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Issue 212 |
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Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002
Visit
the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002
Please note that any
comments made in this news page are those of the Editors' and in no way
constitute
any official points of view from the bus companies
mentioned, or indeed any other official body.
As a news page we
reserve the right to make valid comments as seen from an editorial point of
view.
If
you wish to be included on a mailing list where I will advise of any mid-week
news please let me know
malcolmhc@aol.com
To see the pictures full size just click on the thumbnail
I am sorry to say that this week's
page will be a very limited issue as I have a very bad back and find it most
difficult to sit at my keyboard for more than 30 minutes and work to complete
each week's page normally takes around 5 hours.
Stratford Blue
THE news of the week has to be a mail received from Richard Sharman which reads as follows.
"From early Feb, expected to be the 1st, Midland Red (South) LTD will takeover ownership of Stratford Blue Travel LTD and also the franchise of City Sightseeing Stratford-upon-Avon.
This was announced to the staff on Wednesday afternoon.
All EnsignBus owned vehicles will return to Purfleet as soon as vehicles can be found from with in Stagecoach, in the case of the Tour, vehicles will be converted shortly, in the mean time the B7L/Ayats are expected to be the first to return which means a reprieve for the humble Metrobus.
Spectra 303,K703 BBL is now more than likely never to see service at Stratford.
Further details may be known by next week, but it looks like more vehicles will be allocated, with the main purpose of covering Leamington work to the East, ie Evesham's, Chipping Norton's and Redditch Services- thus saving a lot of dead mileage.
So if any one wants to get photo's of Stratford Blue they better be quick!
Look out for more details at www.stratfordblue.co.uk
Thanks to Richard for that information.
Another reader, Chris, writes following my mid-week e-mail "...that's very interesting Malcolm. I wonder if they (Stagecoach) will retain the small warehouse unit at Stratford, currently used as a base for S.B, next to the railway line, or work the services from an already overcrowded yard at Leamington ?
The shunt man at Leamington, really must have his work cut out at night, positioning everything along with the 4 H.K Olympians used for www.thegreenbus.org
At the present time, outside the Stratford Blue Depot, are a number of DMS s, Olympians and a collection of old sightseeing buses. What will happen to these ?
I will keep you updated if I see any movement in the yard."
Significant delays in the centre of Oxford due to more roadworks
Last week saw the commencement of more roadworks in the High, Oxford where Longwall meets the main road. At this junction through to the Magdalen Bridge work started to resurface the road. As a result single file working is in force and there are quite some delays depending upon the time of day. The works are due to last for 11 weeks.
Thornhill Park & ride and a revised bus station
The temporary bus station at Thornhill Park & ride is nearly complete. I hope to have pictures for the next issue.
Surprisingly the new facilities at Redbridge are still not ready. You will remember it was hoped to have these facilities ready for the first weekend in December, ready for the surge of Christmas shoppers.
Amersham & District Running days 2007 - dates for your diary
http://www.amershammotorbussociety.co.uk/
Amersham & District Running Days for 2007 are as follows:
Sun 13 May 2007 - 3rd Slough/Windsor Running Day based on Slough Bus Station
Sun 24 June 2007 - 2nd Hemel Hempstead Running Day based on Hemel Hempstead Bus Station
Sun 30 September 2007 - 19th Amersham Running Day based on Amersham but commemorating the 30th anniversary of the closure of HE Garage (30/09/1977) so there will be a reconstruction of certain routes in the High Wycombe area.
A shorter page than usual this week which in one way makes a welcome respite
from the many hours needed when we have a lot to report. Thanks to those who
contributed this week.
Malcolm Crowe - Sunday 21st January 2007
Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002 to date
News of the local companies – 21st January 2007
Sorry Guys but this has to be held over until next week due the aforementioned back problem. I look forward to your contributions and pictures.
Coming events, models and useful links
New casting from Britbus
A new casting with a local flavour has been released by Britbus as a picture from Mark Lyons shows. It is a nice model but as Mark says, a little pricey at £33.
