Issue nr 322
Thursday October 31st, 2024
Balance of this issue published on November 2nd.
Past Issues : https://www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk/
From the Editor
This issue is now complete as promised by November 2nd.
There is much of interest for readers with a first Overseas Interlude for sometime
There is also a useful update on Stagecoach Oxford ev goings on.
In this issue
Yorkshire Dales Preserved Bus Running Day
Reading Omnidekka Running Day by Andrew Webb
Route X4 / Trowbridge visit 21 October by Andrew Webb
322 by Grahame Wareham
A short visit to Witney by George Candelin
Nova Scotia call from Adrian Small
Readers Write
Fleet News and developments
Reading OmniDekka day by Martin Dowling
Latest update regarding Stagecoach and its EVs in Oxford
London Operations
Yorkshire Dales Preserved Bus Running Day
at Skipton on 13th October from Nigel Eadon-Clarke
https://www.facebook.com/events/546865011078258/?ref_source=NEWS_FEED&_rdr
http://www.avtg.co.uk/80336/info.php?p=5
The 18th Yorkshire Dales Running Day was held on Sunday 13th October 2024. This year we had a very busy event, with a large amount of people travelling on the vintage buses and with a long queue waiting to board them most of the day. A massive thanks goes to all the Marshalls, stewards, drivers and conductors together with all the vehicle owners and finally to everyone who supported us.
A significant variety for visitors to this event. Ed.
Musings from Gavin Francis
Locally owned RML 883 lost it original registration WLT 883 back in 2003 and
became TAS 466. In 2004 it was sold to Ensign and spent some time in the Czech
Republic before returning to the UK for restoration.
By coincidence I came across the registration WLT 883 on a VW in Aylesbury a few
weeks ago.
In Binders Yard yesterday
originally Nottingham 733 then with Xelabus YN04UJU.
Took this picture in
Binders Yard yesterday afternoon, it is not great as the sun was right behind
it.
Reading Omnidekka Running Day by Andrew Webb
To mark 20 years of the Omnidekka and individual
branding for routes, Reading Buses organised a running day on 26 October focused
on route 17 which was the first to receive branding back in 2004.
Several
Omnidekkas from the Reading fleet were
joined by examples which have passed to other operators but returned to their
old haunts for the day.
Fleet number 805 has received this commemorative
branding and looks very smart when seen in Friar Street.
Seen in the same
location is sister vehicle 806, these being the oldest vehicles in regular
service with the company.
As well as taking new
Omnidekkas, Reading also
acquired some second hand from fellow municipal operator Nottingham.
This
example is now with Newbury and District (part of the Reading Buses family) and
is seen at St Mary's Butt.
The high seating capacity has made the Omnidekka a sought after model on the second hand market.
Stephensons have acquired several for their Essex
operations including this one which returned for the day and is seen in Friar
Street on route 17.
Go South Coast have also taken several former Reading
Omnidekkas for their operations across Hampshire and Dorset.
Three returned to Reading for the day - two from the Bluestar operations at
Southampton, with the third coming from Salisbury wearing this special livery to
mark Wilts and Dorset's centenary in 2015. A second heritage liveried
Omnidekka from Salisbury was unavailable and substituted by this Omnicity
carrying an advert to encourage the good ladies of Salisbury to consider a
career in the bus industry.
One of the most popular attractions of the day was
this Wright Solar Scania L94 which started
life as 1021 in the Reading fleet. It is now with Aldermaston Coachlines
who have painted it in this 'Basingstoke Area Rapid Transit' livery (BART) which
is inspired by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) of Tampa, Florida.
It is seen here in the town centre loading for the first of two trips on route 5
Another type popular with Reading Buses was the Optare Excel. This
example, seen in the town centre, was not in service and served with Go Ahead
Wilts and Dorset. Now preserved in the condition it was delivered in for
service on route X4 from Salisbury to Bath, where connections could be made with
Bristol. During NBC days the route was jointly operated by Bristol and
Hants & Dorset and ran through from Salisbury to Bristol. Exactly 22 years
earlier on 26 October 2002 it is seen leaving Bath with the 15:20 to Salisbury.
