‘Scene’ in a rain soaked Derby bus station on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

It’s always a gamble taking photographs on a rainy day.

 

However, I believe that modern paints and methods of application allows for the water and any grime below it to be more easily shed than traditional paints would allow.

 

Anyway, judge for yourselves.

 

The German operator ‘FLiXBUS’ continues its growth in the British express coach market.

 

These images are of the third UK operator I have seen working service 005 to London Victoria.

 

The others being  Whippet Coaches and ‘David Corbel’ (see blogs posted 13/05/2021, 18/05/2021, 10/07/2021 and 210724).

 

L23 URG ‘Linburg Touring Sales Ltd’ No. 23. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo /  1

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

 

 

 

 

L23 URG ‘Linburg Touring Sales Ltd’ No. 23. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo /2

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

 

 

 

 

L23 URG ‘Linburg Touring Sales Ltd’ No. 23. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo /3

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

 

 

 

 

L23 URG ‘Linburg Touring Sales Ltd’ No. 23. Mercedes-Benz Tourismo /4

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

 

‘Scene’ in Derby once more. ‘NOTTS & DERBY TRACTION CO. LTD. (n+d) 3 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’.

‘notts+derby’ together with ‘trentbarton’, ‘Kinchbus’ based in Loughborough and ‘TM Travel’ based in Staveley are all members of the ‘Wellglade’ group.

 

‘n+d’ operate in Derby mainly on contract work.

 

FJ10 OXS ‘notts & derby’ No.76. Scania K941B4 / Irizar i4 /1

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

 

New to ‘trentbarton’ for use on ‘red arrow’ services from Derby to Nottingham.

 

 

 

 

FJ10 OXS ‘notts & derby’ No.76. Scania K941B4 / Irizar i4 /2

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

 

This nearside view shows a second door within the wheelbase. This opens to allow the deployment of  a wheelchair lift.

 

Something that in the 11 years I have known these vehicles I have never seen used.

 

 

 

 

FJ10 OXS ‘notts & derby’ No.76. Scania K941B4 / Irizar i4 /3

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

 

‘Scene’ in Bakewell. ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

When I first got into transport blogging nearly eight years ago, I travelled around my local cities and towns in a 30 mile radius from home gathering images to write and post about.

 

Bakewell featured in a number of early posts but for whatever reason has not done so in recent times.

 

A busy town and an important agricultural centre that has developed as a tourist attraction in its own right.

 

Many of those tourists arrive by bus and coach.

 

There are terminating bus services from Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield. A through service from Buxton to Derby and a wide variety of routes serving local villages.

 

Coaches come from far and wide.

 

My favourite spot is just outside the ‘Rutland Arms Hotel’ with buses and coaches coming from three directions. Brilliant!

 

The operator who provides most local services and the one to Chesterfied is ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ who this year celebrate the 100 years that have passed since Henry Hulley founded the company in 1921.

 

Regular reader/viewers of my blog will know that the vehicles of ‘Hulleys’ have appeared on my blog on many occasions this year.

 

Y100 HOB ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 21. Volvo B8RLE / MCV eVoRa

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

 

The ‘Flagship’ of the fleet. 

 

The registration translating as ‘Year 100 ‘Hulleys Of Baslow’.

 

Whoever at ‘Hulleys’ had the forethought to obtain that registration deserves credit for what I think was a stroke of genius.

 

 

 

 

YJ07 PCF ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 14. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban /1

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

 

New to ‘Lancashire United’ as No. 1828.

 

Pictured leaving Bakewell.

 

 

 

 

MX55 FFZ ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 14. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban

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

 

New to ‘First Manchester’ as No. 66911.

 

 

 

 

YJ07 PCF ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 14. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban /2

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

 

Pictured in Chesterfield after having just dropped me off.

 

‘Scene’ in Chesterfield no more on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

YR10 AZA ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 24. Scania N230UB / Scania Omnicity

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

 

Readers/viewers may recall my blog posted on 27/06/2021 featuring this bus.

 

‘Transpire’, The Chesterfield Bus Society reports that unfortunately on the 18/05/2021 a fire at ‘Hulleys’ Baslow premises destroyed Optare Solo No. 5 (YN53 ZWV) and so severely damaged No. 24 that the bus was beyond economic repair causing it to be withdrawn.

