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

AS PROMISED, THE SEVENTH ONE OF ‘A BLOG A DAY’ GOING THROUGH TO NEW YEARS DAY.

 

This busy Lincolnshire town lies 20 miles or so to the South of Lincoln and sits on the ‘East Coast Main Line’ railway line.

 

Its bus services are mainly provided by ‘Centrebus’ who operate a very mixed fleet many of which have had previous owners.

 

For ‘Scene’ in Grantham part 1 see blog published 26/12/2018.

YJ10 EZC ‘Centrebus’ No. 777, ‘THE GRANTHAM INTO itTOWN BUS SERVICE’.

Optare Tempo X1130 /1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

YJ10 EZC ‘Centrebus’ No. 777, ‘THE GRANTHAM INTO itTOWN BUS SERVICE’.

Optare Tempo X1130 /2 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

AE55 MVL ‘Centrebus’ No. 543, ‘THE GRANTHAM INTO itTOWN BUS SERVICE’.

Dennis Dart SLF / MCV Evolution on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ 

 

New to ‘Trustline’, Hunsdon as its No. DML4.

 

 

 

 

YY64 GWF ‘Centrebus’ No. 531, ‘five counties’. Alexander Dennis Ltd.  (ADL’) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

 

PJZ 9452 ‘Centrebus’ 766. DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

Previously registered YJ55 KZZ and operated by ‘Kimes of Folkingham’ as its No. R6. 

 

‘Kimes became part of the ‘Centrebus’ group in July 2011.

 

 

 

 

YY64 GWE ‘Centrebus’ No. 530 Alexander Dennis Ltd.  (ADL’) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro200

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

 

 

 

 

YJ56 AUO ‘Centrebus’ No. 530. Optare Solo M990.

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

 

New to ‘Dunn-line’, Heanor.

 

 

 

 

EU04 BZY ‘Centrebus’ No. 530. Dennis Dart / Plaxton Pointer MPD

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

 

New to ‘Trustline’, Hunsdon as its No. DPS3.

 

‘Scene’ in Burton on Trent (BoT) on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

Regular readers will know of my liking for ‘BoT’ and its buses.

 

Very much the major operator these days is ‘midland classic’ who in September 2016 took over the operations in the town of the local ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ unit together with a collection of eldery Wright bodied DAF single deckers.

 

Further to the addition of some new Optare MetroCity’s and Alexander Dennis Ltd. E20D’s there is usually a steady turnover in vehicles that have been bought in from elsewhere.

 

I think that the only bus in this selection that has appeared on my blog before is the first image of the Optare Spectra that was at 2016’s ‘Showbus’ at Donnington Park.

 

On that occasion I showed a nearside view whereas this time we see the offside.

 

Still I would argue one of the best looking buses around.

 

R2 NEG ‘midland classic’ No. 41. DAF DB250LF / Optare Spectra

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

 

New to ‘National Express West Midlands’ as its No. 4002.

 

 

 

 

TFA 13 ‘midland classic’ No. 55, ‘STEVENSONS’. Scania N94UD / East Lancs

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

 

Painted to represent a bus of a long time operator in ‘BoT’ ‘Stevensons’ who disappeared into the ‘ARRIVA’ group.

 

Formerly YN54 OAG  and new to ‘London Sovereign’ as its No. SLE5.

 

 

 

LJ04 LGE ‘midland classic’ No. 49. VDL DB250 / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA London South’ as its No. DW90.

 

 

 

YN08 HYP ‘midland classic’ No. 58. Scania N230UD / East Lancs Olympus

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

 

New to ‘Reading Buses’ as it No. 853.

 

 

 

LJ04 LGD ‘midland classic’ No. 48. VDL DB250 / Wright Eclipse Gemini

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA London South’ as its No. DW89.

 

 

 

‘midland classic’ took over 11 former ‘ARRIVA’ DAF SB200 / Wright Commanders of which I believe 5 so far have  been withdrawn.

