‘Scene’ in Warrington 3 Single Deckers on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

A few days spent visiting my nephew who lives in the town allowed me to spend some time looking at the bus scene.

 

Unusual in that the local services are provided by the local council and not as in many places by one of the big groups.

 

Because of that, the current fleet livery includes the branding ‘Warringtons own buses’.

 

The bus station, which is delightfully called ‘Golden Square,’ is very close to the railway station which can be seen above and behind the buses in many of the images.

 

The oldest single deckers date from 2006 & 2007 and now approaching 15/16 years old, they must be due for replacement soon. 

 

However, they do appear in a variety of liveries which adds to their interest for the the enthusiast.

 

CX06 BJY ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 2596, ‘Ribble’ No. 2596.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

New to ‘Arriva Merseyside’ as No. 2596.

 

 

 

 

DK07 EZH ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 76.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

Wearing the remains of the previous ‘Network Warrington’ branding.

 

 

 

 

DK56 MLU ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 65.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet /1

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

 

Wearing the remains of the previous’ Network Warrington’ branding but overpainted with a glimpse of the current ‘Warrington’s own buses’ branding.

 

 

 

 

DK56 MLU ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 65.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet /2

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

 

 

 

 

DK07 EZO ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 72, Warringtons own buses, we’ve been an essential part of Warrington since 1902.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

 

 

 

YJ57 BRZ ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 82, Warringtons own buses, we’ve been an essential part of Warrington since 1902.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

 

 

 

PCZ 979 ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 60, PRIESTLY COLLEGE bus

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

 

 

 

 

PLZ 757 ‘Warrington Borough Council’ No. 61, PRIESTLY COLLEGE bus

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

‘Scene’ in Halifax 2 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

My first real day out ‘bus hunting’ in 2022 was to the two West Yorkshire towns of Halifax and Huddersfield.

 

Only 9 or so miles apart in distance but separated in fact by an enormous hill along the top of which runs the M62 Motorway.

 

My first stop wherever I go is usually the local bus station.

 

Unfortunately, the one in Halifax was undergoing severe rebuilding work at the time of my visit and the bit that was still in operation was restricted viewing so it was time to take to the streets.

 

Whilst ‘First West Yorkshire’ is the dominant operator, there are others.

 

Probably the largest is now ‘team Pennine’ (tP) which is part of the ‘Transdev Blazefield’ (TB) group.

 

‘TB’ bought the ‘Yorkshire Tiger’ (YT) operation from ‘Arriva’ in 2021 and renamed it as ‘team Pennine’.

 

The ‘tP buses I saw in Halifax with one exception were all wearing their former ‘YT’ livery with the addition of vinyls that read,

 

 “Im joining team Pennine… they’re going to make me better”.

 

I would suggest to ‘tP’ that they do that as quickly as possible because the ex ‘YT’ livery does the buses no favours.

 

YJ07 JVM ‘team Pennine’ No. 1224.

VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet 

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

 

Pictured wearing the remains of the ‘flying tiger’ livery from when it worked in Leeds on the Leeds/Bradford airport shuttle for ‘Arriva’.

 

 

 

 

YJ62 FBL ‘team Pennine’ No. 202.

Optare Versa V1110

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

 

New to ‘Webberbus’, Bridgewater, Somerset.

 

 

 

 

YK08 ERV ‘team Pennine’ No. 180.

Optare Solo M950

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

 

New to ‘Arriva Durham County’ No. 2803.

 

 

 

 

YJ57 YCA  ‘team Pennine’ No. 201.

Optare Versa V1110

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

 

New to ‘Webberbus’, Bridgewater, Somerset.

 

 

 

 

YJ55 BLZ ‘Stotts Coaches’.

Optare Solo M780SL

 

New to ‘Hughes & Goodsir’, Holyhead.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby yet again. ARRIVA 4 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’.

A number of my most recent Derby based blogs have focused exclusively on the buses of ‘Trent Motor Traction Ltd’.

 

However, there are other operators who work on the streets of Derby, one of which is ‘ARRIVA Midlands’.

 

The company has its roots in what I knew as ‘Derby Corporation Transport’ which has travelled its own complicated route to become the company it is today.

 

YX17 NLE ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3104. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

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

 

The blue and white livery is a leftover from the days when it was employed on car park shuttle duties at the East Midlands Airport at Castle Donington.

 

 

 

 

 

KX54 AVD ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 9551 ‘Driver Training Bus’. VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

New as No. 60 to ‘MK’Metro’.

