‘Scene’ on a PSV Circle Organised Visit At the Premises of ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’., Bolton 3 on Dennis Basford’srailsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The PSV Circle (of which I have been a member for some years) aims to hold an Annual General Meeting in a different location in the UK every year.

 

Usually held at a weekend, they also include visits to operators and other bus related venues for the attending members to visit and enjoy.

 

This year, the location being in the North West of England centred on the Holiday Inn Express, Preston.

 

Friend Peter Rose joined me for what turned out to be a sometimes wet, but very enjoyable weekend.

 

As we have done before, we have combined all the images we have gathered. 

 

The credits being joint D.Basford/P.M.Rose.

 

This was to be the last visit on the Saturday.

 

‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’., has a history dating back to 2007 and in that time have gathered together a very well kept fleet.

 

Coincidentally, their depot is located next door to that of ‘Diamond Bus (North West) Ltd’.

 

YX71 OHE ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. E20D / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 200MMC

on Dennis Basford’srailsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

YX71 OHC ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. E20D / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 200MMC

on Dennis Basford’srailsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

BF23 CMU ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’.

Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

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

 

The newest member of the fleet.

 

 

 

 

 

SN16 BRV ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’.

Mercedes-Benz 1023L / UNVI Voyager GT

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

 

One of a number of designs produced by a variety of manufacturers to replace the Mercedes-Benz 814D/Plaxton Cheetah combination.

 

The Cheetah going out of production due to M-B ceasing production of the chassis.

 

New to ‘DCL Travel’, Graham Park, Greater London.

 

 

 

 

FJ56 OBY ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’.

Scania K340EB4 / Caetano Levante1

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

 

The VOR (Vehicle Off Road) notice behind the windscreen and lack of identifying vinyls makes me think that it might not be around for much longer.

 

New to ‘Thames Transit’ for use on ‘national express’ contracts but acquired from ‘Avacab’, Leyland, Lancs.

 

 

 

 

YJ58 FFG ‘ATLANTIC TRAVEL (GB) Ltd’.

VDL SB200 / Plaxton Centro

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

 

New to ‘Arriva’, Gomersal, West Yorkshire.

 

 

‘Scene’, ‘Bits and Pieces’ part 3 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Most of my blogs have some sort of theme or purpose. 

 

There are however times when I take a photograph of something that does not fit into any category. 

 

It is generally something that just happened to turn up at the time.

 

Collectively they are just ‘Bits and Pieces’. Individually they can be interesting.

 

See if there is anything that you like out of these.

 

For part 1 see blog published 28/03/2018. For part 2 see blog published 08/07/2018.

 

 

KX53 VNF ‘Stagecoach East Midlands’ No. 18055 ‘Beatrice the Bircotes Belle’. Transbus Trident / Plaxton President

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

 

A number of Worksop based buses were given the names of ‘The Bassetlaw Belles’

 

Bassetlaw being the district in North Nottinghamshire where Worksop is located.

 

Pictured in Chesterfield.

 

 

 

PB09 LTL ‘Littles Travel’, Ilkeston, Derbyshire. Scania K340EB/4 / Irizar PB

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

 

Pictured in Chesterfield.

 

 

 

 

FG52 WFT ‘Nottingham City Transport No. 508 ‘Driver Training’.  Scania CN94UB / Scania Omnicity

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

 

Pictured in Nottingham.

 

 

 

 

BU59 MCL ‘Macpherson Coaches’, Donisthorpe, Leicestershire. Mercedes-Bez Tourismo

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

 

Pictured passing Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

 

YX63 GYG ‘D&G Bus’ No. 106. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

New to ‘ADL’ as a demonstrator.

 

Pictured in Uttoxeter.

 

 

 

 

B5 WER ‘High Peak Buses’ No. 704 ‘transpeak’. Scania 230UB / Wright Solar

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

 

New registered YN08 OAJ to ‘Centrebus North’, Leicester

 

‘High Peak Buses’ being a member of the ‘Centrebus’ group.

 

Pictured in Belper Bus Station.

 

 

YC54 EKO ‘Skills Coaches’. Ford Transit

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

 

It’s not every minibus that gets the full coach livery treatment.

 

Pictured in Derby Bus Station.

 

 

 

MX09 MJV ‘CUMFYBUS’ Merseyside. Optare M880 Solo

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

 

Pictured in Southport.

 

 

 

BX14 KOH ‘Hino Travel’. King Long XMQ6900

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

 

New to ‘Littles Transport’ Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

 

Pictured in Ripley, Derbyshire.

 

 

 

DY52 GYO ‘Eagles & Crawford’, Mold, Flintshire. Volvo B12M / Plaxton Panther

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

 

New to ‘Lakeside Coaches’, Ellesmere.