 

A sad end to a fine bus.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby bus station once more on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I was passing through Derby on my way home from somewhere else today when I saw this coach waiting for departure time.

 

The German coach operator ‘FLiXBUS’ are using a number of UK operators to operate their services and seeing as this coach had ‘005 London’ (One of ‘FLiXBUS UK routes) as its destination it seems a reasonable assumption that is who it was working for and where it was going

 

I think that it is the first of its kind that I have seen on the road and my impression for the short time I saw it was that it was an attractive and stylish vehicle.

 

YK20 YKB ‘DAVID CORBEL OF LONDON LTD. YUTONG GT12 /1

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

 

 

 

 

YK20 YKB ‘DAVID CORBEL OF LONDON LTD. YUTONG GT12 /2

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

 

 

 

 

YK20 YKB ‘DAVID CORBEL OF LONDON LTD. YUTONG GT12 /3

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

 

‘Scene’ in Edinburgh once more on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Friend Stuart Montgomery, one of ‘Lothian Buses’ (LB) volunteer photographers has forwarded his latest images of buses in the Scottish capital.

 

As usual with Stuarts work his images are unedited by me and produced with his permission and my thanks.

 

Unusually the bus in question does not carry ‘LB’s traditional livery but has been painted to resemble a giraffe and is used to promote Edinburgh Zoo.

 

I have included a picture of the prototype to show how well the livery on the bus compares with the original!

 

The bus has appeared before on my blog when on 19/08/2019 I posted 4 images of it painted in a special livery commemorating 100 years of ‘Lothian Buses’.

 

SJ19 OZD ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 1125 ‘JOIN THE HERD’. Volvo B8L / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400XLB /1

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

 

 

 

 

SJ19 OZD ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 1125 ‘JOIN THE HERD’. Volvo B8L / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400XLB /2

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

 

 

 

 

SJ19 OZD ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 1125 ‘JOIN THE HERD’. Volvo B8L / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro400XLB /3

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

 

 

 

 

A pair of Giraffes

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

 

The occasional animal has appeared before on my blog but in the 7,000 plus images I have posted over the years these are the first giraffes to make an appearance.

 

 

‘Scene’ in Manchester, Stagecoach ‘magic bus’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

‘magic Bus’ is a brand that ‘Stagecoach’ group usually use where strong competition is experienced.

 

Generally using older, written down buses where lower competitive fares can be charged.

 

MX62 GGP ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 12189 ‘electric hybrid’,’magic bus’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40H / ‘ADL’ Enviro400 /1

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

 

New to ‘Greater Manchester South’.

 

 

 

MX62 GGP ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 12189 ‘electric hybrid’,’magic bus’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40H / ‘ADL’ Enviro400 /2

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

 

 

 

SL63 FZP ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 12233 ‘electric hybrid’,’magic bus’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40H / ‘ADL’ Enviro400 /1

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

 

 

 

SL63 FZP ‘Stagecoach Manchester’ No. 12233 ‘electric hybrid’,’magic bus’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40H / ‘ADL’ Enviro400 /2

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

 

‘Scene’ in Dunfermline, Scotland on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

More of Peter Roses’s images from North of the border and as usual reproduced with his permission.

 

SN67 WWR ‘Stagecoach Fife Scottish’ No. 26170 ‘JET 747’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /1

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

 

With the branding of JET 747 it can only be working on an airport service.

 

 

 

 

SN67 WWR ‘Stagecoach Fife Scottish’ No. 26170 ‘JET 747’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /2

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

 

 

 

 

SN67 WWM ‘Stagecoach Fife Scottish’ No. 26167 ‘JET 747’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /1

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

 

 

 

 

SN67 WWM ‘Stagecoach Fife Scottish’ No. 26167 ‘JET 747’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC /2

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

 

‘Scene’ in Burton on Trent. Scania/Wright on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

As most of my regular readers/viewers will know, one of my favourite places when it comes to bus interest.

 

Mainly because of the Covid 19 pandemic, it is over a year ago since I last visited.

 

So, what’s new? (to me at least).

 

FN04 HTU ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 221. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar /1

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

 

Recently acquired (possibly on loan) from a ‘Centrebus’ subsidiary and yet to be repainted.

