‘Scene’ in the SouthWest, ‘Coaches’ on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

YJ62 JYS ‘Yorkshire Rose Holidays’ Van Hool Astron TX16 /i

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

 

Not quite in the SouthWest but on its way there from the Barnsley area.

 

 

 

YJ62 JYS ‘Yorkshire Rose Holidays’ Van Hool Astron TX16 2

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

 

 

 

YR16 BLX ‘Harry Shaw’ of Coventry, Scania K360IB4 / Irizar i6

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

 

 

 

YS16 LNF ‘Solus Coaches’ of Tamworth, Scania K360IB4 / Irizar i6

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

 

 

 

BX63 BDY ‘Gibbons Holidays’ of Bedglinog, Mid Glamorgan Setra S 416GT-HD

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

 

 

BT63 DGO ‘Shearings Holidays’ No 645 Setra S 416GT-HD

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

 

 

 

 

TIL 7907 ’Roselyn Coaches’ of Par, Cornwall,

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

 

 

 

V22 ACT ‘Abbot Coach Travel’ of Newton Abbot, Scania K124IB4/ Van Hool Alizee T9

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

 

Formerly Y42 HHE and new to ‘Holmeswood Coaches’.

 

 

 

JT62 HOL ‘Jewels Tours’ of Gravesend, Scania K320UB / Irizar PB

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

 

 

 

JT15 HOL ‘Jewel Tours’ of Gravesend, Scania K440EB6 / Irizar i6

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

 

 

 

YN11 HXL ‘Leisuretime’ Volvo B9R / Plaxton Elite i

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

 

New to ‘Nelson & Sons’, Glynneath, Wales and still in my view the most stylish coach on the roads today.

 

 

 

BU14 EFP ‘Robinsons Coach Holidays’ No. 286, Volvo B11R / Jonckheere JHV

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

 

 

 

NH15 PDH ‘National Holidays’ Mersede-Benz Tourismo

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

 

 

 

L671 PWT ‘Diamond Travel’ Mercedes-Benz 814D / Optare Starrider

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

 

A ‘blast from the past’ and new in 1994 to ‘Brent’s of Watford.

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ Coaching in Scotland Part 1 on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

A few days based in Fort William enabled me to get a reasonable cross section of images of coaches both local and from further afield.

 

Seen at Moffat Mill Services.

 

BX63 BCE ‘Epsom Coaches’ SETRA S416GT-HD

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

 

 

 

The clue to its ownership is the fleet number over the door which reveals it to be a ‘Stagecoach’ group vehicle.

 

‘Stagecoach East Scotland’ having taken over ‘Rennies of Dunfermline’ when the company’s owner retired in 2008.

 

Seen at Moffat Mill Services.

 

HKZ 726 ‘Rennie’s’ 53038 Volvo B12M / Sunsundegui Sideral

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

 

 

Seen in Fort William.

SP08 FPG ‘megabus.com’ 54048 Volvo  B12B / Plaxton Panther

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously Y759 WSM with ‘McEwan of Amisfield’, Scotland.

 

Seen in Fort William.

 

T9 RTG ‘Ross Travel’ ‘Scania K1241B / Van Hool Alize T9

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen in Fort William.

 

K55 SBL ‘Shiel Buses’ Mercedes-Benz 1523LL / Esker

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly Y20 BGS with ‘Swindells’, Chadderton, Lancs.

 

Seen in Fort William.

 

K60 SBL ‘Shiel Buses’ Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premiere

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen at Mallaig ferryport.

 

X7 TCL ‘Telford’s Coaches’ VDL FHD2 / VDL Futura

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wearing an older livery which dates back to when ‘Shearings’ merged with ‘Wallace Arnold’ in 2005.

 

Seen at Kyle of Lochalsh.

 

BK09 RNA ‘Shearings Holidays’  Setra S416FHD-GT

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen at the Kyle of Lochalsh with the Isle of Skye in the background.

 

BF15 XPX ‘Shearings Holidays’ Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

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

 

 

 

 

 

Seen at Mallaig ferryport.

 

‘Shiel Buses’ work a service to Mallaig from Fort William.

HSK 735 ‘Shiel Buses’ Volvo B12M / Plaxton Paragon

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of a fleet of about 18 with this operator.

 

They are unusual in that the emergency exit is on the nearside to allow rapid loading and unloading of passengers in safe comditions.

 

Seen parked outsde ‘The Dalmally Hotel’, one of four hotels that the company own.

 

SN05 DVZ ‘Highland Heritage’ Volvo B12B / Van Hool Alize

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen in Inverness.

 

2 WR ‘Parks of Hamilton’ Volvo B9R / Jonkheere SHV

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ on the Island of Mull

I have found that some but not all of my earlier 'Blogs' whilst having retained the text have lost some images. I do not know why so I have decided to repeat the 'Blogs' in a slightly revised form which hopefully will retain the the content in its entirety.

I recently had a short break staying at the Alexandra Hotel in Oban. The tour company was ‘Highland Heritage’ (HH) with whom I have no connection other than as a satisfied customer. 

 

It perhaps seems odd that a blog titled Rails, Roads and Runways is starting an article with a ship.

 

However the raised bow identifies it as a vehicle ferry and I suspect that the buses shown in the article all arrived on it at one time or another. (As did I).

 

‘Caledonian Macbrayne’s ferry MV ‘Isle of Mull’ was built for the service which runs several times a day from Oban to Craignure (Mull).

 

Built in 1987 by Ferguson Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow on the River Clyde. The 4,719 ton vessel has room for up to 70 cars and 962 passengers.