 

 

 

 

FJ13 FYX ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3769. VDL SB200/ Wright Pulsar /1

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

 

 

 

 

 

FJ13 FYX ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3769. VDL SB200/ Wright Pulsar /2

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

 

‘Scene’ at the age of 100. ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ 8 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

I have learned that the bus rally planned for Sunday the 25th. of April in Chatsworth park to mark ‘Hulleys’ centenary has had to be postponed until later in the year in order to comply with the current regulations surrounding the Covid 19 pandemic.

 

For ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ /1, see blog posted 01/04/2021. For part 2 see blog posted 05/04/2021. 

 

This series will now run almost daily until I run out of images to post. 

 

So, watch this space.

 

April 2021 sees the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of what has become ‘Hulleys of Baslow’, the well known Derbyshire based independent bus operator.

 

Founded by Henry Hulley, the ownership of the company has changed hands more than once but the name of its founder has survived all the changes.

 

I have known the company for over 60 years and during that time the buses initially painted (in my time at least) in shades of red and red and grey have been a fixture in Rutland Square in Bakewell.

 

These days, the livery has changed to cream and dark blue. 

 

A combination that ‘Hulleys’ inherited from ‘South Notts’ when buses were bought from that fleet and the livery adopted.

 

Although Hulleys ‘main line’ is probably its service number 170 from Bakewell to Chesterfield via Baslow.

 

The company operates widely across North Derbyshire, to Sheffield and in the past year to Manchester.

 

Y293 HWA ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 7. DAF SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

New to ‘Teamdeck’ (K Line), Honley.

 

Pictured in Rutland Square, Bakewell.

 

 

 

 

 

LX 51 FJA ‘Hulleys of Baslow’. Dennis Trident  2 / Alexander ALX400 /1

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

 

New as No. TA414 to ‘East London’.

 

It entered service before it had gained either ‘Hulleys’ titling or its fleet number.

 

It eventually moved to ‘Andrews’, Tideswell.

 

See blog posted 21/08/2019 for images of this bus in ‘Andrews’ livery.

 

Pictured in Rutland Square, Bakewell.

 

 

 

 

LX51 FJA ‘Hulleys of Baslow’. Dennis Trident 2  / Alexander ALX400 /2

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

 

Pictured in Rutland Square, Bakewell.

 

 

 

 

 

EK51 XXE ‘Hulleys of Baslow’. Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Mini Pointer /1

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

 

New registered 02-D-18251 to ‘Bus Eireann’ in 2002.

 

It also worked for ‘South Lancs Travel’ amongst others.

 

Pictured in Matlock railway station bus station.

 

Matlock has two bus stations and a lay-by that are regularly used for bus arrivals and departures.

 

 

 

 

 

EK51 XXE ‘Hulleys of Baslow’. Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Mini Pointer /2

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

 

Pictured in Rutland Square, Bakewell.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby on Friday 06/03/2020 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

It is a long time since Derby featured in my blog so a visit was long overdue.

 

All of these images were captured in the bus station.

 

BJ 332BU ‘Slivtour’, Bardejov, Slovakia. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

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

 

I don’t usually include all white buses/coaches but as its a visitor from the Slovak Republic, I will make an exception.

 

 

 

 

L30 URG ‘Linburg’. Van Hool T917 Acron

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

 

 

 

YN56 AHY ‘notts+derby’ No. 1180. Optare M920 Solo

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

 

New to fellow ‘Wellglade’ group member ‘TM Travel’.

 

Service 59 from Derby to Ilkeston and then on to Shipley View was a route operated by ‘yourbus’ of Heanor until October 2019 when the company went out of business.

 

The 59A is an interesting modification to the route in that on two journeys a day in both directions (about lunchtime) it diverts to serve the Windmill Inn at Oakwood.

 

Now that is what I call service!

 

 

 

FN04 HSC ‘Bowers Coaches Ltd.’ ‘skyline’. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

‘Bowers Coaches Ltd.’, is part of ‘High Peak Buses’ which in turn is jointly owned by ‘Centrebus’ and ‘trentbarton’.

 

This bus should feel at home in Derby because that’s where it started life in ‘trentbarton’s fleet.

 

Service 114 which starts at Derby railway station and runs to Ashbourne was a route operated by ‘yourbus’ of Heanor until October 2019 when the company went out of business.

 

 

 

KX54 AVD ‘ARRIVA Midlands No. 9551 ‘ARRIVA Training Bus’. VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

New to ‘MK Metro’ as No. 60.

 

 

 

FJ03 VVZ ‘notts+derby’ No. 611. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

This bus used to be part of the small number that worked on the ‘Pronto’ service between Chesterfield and Nottingham.

 

‘Pronto’ was a joint operation between ‘trentbarton’ and 

‘Stagecoach in Chesterfield’.

 

This has recently ceased with ‘Stagecoach’ taking over sole responsibility for the route.

