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

I must declare before I start that I do not like ‘Blackpool Transport’s current livery.

 

The colours used, mainly dark grey with a flash of yellow do not in my view capture the spirit of light and colour for which Blackpool is renowned.

 

Having said that, I record what I see and present it as well as I can, so here goes.

 

‘Blackpool Transport’ Logo

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

 

One thing I do like about the Blackpool livery is the logo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SN17 MHF ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 430 ,’PALLADIUM’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400City

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

 

 

 

 

SN16 OVB ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 402 ,’PALLADIUM’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400City

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

 

 

 

 

L200 BTS ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 356. DAF DB250 / East Lancs. Myllenium

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

 

New to ‘Bus Vannin’, Isle of Man as SMN 621J in 2001.

 

 

 

PJ02 PYP ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 307, Dennis Trident / East Lancs. Lolyne

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

 

 

 

PJ03 TFU ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 313, ‘LEGENDS’. Dennis Trident 2 / East Lancs. Lolyne

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

 

 

 

 

BJ15 BEO ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 559, ‘PALLADIUM’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

 

 

 

BF60 UVP ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 531, ‘PALLADIUM’. Volvo B7RLE / Plaxton Centro

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

 

 

 

 

AU06 BOV ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 520. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban

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

 

New to ‘Anglian’, Beccles, Norfolk,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’, More Coaches in ‘Skills’ Service on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Both these coaches have been around a while but as always, its a matter of me being there at the same time that they are.

 

For an earlier blog featuring members of ‘Skills’ fleet see blog published 06/05/2016.

 

YT16 JLU ‘Skills Coaches’. Scania / Lahden (Finland) OmniExpress /1

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

 

 

 

YT16 JLU ‘Skills Coaches’. Scania / Lahden (Finland) OmniExpress /2

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

 

 

 

YT16 JLU ‘Skills Coaches’. Scania / Lahden (Finland) OmniExpress /3

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

 

 

 

YT16 JLU ‘Skills Coaches’. Scania / Lahden (Finland) OmniExpress /4

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

 

 

 

SIL 6438 ‘Skills Coaches’. Neoplan Tourliner Au N2216/3SHDL /1

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

 

New as PO12 YLD.

 

 

 

SIL 6438 ‘Skills Coaches’. Neoplan Tourliner Au N2216/3SHDL  /2

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

 

 

 

 

SIL 6438 ‘Skills Coaches’. Neoplan Tourliner AuN2216/3SHDL /3

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

 

 

 

SIL 6438 ‘Skills Coaches’. Neoplan Tourliner Au N2216/3SHDL /4

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

 

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

CX58 EVY ‘ARRIVA Manchester’ No. 2748, ‘Sapphire 263’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Enviro 300 / ADL Enviro 300 /1

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

 

 

 

CX58 EVY ‘ARRIVA Manchester’ No. 2748, ‘Sapphire 263’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Enviro 300 / ADL Enviro 300 /2

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

 

 

BV17 GVE ‘Go North East’ No. 7134, ‘national express’. Volvo B11RT / Caetano Levante

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

EU06 KNR ‘MCT Travel’ (Manchester Community Transport). Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Mini Pointer

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

 

New to ‘SM Coaches’, Harlow.

 

 

 

 

 

YJ60 KCG ‘First Manchester’ No. 59005. Optare Solo Hybrid M820SR

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

YJ60 KCN ‘First Manchester’ No. 59007. Optare Solo Hybrid M820SR

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

 

 

BN61 MWJ ‘First Manchester’ No. 39210, ‘Campo Viejo’. Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

 

 

PN02 HVV ‘Lancashire United’ No. 1097, ‘The Blackburn Bus Company’. Volvo 10BLE / Wright Renown

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

 

 

 

VL+56NOR  ‘Normandia’, Valcea, Romania. SETRA S515HD

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

 

 

‘Scene’ on ‘Kinchbus’ Skylink on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I was discussing my blog with a friend the other day. He did not realize that by double clicking on the images in a blog that this would usually take the viewer to my ‘Flickr’ page where the images can be viewed in a larger format and in greater detail.

 

‘Kinchbus’, based in Loughborough and a member of the ‘Wellglade’ group introduced its ‘Skylink’ service from Loughborough to Derby via the East Midlands Airport at Castle Donington in 2008.

 

December 2017 saw three new Mercedes-Benz Citaro’s join the fleet to supplement an earlier batch introduced in 2014.

 

BF67 WHN ‘‘Kinchbus’ No. 915, ‘Skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro /1

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

 

 

 

BF67 WHP ‘‘Kinchbus’ No. 916, ‘Skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro /1

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

 

 

 

BF67 WHP ‘Kinchbus’ No. 916, ‘Skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro /2

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

 

 

BF67 WHN ‘‘Kinchbus’ No. 915, ‘Skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro /2

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

 

 

 

 

This might be an opportune time to review the ‘hardware’ used on ‘skylink’ since 2008.

