‘Scene’ in Huddersfield 3 ‘First HD Connect’ 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.

 

Apart from buses painted in ‘First’ groups standard livery there are, a significant number painted in a ‘HD Connect’ livery.

 

Just what the significance is, I don’t know but it adds an bit more colour to the standard livery.

 

‘Scene’ in Huddersfield 1 which looks at the bus station was posted on 20/03/2022.

 

‘Scene’ in Huddersfield 2 which looks at ‘First West Yorkshire’ was posted on 02/04/2022.

 

YJ54 XUG ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd’. No. 32518 ‘HD Connect’.

Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini /1

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

 

 

 

 

YJ54 XUG ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd’. No. 32518 ‘HD Connect’.

Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini /2

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

 

 

 

 

YJ06 XKX ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd’. No. 37032 ‘HD Connect’.

Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

 

 

 

YJ06 XKX ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd.’ No. 37029 ‘HD Connect’.

Volvo B7TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

 

 

 

BV13 ZDH ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd’. No. 69556 ‘HD Connect’.

Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse

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

 

 

 

 

SN64 CHL ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd’. No. 47498 ‘HD Connect’.

Wright Streetlite D/F

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

 

 

 

 

BD13 NFK ‘First West Yorkshire Ltd’. No. 69564 ‘HD Connect’.

Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse

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

 

‘Scene’ when a Deltic visited the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway (EVR) on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The ‘EVR’ might not be a name that is familiar to most enthusiasts but hosting one of the iconic English Electric built Deltics for part of the summer will certainly bring the railway to a wider audience.

 

Based in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, the railway began life as the start of the ‘Midland Railway’ advancing through the Peak District in an attempt to reach Manchester.

 

When the eventual choice for that line went via Ambergate and the Derwent Valley, it left Wirksworth at the end of a nine mile long branch line from Duffield on the Midland Main Line.

 

Duffield today being the southern terminus of the line where the station is jointly used with the national network although there is no direct rail connection.

 

The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway.

Wirksworth Station Name board

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

 

 

 

 

55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, British Rail.

English Electric built diesel Electric Locomotive /1

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

 

Many will want to see, hear and ride on No. 55019 Royal Highland Fusilier.

 

Pictured slowly moving down Platform 1 to take up its position at the head of the train when its coaches arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, British Rail.

English Electric built diesel electric locomotive /2

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

 

The loco advances.

 

Pictured to the right in Platform 3 is W55034.

 

A Class 121 ‘Bubble Car’ which is waiting to work a service up the Ravenstor incline.

 

 

 

 

55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, British Rail.

English Electric built diesel electric locomotive /3

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

 

 

 

 

D1842 British Rail class 47 (formerly 47192)

Brush built diesel electric locomotive

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

 

The coaches arrive behind the 47 bringing the first working of the day in from Duffield.

 

55019 is just visible the the right of the image prior to running forward over a crossover and reversing onto its train.

 

 

 

 

55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, British Rail.

English Electric built diesel electric locomotive /4

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

 

So its first working on the ‘EVR’ gets under way promptly at 09-50 looking and sounding as good as it ever did.

 

 

 

 

55019 Royal Highland Fusilier, British Rail.

English Electric built diesel electric locomotive /5

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

 

‘Scene’ in Mansfield Bus Station on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

LG71 DJD ‘Stagecoach East Midland’ No. 30016

’Nottinghamshire County Council’, ‘Nottsbus ECOonnect’.

BYD D8UR /Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) / ‘ADL’ Enviro200EV /1 

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

 

One of 2 registered LG71 DJD/E numbered 30016/17.

 

 

 

LG71 DJD ‘Stagecoach East Midland’ No. 30016

’Nottinghamshire County Council’, ‘Nottsbus ECOonnect’.

BYD D8UR /Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) / ‘ADL’ Enviro200EV /2 

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

 

 

 

 

LG71 DJD ‘Stagecoach East Midland’ No. 30016

’Nottinghamshire County Council’, ‘Nottsbus ECOonnect’.

BYD D8UR /Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) / ‘ADL’ Enviro200EV /3 

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

 

This image was captured from the upper deck of a bus and due to the windows not being clean, it is not the best I have ever taken.