A sign in the windscreen indicates that, due to roadworks, the bus was running
via 'Sally in the Woods' direct to Bradford on Avon rather than using the A36 to
serve the villages of Limpley Stoke and Winsley
The link between Bath and Salisbury is now truncated
with passengers having to change at Warminster. First operate the service
between Bath and Warminster as route D1, having rebranded the route as one of
three 'Discovery' routes radiating from Bath (the other two going to Frome and
Melksham). Initially operated with branded buses, the route now sees a
selection of Enviro 200MMCs bought in to comply with the Bath LEZ. 67096
is a typical example, seen in Trowbridge on 21 October whilst calling at the
town's Sainsburys superstore opposite the site of the long demolished bus
station.
Supplementing the D1 is the D1X which runs between
Bath and Trowbridge via 'Sally in the Woods'. Later the same day Enviro
400MMC 33926 passes the derelict site which once housed the Bowyers sausage
factory.
Another route to lose it branded buses is Stagecoach's 49 to Swindon which was
once promoted as the Trans Wilts Express. On 21 October a corporate
liveried Enviro 400 Scania typifies the buses usually found on the route, with a
splash of colour added by a sister vehicle advertising Cirencester Sixth Form
College.
Faresaver have grown to be the dominant operator in
Trowbridge with the trunk X34 from Chippenham to Frome passing through the town,
where it connects with a range of less frequent services serving the town and
surrounding villages. The X34 sees a range of vehicles as illustrated by
this selection from 21 October. The MCV Volvo was delivered new, whilst
the Enviro 200 started life with Marshalls and the double decker came from
Yellow Buses in Bournemouth.
Solos are another popular vehicle in the fleet, including this example which has
just arrived on service 87 from Devizes.
It started life with Stuarts of Carluke.
Solos are also used by two other operators serving
the town.
Frome Minibuses operate Trowbridge town services
Libra Travel operate
route 94 to Bath via some narrow lanes to reach small villages.
322 by Grahame Wareham
H322 was a 1946 AEC Regent II with Park Royal H30/26R semi-utility body. It was
renumbered H856 in 1952. In April 1958 H856 was withdrawn and passed to Deacon
(dealer), Dorchester , immediately being resold to Say, Gloucester the same
month.It was later sold to Marchant, Cheltenham in March 1959 and was withdrawn
in October 1963 and scrapped by June 1964,
%20LWL317%20Cowley%20Road%20Garage%20Oxford%20c.1957%20cMDS.jpg)
322 was a 1962 AEC Bridgemaster 2B3RA with Park Royal forward entrance H40/25F
bodywork. 322 was originally allocated to Cowley Road garage from new and spent
most of its time on country routes finally ending up on City routes from 1968.
In April 1972 322 was withdrawn and sold to TPE (dealer) Macclesfield and
immediately passed to Premier Travel, Cambridge, after being repainted by COMS,
as their 223 lasting until April 1975. It was later seen in Bristol in use as a
non-PSV but disappeared from the area and presumed scrapped.
A short visit to Witney by George Candelin
I stopped by the Witney outstation today and took a photo from the road outside.
There are three rows of 400EV's that I could see plus
at least three x 400 Hybrids in the dark green scheme.
Just down the road at Pulhams outstation
I was able to
photograph one of the four 'new' Optare Solo SR; and photographed the few in the
yard from the gate.
A couple of shots in Witney market place to finish,
11761 and Pulhams BB70BUS..
X1/X15 branded bus taken at
Witney Marketplace.
Nova Scotia call from Adrian Small
I've recently been on a cruise to the New England provinces of Canada.
I managed some photos of the buses there which I thought might be of interest
for the Oversea Interlude section.
Number - Location - Operator & Fleet number - Vehicle
2 - St Johns, Newfoundland - Metrobus 1523 - Novabus
3:5 - Quebec City, Quebec - Unitours 88, 89
and 80 - Alexander Dennis E50D
6 - Quebec City, Quebec - RTC 2114 - Novabus Hybrid
7 - Quebec City, Quebec - RTC 0931 - Novabus
8 - Quebec City, Quebec - RTC 1669 - Novabus Artic. Hybrid
9 - Quebec City, Quebec - RTC 1954 - Van Hool Midibus
10 - Saguenay, Quebec - STS 2313 - Novabus Hybrid
11 - Saguenay, Quebec - STS 1504 - Novabus Hybrid
12 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - T3, no.