 

Operating it requires a crew of 28.

'West Coast Motors' (WCM) is a company which started in 1923 in Campbeltown where they are still based. Operating across Argyll and Bute and as far away as Glasgow, the company has a fleet of approximately 200 vehicles. 

 

Expansion has come naturally and by take overs. one of the most recent being of ‘Fairline Coaches’ of Glasgow in November 2013.

 

L200 WCM

Which was YJ05 PYO earlier in its career. A VDL SB4000 with Van Hool Alizee T9 bodywork.

 

Operated by ‘WCM' waiting at Craignure (Mull) ferry terminal.

FX03 GKV

 

A Mercedes-Benz (M-B) 1223L with Spanish built Ferqui bodywork.

 

Previously operated by ‘Bowman’s of Craignure’ on Mull who were taken over by ‘WCM’ in June 2013.

 

The M-B 1223L sometimes called the ‘Atego’ which I believe is a truck chassis. Also seen at the ferry terminal.

 

SP05 CXX

A VDL Bova shown to illustrate the queue formed for its services. It had already gone down considerably at this point.

 

This vehicle is another that came from ‘Bowman’s.

 

It must have seemed galling to the queueing masses because this empty double decker was sat 30 feet away. There was a festival taking place on the island over next 2 days and maybe ‘WCM’ had not appreciated how many passengers they were going to get on that particular crossing.

 

 

YT11 LSE

 

A Scania 230UD Omnidekka.

 

It’s funny how some buses seem to follow you around. As soon as I saw the registration, I knew I had seen it before. Pictured below it is seen in all white working for ‘Nottingham City Transport’ in September 2013.

 

It would appear to have been a ‘Scania’ demonstrator because before coming to Nottingham it worked for both ‘Newport Bus’ and ‘Brighton and Hove’ in the white livery.

 

The front of the bus is pure ‘WCM’. The back however is a superb illustration of the many coloured properties on the seafront in the town of Tobermory, the biggest on the island.

 

Branded as the ‘Tobermory Topper’.

 

 

 

 

YN55 RDV

 

A Scania N94UD with East Lancs part open top bodywork. Maybe it should be branded as the

‘Tobermory Open Topper’......!

 

It previously worked in and around Minehead for ‘Quantock Motor Services’ of Wiveliscombe in Somerset.

 

 

‘WCM’ have a small depot in Craignure just up the road from the ferry terminal and when I asked one of the drivers if I was OK to walk round and take a few pictures, he was most obliging.

 

 

SSU 727 (Previously YN54 DDA).

A ‘M-B’ 814D Vario with Plaxton Cheetah bodywork.

 

SP04 EUZ

A Bova Futura which again came with the ‘Bowmans’ business.

 

YX04 FYF

Another M-B 1223L/ Ferqui combination which once more came from ‘Bowmans’.

 

SH53 GHB

Mull can be "a wild and lonely place”. (A quote from Private Frazer in ‘Dad’s Army’ ) and support in case of a breakdown is essential.

Here it is....!

 

‘Scene’ on the Isle of Wight (IOW) Part 2.

 

T165 AUA

A DAF CB220LC550 with an Ikarus Citibus body. Known as the ‘Beast’ by those who have experience of it !! 

 

The combination of a Dutch chassis with an Hungarian built body is to say the least unusual. It is the only one of its kind with ‘Southern Vectis’ (SV) and a such was never going to be wildly popular.

 

Before coming to the island it had a spell in the Southampton area with fellow Go Ahead (GA) group member ‘Bluestar’.

 

Seen in Newport bus station, I suspect that it will turn up elsewhere sooner or later.

The year 2004 was a good year for the Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis/Transbus Dart in both its standard form and the MPD version. All of the ones I saw dated from that year.

 

HW54 DBZ 

An MPD version came into the SV fleet when they took over the operations of ‘Wightbus‘ which was an IOW County Council owned operator in 2011. Seen leaving Newport bus station. 

 

Interestingly, this bus has been modeled by Creative Master Northcord Ltd. (CMNL) in 1/76 scale in its ‘Wightbus‘ livery.

 

 HW54 BTU

Another Plaxton MP Dart seen leaving Newport bus station. This has also has been modeled by CMNL this time in an earlier SV livery. Seen leaving Newport bus station.

 

 

HW54 DCU

A standard length Dart/ Plaxton Pointer 2 combination is another bus that came to SV from ‘Wightbus’. Seen in fading light leaving Ryde bus station.

 

EA05 KZC

A Ford Transit Tourneo. Not all service vehicles make it into fleet livery. This one did. Seen in Newport bus station.

 

In July 2012 an eight year contract was signed with the Isle of Wight County Council which gave SV all the school services on the island. These buses are all fitted with CCTV and seat belts.  

A mixture of types were to be used. In autumn 2012, 17 new Optare Solo SR’s were introduced. The are of mixed seating capacity with No. 3803 to 3812 inclusive being B25F and 3813 to 3819 being B30F.

All of the school buses are marketed as ‘Vectis blue’

 

HW62 CGF 

HW62 CNV

 

 

Apart from the Solo’s, I saw a number of coaches have been transferred from ‘Damory Coaches’ another GA group member.

 

MV02 ULL

Is a Volvo B12M with Van Hool Alizee T9 bodywork. Before being with Damory, It was with ‘Shearings’

 

 

 

Delivered in 2013 were 20 low height Alexander E40D double deckers.

 

It would seem that the deckers are used exclusively on schools services whilst the Solo’s and coaches are also used on normal day time services in between school trips.

 

HW62 CCD

Is seen at Ryde bus station