Issue nr 347
Monday, May 12th 2025
Past Issues : https://www.oxford-chiltern-bus-page.co.uk/
From the Editor
A week of variations and some interesting items,
There much to read and again some items are held over to the next issue.
In this issue
Pete & his bus by Gavin Francis
Swindon update from Colin Pidgeon
347 with Grahame Wareham
Reunited after 13 years - Gavin Francis
MK with Gary Seamarks
Xelabus Rally from Nigel Eadon-Clarke
London update recalled from April
Aylesbury interlude by Tony Bungay
Xelabus & King Alfred with David Gray
Readers Write
Fleet News & Developments
London with Andrew Webb
Dudley W M with Andy Mill/wood
Pete and His Bus
I am sure that
many enthusiasts like myself watch the UTube videos of ‘Pete and his Bus’. His
best known Routemaster is RML 2355 which has been converted to a bar bus and
Nigel Eadon-Clarke caught up with it at Penshurst last weekend.
My first picture of this bus was taken at West Croydon
on 8th February 1977 when it was in National Bus Company Livery.
By 1980 it has been sold back to London Transport and
is seen at Brent Cross Shopping Centre on 13th June on Route 16A.
It was one of the last Routemasters in regular public
service and finished its days operating Route 38 which it still wears the route
blinds for. It is pictured in Buckingham Palace Road on 28th October
2005.
Swindon update by
First of four vehicles 1571-1574 transferred
from Go Ahead Salisbury Reds to Swindon's Bus Company.
1572 has now been repainted into Swindon's Bus Company livery, seen on May 8th.
OCBP Issue 347 by Grahame Wareham
L347 MWL981 1948 AEC Regent III with NCB L27/26R lowbridge body, renumbered
L123 in 1952. Withdrawn in February 1961 and sold to Deacon (dealer) Dorchester
in May 1961 passing to Ronsway, Hemel Hempstead in July of that year. Later it
passed on to Hillside of Luton in October 1963 lasting there until July 1965. It
finally passed to Smith, Luton (dealer) in September 1965 where it was
eventually scrapped.
347 347TJO 1964 AEC Renown 3B3RA with Park Royal H38/27F lowheight forward
entrance body. 347 was allocated to Witney depot from new and was the final
member of the 1964 batch to be converted to OMO in 1971.Subsequently the
conversions were not popular with drivers owing to excessive engine noise
preventing the driver from hearing the passengers requests so 347 was
transferred to Oxford City routes finally ending its days on Cowley Road until
being withdrawn in August 1976. It was the sold to Paul Sykes Organization,
Wakefield Road Barnsley but immediately resold to Arthur Barraclough of Carlton
for scrap. These buses were almost like new when consigned to their doom!
I omitted to send this image of 347TJO in Stowford Road
Barton,
which with anybody knowing this area these days may not recognise the
location. If you can fit it in all well and good.
Another great piece by Grahame Ed.
Paul Bateson.
Pulham's of Bourton-on-the-Water CDG 345K in
Cheltenham on December 11th 1972.
Reunited after 13 years !!
by Gavin
Francis
Back
in 2012 I was one of a small group of drivers from Stagecoach Oxford who
went to work at the 2012 London Olympic Games. I spent 3 months there
and the ruling was that you drove a bus from your normal employer which
meant in my case I was fed a diet of E200s driving around the streets of
East London.
Then
one day my trip was to take party I believe of Eastern European athletes
from The Olympic Village to Wembley Arena where the events were taking
place and I was allocated an Ulterbus Irizar/Scania coach. There was
quite a large fleet of them and my one was JFZ 7022, fleet number 1022.
JFZ 7022 at Wembley
After the event it was back to The Olympic Village and I assumed it was
probably the last I would ever see of that coach as presumably after The
Olympics it would cross the water to Ireland.
Imagine my surprise to see whilst walking through Stokenchurch was a
plain white Irizar registration JFZ 7022 now owned by Harlequin Coaches.
JFZ 7022 passes through Stokenchurch on a school run.
So what are the chances of the only Ulterbus coach I drove crossing over the water to Ireland to work and then reappearing in my home village 13 years later ?
Indeed what are the chances Ed. ?
MK fron Gary Seamarks
Batch from MK, Weds 7/5/25, few changes since I was last there last
year, mostly the batch of E400's that came down from Midlands, along
with a lone Volvo B9TL (4201), plus a trio of VDL SB200's including
3819 that arrived from North West. Nice to get the UNO Citaro, I don't
very often see these about at Cranfield now.
Xelabus 273AUF Rally 040525 N Eadon-Clarke
NEC
Nigel's pictures taken at the Xelabus 15th Anniversary Rally at Barton Park on Sunday 4th May.
An old friend from Oxford. Ed
London Update
24th April 2025
Today’s
day in London started at Camden Town. Route 31 was due to change operator
from Metroline to RATP (First) a couple of days later so I needed to get
some pictures before the change.
