Editorial
Nearing the end of January it is suggested that the next week or so will be cold and last week, here at Stokenchurch, we had our first light covering of snow. The forecast said snow above 200 metres whereas we are at 300 metres. I am always surprised how well modern vehicles climb hills, especially the M40 between junctions 6 and 5. It is always a good test of the bus or coach to see how well it will go up hills and I can especially remember when I was involved in training on the SW1 service from Witney to London (Tower) with one of the three, then new Gold buses 15964-6. how in spite of getting a good run at the hill they always died nearing the middle and dropped to 40 mph whereas the tubes when in "good nick" would keep up 62 mph all the way even though they had joined the M40 from Lewknor. Of course when two HGVs where overtaking each other then one could end up plodding along at 45-50 mph!
The past week has seen little of major interest apart from a tragic accident in Scotland where the driver of the bus involved was killed. Brexit rumbles on and one wonders how it will all end. Border problems would certainly cause a lot of inconvenience to continental coach travellers if many difficulties cannot be resolved in the current negotiations. I suppose if another heatwave and staycation holidays continue their popularity more people may choose to remain in Britain.
As I write this I received an email from a correspondent in Watford who reports a bus hitting a bollard in Clarendon Road, causing delays until the bus involved is removed.
As ever, support from readers has provided much of interest for this week's edition and I hope readers enjoy the detail?
For those who may visit the North West in the coming months this article concerning Blackpool's heritage trams may provide interest.
Blackpool Tram developments by John Woodman via Geoff Cunliffe.
John Woodman is a blog author on Tram Talk UK
January 17, 2019
Today's Blackpool paper
headline reveals the Local Authority's Local Plan covering development of sites
for new housing as well as revising criteria for town centre commercial use.
An immediate eye grabbing by-line referred to Rigby Road Tram Depot identified
as one of the potential Council owned sites which could be the subject of new
housing. This should be no surprise given the new housing construction
which is ongoing along Rigby Road (facing the Transport operation) replacing
former industrial and transport usage (Blundell Street Depot) from earlier
times.
Before anyone
dashes off to register alarm and protest; inclusion of Rigby Road Tram Depot is
one of twenty two Council sites and properties (large and small) offering
potential for redevelopment within proposals covering a 5 to 8 year timeframe.
There is a qualifying reference indicating that the tram depot site is very much
a longer term possibility with no decisions on its ultimate fate having been
ordained.
Redevelopment on the bus side of Rigby Road's existing transport infrastructure
which is mostly under the ownership and or control of the Operator (BTS) -
itself a Council owned business - is very much on the cards. Intentions
to introduce electric bus operation as a further enhancement to the BTS fleet
are already mooted with exploratory discussions that include Alexander Dennis
Ltd. An all electric bus fleet is likely in phased transition involving
replacement of the existing fleet but dates and details are yet to be officially
announced. Provision of wholly new maintenance and servicing of electric
buses will require capital investment by the company in due course.
Proposals for relocating the entire bus operation and BTS offices to a new
build site on the Squires Gate Enterprise Zone have been shelved - in part, it
is understood, due to the high cost of cleanup of the Rigby Road site and more
economic option of reconfiguring the bus garage and land to future all-electric
vehicle operation.
In the meantime the current heritage tram fleet and its workshops are expected to continue on 'as is'.
How is it that often important sites are used to provide housing, which one cannot decry but there are many large and undeveloped sites around the country which are never developed, especially for housing. The link can be found below. Ed.
https://www.tramtalk.co.uk/single-post/2019/01/17/Blackpool-Local-Plan-Published
First's Railair new coaches take to the road.
Pictures below by Ralph Adams except where stated.
23601 YT68GXA Penzance to Provence
23602 YT68GXB Bristol to Brisbane
23603 YT68GXC Redruth Red Square
(Picture by Daryl Major)
23604 YT68GXD St Austell to St Peter’s
23606 YT68GXF Aberdare to Abu Dhabi
From January 27th an additional stop will be introduced on the X90 London
service in both directions. This will be at White City on the A40 presumably
just before the Marylebone flyover starts. As I was writing this issue the exact
location had not been made clear. It will be interesting to see just how
successful this innovation becomes.
A day in Guildford with Gavin Francis
Gavin recently visited Guildford spending time at The Friary Bus Station and I can show you some of the interesting
operators in pictures which he encountered at the bus station. Maybe this might
encourage some readers to visit this interesting location. The variety of
operators exceeds many other locations.
Guildford Bus Station on January 7th 2019
If readers look at the bottom bar, you will find the titles for each
picture.
