Issue nr. 208
Wednesday, June 22nd 2022
Editorial
Well, a busy week with quite a number of items to report. My contributors have been very busy including trips to the north of Scotland, a "Royal Blue" running event through Oxford and a new bus for Oxford Bus and the return of another Astromega tube to Stagecoach in Oxford.
We have pictures of the buses working the route 46 of Oxford Bus.
Paul Hawkins has sent pictures of the autonomous bus being used in trials and Ciaran Bird has provided interesting pictures from the past weeks in the Oxfordshire area. Also Mike Penn has sent pictures from Cardiff and also a rally of old buses on Barry Island.
Grahame Wareham and family have provided pictures of the "Royal Blue" during its various stages as well as another history of Oxford Bus fleet number 208 to coincide with this issue. These are supported by pictures from Gavin Francis of both 207 and 208 history.
The rail strike provided a "heavy" day for the Oxford tube who had good passenger loading but traffic delays not helping.
Finally I am advised that Paul O'Callaghan has returned to the U.K. and is working again with Stagecoach. This is in connection with upcoming Commonwealth Games operation from two operating centres around Birmingham Paul was Operations and Engineering Director for Stagecoach in Oxfordshire for many years.
A very late report of interest is concerning the closure of the present Stevenage Bus Station this coming Saturday from James Allum.
Stevenage Bus Station to close on Saturday next
James Allum
Today, Wednesday June
22nd, I visited Stevenage Bus Station for the final time before closure this
coming Saturday Night after the final departure. The brand new state of the art
Stevenage Interchange opens Sunday Morning from the first departure.
Took some photos and the weather was wonderful for my final visit to this ever
changing Hertfordshire town.
Also Arriva Stevenage's celebrity bus 4288 was on site doing a promotion as
Arriva Stevenage especially are desperate for drivers!
Memories of Royal Blue
Grahame Wareham
These were my images taken outside the Red Lion in
Oxford Road Kidlington on Friday 17th............before I went in the pub!
Taken by
Suzanne Wareham
at Parkway
Herewith some images you may wish to use taken by Brian
Daniels whilst stationed along the Magdalen Bridge/Longwall section on Friday, June
Grahame Wareham
Thought you might like to include these with the ones I
have sent you as a comparison............seems like yesterday!
With many thanks to the Wareham family and Brian Daniels for some excellent coverage of the day's event. Ed.
Gavin Francis visited Ealing on June 20th
Gavin Francis
Cobra Corporate Service SN67XBF with Sky Shuttle
Service S3 in Ealing.
National Express operate the University of West
London special services with 8375 and 8377 seen above.
RATPs offering for the Platinum Jubilee is BCE 47070
working the 65 in Ealing.
The same operator has all this type working the 65 with 47081 and 47145.
A nice contribution from Gavin Francis who took a large number of photographs on the day. Ed.
Ciaran Bird
Stagecoach MMC 10681 is seen to the south of Blenheim
with a route 7 service on May 7th.
Hugh Jaeger
............................. now working route 46 for Oxford Bus
E20 599 YX22OGN on loan from Dawson Rentals working route 46 in Sworford
Lane, Wheatley on June 22nd.
Not a route for a double decker !!!!
Jack Cooper
StreetDeck Micro Hybrid 901 is seen with Christ
Church Tower as a background in St Aldates on June 15th.
Nick Ross
....................... from the Highlands
Stagecoach Highland Enviro 400 crosses the River Ness
at Inverness with the 1314 17 from Tomich on June 7th 2022
Coach visitors to Oxfordshire
BV22WPF | MB Tourismo M/2 WEB41055523001890 | MB | C53Ft | 3/2022 | Barnes, Swindon |
Belle Coaches BC60BEL in Broad Street on June 22nd.
Jack Cooper
Chariot BU18YRV is seen in St Giles on June 13th.
Also seen in the same location, Dochym Bus SBE6740A
on June 19th and EuroWelcome BU16GZH and Hunters PO18EEY both on June 13th.
Fleet News and developments
Seen in High Street, Oxford 5462 which is named after an Olympic athlete
was working the 280 on June 17th.
Arriva The Shires Wright StreetLite 2321 (LM 64 JNL)
is seen on the 28B to Panatonni Park.
This is a diversion of the existing 28 route to
serve the vast new industrial area adjacent to the new junction 11A of the M1
motorway. There are five journeys scheduled for the early morning on
weekdays and three for the late afternoon.
A failed Arriva Mercedes 1009 BF67 WGO on a tow truck at Leighton Buzzard
station on June 14th 2022,
no doubt off for some much needed maintenance!
Ciaran Bird
ALX400 X37XAW outside the Ashmolean in St Giles on
May 16th.
Grant Palmer 713 (GP 55 BUS ex SN 08 BYC) is a Volvo
B9TL ex Lothian Buses.
It is seen on busway route Hi (yes, it really is letter i) to the new housing development near Thorn, north of Houghton Regis.
Luke Marion - Interim Managing Director
On day one of the 46 we used 513 and 514. Bicester Village have requested a
double decker on the BV Shuttle this week, due to the impacts of the expected
rail strike.
he long term plan for the 46 is that two new E200MMC vehicles will be purchased for this. The first of these, fleet 515 arrived with us on Thursday and is now prepared for the road. This is YX22OJZ. While we await the second new bus, (516) - which is in build at Scarborough - we have 599 with us, on loan from Dawson Rentals. This is YX22OGN. We expect this to be with us until around November and this has also been prepared for the road.
Hugh Jaeger
This week I have photographed both of Oxford Bus
Company's new Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMCs on the newly extended route 46.
Attached for you to publish on our website if you wish are photos of them in St
Aldate's, Florence Park, outside The Bull in Great Milton and in Sworford Lane
east of Wheatley, emerging from the bridge under the former Wycombe Railway.
Andy Morison tells me that Oxford Bus Co bought the pair
at short notice, hence the plain white (or Blanc!) livery. He tells me they will
be branded soon. I will try to photograph them again when they are.
I am puzzled that the new buses' fleet numbers are not
in sequence. One is 515, which fits the existing series of short wheelbase
Enviro200's. But the other is 599!
I have also photographed two other short-wheelbase
Enviro200 MMC's on the route. They are the Bicester Village shuttle, and one in
Thames Travel Connector livery that usually runs on route ST2. If you would like
to use any of them, I can either email them to you or you can download them from
Bus Users Oxford's Facebook page, where I have posted
all the photos in a new album for route 46.
A quiet week with no specific news to report at the time of going to press.
The very last OBC 4C on May 6th.
Seen in Castle Street on June 21st, 599 is loading a 46 working.
Oxford Bus city fleet 364, 369, 608 and 687 are seen on June 17th.
301 has been converted to
diesel drive, and is the latest conversion from hybrid.
604 and 607 are on the Isle of Wight for the
festival. They have been tracking on the Southern Vectis page on
bustimes.org.
604 - https://bustimes.org/vehicles/308504
607 - https://bustimes.org/vehicles/308502
New E20 MMC
515 is seen at St Aldates and Chatham Road
Scania 214 is seen with a 35 road service in St Aldates on June 15th.
Scania 219 is seen with an 11 road service in St Aldates on June 15th. Not
normally a double deck working these days.
Converted Hybrid to Diesel 301 is seen with a 4 road service in St Aldates on
June 18th.
Blue 3 road 366 is seen in St Aldates on June 19th.
OXFORD PRIDE wrap 367 is seen at Carfax with a 13
road service on June 13th.
StreetDeck colour variety for 668 route 6 and 682
route 15 both on June 19th.
Jack Cooper
Tourismo 35 is seen climbing up St Aldates with a Gatwick service on June 19th.
Gavin Francis
Long serving 198 is seen in High Street on June 17th.
Jack Cooper
Ex London open top 200 is seen in St Aldates on June 19th.
Gavin Francis
Citaro 862 looking clean and tidy is seen in High
Street on June 17th with an X32 service.
Jack Cooper
You will read about 207 further below and here it si still in service on June
19th.
Citaro 855 with an X32 working in St Aldates on June
15th.
Heading the other way is 864 working the X1 in St
Aldates on June 15th.
StreetDeck Micro Hybrid 904 is seen in St Aldates on
June 19th.
Langston & Tasker
Ciaran Bird
In Bicester E200 L20LNT is seen working its
dedicated route 18 on June 13th.
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/timeline
Congratulations for 50 years of service, very much one of the most recognisable brands in the U.K. Check the link to see the development of this organisation.
Gavin Francis
Bennetts BV67JYL is seen in bright sunshine at the
junction of Elizabeth Street with a 444 service on June 16th.
Ciaran Bird
On June 5th The Queen's Platinum Jubilee event took place at the Oxford Bus Museum
abellio Beddington Depot's ADL Enviro400 MMC SmartHybrid 2022 (SK20 AZL),
as well as Go-Coach Hire's 8345 (YX66 WFF).
The very last Pulham's 63 at Frideswide Square on May 6th.
Jack Cooper
Contribution to the X20 is varied and above we have GW16BUS on June 19th and
YX65RGV on June 15th.
I see Rotala are pushing the boat out on the X50 on
Sunday is a massive come down from an E200 or a MMC200.
Paul O'Callaghan has re-surfaced with Stagecoach. He has been added as a
Transport Manager on the Midland Red (South) Limited licence that is held in the
West Midlands Traffic Area.
Several additional Transport Managers have been added to the licence, including
Bill McCartney - who was Ops Manager at Swindon - in connection with the
Commonwealth Games operation.
We should start to see a number of inter-company loans start to take place
imminently to backfill for vehicles that will be needed in Birmingham for the
Commonwealth Games operation. Whilst Reserve Fleets will be used locally there
will be a need for these inter company loans to cover.
Stagecoach Midlands has authorisation at two operating centres in the Birmingham
area to cover its Commonwealth Games operation. the additional authorisation for
a maximum of 610 vehicles covers up to 269 vehicles at the Birmingham Road,
Oldbury B69 4FF site and up to 341 vehicles at the Chester Road, Birmingham B24
0RD site.
Forth Bridge Services at South Queensferry with the vehicle on trade plates and
no fleet numbers applied.
Two men and a load of computer equipment
Many thanks to Paul for these interesting pictures, maybe of what the future
holds for all of us. Ed.
Ciaran Bird
Ex Oxford 10687 on an S6 at Frideswide Sq. on May
6th.
Ex Oxford 36109 in Swindon on May 16th.
In Oxford are 28684 and 37616 working the 853 and
37626 in Cheltenham.
A few pictures around the A34 exit for Kidlington on May
10779 working an S5 on May 5th.
Ex Gold 15753 at Wootton Turn in the new livery on
June 8th.
Solo 47658 outside the new Park View estate in Woodstock on June 10th.
On June 14th 11234 SN69ZDR spotted on route 233, normally operated with Optare Solo
SRs
On June 15th Nocturne Live at Blenheim Palace saw a trio of Stagecoach Enviro400 MMCs
on the shuttle service after the event.
These were 10684 and 10788 from Oxford,
as well as 11241 from Witney.
10067 with the 500, 27703 with an S4 (This bus is still not registering with
www.bustimes.org)
36108 with a B9 and 36111 working local service in Banbury.
36768 with a B5, 37403 and 37405 both with a B3 and
37630 with the 500.
There are more new livery buses at Banbury than any other Oxfordshire depot. Ed.
Gavin Francis
MMC 10685 working the 8 is seen in High Street on
June 17th.
MMC 11244 is seen in George Street with an S1 service
on June 16th.
Training M A N 22418 is seen at Network Oxford during
training on June 16th.
Jack Cooper
Two MMCs pass in Magdalen Street East on June 19th
being 10434 and 10677.
Gold Scania 15831 seen in Magdalen Street West
working a 7 to Woodstock on June 19th.
This bus shows well the difficulty in matching metallic colours.
The one remaining Gold S4, 28744 seen in Magdalen
Street West working to Banbury on June 19th.
Ciaran Bird
Distance liveried 10803 is seen working an X5 in
Bicester on June 13th.
Jack Cooper
Distance liveried 10872 in Magdalen Street East on June 13th
with anX5 working.