Highgate Garage seemed to be using any bus available using different classes
of buses in this case VMH 2489, VWH 2333 and BCE 2613
Whilst I was there I used the opportunity to get pictures of 3 wraps on the
253.
Pictured in Bayham Street are LT 351 (Harvey Nichols), LT 825 (Fulfil) and
LT 542 (IKEA).
It was then back on The Northern Line to Archway, which is always a good
place to get pictures of wraps on Highgate Hill as both the 390 and 17
terminate there.
Stood on Highgate Hill are LT 795 (H & M), LT 780 (Emirates), LT 761
(Naked), LT 803 (IKEA),
LT 760 (Emirates), LT 759 (Velo), and LT 796 (Starbucks).
Also at Highgate Hill was unique short New Routemaster ST 812
Route 143 was almost solidly E200s but suddenly Metroline Wright Electric
Stagecoach operate a small batch of Switch MetroCitys on Rte W5. Maybe they
are having a few problems with them
as a Switch demonstrator which Stagecoach had given the fleet number 89999
was also operating.
Then it was back on The Underground and
I
had time to stop at Harrow on the way home.
Superloop Routes SL9 and SL10 meet at Harrow as shown by BCE 47104 on the
SL9 and BCE 47115 on the SL10
Aylesbury interlude by Tony Bungay
Two are general views of an Enviro 200 of Red Eagle
and a Wright bodied Arriva vehicle still wearing original Arriva Livery!
Heading for Hemel Hempstead Town Centre from Boxmoor.
The Arriva vehicle was working Service 302 to
Welwyn Garden City.
Two Vale Travel former Bournemouth Yellow Buses Enviro 200's on Railway
Replacement work ay Aylesbury station today 10/5/25
Former London Central Volvo B7/Alexander working Service 110 to Shabbington
via Long Crendon
Red Rose Enviro 200 Y24 RRT leaves Aylesbury Bus Station working return
journey of infrequent shoppers service 154 to Newton Longville.
New to City of Oxford Volvo B12/Plaxton as number 90 and previously with
Redline,
now sports Red Rose fleetnames, heads through Long Crendon having worked
Schools Service 109.
by
David Gray
https://www.kingalfredbuses.org.uk/page_1943
Xelabus Open Day |
|
FoKAB friends at Xelabus have invited us to display a King Alfred bus at their open day at their Eastleigh depot. This celebrates their 15th anniversary and will include an exhibition, working models, display of current and former fleet, stalls and stands as well as heritage bus rides, in addition to a display from local preservation groups. |
HOR 811
"FoKAB's project to produce a full replica of
a King Alfred 'Hybridge' all-Leyland Titan PD2 started in 1990 and has taken 35
years to complete.
"Last May we showed off the almost-ready vehicle,
but at the time it was not quite complete - the most significant element being
the lack of a fuel tank and related problems with the fuel system.
A most interesting event. Ed.
Keith Briant
It was great to see the
Coventry photos in this week's issue.
Out of interest:
Arriva operate a number of
rural routes from Nuneaton under contract from Warwickshire County Council. They
serve a couple of districts on the eastern side of Nuneaton, following the
withdrawal of Stagecoach commercial services two or three years ago and also
services that link Nuneaton with Coventry's University Hospital,
Nuneaton's George Elliot
Hospital and serve the rural villages around the north east of Nuneaton,
providing some essential links every one or two hours.
They're operated from
Arriva'a
Barwell (Hinckley) depot,
primarily using this batch of four E200s (fleet numbers 2000-2003) which have
been allocated here since new.
They're are due to be replaced with electrics owned by Warwickshire Council
Council from the latest round of government funding, I think towards the end of
this year.
As part of the Coventry Electric project, which has
already seen most of the National Express Coventry fleet replaced by electrics
(all double decks done, just the smaller number of single decks left),
Stagecoach are due to replace their vehicles used on the long 148 Coventry to
Leceister via
Hinckley service later this year with Yutong single decks. At least one has been
on driver familiarisation work around the Nuneaton area for some time.
Stagecoach also operate a
small number of Coventry City services, one of which is evening only in place of
NX Coventry, under contract to Transport for West Midlands and operated
from.Nuneaton depot. These
are also due to be replaced by electric vehicles. Interestingly, Coventry is
likely to be included in the first phase of
TfWM franchising, but the small number of routes
Stagecoach operate within the city boundaries under contract to TfWM are likely
to be exempt from the first phase of franchising for a period of time, whereas
their services to and from Warwickshire will operate under permit, as presumably
will Arriva's.
I've attached a
presentation which might be of interest.
National Express Coventry's E052 does actually carry E1952R. It carried discreet vinyls and this number to commemorate the death of the Queen and although it has now lost these, it still displays this number.
I hope that you are well.
While the kids kick a football around the park after school I thought I'd use my
time wisely and send you a picture of a local Stagecoach Midlands bus that
caught my eye yesterday.