A visit to Costa Rica by Daniel Doyle
Daniel has just returned from three weeks in Costa Rica where he arrived in San
Jose some 12 hours after leaving London. He and a friend spent a night in San
José before moving on to
Jacó, a town on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica,
southwest of the capital city, San José. It's known for its surf beaches and
nightlife, and as a gateway to national parks. Rocky, gray-sand Jacó Beach is
west of town. Public transportation in Costa Rica ranks with the best anywhere, and the
country prides itself in its effective transportation systems. Tracopa buses operate from San José to Quepos, with an onward connections to Jacó.
The trip from Jacó to Quepos also takes around 2 hours and the bus cost was
US$2.00 for 40 miles, then followed by a quick 20
minute ride up the hill to Manuel Antonio itself which cost US$ 0.50c. Prices in
costa Rica were very reasonable.
When one arrives in Quepos you are dropped off at the main bus terminal in town.
From here, buses depart approximately every 20 minutes going up to Manuel
Antonio and the national park. You will see the blue buses arrive with a sign in
the front window stating that it is going to Manuel Antonio Returning to Jacó on the bus simply requires you to take the same trip in reverse. The only difference being that you need to ensure that when you get to Quepos you purchase a ticket on the next bus to Jacó (there are pre-allocated
seats for the return journey). Because you need to purchase a ticket for a seat reservation for the ride from Quepos to Jacó, it is imperative that you arrive back in Quepos from Manuel Antonio a little while before the bus leaves to ensure you get a seat. Buses
regularly pass by where you were dropped off in Manuel Antonio to take you back to Quepos, with the bus times from here to Jacó including:
The Guys enjoyed swimming in the Pacific and several days in Jacó before
taking the bus to Manuel Antonio via Quepos, which
is a town midway between the two locations.
The bus fare was around US$ 2.00 for the single journey.
Manuel Antonio is a small oceanside village with plenty of great places to stay
- from extravagant
luxury condos to cozy hideaway hotels tucked
into nature. Famous for its national park, this tiny yet bustling town is
located off Costa Rica's central Pacific coast just a stone's throw away from Quepos which
is famous for sport fishing. The region is a treasure for biodiversity,
attracting nature buffs, eco-travellers and adventure-seekers alike. Better yet,
if you visit, you can soak up white sand and perfect waters. Without a doubt,
Manuel Antonio lies within one of the country's most celebrated spots.
Daniel found prices very reasonable and the whole visit including some other
areas was most enjoyable. I hope readers enjoy the pictures and the beach scenes help in these cold
days in the U.K. ?
Fleet News and developments/strong>
Further to Ralph Adams' very informative article,
SN63VTZ was noted in Basingstoke recently on the Sony contract - it is
now in plain overall blue livery
Note the new Railair coaches referred to above under the Editorial.
Go South Coast often visit Oxford.
Once again Gavin Francis has provided a number of interesting pictures. A
picture of Trident 102 when with Carousel is shown under the City Sightseeing
below!
We have referred to the changes in the X90 service above, otherwise not a great
deal to report.
There are a number of joint operations in Oxford, including the Blackbird
Leys route.
Pictures from various contributors.
An interesting picture showing the flexibility of these small buses from Richard
Sharman.
We are pleased to note that the second converted Scania now in open top
configuration is in service. The pictures below show this as does the Trident
picture with the first use of the ageless registraion!
From Luke Marion Luke refers to the item from Ralph Adams last week. "Point of clarification, 621-623 were built to order not
purchased from a dealer. The seat fabrics are identical to those used on the P&R
and City3/City8 StreetDecks. Many thanks to Luke for that clarification. Ed.
A coach that I do not remember having recorded before is the one pictured below by
Gavin Francis.
"Always on the look out for unusual, spotted in traffic
this morning was 10668 which has been fitted with a GX upper deck internal
sticker and a FX lower deck sticker.
I nipped into Banbury depot today and got a bit of news
Optare Solo 47736 has been off the road for at least 6 weeks (not sure what the
fault is)
Dart 34468 awaits MOT
Jim Wright managed to obtain a picture of this rather elusive
coach during last week. It is the Volvo B9R/Plaxton elite SB12NMZ
is currently on loan at Bedford depot for use on the X5 Cambridge-Oxford
service.
Mention was made recently of the Dennis Trident at Oxford
depot. You may be interested in the attached photo taken
yesterday showing similar
"Introduced into service this week were a
batch of E400MMC'S for service 1 from Heysham Towers to Lancaster University
via Town Centre. Branding is more applied to a few vehicles
MAN/Enviro 300 22840 has transferred from Rugby to Northampton.
The recent network-wide service changes have seen the Optare Solo vehicle type
removed from the Northampton allocation whilst the Optare Versa's at Leamington
(25237-41) are being stood down for return to
Reserve Fleet Tridents 17728/29 are now in the main fleet at Stroud whilst Gold-spec MAN/Enviro 300 22753 is transferred from the main fleet at Stroud to the Reserve Fleet.
