‘Scene’ in Reading (It’s a Gas !!) on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

It was at the ‘Bus & Coach’ show 2012 at the NEC that I first saw a gas powered bus chassis that was intended for ‘Reading Transport’.

 

Scania K270UB Gas bus chassis destined for ‘Reading Buses’.

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

 

 

An artists impression of what the completed bus, bodied by Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) would look like.

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

 

I was in Reading recently so I thought I might have a look to see how the project had developed.

 

With 34 single deckers delivered so far and a double deck version in the offing it would seem to have developed very well.

 

Seen below, the appearance of the real bus very closely follows the artists impression.

 

YR13 PLV ‘Reading Buses’ 412 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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

One of three buses branded for the ‘Scarlet 9’, service which serves Shinfield Park via The Royal Berkshire Hospital.

 

YN14 MXS ‘Reading Buses’ 423 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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

 

One of four buses painted in the generic grey livery although I have seen one of the other three painted in a variation of it.

 

Working as a ‘spare bus’ on service 22 which is usually worked by by pink liveried buses to the suburb of Caversham Heights.

 

 

 

 

YN14 MXT ‘Reading Buses’ 424 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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

 

One of six buses branded as ‘Leopard’ which serves Wokingham via Shinfield, Arborfield and Wick Hill.

 

 

YN14 MXZ ‘Reading Buses’ 430 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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

 

One of four buses all branded for route ‘Pink 25’ which serves Caversham and Caversham Park.

 

YR13 PMU ‘Reading Buses’ 408 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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

 

One of eleven buses branded for the ‘greenwave’ group of routes that serve a variety of routes including one to the Madjeski Stadium, the home of Reading Football Club.

 

YR13 PNF ‘Reading Buses’ 420 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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

 

The variation on the generic livery I referred to earlier. Working as a ‘spare bus’ on service 2 normally the preserve of lime green painted buses.

 

YN14 MYC ‘Reading Buses’ 433 Scania K270UB/ADL Enviro 300SG.

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One of three buses branded in lime green for services 2/2a. 

 

This route works along the Bath Road to serve communities at Burghfield, Burghfield Common and Mortimer. 

 

The variation, the 2a serving Tadley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ on ‘trentbarton’s ‘skylink express’ 24th. April 2016 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

A number of ‘trentbarton’s former ‘red arrow’ coaches have been deployed on a new service linking Nottingham with the East Midlands Airport at Castle Donnington.

 

FJ10 OXR had already been painted in a revised ‘red arrow’ livery to match the new Volvo/Plaxton coaches (see blog dated 16 January 2016).

 

FJ10 OXS ‘trentbarton’ 76 Scania K3201B4 / Irizar i4.

Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

FJ10 OXN ‘trentbarton’ 73 Scania K3201B4 / Irizar i4.

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FJ10 OXS ‘trentbarton’ 76 Scania K3201B4 / Irizar i4.

Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

FJ10 OXS ‘trentbarton’ 76 Scania K3201B4 / Irizar i4.

Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

‘Scene’ in Parliament Street (PS) in Nottingham 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

I have done a number of blogs illustrating the comings and goings of buses in Nottingham but on reflection they were mainly populated by the multi coloured fleet of ‘trentbarton’ (tb). 

 

‘PS’ is like Oxford Street in London, it heaves with buses. ‘tb’ do put in an appearance but most of what is on offer is provided by the equally multi coloured fleet of ‘Nottingham City Transport’ (NCT).

 

There is an Upper and a Lower Parliament Street but this selection of images is of buses that pass the junction of ‘PS’ and Milton Street. 

 

Which is where you are if you walk out of the main doors of the ‘Victoria Centre’.

 

‘NCT’s fleet is in a stage of transition between the buses that carry the traditional green of Nottingham as the background colour and the newer buses that carry a silvery grey as the background colour.

 

Whatever the background colour most of the fleet are colour branded to identify particular routes or groups of routes.