I rather like the ADL/MMC
400 double deckers, a smart looking vehicle with excellent visibility for the
passengers, especially on the upper deck. Several were in use on rail
replacement work in the area over the Easter break alongside some belonging to
coach operators in the area. The spec of these was impressive and are surely a
treat for use on school contracts! My school bus certainly wasn't as modern!
Anyway it's 10536 (SN16 ONA) seen operating route D3 through (sunny) Weedon towards Northampton from Daventry which takes a meandering path. The 'D' prefix was applied to this corridor in 2007 when the Daventry Dart network was launched. The advert is encouraging women to have a go at rugby and brings another livery variation to the area. A lot of examples from a variety of classes here are still in 'beachball' livery so will jump a scheme and go straight to the new dark blue style.
PS,
I always forget something!
With no local registrations anymore it's harder to track what vehicles
originated where. It appears 10536 had previously been used in Liverpool.
Slight correction on the overall advert, it is promoting Rugby Women's World Cup as the Northampton Saints ground is one of the venues to be used. Tickets on sale next week apparently!
Fleet News and developments
Keith Briant
I'm a
bit out of your area in Warwickshire, but this is an interesting photo that
might be of use that you are welcome to use.
David Gray
London General Mercedes Benz
Citaro MEC62 BF65 VD seen at Barton Park, Eastleigh this afternoon.
Gavin Francis
Seen in Morrison's car park, shopping by bus.
80535 and 80536 seen on consecutive days in
Stokenchurch working the 275.
971 seen in Gore Hill on May 6th.
Lewis Anthony
228 and 229 on the 104 and 31 respectively, in Beaconsfield this afternoon
on May 8th.
938 leaving its stand for Micklefield on the 32
Nigel Peach
I paid a rare visit to Carousel's depot this afternoon (7th May). A lot of
building work is going on, and a lot has been done since I was last there. The
main yard was empty of buses except 228.
Just two buses in the overflow yard, 80860, which looks to have been withdrawn -
it is the last ex Oxford Citaro at Carousel.
Also 80531. I can see now why this bus has been off the road for a while!
I saw 938 in service, recently returned from Hedingham, where it had a different fleet number. I wonder why therefore it has been numbered 938, rather than 80938, now that it is back at Carousel !
David England
Not everything has been renumbered !!! 844
.
The Citaros have given good service to the
group with 849 seen in Botley Road on May 7th.
Gavin Francis
A school working with LJ17WYC in Stokenchurch
on May 7th.
Gavin Francis
Red Rose YU15AFS with fresh livery in
Stokenchurch on May 9th.
Adam Harber
Just a quick update…
Stagecoach West are expected to start taking delivery of their next batch of
ADL Enviro400EV buses soon. These are intended for use at Cheltenham depot
on the 94/94X group of services, but unfortunately the charging
infrastructure at the Cheltenham site is not ready yet so it is likely that
some vehicles will enter service on loan at Oxford depot to provide cover
while the Oxford vehicles return (typically 2 or 3 at a time) to Alexander
Dennis for warranty work. First arrivals could be as soon as later this
month, May 2025, and will be in the new corporate “Slate Blue” livery.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to correct a
statement in one of your previous postings… At the time of writing, no order
has been placed for new Oxford Tube coaches. While we are expecting to order
new vehicles at some point this year for a 2026 delivery date, no
specification or supplier has been decided upon yet.
Dave & Deric
Period 13, dated 25/04/2025.
Here are the changes we have found, the changes
affecting Oxford (Thames Transit) depots being shown in yellow as usual.
|
New Vehicles |
80024/52-55 |
New |
To |
Oxford |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transfers |
15993 |
Oxford |
To |
Swindon |
|
|
36099/136/37 |
North Bristol |
To |
Swindon |
|
|
36376/79 |
Swindon |
To |
Cheltenham |
|
|
36760 |
Oxford |
To |
Swindon |
|
|
36926/33/82 |
Oxford |
To |
North Bristol |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To Reserve |
18420/21/22/501 |
Swindon |
To |
Reserve |
Sanjay Baker
10442 is seen getting ready to work an S2X to Carterton on May 1st/
Grahame Wareham
Stagecoach 50454 has had its repaint completed by Bartco,
Cassington
Nick Ross
Z & S Enviro 200 YX16 OHV at Leighton Buzzard's West St with a terminating 165
service from Stoke Mandeville on May 6th 2025. Sadly after operating the route
since 2005 from next week Red Rose are contracted to operate the 165 route
according to the Bucks CC website
London operations
Andrew Webb
No words are needed on the side of Stagecoach's
12525 as the distinctive Adidas logo clearly shows what the bus is
advertising as it round Trafalgar Square on 10 May. The nearside
carries a completely different colour scheme.
Mullvad VPN is advertised on Arriva's LT734 as it
passes Waterloo. Mullvad is the Swedish word for 'mole'.
Andy Millwood
Dudley area including 20641, 20647 20643 all Diamond
E200 buses , the 4th and
5th one is a Travel Express Lets GO Dart bus with a rare Esteem body, in
Wolverhampton. I Remember buses like this with Thames Travel.