 

I cannot remember where I saw it!

 

‘Scene’ in Bury. Coaches on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

One of Bury’s major attractions is its Market which advertises itself as being the best in the country.

 

Other towns may dispute that but it is a good market and as such it attracts people and the coaches they travel in.

 

YN07 LDK ‘Oakleaf Coaches’. Scania K114EB4 / Irizar Century

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

New to ‘Clarkes’, Sydenham.

 

 

 

YN08 DGY ‘GrayShells Travel’. Scania K340EB4 / Irizar PB

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

New to ‘Euroview’, Dereham, Norfolk.

 

 

 

2 HXA ‘The Travellers Choice’, Carnforth. Volvo B12B / Jonckheere SHV

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

New as PN10 GJU.

 

 

 

PE12 OXJ ‘Voel’, Dyserth, North Wales. Neoplan Tourliner

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

New to ‘City Circle’, Hayes, Middlesex.

 

 

 

RB16 ANT ‘Anthony’s Travel’, Runcorn. MAN 19.360 / Barbi Galileo

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

MXI 221 ‘Maxfields’, Sheffield. SETRA  S415GT-HD

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

New as BX07 NLR to ‘Dodsworth’s, Boroughbridge.

 

‘Scene’ in Sheringham

Situated on the North Norfolk coast and home to the well known ‘North Norfolk Railway’. (See blog dated 03/11/15).

 

The town is well connected to the West to Kings Lynn, to the South to Norwich and to the East to Cromer and points beyond.

 

There are a number of operators who work into the town and we start with ‘Sanders Coaches of Holt’ (SCL)

 

OU05 AVB

 

A Volvo B9TL with East Lancs Myllenium Nordic bodywork. Previously operated by ‘Weavaway’ of Newbury in Berkshire. 

 

The bus is named ‘Samson’ and has a capacity of 102 passengers.

 

Seen outside Sheringham railway station.

 

OU05 AVD

 

A Volvo B9TL with East Lancs Myllenium Nordic bodywork. Previously operated by ‘Weavaway’ of Newbury in Berkshire. 

 

The bus is named ‘Hercules’ and has a capacity of 102 passengers.

 

During my visit this and its stablemate ‘AVB’ were employed exclusively on the Holt, Sheringham, Cromer to Norwich service

No. 44/X44.

 

YJ03 PKX

 

A DAF SB120 with Wright Cadet bodywork which at one time was employed by fellow Norfolk operator ‘Neaves’ on a Happisburgh Norwich service.

 

R739 XRV

 

A Volvo Olympian with Northern Counties Palatine part open top bodywork.

 

Although carrying ‘SCL’ ‘Norfolk coaster’ branding the livery otherwise is the same that it wore when I knew it working on the Isle of Wight for ‘Southern Vectis’.

 

‘Norfolk Green’ (NG) was a much respected independent operator which started up in 1996. 

Following the retirement of the owner Mr. Ben Coulson in 2013 for health reasons, the company was sold to the ‘Stagecoach’ group.

 

After the change of ownership, the name was kept and some of the buses were painted in the shades of green in what I would call a ‘Stagecoach’ style of swirls etc. and very good they look. 

 

However, the summer of 2015 saw a start made on repainting the buses into the ‘Stagecoach’ house style of white, blue orange and red.

 

YJ59 GGO

 

An Optare Solo of ‘Stagecoach Norfolk Green’ (SNG).

 

YJ10 EYC 

An Optare Versa of ‘SNG’. It was new to ‘Go West Travel’ of Kings Lynn.

MX05 EKY

 

An Optare Tempo of ‘konectbus’ (kb). ‘kb’ became part of the ‘Go-Ahead’ group in 2010.

 

YN03 UVM

 

A Scania CN94UB OmniCity working for ‘SCL’ wearing one of those dreadful ‘contravision’ all over adverts. 

 

At one time it worked for Norfolk based ‘Anglianbus’. It was one of three acquired from this source by ‘SCL’.

 

MX58 AVB

 

Another Optare Tempo of ‘kb’.

 

A couple of visiting coaches were in town. 

YN08 DFD

 

A Scania K340EB4 with Irizar Century bodywork of ‘Worthing Coaches’ (WC). 

 

I believe that  ‘WC’ are a trading name for the ‘Lucketts Travel’ group who are based in Hampshire.

 

VX05 MXC

A Volvo B12M with Plaxton Paragon bodywork of ‘Powell’s of Ledbury’ who trade as ‘Newbury Coaches’.

 

‘Scene’ at Manchester International Airport (MIA) Bus Station

The Bus Station at ‘MIA’ is part of a tri-mode transport interchange serving buses and coaches, the tramway system and the wider railway network.