 

But as usual, it’s better than no image.

 

‘Scene’ from the Upper Deck of a Double Deck Bus on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Down the years, I have taken hundreds if not thousands of images of double deck buses but there have been very few taken from on board one.

 

My wife, (Barbara), and I were travelling from Loughborough to Nottingham aboard ‘Nottingham City Transport’s (NCT) route number 1.

 

The route is operated by NCT’s ‘South Notts’ division which operates as a fleet within a fleet.

 

For a bus route that serves two major centres of population, it is surprisingly rural in nature.

 

‘South Notts’ was until very recently based in the village of Gotham which lies on the route but has now moved to Nottingham with the outstation at Gotham being closed.

 

We were fortunate to get the front nearside seats upstairs. 

 

There was a steady stream of buses going the other way and I thought “why not”?

 

There was a little bit of rain about (surprise surprise) which shows up slightly in some of the images.

 

YN15 EJD ‘Nottingham City Transport’ / ‘South Notts 1’ No. 643. 

Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

 

YN14 MVO ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 640.  

Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

 

YN14 MTJ ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 612.  

Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

 

X288 HBT ‘Tiger European’. 

Volvo B7TL / Alexander ALX400

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

 

New registered 00-D-40038 to ‘Dublin Bus’.

 

 

 

 

K10 CTN ‘Community Transport for Nottingham’ (CT4N) No. 1009. Optare Solo M950

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

 

New registered YJ09 OTE to ‘Blackpool Transport’ No. 240.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby The Bus Station’s Buses on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

This blog is a follow up to the one posted on 15/04/2022 which looked at the bus station.

 

The major users of the bus station are ‘Arriva Midlands’ which has its roots in what was ‘Derby Corporation Transport’ and ‘trentbarton’.

 

‘notts+derby,’ ‘High Peak Buses’ and ‘Kinchbus’ provide the rest of the bus movements whilst ‘national express’ is the main coach operator.

 

These images represent the majority of the buses that use the bus station.

 

YJ14 BTE ‘trentbarton’ No. 836 ‘the sixes’.

Optare Versa V1110

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

 

Arriving with service 6.2 from Ripley, my home town.

 

 

 

 

YT09 ZBL ‘Arriva Midlands’ No. 3567.

Scania N230UB / Scania OmniCity

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

 

About to turn into the bus station having  worked  in on service 1 from the suburb of Alvaston.

 

The car park in the background forming a tunnel which frames the bus.

 

 

 

 

YX66 WLY ‘trentbarton’ No. 108 ‘the mickleover’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

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

 

As it says on the coving panel,

 

  “frequent and fabulous to Mickleover past the hospital”.

 

‘the mickleover’ was the first of many ‘trentbarton’ routes to convert to 

 the (ADL) bus where they replaced Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse’s.

 

 

 

 

FJ58 KXU ‘Arriva Midlands’ No. 4220.

Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

 

 

 

YY18TPZ ‘trentbarton’ No. 211 ‘indigo’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

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

 

‘indigo’ being one of a number of routes that link Derby to Nottingham.

 

 

 

 

FJ58 KXV ‘Arriva Midlands’ No. 4221.

Volvo B9TL / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

Departs to who knows where??

 

 

 

 

 

YX20 OHB ‘Kinchbus’ No. 147 ‘skylink’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

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

 

Departs on its lengthy journey to Leicester.

 

As the branding implies, the route runs via the East Midlands Airport at Castle Donington.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby The Bus Station on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

For years I have been posting images of trains, buses and aeroplanes without any real thought as to their own working environment.

 

On a visit to Huddersfield recently I was so impressed by the bus station that I posted a short blog featuring it and not the buses.

 

The response I got to that blog surprised me and lead me to think that blogs about other bus station and possibly railway stations might be a subject of interest to others.

 

By ‘Bus Station’ I mean something that has been designed to accommodate buses and their passengers and not just an odd bus shelter stuck at the side of a bit of road.

 

The first bus station in Derby opened in 1933 and lasted until 2005.