 

As far as I am aware only one has made it into ‘mc’ livery the others still wearing their old ‘ARRIVA’ colours with ‘mc’ vinyl overstickers. 

BF52 NZX ‘midland classic’ No. 112. DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA Midlands North’ as its No. 1151.

 

 

 

BF52 NZY ‘midland classic’ No. 111, ‘ARRIVA’ livery. DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA Midlands North’ as its No. 1152.

 

 

 

FX55 VKG ‘midland classic’ No. 83. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

New to ‘Green Triangle’, Atherton, Lancs, (Who became ‘South Lancs Transport’). as its No. 26.

 

 

 

JB64 MCL ‘midland classic’ No. 3. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

Formerly YY64 YKC and new to ‘ADL’ as a demonstrator.

 

 

 

YX09 FLN ‘midland classic’ No. 33. ‘ADL’ Dart / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

New to ‘Centrewest’, London as its No. DMS44413.

 

 

 

HK62 MCL ‘midland classic’ No. 21. Scania K230 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

Formerly YN62 AAK and new to ‘ADL’ as a demonstrator.

 

 

 

KW14 MCL ‘midland classic’ No. 2. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

‘Scene’ in Burton on Trent (BoT) 05/09/16 on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

Regular readers of my blog will know that ‘BoT’ is one of my regular haunts and the ongoing rumours about ‘midland classic’ (mc) taking over the local routes of ‘Arriva’ would inevitably find me back there.

 

The rumours were true, with ‘mc’ taking control over the recent August Bank Holiday weekend.

 

Two routes stay with ‘Arriva’.

 

One is the X38 service to Derby which is run jointly with ‘trentbarton’ the operation of which has transferred to Derby.

 

The 9A to Leicester which I believe is a Leicester operated service continues as before.

 

‘BoT’ presents the odd mixture of ‘Arriva’ liveried buses wearing ‘mc stickers operating very much as they used to.

 

The ‘Arriva’ depot on Wetmore Road is now home to a mixture of ‘mc' and former ‘Arriva’ buses including ‘MC’s Routemaster.

 

I would like to start with the most recent additions to the ‘mc’ fleet (prior to the arrival of the ‘Arriva’ buses) and these are six Optare MetroCity’s which I believe have been very well received.

 

 

 

 

YJ66 AOY ‘midland classic’ 6 Optare Metrocity

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

 

 

YJ66 AOY ‘midland classic’ 6 Optare Metrocity

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

 

 

YJ66 AOY ‘midland classic’ 6 Optare Metrocity /2

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

 

 

YJ66 APF ‘midland Cclassic’ 8 Optare Metrocity

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

 

 

BF52 NZU ‘midland classic’ 108 DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

 

BF52 NZS ‘midland classic’ 106 DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

 

BF52 OAA ‘midland classic’ 114 DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

 

BF52 OAC ‘midland classic’ 116 DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

 

BF52 NZZ ‘midland classic’ 113 DAF SB200 / Wright Commander

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

 

MX61 AWP ‘Arriva Midlands’ 3805 VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar

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

 

FJ13 FYM ‘Arriva Midlands’ 3805 VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar

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

 

Branded for the X38 Derby- ‘BoT’ service.

‘Scene’ in Tamworth

Midland Classic ‘MC’ are a relatively new company on the bus scene having been created in 2005 by James Boddice.

 

Normally operating in and around Burton on Trent (BoT) and Swadlincote in Staffordshire, the company has built up a wide range of routes locally in competition  with ‘Arriva’ and ‘trentbarton’.

 

The company has also looked to widen its area of operations by extending its X12 service to Lichfield on to Sutton Coldfield on the edge of the West Midlands.

 

In May this year, further expansion saw the introduction of service X13 from ‘BoT’ to the town of Tamworth. It was this service I used recently to take a look at buses in Tamworth.

 

X94 USC

 

A Scania L94UB with Wright Solar bodywork that at one time worked for ‘Nottingham City Transport ