For those interested in old buses (and coaches)

[leopardml2341]

My old bus has a new lease of life with a new owner.

 

Not sure of source of pic, so if owner/photographer wants it removed please let me know?

 

Also if anyone on here knows the owner, I'd be grateful to be put in touch with them.

[5944]

Spotted outside Torre Abbey a couple of weeks ago. Ignore the plastic one in the background! 

[45156]

On 25/07/2019 at 17:41, leopardml2341 said:

My old bus has a new lease of life with a new owner.

 

Not sure of source of pic, so if owner/photographer wants it removed please let me know?

 

Also if anyone on here knows the owner, I'd be grateful to be put in touch with them.

 

Odd choice of a colour scheme for an ex Western vehicle - admittedly it looks good, and has clearly been lovingly restored, but I would have liked to see it still running in its proper colours.

[Gwiwer]

Sadly had to miss both the Kingston running day and the Worthing rally on Sunday despite the proximity of one and the family connection at the other.  Red and green RTs plying between Kingston and Epsom on their old 406 band 418 routes (which still run more or less the same way today with modern red buses) or a selection of shiny hardware beside the sea including the local Queen Mary contingent.  Not a good day to have to be home doing non-hobby stuff.

[leopardml2341]

11 hours ago, 45156 said:

 

Odd choice of a colour scheme for an ex Western vehicle - admittedly it looks good, and has clearly been lovingly restored, but I would have liked to see it still running in its proper colours.

I restored it to WSMT livery (brush painted by self) along with much mechanical and bodywork in 2005.

 

Featured in Bus & Coach Preservation July 2005 IIRC.

 

 

 

I sold it on in about 2009 and it didn't really get much tlc, ending up looking a bit sorry for itself.......

 

(The pic above was pasted into this post as a weblink not an image)

 

Highland livery is actually prototypical, it was sold there and ran in service as their L4 based at Inverness, again IIRC.

 

(The pic above was pasted into this post as a weblink not an image)

Edited July 29, 2019 by leopardml2341

[Rugd1022]

Gaydon today at the Mini 60th anniversary do...

 

 

[tetsudofan]

Beginning of the month the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway held their annual Bus Rally centred on New Romney Station carpark. In addition heritage buses ran from New Romney to Dungeness offering a choice of travelling by bus, by train or a combination of both.

 

Local buses predominated starting with a trio of Maidstone and District buses:

 

 

 

 

and representing East Kent Road Car Company

 

 

 

 

which became East Kent NBC (in Sealink Livery on which I was acting as conductor) and latterly Stagecoach East Kent:

 

 

Something else from further down the coast also appeared - a Hastings & District Trolleybus!

 

 

One of my favourites, though, was the BEA Airport Coach which I have not yet managed to ride on, we were both out on the road at the same time!!

 

 

More pics of other buses present will follow.

 

Keith

 

[Johann Marsbar]

1950 built Marmon-Herrington trolleybus and a 1960's GM "Fishbowl" diesel bus at the San Francisco Transport Heritage Festival a couple of weekends ago.....

 

[4630]

Providing free transport between the venue for the Wigan Model Railway Exhibition at Robin Park Leisure Centre and Wigan North Western railway station this past weekend were this pair of beauties;

 

TDJ612 - an AEC Reliance operated by St Helens.

 

 

 

 

 

BED731C - a Leyland Titan PD2/40 with East Lancs bodywork, operated by Warrington Corporation.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by 4630

[Johann Marsbar]

2 hours ago, 4630 said:

BED731C - a Leyland Titan PD2/40 with East Lancs bodywork, operated by Warrington Corporation.

 

 

That picture of 50 brings back some memories. Doesn't seem almost 39 years since I photographed 49 & 51 in Warrington, back in December 1980........

 

 

 

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Some Italian stuff from the '50s...

 

 

 

[JDW]

12 minutes ago, Rugd1022 said:

Some Italian stuff from the '50s...

 

 

 

 

 

...complete with portholes for the passengers in steerage on the lower deck...

 

 

[runs as required]

On 07/10/2019 at 13:56, 4630 said:

Providing free transport between the venue for the Wigan Model Railway Exhibition at Robin Park Leisure Centre and Wigan North Western railway station this past weekend were this pair of beauties;

TDJ612 - an AEC Reliance operated by St Helens.

I remember my disbelief in 1950 when I saw a London RT pull across the East Lancs road just in front of my dads Hillman Minx on a dark winters evening on its way to its terminus at Carr Mil dam, St Helens.

Was St Helens Corpy the only operator that bought expensive RTs new when most around about bought all Leyland PD2s from just up the road?

dh

[PhilJ W]

London's own buses such as the RT were often worked out cheaper as London Transport could buy them by the hundreds at a considerable discount. They were quite happy for other operators to tack their orders on and get the discount as long as they accepted the full London specification even down to the seat moquette. Newcastle accepted London style trolleybuses (Q-type) and Northern General had Routemasters under a similar arrangement. Why this did not happen more often is because Londons buses were more sophisicated and technically complicated than their contemporaries.

[laurenceb]

St Helens needed the buses in a hurry hence the full London spec, A few other operators RT spec chassies and had them bodied by other body builders

[pH]

9 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

Some Italian stuff from the '50s...

 

 

 

 

Certainly the first of those pictures, and possibly the third, suggest something I was amazed to see on a bus in Brindisi in 1970 - a driving position on the centre line of the vehicle.

[PhilJ W]

The central driving position was quite common on Italian trolleybuses, probably a hangover from the trams.

[alastairq]

Didn't Paris buses also sport a central driving position as well?

[PhilJ W]

Some of the very early ones did and some others had riight hand drive. Paris buses had open cabs until after the war and many featured a seat above the right hand front mudguard. This was because they were liable to be called up for military emergency duty and it was there for a soldier to protect the vehicle. The Paris buses were commandered during WW1 to move troops to the front, though I'm not certain if it was so in WW2. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

40 minutes ago, alastairq said:

Didn't Paris buses also sport a central driving position as well?

 

Yes, there were still some of them in service in the early 70s.

[SRman]

We saw this Danish oddity at their tramway museum outside of Copenhagen last year. I may possibly have posted this pic of a Triangel O40 series 60 (which, as an aside, has a Leyland motor) earlier, but in view of the central or 'wrong-side' driving position discussion, this fits here too. 


P_20180922_141629_vHDR_On by Jeffrey Lynn, on Flickr

Edited October 9, 2019 by SRman

[PhilJ W]

Many early buses and commercials had the driver on the 'kerb' side as it was deemed safer for the driver to see the kerb. The best known UK example is probably the Foden overtype steam wagon where the driver sat on the left hand side. Also in Alpine regions right hand drive continued to be used until quite recently the most notable being the Swiss postal buses. This was because it was safer for the driver to see the edge of the road on mountain roads.

[Rugd1022]

Some more multi-seated municipal Italiana...

 

 

 

 

[Welly]

What a wonderful style some of these old Italian buses have! No "rams horn" in sight.

 

Oh for the days when you could tell what country you are in from the vehicle design!

[PhilJ W]

Noticed that the first two were right hand drive and the third was central steering.