Now withdrawn and for disposal here are Reserve Fleet MAN/Enviro 300s 22620 and 22621 whilst Volvo B10M training bus 20940 is now based at Gloucester.
From Ralph Adams
"Note the Sleeper coaches are going into SGBC, either to replace the left hand
drive or for greater sub contracting?"
South Gloucester Coach & Bus
At least 54207/8 are going to SGBC plus Sleepers 50301,2,3,4 & 6 are being
prepared by SC West Scotland for SGCB. If these are to replace some left hand
drive Altanos with SGCB this will not be complete since they currently
have the following LHD Altanos in UK use: 55008-16 & 21-28 making 16 in total.
So one presumes that with 54207/8 and 14 Sleeper coaches this will signal the
end of the Altanos in Megabus service. In addition they have 11 Volvo B12Bs in
use for Megabus making a grand total of 27 coaches with a PVR of 20!
I understand that 50301-3 had arrived with SGCB by Christmas Eve, 2018. Pictures
would be appreciated of the Altanos and the Sleepers when possible please.
For interest and as seen from recent pictures on this page 50305, 9-13 are based at
Cumbernauld and are used on Citylink service and I understand that 50308 is
currently with the Rennies fleet. So a few changes required to
get all the sleepers with SGCB!
This bus has been around a while with Vale as seen in the
picture below.
Other operators
Another picture in Lancaster is provided by P:aul Hawkins and
the Solo has an interesting badge on the front.
23607 YT68GXG Luxulyan to Luxor
Luxulyan, also spelt Luxullian or Luxulian, is a small village, of granite cottages, and civil parish in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
The village lies four miles northeast of St Austell and six miles south of
Bodmin.
23608 YT68GXH Great Western Great Wall
23609 YT68GXJ Malvern to Maldives
69 on the X90 with space for White City name. January 20th by Gavin Francis.
Arriva Southern
Counties Fleet List
Safeguard Guildford - This had to be the best presented fleet in use!
Map showing the location of places mentioned.
Tracopa bus ready to leave San José and in Quepos.
You can read about Trams in San José at this link:
Trams in
Costa Rica
Arriva DAF 6309 at a grey Buckingham Bus stand prior to returning to Aylesbury
on the 1040 60 via Winslow,
North Marston and Granborough (the scenic route!) on January 18th 2019
This is a recent arrival at High Wycombe.
Citaros Carousel 856 and Arriva 3011 with the 1 at Chesham Broadway
This time the 1A worked by Carousel 856 and Arriva 3925 in Chesham Broadway
Charlton Services Optare Solo Y236 LRR is seen at St Giles on January
19th by Richard Sharman.
Two coaches from Excelsior now part of Go South
coast on January 20th by Richard Sharman.
Citaro 856 with the 1 in Chesham Broadway
Citaro 859 looks very spruce in this picture when working the 1A in Chesham
Broadway
Oxford's 35 branded 305 and Stagecoach not route branded MMC 10680 ready to
go to Blackbird Leys
from the at Train Station on January 15th by James Freeman.
MMC 607 is seen working a 35 road service on January 15th by Gavin Francis.
MMC 607 is passed by Citaro 883 both working 5 road on
January 19th by Richard
Sharman
The same Citaro 883 is seen with a new super rear
on January 19th by Richard
Sharman.
977 is seen in Pembroke Street
on January 19th by Richard
Sharman.
Scania 202 has returned from conversion to open top and is seen on
January 19th by Richard Sharman.
Also seen on the same day in Gloucester Green by Gavin Francis.
on January 15th by Gavin Francis.
Red Eagle SN51TCK with the 77 in Chesham Broadway
on January 16th by Gavin Francis.
Gavin just missed the opportunity to catch the signs mentioned above.
Work taking place on Horspath depot in January 2109.
Gold 15756 branded for the S5 but working a 2B service outside Debenhams on
January 15th.
Gold 15762 branded for the S5 is seen working the 7 outside the Odeon in
Oxford on January 15th.
MMC 10671 is seen on a very wet Saturday with an S9 on January 19th.
On the same wet Saturday MMC 10685 is seen with an S3 to Charlbury.
East's hired SM12NMZ Elite B9 with an X5 leaving Gloucester Green on January
15th by Jim Wright .
The photo didn't come out too bad bearing in mind it was around 4 p.m. in a
rainstorm and under a bridge!
No it didn't. Ed.
MMC 11139 branded for route 1 to the University in Lancaster on January 20th
by Paul Hawkins.
VALE TRAVEL Solo AU54EOA with the 354 in Chesham
Broadway on January 16th by Gavin Francis.
AU54EOA with a 48A at The Kings Hotel, Stokenchurch on April 19th 2015 by Gavin
Francis.
Kirby Lonsdale Solo KX03KYS with Maudsley Badge in Lancaster on January 20th
by Paul Hawkins.