Gavin Francis
Astromega 50269 has now returned to Oxford for service to London seen on June
21st.
Astromega 50271 is seen ready for work on June 16th and it subsequently appeared
during driver training in Stokenchurch.
Jack Cooper
As ever looking immaculate 50437 is seen in St
Aldates on June 19th heading for London.
Gavin Francis
Interdeck 54276 is seen in Elizabeth Street on June 16th. Most
coaches are now in the revised livery.
Ciaran Bird
On May 19th a 53 seater Volvo B11R / MCV
EvoTor was on demonstration at Worth's Coaches for a few hours.
I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and not only
managed to photograph it
but also have a ride on it to Chipping Norton and back!
London operations
Gavin Francis
Bliss Travel this Irizar YT68LCY for contract work in London seen on June 16th.
Gavin Francis
Just called into Binders Yard and ex United Welsh 308
was in there. It went onto become Thames Valley 620.
Also attached a picture of the same bus also in
Binders Yard taken 16 years ago!
Update with pictures of 207.
Firstly another Vics Clicks one taken in Wycombe in the early 70s
Then to Thames Travel and Connector Livery.
Grahame Wareham
...... refers to Oxford Bus (COMS) 208
The weeks now seem to be romping past as it doesn't seem
that long ago I was scanning my slides for issue 207.
COMS had the distinction of eventually operating the first Leyland Atlantean to enter service with a commercial operator. I think Wallasey's no.1 FHF451 was completed first but anyway at least that got preserved as is indeed still with us.
COMS 208 RTH637 started its life as James Bros of Ammanford 227 later being absorbed into the South Wales Transport fleet as 1227 in 1962.
The images show 208 in
original COMS 1970's style livery and later poppy red NBC corporate style. 208
was sold to dealers Twell's of Ingham in 1975 but by then it was approaching
twenty years old which was too old for this unmodified Atlantean which was also
out of its COF. It was eventually sent for scrap when Twell's ceased trading.
It migrated east to Oxford in June 1970 and was the second of
the MCW batch, although built at Weymann's at Addlestone, to enter service in
Oxford.
These elderly Atlanteans all still had their original centrifugal clutch gearbox flywheels which had long been superseded by the fluid flywheel variety, thus they were not the most reliable or popular buses to drive.
"I can well remember carrying out some gearbox and engine removals when I worked
for a private contractor before I joined COMS in 1974 and working on these
Leyland's was a longer job than with an AEC so I wasn't particularly fond of
Atlanteans either in those days. One thing that always intrigued me about the
design was that the radiator was directly bolted down on top of the gearbox
which used to vibrate to such an extent that the radiator tubes would fracture
with very hot results! I actually manufactured some rubber pads to place between
the two components to try and help the loosening of the mounting bolts which did
seem to help. Anyway enough of my mechanical reminisces!"
The next incumbent of fleet number 208 was a 1982
Leyland Olympian ONLXB/1R which arrived at Oxford that July.
Although marketed as Leyland's there actually wasn't much Leyland about them, apart from maybe the gearboxes and axles, as the chassis were assembled in Bristol and the bodies at ECW Lowestoft! They were however a very trouble free vehicle and with the correct routine maintenance were one of the most reliable buses that COMS purchased in those modern times.
208 migrated from NBC corporate livery into
both OBC variants before being adorned as an overall advert for the OBC Freedom
Card............"At least the bus was more
reliable than the Magnetic Card Validators which issued and read the Freedom
Cards, they didn't last very long!"
208 lasted until December 2002 in the Oxford fleet
when it received a plain white repaint and was sent to Thames Travel on hire for
a period before it was eventually purchased and ran for another five years
before it went to meet its maker with Geoff Ripley, Carlton, Barnsley where it
was scrapped.
Once again I have no images of the current Thames Travel
208 but I'm sure you probably have some from your younger contributors.
Gavin Francis
Shown below further 208
pictures.
The oldest one is as an
Olympian in GG and is one Paul Bateson sent me.
As a Brookes Bus in Park End
Street.
Then became a red City bus in
Frideswide Square
and finally in St. Aldates on
a Thames Travel Route
It then passed to TT and was painted in Connector livery
which I think it still is.