 

Initially, the route was operated by a fleet of Volvo B7RLE’s with Plaxton Centro bodywork. These started to be phased out in favour of new Mercedes-Benz Citaro’s in 2014.

 

In 2009 the service was extended to run into St Margarets bus station in Leicester.

 

(The Volvo’s incidentally were transfered elsewhere in the group to ‘notts+derby’.)

 

YN08 CWW ‘Kinchbus’ No. 504, ‘Skylink’. Volvo B7RLE / Plaxton Centro

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

 

This bus was later renumbered to No. 764.

 

 

 

 YN08 CWT ‘Kinchbus’ No. 761, ‘Skylink’. Volvo B7RLE / PlaxtonCentro

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

 

This bus had previously been numbered No. 501.

 

 

BX64 WJA ‘Kinchbus’ No. 911, ‘Skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

 

BX64 WJD ‘Kinchbus’ No. 913, ‘Skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

 

 

 

An improved timetable saw the need for further buses, these being former ‘trentbarton’ (another ‘Wellglade’ group member) Scania L94UBs with Wright Solar bodies.

 

FN04 HSY’ Kinchbus’ No. 650, ‘Skylink’. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

 

 

 

Of course there are times when for operational reasons a non branded bus makes an appearance.

 

FJ03 VVP ‘Kinchbus’ No 603. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

 

FJ03 VWG ‘Kinchbus’ No. 618, ‘kinchkard’. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ at Showbus 2017. ‘MCW’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

The history of the British bus industry is littered with companies that like shooting stars shone for a while and then fell to Earth.

 

‘MCW’ or to use what was its full title ‘Metro Cammell Weymann’ was one of them.

 

Dating back to 1932 as a group and to long before that as individual companies the end came in 1989 when owners the Laird group shut MCW down.

 

 

GJF 301N ‘Leicester City Transport No. 301 Scania BR111DH / MCW Metropolitan

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

 

 

 

LOA 400X ‘G.H. Watts Coaches’ MCW DR102/22 Metrobus 1

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

 

New to ‘West Midlands PTE’ in 1981 as its No. 2400.

 

 

NOA 462X ‘West Midlands PTE’ No. 2462 MCW DR102/27 Metrobus 2

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

 

 

 

F53 XOF ‘Travel West Midlands’ No. 3053 ’900 Airport Link’ MCW DR102/64 Metrobus 2

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

 

 

 

F57 XOF ‘Travel West Midlands’ No. 3057 MCW DR102/70 Metrobus 2

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

 

 

 

UTN 501Y ‘Northern’ No. 3501 MCW DR102/37 Metrobus 2

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

 

New to ‘Northern General’.

 

 

MMM-400-G ‘National Express Rapide’ MCW Metroliner 400GT

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

 

New to ‘Yorkshire Traction’ as No. 99 registered E99 AAK. 

 

It was also registered HE 8899.

 

‘Scene’ in Manchester & Stockport. ‘Stagecoach’ on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Stockport lies to the South of Manchester astride the A6. 

 

It is very much part of ‘Greater Manchester’ and has a rich transport history on both rail and road.

 

For Trains in Stockport see blog published 06/03/2018.

 

For other operators in Stockport see blog published 21/04/18.

 

MX59 KJF ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 19632. Dennis Trident 2 / Alexander Dennis Ltd.  (ADL) Enviro 400

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

 

Unusual in that is powered by a MAN engine.

 

 

 

SL63 FZM ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 12230. ‘ADL’ E40 Hybrid / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400

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

 

I notice that some of the similarly liveried buses elsewhere in ‘Stagecoach’ fleets are being repainted in standard fleet livery.

 

 

 

SK63 AUW ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 12220. ’ADL’ E40 Hybrid / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

SN65 OBJ ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 10476. ‘ADL’ E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC 

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

 

 

 

SN16 OUA ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 10585 ‘330’. ‘ADL’ E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC

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

 

 

 

 

MX59 JBY ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 36101. Dennis Dart SLF4 / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 200

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

 

 

 

MK59 BLU ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 47822. Optare M890 Solo SR

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

 

 

 

MX09 KTP ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 19531, ‘Galaxy S8’. Dennis Trident 2 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400

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

 

I do not recall many full side and rear body adverts on ‘Stagecoach’ buses.

 

 

 

MX12 LWO ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 10048, ’76’. Dennis Trident 2 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

SN17 MJK ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 10849. ‘ADL’ E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC

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