 

New to ‘trentbarton’ as No. 693.

 

Transferred to ‘High Peak’ buses which is a joint ‘Wellglade’ group, ‘Centrebus’ operation. 

 

‘Wellglade’ group being the owners of ‘trentbarton’.

 

 

 

FN04 HTU ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 221. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar /2

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

 

 

 

FN04 HTU ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 221. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar /3

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

 

 

 

FN04 HTU ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 221. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar /4

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

‘Scene’ in Manchester, ‘Go North West’ 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The ‘Go-Ahead’ group’s ‘Go North West’ subsidiary came into being when they took over part of ‘First Manchester’s operations in the city.

 

This was in 2019 when ‘First’s Queens Road depot together with 163 buses and the services they operate were acquired.

 

When the ‘orbits’ brand was introduced in 2020, Matt Harrison, Marketing and Communications Manager at Go North West, said: 

 

“Here at Go North West, we wanted to make a big statement with the launch of Manchester’s Orbits. 

 

We’re adding a touch of quality, creating a better all-round experience and a more productive environment for our customers to relax and enjoy. We can’t wait to send these buses into Orbit!”

 

The front cover of ‘Buses’ magazine for August 2021 introduced you to the 

‘Go North West’ ‘orbits’ livery.

 

Here are a couple more ‘orbits’ branded buses plus a non ‘orbits’ branded bus.

 

YY66 PCV ‘Go North West’ No. 4015 ‘orbits’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 

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

 

New to ‘Crosville’, Weston-Super-Mare.

 

 

 

 

YY66 PDO ‘Go North West’ No. 4016 ‘orbits’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 

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

 

New to ‘Crosville’, Weston-Super-Mare.

 

 

 

 

SN14 DXS ‘Go North West’ No. 6007. Wright Streetlite DF

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

 

New as No. 63152 to ‘First Manchester’.

 

Pictured in Shudehill Interchange just after a particularly heavy downpour hence the moisture showing on the bodywork.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby yesterday (09/07/2021) on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I was on my way home from a photographic trip to Burton on Trent and found myself with 25 minutes to kill in Derby where I found this parked up.

 

YJ19 BDE ‘David Corbel of London Ltd. ‘FLiXBUS’. Van Hool EX16XM /1

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

 

New to ‘Your Partner in Journeys’, Hayes, Middlesex.

 

The first of the type I have seen other than demonstrators at the NEC Bus & Coach shows.

 

 

 

 

YJ19 BDE ‘David Corbel of London Ltd. ‘FLiXBUS’. Van Hool EX16XM /2

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

 

 

 

 

YJ19 BDE ‘David Corbel of London Ltd. ‘FLiXBUS’. Van Hool EX16XM /3

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

 

 

 

 

YJ19 BDE ‘David Corbel of London Ltd. ‘FLiXBUS’. Van Hool EX16XM /4

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

 

‘Scene’ on Another Trip Down Memory Lane. Peter Rose’s Switzerland 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Peter’s work will be familiar to regular viewers/readers of the blog for his contribution of his railway images and more recently his bus images.

 

For the last 6 months he has provided all the railway images that have appeared on the blog and a good number before that.

 

Whilst all of his images so far have been of UK railways, there was a time when he spent many holidays in Switzerland recording the ‘Scene’ there.

 

I thought that some of those images might be of interest to a wider audience so here goes.

 

Switzerland has a wide mixture of railways from the the State and Canton funded large operators down to the small private railways that sometimes have only one vehicle.

 

Further variety is provided by much wider use of narrow gauge lines than in the UK.

 

The main operator is the state funded SBB. (Swiss State Railways). 

 

With Switzerland being a multi lingual country, the same wording is used in French, CFF (Chemin de Fer Federal) and Italian FFS (Ferrovia Federale Svizzera).

 

Mainly standard gauge, the company owns one metre gauge line.

 

Into the late 20th. Century, it was still possible to see elderly electric locos working on the system.

 

Swiss class Ae 4/7, SBB-CFF-FFS No. 11025. Electric locomotive built by SLM, and SAAS on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

SLM: ‘Schweizerische Locomotiv und Maschinenfabrik’, SAAS: ‘Societe Anonyme des Ateliers de Secheron’.

