest
visitors.
Bedford Bus Garage Centenary - August 10th
From Tony Bungay & Gary Seamarks
TB :
Something different, Stagecoach East with the Omnibus
Society held an open day at Bedford Bus Garage yesterday to celebrate a 100
years of use.
Despite extremely windy conditions as can be seen people braved the delights of riding on the FLF open topper!
Seen here at the
Elstow Park and Ride site in company with a single deck Enviro.
The event had a selection of older and more modern vehicles, as well as views of the servicing area and rides through the Bus wash and sales stands
There were some interesting attendees and the depot provided interest with an ex
London E200 cascaded to SC East.
Many thanks to Tony for these pictures which are full of interest.
GS :
Few from Saturday, not a massive turn out but of interest, did a stint as
Marshall for them as well.
Sad to see 14000 depart on suspended tow but she has no
MOT, could this be her final departure from Bedford, have been told Lathalmond
awaits. The Showbus plaque was from 14000.
Final few, the FLF and Scania are seen leaving the depot
via the normal exit route under the bridge, in fact they are almost on the
former Bedford-Cambridge railway at this point, its a very tight exit but is
used by the X5 fleet, whereas 14000 had to leave in effect the 'wrong way' and
cross 4 lanes of traffic to gain London Road, a move not advised in busy traffic
as you are almost blind on one side and the other side is straight off a busy
roundabout.
The tight turn mentioned can be seen in two of the pictures above.
Variety at Bedford.
The depot was not designed for full height double decks !
Many thanks to Gary for a nice selection of pictures.
Tony Bungay sent some pictures of a similar even in 1981, not a Centenary but when The National Bus Company held sway. The pictures make a nice comparison nearly 30 years ago.
At that time the Leyland National was a popular and upcoming type!
An early example of the use of Digital Displays.
ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT THE BUS ARCHIVE
5th Dorchester Vintage Bus and Coach running day by David Gray
All of the photos were at Dorchester Top O' Town Car
park except:
~~~~~~~~~~
KDL203W at Winterbourne Steepleton
ROD765 was photographed at Piddletrenthide
617DDV was at Cerne Abbas car park
A rather unusual but early type of minibus using a light goods chassis.
MRL 765 was an interesting exhibit. I had seen it on a number of occasions at rallies but this was the first time I had seen it in service. I was one of the lucky ones the have a trip around Dorchester. Only six people were allowed to travel at one time.
Many thanks to David Gray with a report from Dorchester. The weather looks to have been kind - not as at this time of writing this issue.
Scottish Citylink's OOR Wullie Buses by Paul Hawkins
To mark Citylink being the official transport
provider to Oor Wullies big bucket trail a public art exhibition in Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness with 200 individually decorated Oor
Wullie Statues.5 x Citylink Plaxton elite coaches have been given near side
designs for the above event designed by local schools in the city's above.2 from
Stagecoach,2 from Parks of Hamilton and 1 from Edinburgh Coach Lines
Edinburgh Coach Lines - City Link YR68NKF with a 909
service to Stirling on August 13th.
Parks with City Link's KSK983 on a 900 working
showing the livery detail on August 13th.
Stagecoach-CityLink 54363 YX67UPH with a 909 service
to Stirling on August 13th.
North of the Border with Gordon Scott
More shots of new Lothian
Airlink route 100 attached
1130 CE - SB19GME taken at Maybury rear shot advert.
Taken August 9th, on a wet summer
Edinburgh Festival
Lothian Edinburgh City
Sightseeing full open
Taken at Maybury Edinburgh on Citylink 900
The picture taken on August 10th.
Taken
today at Newhaven Edinburgh Lothian
Volvo B9R Caetano Levante
FJ11MLY.
Border Buses 11801 - YX67UZB Alexander
The livery is clean and smart. Taken on August 14th.
Since a large number of Scania/OmniCity buses have moved from SC London, I thought readers might find the record below of interest.
Attached Stagecoach East Scotland Aberhill depot based
15021 - LX58 CFM Prepare for service.
15052 - LX09 ACF Prepare for service.
15054 - LX09 ACO Fleet Upgrade reserve.
15058 - LX09 AEC Prepare for service.
15059 - LX09 AED Scrap stripped for parts.
15060 - LX09 AEE Prepare for service.
15061 - LX09 AEF Fleet upgrade reserve.
15063 - LX09 AEJ Scrap stripped for parts.
15066 - LX09 AEM Prepare for service.
15067 - LX09 AEN Prepare for service.
15068 - LX09 AEO Fleet upgrade reserve.