 

YN05 WFC ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 675 Scania N94UD Omnidekka / East Lancs.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

One of a batch of 17.

 

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) have become the supplier of double deck bodies since the supply of East Lancs designed bodies that were built by East Lancs, Darwen and Optare ceased.

 

YN14 MUC ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 622 Scania N230UD / ADL Enviro 400

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

Branded for the 35 ‘Orange Line’ which together with the similarly liveried 36 works out to The Queens Medical Centre, The University, Beeston and on to Chilwell and Bulwell in a broad swathe across the West of the City.

 

The additional ‘Go 2’ branding indicates a higher frequency of service.

 

 

YN04 ANR ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 206 Scania N94UB / East Lancs OmniTown.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

This is the first time I have ever heard of the use of ‘OmniTown’ terminollogy.

 

Originally purchased to work as feeder buses into the tramway network. 

 

This bus is carrying the ‘fleet spare’ branding which consists of the multi coloured ‘ribbons’ which stream across the back of the bus. 

 

The colours being the various colours that branded buses carry. So these buses are 

‘Go-anywhere’ in effect.

 

YN57 FYX ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 306 Scania K270UB / Scania Omnilink.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

The silver grey based livery overlaid with the fleet spare branding.

 

 

YT59 OZO ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 973 A Scania 270UD / Optare.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

Basically an East Lancs design that was also produced under the Darwen Group (DG) and Optare  banners.

 

‘DG’ being a re-incarnation of East Lancs when they went into administration in 2007. They in turn bought Optare and adopted the better known name.

 

Specially branded for the ‘park&ride service No.1.

 

 

YN14 MVD ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 632 Scania N230UD / ADL Enviro 400.

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Branded for the ‘lime line’ which serves the suburb of Arnold which lies to the North East of the city.

 

YN05 WFG ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 678 Scania N94UD / East Lancs.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

Working on the ‘lime line’, service 58 shown for direct comparison to YN14 MVD.

 

 

 YN65 XFW ‘Nottinghham City Transport’ 660 Scania N230UD / ADL Enviro 400.

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Working on service 78 to Broxtowe which lies to the West of the city.

 

YJ65 DZB ‘Nottingham Comunity Transport’ 965 Optare Solo Electric.

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Drawing a lot of attention to its ‘green’ credentials.

 

 

BU53 AXA ‘yourbus’ 3505 Mercedes-Benz Citaro.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

The Y28 service linking the suburbs of Bilborough and Beechdale with the city.

 

Note the two doors on this bus which was previously operated by ‘Renown’ of Bexhill and ‘Epsom Coaches’ from where it came with five others.

 

BD64 MCE ‘yourbus’ 3104 Mercedes-Benz Citaro.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

Seen carrying the much brighter ‘Lothian Buses’ inspired livery that first saw the light of day at the 2014 Bus & Coach show at the NEC.

 

 

BN09 FWX ‘trentbarton’ 904 Mercedes-Benz Citaro.

Dennis  Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

 

One of a batch of six when new. 

 

They seem to be in the process of withdrawal and being replaced by older Scania L94UB/Wright Solar Urban saloons.

 

Upon withdrawal, they are going to fellow ‘Wellglade’ group member ‘Kinchbus’ of Loughborough where at least one has appeared in ‘Kinchbus’ livery. (see blog dated 20th. October 2015).

 

 

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

It is a while since I last visited but I was passing through on my way to Sutton Coldfield (see Blogs dated 12th. February 2016 and 27th. March 2016) and it was too good a chance to miss.

 

My first impression was that ‘Blue Diamond’ have been replaced on the local services by ‘Midland Classic’ who seem to be quite busy in the town. 

 

‘Central Buses’ from Birmingham also made a strong appearance.

 

Arriva Midlands however continue to be the major operator.

 

Lichfield’s place on the tourist map because of its Cathedral always guarantees the odd coach or two.