84 - Novabus
13 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - Maritime Bus 2174 - Unknown type
14 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - T3, no.
76L - New Flyer
15 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - T3, no. 216 - New Flyer Hybrid
16 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - Grayline (Antiquebus.com) - RML2316 -
AEC Routemaster
17 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - Halifax Transit 750 - Novabus Artic
18 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - Halifax Transit 1292 - Novabus
19 - Halifax, Nova Scotia - Halifax Transit 1124 -
New Flyer
As you can see most of the city services are operated by the ubiquitous Novabus,
but with some other type included. The sightseeing operations have English
double deckers - a Routemaster in Charlottetown and some left hand drive
Alexander Dennis buses in Quebec.
As a follow up from my previous email herewith 4 more photos of the sightseeing
operation in Halifax, Nova Scotia using ex LT Routemasters
20 - RML2329
21 - RML2675 with offside door for driving on the right
22 - RML2677
23 - RML2651
A most interesting article Ed.
Philip Bayliss
371 in Woodstock on Wednesday night. For a spooky night
of fun. October 30th 2024
Chris Huntingford
"There will be many implications of the two-pound cap changing to three
pounds in January. One issue is that it might slow down Oxford buses. A
great innovation is the "tap on, tap off" system, which is fast.
However, there is one exception, when a large number of people want to
alight, the person at the front suddenly remembers to tap off but they
cannot find their bank card at the bottom of their bag. Nobody can get
off or on. With the current scheme, most people know local fares are
around two pounds, so it is very noticeable almost nobody taps off,
because they will just pay the cap. However, with a cap of three pounds,
suddenly tapping off may save you around a pound, and so worth doing so.
There will be people searching for their bank card again....."
Martin Isles
Thanks for the latest issue of O&CBP with the news that
the 400EVs are at last in service so I will hopefully make the trip to Oxford on
Monday before I fly to Australia for the winter as usual.
Yesterday, thanks to Taj at Red Rose, I did my last day
as a licensed bus driver. Apart from SHOWBUS I haven’t driven a bus in service
for about 3 years and the licence expires next month. Think the last run I
did was a 275, but yesterday I relived my days with Red Rover in the 70s and 80s
on what is the current version of Linkline 9. I finished the day in
Stokenchurch covering the 643 to Ibstone, but being the last day before half
term I only had five passengers and no one for Ibstone or Radnage, but it did
bring back memories from 1990 and driving a Motts Metrobus on a morning run from
Ibstone, Radnage and Stokenchurch to Wycombe High School.
When I got back to the Red Rose depot, an Enviro200
acquisition, direct from the paintshop, had arrived,
SK15GXW a 39 seater ex
Britannia, Northampton and originally new to South Wales Transport.
Three
smaller ones are due from the same source, but are currently in a poor state so
don’t expect to see them anytime soon.
Wishing you and your wife good health through the winter
All the best
Fleet News and developments
Gavin Francis in Wycombe on October 26th
226 showing route 102 in the Eden Bus
Station.
228 heading for Reading with an 850 in the Eden Bus
Station.
402 and 404 at Penn Pond on October 29th..
609 working route 102 in Bridge Street.
80473 working route 32 in Bridge Street.
Bob Chalmers
This bus has been on X1/X3/X15 duties during the week - this shot in Wootton
Road, Abingdon on Wednesday 23rd October
- running 45mins late due to traffic
problems in Oxford.
including Courtney, Newbury & District &
Thames Valley
Ian Williamson
This ex Reading Regent operated a shuttle service at the
weekend between Burnham station and the Slough and Windsor Railway Society model
railway exhibition in Burnham Park Hall.
Apparently the vehicle is now 67 years old and starting
to look its age!
Martin Dowling
On Saturday, RB celebrated
twenty years since the start of Purple 17 which was the first route to be
branded with a colour. Most other routes have been similarly branded
since. It also recognised nearly twenty years of running Omnidekkas in the
town. There were once over sixty of these in use, but now only four remain
in the fleet - 805 and 806 plus 863 and 864 bought second hand from Nottingham.
805 has been beautifully repainted for the occasion and is going to be retained
by RB for special events and private hires.
A number of these buses that
have since been sold on to other operators made guest appearances mainly running
on their former routes. These buses worked in service but without taking
fares.