15069 - LX09 AEP Fleet upgrade reserve.
15070 - LX09 AET Prepare for service.
15071 - LX09 AEU Prepare for service.
15072 - LX09 AEV Prepare for service.
Fleet news and developments
One of our readers asks "Why was there A 260 and A 280 between Aylesbury and Oxford but no 270?"
A further bit of variety on Service X60 today with 3845
working the 18.55 journey in Aylesbury High Street, I am sure this is not the
first time a photo of this vehicle has been on this webpage!
Previously it would have been on
Service 500 when working from Hemel Hempstead, it still carries Hertfordshire
logo so can be assumed to be on hire or a transfer.
Again I assume you know already, but if not Bucks County
Council website shows some new services starting in Aylesbury later this month,
from the looks of it Arriva’s woes continue as not one but two to
operators appear to be operating competing services on the other one of it’s two
town services, it already has Red Rose 7 competing against part of it’s 8 route.
I doubt if there will be sufficiently large enough usage
to sustain the increased number of buses, what the outcome will be remains to be
seen.
One of the later batch of E200MMCs with Arriva, 3127 is working the X60 with the
inevitable paper sticker always used when the blinds are lacking.
The picture was taken in Whitchurch heading to Aylesbury on August 2nd.
Nice shots of 3867 with the X60on August 1st.
3874 on the same day, same route, same place!
3877 branded for routes 5/6 MK in Aylesbury heading home on July 30th.
Thanks to Tony Bungay for the pictures above.
Tony Simpson
Tony supplied a couple of pictures of four StreetLites which have arrived at Hemel in recent days.
Unbranded when pictured most buses have received lettering now. This was when
the buses had recently arrived at Hemel.
I found this a bit surprising as the information I have shows these buses being delivered to Arriva Kent & Thameside!
1665 |
SM19KJE |
Wt Streetlite DF SA9DSRXXX18141689 |
Wt AR362 |
B??F |
7/2019 |
Arriva Kent Thameside |
|
1664 |
SM19KJF |
Wt Streetlite DF SA9DSRXXX18141673 |
Wt AR162 |
B??F |
7/2019 |
Arriva Kent Thameside |
|
1663 |
SM19KJJ |
Wt Streetlite DF SA9DSRXXX18141672 |
Wt AR161 |
B??F |
7/2019 |
Arriva Kent Thameside |
|
1662 |
SM19KJK |
Wt Streetlite DF SA9DSRXXX18141671 |
Wt AR160 |
B??F |
7/2019 |
Arriva Kent Thameside |
Tony adds that 26 more StreetLites to come in the next 4-6 weeks
This pictures shows one a small number of ex Arriva London E200s,
acquired by Arriva Southern Counties at work in Hemel on August 6th
by Adam Green.
At the latest check 941, being converted to single door, had not be received.
Adam Green
216 seen in Hemel working forward to Amersham with the 105 on August 7th by Adam
Green.
X90 coach 70 is seen at Victoria on August 12th by
Gavin Francis.
Currently the X90 and 757 service are using Elizabeth Bridge - as above- whilst
road works take place near their stops on Buckingham Palace Road.
A chance picture from James Freeman of the two rail
overall adverts passing in St Giles on August 14th.
Acquired with the City Sightseeing business were two elderly Tridents, one of which 2904, was featured last week being used prior to disposal at Osney Island for a theatre production. Jasmmes Freeman has provided three pictures in times past of the bus in question.
The three lives of this bus in Oxford as CSS 904 OX-CSS 2904 and withdrawn at
the depot.
Multi million pound investment creates driver demand
Thames Travel has expanded its services in a move to
support some of the fastest growing economic areas in Oxfordshire.
Employment hubs such as Didcot, Harwell and Milton
Park will be serviced by the scheme.
Other improvements include links between Oxford and
Harwell and between Abingdon and Culham. A night bus service has been added
between Oxford and Didcot and is due to launch a football special this weekend
connecting Didcot and Abingdon.
The expansion also means Thames Travel has moved
into a new depot.
The growth comes after a multi-million-pound
investment in new services and ultra-low emission (Euro 6) vehicles. New drivers
are needed and a series of recruitment open days are hoped to meet that demand.
Phil Southall,
Thames Travel Managing Director (MD) says:
“A key part of our strategy has been to develop
attractive bus services to serve major employment hubs in the south of the
county.
“The investment has created more jobs for the
Oxfordshire economy, and we are actively seeking drivers to support this
growth.”