 

Designed originally for the buses of the time which were restricted to a length of 25 feet or so, it became increasingly difficult for buses with a maximum length of close to 40 feet to manoeuvre safely because the original design included platforms on an almost 90 degree curve.

 

The ‘New’ bus station opened in March 2010 and forms part of the ‘Riverlights’ development close to the river Derwent that includes a hotel, a casino and the usual retail and customer facilities.

 

There are 24 covered stands for the use of bus services and a further 4 stands with three sided bus shelters which offers coach customers and their luggage a degree of protection from the weather but not a lot.

 

I have never seen stand 1 being used by buses and when I have asked why not I was told it was considered unsafe to use because it meant reversing out directly in front of other buses coming in from the road outside.

 

Tomorrows blog will cover some of the buses that use the bus station.

 

Derby Bus Station 1

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

 

There are two vehicle entrances/exits.

 

One is at the far end beyond the building to the right which is a car park.

 

An ‘Arriva’ Scania can just be seen departing.

 

The exit lane at this end is to the right of the lamp standards and to the left of the silver car

 

There is talk of adding further stands at the far end because there are many services in and out of Derby that terminate on nearby roads and bringing them into the bus station would increase the connectivity of services further.

 

 

 

 

Derby Bus Station 2

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

 

Viewed from the opposite end to image 1.

 

There are two areas where buses can be parked to the left in this image with a further area immediately to the left of the camera alongside that entrance/exit.

 

In total there are about eleven parking bays.

 

 

 

 

Derby Bus Station 3

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

 

The second entrance/exit with the third parking bays to the left.

 

 

 

 

Derby Bus Station 4

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

 

The opposite view to image 3 with the ‘Arriva’ Scania departing and the ‘trentbarton’ Volvo/Wright occupying one of the parking bays.

 

 

 

 

Derby Bus Station 5

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

 

The coach bays when unoccupied are used by incoming buses to drop off passengers when their own bay is not yet free.

 

 

 

 

Derby Bus Station 6

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

 

The interior is light and airy.

 

 

 

 

I am waiting for ‘the comet’ going to Chesterfield at five minutes past the hour to take me back home to Ripley. 

 

So, just time for a coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ on Wetmore Road, Burton on Trent (BoT) When Yellow met Blue on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Wetmore Road for those who don’t know is where the fleet of ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ (MC) is garaged.

 

Over the weekend of 28/29th August 2021 ‘MC’ held a Heritage Weekend to celebrate two anniversaries.

 

On the Saturday to celebrate 15 years of ‘MC’ operating in Burton.

 

On the Sunday to celebrate the 95th. anniversary of John Stevenson setting up in business to run buses between Burton and Uttoxeter via Tutbury.

 

A route that ‘mc’ still operates today.

 

I have referred to ‘Stevenson’s’ a number of times in my blogs over the years. 

 

Usually in connection with ‘Midland Classic’ the current major operator in ‘BoT’ who own a number of buses that carry ‘Stevenson’s’ livery.

 

This legendary operator dating back to the 1920’s operated in Staffordshire and eventually into what is now the West Midlands as far south as Birmingham.

 

Always innovative, they operated a fleet which was made up of a wide variety of vehicles from a wide variety of sources.

 

At the height of operations the fleet stood at over 250 buses.

 

This included in later years.

 

Bristol VR’s with Eastern Coach Works coach seated bodies working a commuter service into the centre of Birmingham.

 

Known originally as  ‘Stevenson’s of Spath. (the village that was the companies base).

 

Then ‘Stevenson’s of Burton & Uttoxeter until becoming part of ‘ARRIVA via ‘British Bus’ in 1994.

 

UVT 14X ‘Stevensons’ No. 14.

Leyland Tiger / Plaxton Supreme V Express /1

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

 

The numberplate behind the windscreen (XBF 423X) was carried by this coach when it worked for ‘Bassetts of Tittensor’ prior to being preserved.

 

 

 

 

UVT 14X ‘Stevensons’ No. 14.

Leyland Tiger / Plaxton Supreme V Express /2

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

 

 

 

 

UVT 14X ‘Stevensons’ No. 14.