 

Knowing how well ‘Wellglade’ group utilise their vehicles it was only a matter of time before those buses displaced turned up elsewhere.

 

The word ‘pronto is clearly visible where the vinyl has been removed.

 

 

 

FJ09 BXP ‘trentbarton’ No. 735. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse

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

 

A ‘Mango’ liveried bus without any branding.

 

Seeing that it is working on the ‘Kinchbus’ ‘skylink’ service to Leicester It could have been transferred to that company and is awaiting a re-paint.

 

 

 

YY67 HDL ‘ARRIVA Midlands No. 4545 ‘arriva sapphire. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC

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

 

Included for no other reason than I like the livery.

‘Scene’ at Showbus 2018 ‘ARRIVA’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

YY67 HDK ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 4544. ‘University of Nottingham hopper bus’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC

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

 

 

 

 

YX17 NFD ‘ARRIVA Southern Counties No. 6526 ‘ARRIVA Sapphire 320. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC

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

 

 

 

 

S223 JUA ‘ARRIVA London North’ No. DLA 23. DAF DB250 / Alexander ALX 400

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

 

 

 

 

YG52 CMU ‘ARRIVA Midlands No. 9549 ‘ARRIVA Training Bus’. DAF SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

 

 

TUI 7932 ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3800 ‘Sapphire’ 158. VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar 2

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

 

New registered as MX13 ANP.

 

 

 

 

BJ12 YPM ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3003. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

 

 

 

YX17 NMY ‘ARRIVA The Shires’ No. 3114. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

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

 

 

 

YJ09 MKM ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 2974. Optare Versa V1110 /1

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

 

Stripped of adverts, this image illustrates what a plain but in my view smart and functional livery this is.

 

 

 

 

YJ09 MKM ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 2974. Optare Versa V1110 /2

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

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ in Chester, ARRIVA on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

An interesting City from a transport point of view where there is usually something different to enjoy.

 

CX17 BYB ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No. 1001, ‘Sapphire’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400City

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

 

 

 

CX15 BXY ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No. 4645, ‘Sapphire’. ‘ADL’ E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

CX61 CDE ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No. 4481 ‘CYMRU Coastliner’. VDL DB300 / Wright Gemini 2

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

 

 

CX54 DKE ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No. 2490. VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

 

CX07 CTO ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No. 2647. VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar

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

 

 

CX12 DTN ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No.3146.  VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar

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

 

 

CX58 EUB ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ No. 674. Optare Solo M950SL

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

 

‘Scene’ in Bolton on ’Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I was a great fan of the old Bolton Bus Station which was typically 1950’s ish. Buses were easy to see and photograph.

 

The new ‘Interchange’ which opened in 2017 is very modern, mostly indoors behind glass but not in my view very photographer friendly.

 

Still, here goes.

 

M522 WHF ‘Arriva’ North West’ No. 8232 ‘Arriva Training Bus’. Volvo B10B / Wright Endurance

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

 

New to ‘Merseyside’. Then ‘MTL’ as its No. 6522.

 

 

LJ03 MVU ‘Vision / UK Coachways’. DAF DB250 / Wright Gemini

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

New to ‘Arriva London South’ as its No. DW7.

It has also carried the former Routemaster registration WLT 807 (RM 807) in London.

 

 

 

PN57 NFC ‘Diamond North West’ No. 30919. Scania K230UB / East Lancs Esteem

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

 

New to ‘PrestonBus’ as its No. 209.

 

 

 

Y951 CSF ‘First Manchester’ No. 62241. Volvo B10BLE / Wright Renown

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

 

New to ‘Midland Bluebird’, Scotland as its No. 1224.

 

 

 

DK55 FXB ‘ARRIVA North West’ No. 2517. VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA Merseyside’.

 

At this stage, I gave up on the bus station and took to the streets.

YJ12 GXK ‘Cumfybus’. Optare Solo M810H

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

 

 

YJ12 GXK ‘Cumfybus’. Optare Solo M810H

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

 

 

YJ11 ENT ‘Cumfybus’. Optare Versa V970H

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

 

New to ‘Maytree Travel’, Bolton.

 

 

KX06 TYF ‘Vision / UK Coachways’. Optare Solo M850

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

 

New to ‘Stagecoach United Counties’ as its No. 47338.

 

 

 

CX54 DLK ‘ARRIVA North West’ No. 2503. VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet

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

 

 

 

 MX12 KWA ‘ARRIVA North West’ No. 3128. VDL SB200/Wright Pulsar

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

 

New to ‘TGM’ (Telling Golden Miller) group. ‘TGM’ have been part of the ‘ARRIVA’ since 2007.