 

Although I was there in the middle of the day and there was a reasonable throughput of buses, the passenger loadings were poor. Apart from ‘National Express’ services, there were seldom more than a handful of passengers on any bus.

 

The facilities are excellent. It seems a shame that they do not see more use.

 

 

MX12 EMV

 

An Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Enviro400 in ‘Stagecoach’s dedicated Hybrid livery. Working for ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ (SM).

 

DK09 ENW

A ‘baby’ Optare Solo operated by GHA Coaches who are based at Ruabon in North Wales.

 

Working on the Cheshire East Council funded service 200 to and from Wilmslow.

 

MX58 FTT

A Dennis Trident 2 with ‘ADL’ Enviro 400 bodywork again working for ‘SM’.

 

FN04 HSL

A Scania L94UB with Wright Solar Urban bodywork working from Buxton in the service of ‘High Peak Buses’ (HPB).

 

Originally a member of the ‘trentbarton’ (tb) fleet that moved to ‘HPB’ when ‘tb’ transferred its Buxton depot to ‘HPB’ which is jointly owned by ‘tb’ and ‘Centrebus’.

 

MX62 AWG

A ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 working for ‘Manchester Community Transport’ (MCT).

 

YJ13HLO

Another ‘MCT’ bus. This time an Optare Eco-Hybrid Solo SR.

 

FJ58 AJV

 

A Scania K340EB4 with Caetano Levante bodywork working a ‘Selwyns of Runcorn’ (SoR) on a  ‘National Express’ (NE) service to Liverpool. 

 

At the time of the image, it was un branded but it had previously worked for ‘SoR’ in full ‘NE’ branding.

 

MX61 AVD

A VDL SB200 with Wright Pulsar bodywork working for ‘Arriva North West Ltd’.

 

LSK 502

A Volvo B9R with Plaxton Elite bodywork owned by ‘Parks of Hamilton’ but working on a ‘NE’ contract that will take it to Plymouth. 

 

The registration is a ‘cherished’ one to Parks which has appeared on other vehicles previously.

 

FJ59 APX

Another Scania/Caetano Levante combination. Again owned by ‘SoR’ of  but working in full ‘NE’ livery this time and going to Leeds.

 

 

‘Scene’ Coaching in London recently part 2

It is now some time since I was in the Capital but such is the volume of bus traffic and such is the quality of the vehicles appearing that it would be a shame to leave these out.

 

One of my local operators here in the East Midlands is ‘Little’s of Ilkeston’ and it is with one of their coaches that we start.

 

PB09 LTL

A Scania K340EB4 with Irizar PB coachwork.

 

KX56 OVF

A Volvo B7R with Plaxton Profile bodywork working for London operator ‘Corbel’.

 

BN63 NYU

A Chinese built King Long XMQ6129Y working for ‘Excalibur Coaches’ who are another London based operator.

 

This coach appeared on the King Long stand at the Bus & Coach Live 2013 show at the NEC.

 

B2 EBT

A Volvo B12M with Plaxton Paragon bodywork with a cherished registration that identifies it as a member of the

‘Eddie Brown Travel’ fleet.

 

BL14 LSX

A Sunsundegui bodied Volvo working for’ Terravision’ on route A50 which takes in both Stansted Airport and London Victoria.

 

I have only seen one other of this body type which is called the SC7 and that was at the NEC last year and I commented then on its very close similarity to the Caetano Levante.

 

TUI 1646

A Dennis Javelin with Caetano Algarve 2 bodywork. Formerly registered N786 SJU.

 

Working for ‘Britannia Holidays’ who operate from the Hitchin in Hertfordshire.

 

9 HDX

This Volvo B12B/JonkheereSHV combination has to be one of the most elegant vehicles on the road.

 

Working for ‘The Travellers Choice’ who are based at Carnforth in Lancashire. 

 

An operator with a history going back over 140 years !

 

WAF CO 444

A SETRA S 415HD working for German operator ‘Engel Touristik’.

 

GB04 EBL

 

A Scania K114B4 with Irizar Century bodywork in the fleet of ‘Lucketts Travel’ of Fareham in Hampshire.

 

FDY 383

A Volvo B12B with a Volvo built body that was new to ‘Rambler Coaches Ltd.’ of Hastings in 2008 as CR08 RAM. 

 

It was reregistered to its current mark in early 2015.

 

YJ11 AMV

A Mercedes-Benz 0816D fitted with Sitcar ‘Beluga’ bodywork working for ‘Alba Coaches’.

 

I have commented before that I think the name ‘Beluga’ which is a species of whale is an unfortunate choice for what is quite a dainty coach.