Oxford Bus 125 commemorative book
In last week's issue I mentioned that Oxford Bus were publishing a book to commemorate the 125 years of public transport in Oxford. Thanks to Phil Ashworth I have had a review copy and hereunder give my thoughts on this book.
The book is well presented and includes a number of historical pictures of interest including some I had not seen before. The modern pictures have received a nice treatment reflecting the modern fleet against a background of typical Oxford architecture. The Botley Road rail bridge gets a mention and a picture of an AEC pre war decker which has done battle with said bridge and come off worse from its encounter is included.
The book, whilst rather small to reflect the 125 years in detail is nevertheless a must for all who love Oxford, historians and enthusiasts alike.
Copies of the book can be bought from the Oxford Bus Company, Cowley House, Watlington Rd, Oxford OX4 6GA. The cost is £5.95 including postage. Cheques should be made payable to "Oxford Bus Company", it is also available in person from the Oxford Bus Museum during normal opening hours.
DVD s by Robin Clare
The full details of DVDs available from Robin Clare may be found at his web site :- http://www.robinclare.co.uk/
Latest Citaro models revealed
Dave Rogers sent the following press release.
CREATIVE MASTER NORTHCORD - PRESS RELEASE
Mercedes-Benz Citaro - ukbus 5004 Arriva Manchester - ukbus 5007 Oxford Bus
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Creative Master Northcord Limited is proud to release two brand new liveries on its well known Mercedes-Benz Citaro casting. Both models have received significant, yet different, modifications to the tooling in order to represent, as close to 100% accuracy as possible, the real buses on the roads.
ukbus 5004 represents fleet number Arriva North West’s 2851 (CX55 EAA). This Mercedes Citaro is one of three such vehicles with dedicated route branding for service 700 and with the destination set to Manchester. The model features a redesigned interior layout that includes the reduced seating capacity and luggage racks.
Starting on 29th October 2005, Arriva North West’s service 700 runs from Manchester’s Piccadilly Railway Station to Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport. For the service, 3 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses were purchased and numbered 2851-3. They were painted in the same style and colours as the Scania OmniCity buses that already operated between John Lennon and Liverpool city centre.
ukbus 5007 represents fleet number 830 (X13 OXF) of Oxford Bus Company. 830 entered service in December 2003, to upgrade the X3 & X13 Oxford – Abingdon services. The bus was painted in a new and distinctive livery designed by Best Impressions.
ukbus 5007 features the smooth, curved windscreen with the destination display set behind the windscreen glass rather than the protruding destination found on the Park & Ride Citaros in the fleet. This feature is one of the standard specifications on other Citaros that the Go-Ahead Group has purchased.
Mercedes-Benz Citaro ukbus 5004 and 5007 models are each a one-piece casting whose clean lines accentuate the square-mounted, double-glazed windows and the livery application on which all logos and lettering are clearly legible. Another main feature on both models is the extensive portrayal of handrails. The headlight / indicator units at the front and indicator / tail light units at the rear are made of individual components to look more realistic.
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The brand new single-door Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus models will be distributed by John Ayrey Die-Casts Limited (UK), Porte Publishing Company (Japan) and Concorde Hobby Shop (HK) respectively. The ukbus 5004 and 5007 models are limited to 1700 pieces worldwide respectively.
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Would readers who respond to the above please quote my site when doing so.
If you wish to be included on a mailing list where
I will advise of any mid week news & when
each News Page is posted
please let me know on malcolmhc@aol.com
Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002
Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002 to date
Links
These are three most interesting sites which I do recommend
Mike Penn's photo page with much from Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire as well as Buckinghamshire
Chris Lowe's Photo page - mainly North West UK
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A web site which has paintings of buses.
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Arriva Handbook for 2006-2007 http://www.britishbuspublishing.co.uk/
The latest handbooks are now
on sale, the ever |
Links
Bus Services in Buckinghamshire
Where are the Chilterns?
Visit this informative site through the link below.
Visit the "OXFORD BUS PAGE" Archive 1998 - 2002
Visit the "OXFORD & CHILTERN BUS PAGE " Archives from October 2002