 

Built 1927-1934. 

 

Class size 127 units.

 

The 4/7 indicates 4 driving axles plus 3 carrying axles.

 

Pictured at St Gallen 31/7/92.

 

 

 

 

Swiss class Re 4/4ii SBB-CFF-FFS No. 11215. Bo-Bo Electric locomotive

built by SLM, BBC, MFO and SAAS

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

 

SLM: ‘Schweizerische Locomotiv und Maschinenfabrik’, BBC: Brown Boveri & Cie and MFO: Maschinen Fabrik Oerlikon and SAAS ‘Societe Anonyme des Ateliers de Secheron’.

 

Built 1964 1967-1985.

 

Class size, 277 units.

 

Pictured at Luzern 28/7/1994.

 

 

 

 

Swiss class Re 4/4i SBB-CFF-FFS No. 10020. Bo-Bo Electric locomotive built by SLM, BBC, MFO and SAAS 

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

 

SLM: ‘Schweizerische Locomotiv und Maschinenfabrik’, BBC: Brown Boveri & Cie and MFO: Maschinen Fabrik Oerlikon and SAAS ‘Societe Anonyme des Ateliers de Secheron’.

 

Built 1946-1948 and 1952-1953

 

Class size, 26 units in the first batch and 24 units in the second.

 

Picture at Lausanne 25/7/88.

 

 

 

 

Swiss class Ae 6/6, SBB-CFF-FFS No. 11408 ‘Solothurn’. Co-Co Electric locomotive built by SLM, BBC, MFO

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

 

SLM: ‘Schweizerische Locomotiv und Maschinenfabrik’, BBC: Brown Boveri & Cie and MFO: Maschinen Fabrik Oerlikon.

 

The first 2 were built in 1952-53

 

Series production was built 1955-1966.

 

Class size, 120 units.

 

Generally used on heavy trains particularly over the steeply graded Gotthard and Simplon lines into Italy.

 

Pictured on 19/9/90.at Erstfeld at the Northern end of the Gotthard where there is a depot.

 

 

 

Swiss class 460 SBB-CFF-FFS No. 460-112-6 ‘Thurtal’. Bo-Bo Electric locomotive built by SLM and ABB 

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

 

SLM: ‘Schweizerische Locomotiv und Maschinenfabrik’, ABB: Asea Brown Boveri

 

Built 1991-1996.

 

Class size, 121.

 

Pictured at Luzern -/10/2010.

 

‘Scene’ in Chesterfield once more ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ 4 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

SW64 XAP ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 12. Wright Streetlite D/F /1

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

 

New registered W60 JLS to ‘Leasks of Lerwick’, Shetland  Islands.

 

It was the only Streetlite operating in Shetland

 

The W60 JLS was a ‘Heritage’ registration that had been used previously by Leasks on an Optare Solo.

 

Pictured in Chesterfield coach station.

 

 

 

 

SW64 XAP ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 12. Wright Streetlite D/F /1

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

 

Pictured just leaving Chesterfield coach station.

 

 

 

 

MX55 FFZ ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 14. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban

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

 

New numbered 66911to ‘First Greater Manchester’.

 

Pictured in Chesterfield coach station.

 

‘Scene’ in Edinburgh, ‘Lothian Buses’ Electrics on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Friend Stuart Montgomery one of ‘Lothian Buses’ volunteer photographers has sent me his images of the companies new battery electric buses which are reproduced here. 

 

They have not been edited by me and are shown with his permission and my thanks.

 

LG21 JDO ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 293, ‘100% electric for a cleaner, greener Edinburgh’. BYD D8UR-DD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400EV on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

There are 4 vehicles in the batch numbered 291, 292, 293 and 294.

 

 

 

 

LG21 JDJ ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 292, ‘100% electric for a cleaner, greener Edinburgh’. BYD D8UR-DD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400EV /1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

 

 

LG21 JDJ ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 292, ‘100% electric for a cleaner, greener Edinburgh’. BYD D8UR-DD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400EV /2 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

LG21 JDK ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 294, ‘100% electric for a cleaner, greener Edinburgh’. BYD D8UR-DD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400EV on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’