Last
weekend (June 11th
and 12th)
I took a trip to South Wales, partly to visit the Barry Island rally and partly
to catch up on events in Cardiff. Cardiff City Transport currently has in
service 36 Yutong electric buses, all in various route branded liveries, plus 4
ADL Enviro 200 MMCs
in a white livery. I believe these
are on hire. As well as these they have a number of secondhand vehicles
from various sources. One thing that puzzled me was the lack of a bus
station. I thought that the site of the old bus station was to be
redeveloped, including a new, smaller, bus station. When I last went,
three years ago, the site had been completely flattened but now the whole site
seems to have been built upon with a lot of high rise buildings and no space
left for a bus station. Meanwhile all the buses pick up on surrounding
streets with one road being used for layovers.
Photographs are as follows:
Cardiff 406 (CE71YCK), 409 (CE71YDD), 424 (CE71YXJ), 432 (CE71YXT), 435 (CE71YDC) and 436 (CE71YXV) – all Yutong electric
buses.
436 is in the traditional Cardiff Corporation colours with a
listing of dates of various events over the last 120 years along the sides,
starting with the first electric trams in 1902. These are in Welsh on the
offside and English on the nearside. It was photographed at the Barry
Island rally.
Cardiff 145 (CX 11 FZR) – one of 12 Mercedes Citaros
acquired from Isle of Man Transport and was originally registered KMN 209L.
Cardiff 273 (YX 21 RVL) - ADL Enviro 200 MMC
which is one of four of this type on hire.
Cardiff 352 (YT 10 UWK) – one of
8 Scania N230UD
OmniDekkas acquired from Nottingham City Transport.
Cardiff 551 (CN 17 BGK) - ADL Enviro 200 MMC – I’m not
sure what the livery represents.
Cardiff 744 (GN 59 CLF) -
Scania N270UB OmniCity.
Cardiff 771 (WX 57 TLY) - Scania K230UB/Wright Solar
acquired from Go South Coast last year
but was originally in the Thamesdown
fleet.
The following were photographed at the Barry Island
rally.
The rally was slightly disappointing with a diminished
number of vehicles compared with previous years, presumably because of the
current economic situation. At least the weather was good.
Red & White 37019 (YX 63 ZTS) – Enviro 200 in heritage
Red & White livery.
Preserved ABO 434B – a Neepsend bodied Guy Arab V new to
Cardiff City Transport
which was converted to open top in 1976.
Preserved AHU 803 – a 1934 Bristol JO5G rebodied by
Bristol in 1947. It was new to Bristol Tramways.
Preserved CN 06 GDY – a Scania N94UA “bendy bus”.
Cardiff City Transport withdrew all their bendy buses in January.
Preserved PAX 466F – a Massey bodied Leyland Titan PD3/4
new to Bedwas & Machen UDC.
It later served with Stevensons of Uttoxeter
and MK Metro!
Preserved RTH 931S – a Bristol VRT/SL3/501 with
convertible open top ECW body. It was new to South Wales Transport.
Preserved WNO 484 – an ECW bodied Bristol K5G. It
was converted to open top by its original owner,
Eastern National for the 1966
season, but withdrawn in 1974 with accident damage.
It was sold to South
Wales who repaired it and placed it in service. It was painted in Silver
Jubilee livery in 1977.
Preserved WTG 360T – a Bristol VRT/SL3/6LXB with an
Alexander convertible open top body which was new to Cardiff City Transport.
It later served with Solent Blue Line on trips to the New Forest towing a
trailer for bicycles.
The vehicles mirrors had hit a tree causing the branch to swing back and smash
the glass in the passenger doors. To their credit Inverness depot sent a rescue
bus out within 30 minutes on June 8th 2022
Stagecoach Highlands 3 surviving Tridents remain
busy, 18337 is about to work the 1230 27 to Dingwall from Inverness Bus station
on June 9th 2022
Stagecoach Highlands Enviro 300 offloads hordes of
hill walkers at Glenmore with the 0922 37 from Aviemore to the mighty Cairngorm
on Jun 7th.
Many thanks for these interesting pictures. The ALX400s seem to live on forever!! Ed.