 

X94 USC ‘Midland Classic’ Scania L94UB/Wright Solar Urban.

 

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

 

Formerly employed by ‘Nottingham City Transport’.

 

YX63 ZXK ‘Central Buses’ Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 200.

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

 

The operator has cleverly worked the 55 route number (which serves Tamworth) into the ‘Expre55’ branding.

 

There were a couple of ‘National Holiday’s Setra’s in town but their positioning in the sunshine made the conditions a lot less than ideal.                                           

 

NH15 HCH ‘National Holidays’ Mercedes-Benz Tourismo.

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KSK 984 ‘Park’s of Hamilton’ working for ‘National Express’ Volvo B9R/Plaxton Elite.

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

 

YJ59 PKE ‘Central Buses’ Optare Solo.

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

 

It once worked for ‘Cumfybus’ on Merseyside.

 

YN54 OAC‘Midland Classic’ Scania N94UD/East Lancs Omnidekka.

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

 

Formerly in the fleet of ‘London United’

 

YN08 HZV ‘Arriva Midlands North’ 3508 Scania Omnicity.

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 X781 NWX ‘Arriva Midlands North’ 2738 DAF SB120/Wright Cadet.

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

 

Which at one time worked for ‘Selwyns of Runcorn’ on Merseyside.

 

FJ06 ZTG ‘Arriva Midlands’ 3721 VDL SB200/Wright Commander.

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

‘Scene’ going ‘Solo’ in Derby Part 3 on Dennis Basford’s ‘railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

One of the success stories in the bus world of the last 20 years has undoubtedly been the Optare Solo.

 

Built in a variety of lengths and width’s, there cannot be many bus fleets in the country that the type has not appeared in.

 

My regular stamping ground for many years has been Derby and so I thought I might put together a compilation of the various liveries that have appeared before my camera in the City.

 

This is the third and for the moment the last of a short series which have  appeared from time to time. 

 

No doubt Part 4 will appear as more liveries become known .

 

Part 1 appeared on 17/01/2016. Part 2 appeared on 14/03/2016.

 

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

FE02 KDZ 'trentbarton’  451 Optare Solo.

 

Has appeared in two variations of the ‘Harlequin’ livery that I know of. Both are seen here on the same bus.

 

The ‘Harlequin’ is a little known route that has its departure point on Gower Street, then serving Littleover before terminating at Heatherton.

 

 

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

FE02 KDZ ‘Kinchbus’ 451/3 Optare Solo.

 

Seen earlier in ‘Harlequin’ livery, this bus eventually moved to fellow ‘Wellglade’ group member ‘Kinchbus’.

 

Kinchbus of Loughborough who are a member of the same ‘Wellglade’ group that owns ‘tb’ normally use their Solo’s in and around their home town  but as the indicator advises, they are sometimes turned out on ‘skylink’ trips to Derby.

 

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FG02 BGE  ‘trentbarton’ 463 Optare Solo.

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YJ12 NBE ‘trentbarton’ 496 Optare Solo SR.

 

The upgrading of the rolling stock to the Solo SR saw the change to blue which is still current.

 

 

 

‘tb’ for some years now have had there own pre payment travel card which is called ‘MANGO’.

Not surprisingly a variety of buses have been used to publicise it.

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FE02 KDK trentbarton’ 455 Optare Solo.

 

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YJ12 NAU trentbarton’ 500 Optare Solo SR.

 

 

Seen on the ‘amberline’ linking Derby to Hucknall via Heanor and although the livery is the same, the base colour is markedly different.

 

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W412 YAL ‘trentbarton’ 412 Optare Solo.

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X627 ERB ‘trentbarton’ 427 Optare Solo.

 

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FP51 GXS ‘trentbarton’ 433 Optare Solo. on

 

In the earlier fleet livery but running on a ‘villager’ service to Burton on Trent.

 

 

Living in Ripley, one of my local services to Derby or Mansfield is by ‘tb’s ‘the nines’.

