‘Scene’ at the Bus & Coach show at the NEC in 2014 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

The annual B&C show at the NEC has been cancelled for 2020 because of the Covid 19 Pandemic.

 

Regular readers/viewers of my blog will know that I would normally have published a number of blogs built round what was new in the 2020 show.

 

As I am not able to do so, I will fill the gaps created by re-running some of the highlights from previous shows.

 

Sometimes (but not always) a veteran bus from earlier years  puts in an appearance.

 

The 2014 show today, 2015 tomorrow.

 

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ADL Enviro200MMC

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

This was the first time I had seen what was to turn out to be the most significant single deck bus design of recent years.

 

 

 

 

OP14 ARE Optare MetroDecker

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

At the time I wrote that, 

 

  “Optare have set out to produce a bus that ticks all the boxes and still weighs under 10 tons. 

 

According to all the reports, they have achieved it and all that is left to do is for someone to buy it and prove that it is as good as it looks.”

 

Six years later, despite there being diesel, hybrid and electric versions, it still seems to struggle to achieve really significant sales.

 

I have ridden on it and admired it from a distance. I think that it is a lovely bus. I would love to see it do enormously well.

 

 

 

 

BD64 NBO ‘yourbus No. 3101. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

At the time I wrote that,

 

“To my eyes, it has the look of ‘Lothian’s livery about it. 

 

However, I think that the colours and the style of application is excellent and it will no doubt brighten up Heanor marketplace on a dark, misty winters morning”.

 

Indeed, it and others like it did until October 2019 when ‘yourbus’ ceased trading.

 

BD64 NBO is still earning its keep. Now with ‘Diamond North West’ where oddly enough it is numbered 33010.

 

Not much different from its ‘yourbus’ days.

 

 

 

 

DFB 704D ‘Hearsons Heritage Tours of Nottingham ‘London General Omnibus Company’ ‘B’ type replica

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

At the time I wrote  that,

 

“1,200 of the buses (and their drivers) were commandeered by the War Office in 1914”. (for use as troop carriers in France). “The drivers were still dressed in their ‘LGOC’ uniforms”.

 

I wonder how many of the drivers survived?

 

 

 

 

VDL Futura ‘Leger Holidays’ ‘Luxuria’

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

At the time I wrote  that,

 

“This coach has only 31 seats all arranged in 2 and 1 with two pairs of the singles facing each other across a table.

 

Each seat comes with its own fully interactive touch screen TV offering TV programmes, films and music. The screens are fitted in the seat backs as one finds in airliners today while the seats without seat backs in front of them have their screens on stalks”.

 

‘Luxuria’ indeed.

 

 

 

 

‘VanHool ‘Astromega’ ‘Stagecoach Western Buses Ltd’ ‘megabusGold.com.'

on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

At the time, it seemed like a great idea but it never really took off.

 

‘Scene’ at Euro Bus Expo 2014 Part 9

I have been attending these shows for some years now and I am always impressed with the effort that manufacturers put into their products.

 

I will not attempt to cover the show in any great detail. That has and will be done by the professional magazines. Instead, I will focus on the bits that appealed to me.

 

This concluding part covers the remaining bits and pieces.

 

DFB 704D

 

A ‘London General Omnibus Company’ (LGOC) ‘B’ type replica. Owned and operated by 

‘Hearson Heritage Tours’ of Nottingham, it came complete with driver who was dressed in authentic World War One uniform.

 

The ‘B’ type (known as Ole Bill) went from working on the streets of London to being troop carriers on the Western Front in the early days of World War One. 

 

1,200 of the buses (and their drivers) were commandeered by the War Office in 1914. The drivers were still dressed in their ‘LGOC’ uniforms.

 

The bus is based on a Bedford chassis.

 

One of the outside exhibits was this Sunsundegui bodied coach on a Volvo B13R chassis.

Marketed as the SC7 the frontal design seems to bear a strong likeness to the Caetano Levante bodied coaches currently in widespread use with ‘National Express’.

 

The Spanish coachbuilder UNVI generally has something interesting in the show. This year it was the Voyager GT body built on a Mercedes-Benz Atego chassis. 

 

The Atego being a truck derived chassis which is being promoted as a replacement for the Vario now that production of the Vario has ceased.

 

Yutong are reported to be the biggest producer of buses and coaches in the World. I have seen figures quoting 1,000 chassis per week being produced.

 

There were other Yutong coaches inside but this caught my eye in the outside display area.

 

This is the the TC-9 and with a seating capacity of 35, it can also be considered a Mercedes-Benz Vario replacement.

 

A newly re-styled Enviro 200 was on the Alexander Dennis Ltd. stand.

 

Irizar have done well with sales of the i6. The full size version was in attendance but this shorter version caught my eye. 

 

I like the body styling but I am not sure that in the shorter version that the body length to the feature pillar makes it look all front.

 

 

Another bus from Nu-Track was the Nu-Vibe. aimed at the welfare market, the Nu-Vibe uses the body shell of the successful Wright ‘Streetlite W/F’. (Nu-Track being part of the Wright group).

 

The thing I noticed was that it picks up on the body styling of the Wright ‘Streetdeck’. Take a  look at the lower edge of the windscreen and the panelling below it.

 

The ‘Streetlite WF’s big brother the ‘Streetdeck’. This one is going to Northern Ireland operator ‘Translink’.

 

Earlier on this year on the 2nd. of June, I posted a blog about ‘First’ bus in Hanley.

I speculated on rumours that ‘First Potteries’ were about to introduce a variation on the standard ‘First Group’ livery that personally I have always disliked.

 

The image below shows how that variaton now looks. Basically a bus of two halves. The rear end is still identifiable as ‘First’ but the front end now sports a strong colour and clear identification.

 

NOW, if only we can get the back end re-painted.....!

 

The Temsa Safari.

I always thought that this Turkish built coach would do well but I think that the ones I have seen’out and about’ can be counted on my fingers. A shame really, I always thought it an attractive coach.

 

YX54 VOO

One of Alexander Dennis Ltd. New Enviro 400’s that has gone up in the World. I wonder what the next year will bring for it and will it still be looking down on the competition from on high this time next year?

 

Only time will tell.