Oxford's nr 60 is seen in Hemel Hempstead with
express service 737 on August 15th by Gavin Francis.
red eagle's FP04CFE is seen in Hemel Hempstead with
local service H11 on August 15th by Gavin Francis.
Redline operates a number of Enviro 400 vehicles, I have only ever seen them working school services, still wearing Metroline fleetname is former TE676 is seen parked up from a distance in its yard.
Red Rose took over the 60 and above is 50505 working
the route in Aylesbury on July 30th by Tony Bungay.
E200 50518 is seen with an H10 service in Hemel
Hempstead on August 15th by Gavin Francis.
I read on the Stagecoach UK Enthusiasts page that the new ADL E400 MMC buses for Morecambe are the last to be painted in the current livery. It seems that thereafter further deliveries will be in a new livery or white.
I read on the Stagecoach UK Enthusiasts page that Oxford's 15966 was seen being towed northwards by Kardos on the M1 maybe heading for Rugby? However according to www.bustimes.org on Sunday August 11th it was in use on the S5 !!!! Update: Some buses from Oxford are being overhauled and MOT'd at Rugby.
SC Banbury will celebrate the Centenary if the depot on October 13th and in preparation 37401 has been repainted into Midland Red colours.
Richard Sharman reports
"Banbury's Midland Red heritage liveried Enviro200
MMC 37401 made its inaugural run into Oxford on the morning of Friday 16.08. It
operated an X7 in from Banbury and the 08.50 back. No photo I am afraid."
37401 repainted and ready for branding on the 13th.
By the 14th it had received branding and is seen in Banbury on its first
outing.
37401 will be attending Buses Festival at Gaydon on Sunday next, August 18th.
Banbury are also seen service changes from the 1st of September which include:
A new X4 Banbury to Oxford express in the afternoon (to go with the morning
express), leaving Banbury at 15:30 and Oxford at 16:50 Monday - Friday
Route S4 will now have a every 90 minute service on Sundays leaving Banbury at
08:30, 10:00, 11:30, 13:00, 14:30, 16:00 and 17:30. Buses leave Oxford at 10:00,
11:30, 13:00, 14:30, 16:00, 17:30 and 19:00, with an additional trip from
Steeple Aston to Banbury at 09:17 (arriving 09:53) and all buses will now serve
Tackley and Rousham
Route 488 will be simplified so that a more consistent, standardised service can
run. Route changes include...
Between Chipping Norton and Banbury all buses will run via Over Norton, Great
Rollright, Hook Norton, Milcombe and Bloxham. Wiggington and Tadmarton Road will
no longer be served. South Newington will only be served by the 489. Timetable
changes are that the majority of trips leaving after 08:30 Monday - Friday will
leave 20-25 minutes earlier. The 07:55 489 from Banbury will be replaced by a
488 at 07:45 and the 15:15 489 from Chipping Norton School will be a 488 at
15:35. The 08:30 Banbury to Bloxham and the 08:47 Bloxham to Banbury will not
run and the 08:41 Milcombe to Banbury plus the 19:05 Banbury to Milcombe will
not run.
Route B3 and B9 will have time from certain stops revised to improve
reliability.
The open day is October 13th. 37401 is due to come back from repaint on Monday or Tuesday in Midland Red livery.
Gold 15619 on Fairport
runs, Witney depot today and 50237 at Gloucester Green
15619 is seen at Banbury Rail Station, Cropredy and Great Bourton on August 12th
50237 is seen with 50277 at Gloucester Green on August 12th.
Scania 15638 in 25 year celebration livery attended the Bedford Garage Centenary event of which pictures can be seen in the piece above.
Marcus Lapthorn
For the first time since 2001, the former 66, now S6 off
peak bus timetable is being reduced in frequency from a bus every 15 minutes
to one every 20 minutes.
https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.amazonaws.com/Timetables/West/Swindon/2019/S6.pdf
Now branded 50237 is seen in Gloucester Green on
August 12th by Theo Freeman.
Volvo B9R coaches 53601/02, which have been delicenced since being displaced from Megabus Plus duties with Stagecoach East Midlands at Hull, are currently undergoing engine overhaul at a Volvo dealership.
These coaches started life with Stagecoach East based at Bedford for the X5 Cambridge-Oxford service.
Smaller operators and London developments
New E400s for Metroline working route 43 at Archway
on August 8th.
I find it surprising to see that feature staircase window is almost always
covered by an advert, what a great shame!
One of Premium recently acquired Routemaster open
top tour buses on August 12th.
Tony Bungay
Theobolds BJU13T in Aylesbury on August 1st.
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