 

To be honest the buses are not big enough for the loadings nor at 4 an hour are they frequent enough.

 

Leaving Derby with standing passengers in the middle of the afternoon is not unusual.

 

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

FJ09 MVU ‘trentbarton’ 470 Optare Solo.

 

‘Felix of Stanley’. An operator who’s bus operations eventually disappeared into the ‘Wellglade’ empire used this bus which eventually went to ‘Midland Classic’ of Swadlincote.

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

FE02 LWD ‘Felix of Stanley’ Optare Solo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene’ on a very wet Isle of Wight (IoW) on Dennis Basford’s 'railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

There is some rain present in some of the images for which I apologise in advance. It was one of those situations where you get what you can or go without. I always choose to get what I can and try and make the best of it.

 

We start in Ryde Bus Station where two ‘Southern Vectis (SV) ‘Alexander Dennis Ltd’. (ADLtd). ADLtd. E40D / ADLtd. Enviro 400 bodies are waiting their next trip out. 

 

‘Southern Vectis’ is part of ‘Go-Ahead South Coast’ group.

 

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

HW62 CEJ ‘Southern Vectis’ 1520 ADLtd. E40D / ADLtd. Enviro 400.

 

Is lettered for the ‘Vectis blue’ (Vb) operation which is a fleet of vehicles (which also contains Optare Solo SR’s and some full size coaches) which are primarily intended for transporting children to and from school.

 

This is a contract for the ‘IoW’ County Council that uses over 50 buses to transport over 5,000 children daily.

 

Unusually for such an operation the use of volunteer drivers is accepted.

 

The buses can be used on normal ‘SV’ services during school hours.

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

'HW63 FHO ‘Southern Vectis’ 1592  ADLtd. E40D / ADLtd. Enviro 400.

 

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

HW09 BBU ‘Southern Vectis’ 1142 Scania 230UD / East Lancs. OmniDekka

 

Seen leaving Ryde Bus Station.

 

All Images (except 1) from this point are taken in Newport Bus Station.

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

HW62 CGF ‘Southern Vectis’ 3803 Optare Solo SR.

 

 

There is a requirement for small buses to operate on the island that at one time was filled by using Dennis Dart MPD’s / Plaxton Pointer. See blog dated 09/02/2014.

 

These have now been replaced by a batch of ‘ADL’ Enviro 20D’s some of which are branded to work with the ‘Red Jet’ ferries from the mainland which dock in Cowes.

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

HW64 AXB ‘Southern Vectis’ 2711 ‘ADLtd.’ E20D.

 

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HW64 AXB ‘Southern Vectis’ 2711 ‘ADLtd.’ E20D.

Others carry standard ‘SV’ branding.

 

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HW64 AXB ‘Southern Vectis’ 2715 ‘ADLtd.’ E20D.

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

HW64 AXB ‘Southern Vectis’ 2715 ‘ADLtd.’ E20D.

 

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

HF64 BSV ‘Southern Vectis’ 1595 ADLtd. E40D / ADLtd. Enviro 400.

 

Bought to operate service 9, the flagship route to Ryde.

 

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

HW52 EPU ‘Southern Vectis’ 1996 Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President.

 

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PL51 LDN ‘Southern Vectis’ 1952 Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President. 

Plaxton President bodywork but with the dual doors that indicates an earlier employment in London where it was PVL 252 with ‘Go-Ahead London’.

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

HW08 AOY ‘Southern Vectis’ 1104 Scania 230UD / Scania .

Painted in ‘SV’s poppy livery supporting ‘The Royal British Legion’.

 

 

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

EA05 KZC ‘Southern Vectis’ 024 Ford Transit.

 

Used for transferring drivers too and from the bus station to the depot.

 

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

HW09 BBV ‘Southern Vectis’ 1143 Scania 230UD / East Lancs OmniDekka.

 

Seen in Yarmouth Bus Station.