Leyland Tiger / Plaxton Supreme V Express /3

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

 

 

 

 

ORS 60R ‘Stevensons’.

Leyland Leopard / Alexander ‘Y’

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

 

New to ‘Grampian Regional Transport’ as No. 60.

 

Subsequently to ‘Bankfoot Buses’.

 

 

 

A499 MHG ‘Jim Stones’.

Leyland-DAB A/S Cub / Eastern Coach Works /1

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

 

I believe this is bus is  unique to the UK. 

 

The chassis was built by Leyland’s Danish subsidiary.

 

 

 

 

A499 MHG ‘Jim Stones’.

Leyland-DAB A/S / Eastern Coach Works /2

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

 

 

 

 

TMS 405X ‘Midland Scottish’ No. MPE 405.

Leyland Leopard / Alexander ‘Y’ type /1

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

 

New to ‘Alexander Midland’.

 

 

 

 

TMS 405X ‘Midland Scottish’ No. MPE 405.

Leyland Leopard / Alexander ‘Y’ type /2

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

 

‘Scene’ On a Day Out ‘On The Buses’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Some years ago, I wrote a series of articles about days out by bus in my part of the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

 

Meant to be a guide for the perhaps less confident intending passenger of what to catch to where and at what time. 

 

The series was published bi-monthly by a local magazine and ran for a number of years.

 

This blog seeks to replicate the ‘days out by bus’ element but this time looking at the buses that were used on the day.

 

This article starts and finishes in my home town of Ripley in Derbyshire, continues to Nottingham then on to Mansfield where a short break was taken.

 

Next was Chesterfield, Bakewell, Matlock and then Alfreton.

 

All the images illustrated except one were captured as we progressed. 

 

Accompanied by friend Peter Rose, it was quite a day.

 

So why don’t you join us?

 

YX20 OJN ‘trentbarton’ No. 170 ‘rainbowone’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC

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

 

The first bus on a very cold but bright and sunny day.

 

The 09-45 from Ripley to Nottingham.

 

The piece of road the bus is running on has its own place in history.

 

From 1913 to 1933 a tramway ran from Ripley to Nottingham ran along this road.

 

The trams known as ‘The Ripley Rattlers’ had a reputation for being 

 

“the most dangerous tram route in Britain”. 

 

It was also one of the longest.

 

The trams painted blue and cream ran on a single track that had 316 loops where trams could pass.

 

The trams were replaced by trolleybuses and in turn by diesel buses now painted in the blue of the ‘Midland General Omnibus Company.’

 

They were the forerunners of todays ‘trentbarton’ who still use the same colour for its buses on the route.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, the rails are still there buried under several inches of tarmac.

 

On two occasions when the local council has dug the road up, I have seen and photographed them.

 

 

 

 

SN18 KTO ‘Stagecoach East Midland’ No. 10977 ‘pronto’.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400MMC

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

 

The 11-30 from Nottingham.

 

Then after a break in Mansfield, another of the same to Chesterfield at

12-30.

 

 

 

 

SP05 EKX ‘Hulleys of Baslow’ No. 2.

Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer 2

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

 

This image supplied by Peter Rose.

 

His rendition of the sky was much better than mine.

 

Purchased from ‘Stagecoach South West’ but new to ‘Fife Scottish’ as No.34725.

 

The 13-30 from Chesterfield pictured after arrival in Bakewell.

 

 

 

 

YN07 EXP ‘Bowers Coaches’ No. 789.

Scania 230UB / Scania

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

 

The 14-15 from Bakewell to Matlock pictured leaving Matlock crossing the bridge over the river Derwent on its way to Derby.

 

New to Scania as a demonstrator

 

 

 

 

SN65 OFA ‘Littles Travel’ No. 8.

Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

The 15-02 from Matlock to Alfreton seen approaching the stand in one of Matlock’s bus stations.

 

I really must write a blog about Matlocks bus stations!!

 

 

 

 

FJ09 XPK ‘trentbarton’ No. 750 ‘the comet’.

Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban

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

 

The last bus of the day, the 15-45 from Alfreton leaving Ripley 15 minutes later having just dropped us off.