Attached are a few photos and also a list published by Reading Buses with timetables
https://www.reading-buses.co.uk/celebrating-20-years-route-branding
I'm not sure if all of these
buses attended, but there were also some extras such as Salisbury Reds 1141.
In other news some more new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC City buses have arrived branded Flightline 703 - 742 FL74LHR, 743 FL74SLH and 744 FL74ASC - with bespoke registrations relating to Heathrow, Slough and Ascot which are on that route. There are also 249 and 250 for Lion 4 and X4 services and at least one more for Jet Black 1.
To follow is a report from Andrew Webb high-lighting the running day. Ed.
Gavin Francis in Wycombe
Serving the 130. BF67GJV on October 26th in Wycombe.
Hybrid 12008 is still in service at November 2nd
Has anyone not realised the change of front fleet number position for the new EVs ? Ed.
ev Operational fleet as at November 2nd.
Adam Harber
The cascade list for Oxford vehicles has been
revised a number of times since my last post on the subject, so please take
any previous information from any source with a pinch of salt!
However, movements that have already happened include 10671-6 going to Stagecoach East Scotland. More from that batch are expected to follow soon, and 10677-682 and 684 are now withdrawn. At the time of writing, five of these are stored at Witney depot (Downs Road), one is at Oxford depot, and the other is at Bulwark Bus and Coach Engineering Limited. Ex-Stagecoach South Scania 15992 has found it’s way to Swindon depot, so is probably the first of the Trident replacements. I suspect move movements will have taken place by the time you publish.
Frazer Peddle
80009 working the 10 laying over in Butterwyke
Place on October 27th.
James Freeman
80001 & 80014 at Cowley Centre on October 29th.
Peter Edgar
A couple of photos of
Stagecoach electrics in Oxford today.
80007 at the JR Hospital.
80008 in Norfolk Street working the 8 on October 28th.
80010 seen at the J R on October 26th
80010 overtakes 80011 in Oxford on October 26th
80013 in service from October 31st.
80018-working route 8 on October 31st.
London operations
Andrew Webb
Several 'one off' adverts have recently taken to the
streets of the capital. These are notable for being on 'normal' double
deck buses as opposed to New Routemasters where the adverts always seem to be in
batches of five.
Chinese retailer
Miniso is expanding across the UK,
including a new branch at 100 Oxford Street. London United's BCE47013
carries a wrap for the company's range of Harry Potter merchandise available
from 26 October. Two days after the launch it is seen approaching Oxford
Circus on route 94, where a right turn into Regent Street means it will just
miss passing the store.
French fashion influencer Camille
Charrière and
Swedish fashion brand NA-KD have collaborated to launch a new collection which
is advertised on Metroline's VWH2334. On 28 October it worked route 4,
seen here at Blackfriars prior to heading for Archway.
Veronica Beard is an American entrepreneur and
fashion designer with a store in Sloane Square. Transport UK's 2527
carries this striking wrap for the brand, seen at London Bridge on 29 October.
As autumn sets in the lure of warmer climates is being promoted to Londoners.
The rainforests of Guatemala are the subject of this wrap on Transport UK's 2545
seen near South Kensington on 28 October.
For those who prefer warm and dry Oman is a potential
location for a winter break. A variety of illustrations of the country are
used on this campaign as this selection of vehicles show on 29 October.
Metroline's LT763 is turning into Tottenham Court
Road at Warren Street whilst working service 390.
Arriva LT215 is seen at London Bridge at the start of
the long haul to Edmonton Green on route 149.
Stable mate LT969 is seen at Sloane Square
A new campaign
uses different images of the island as illustrated by LT794 at Warren Street on
29 October
and LT857 at
Highbury Corner the following day.
Once again TfL are supporting the annual Poppy Appeal, mostly with wraps on
electric buses
including Go Ahead's EP4 at North Greenwich on 29 October.
One New Routemaster, LT863, has also received the wrap, seen at Highbury Corner
on 30 October.
ARRIVA LT973 at Marble Arch.
LT795, LT799 and VWH2334
BCE47007, BCE47011, BCE47015 and OME46031.
Local operators caught in London
E16MTT, GB19MTT and MT20MTT.
GL69PUL and WDF946 in Park Lane.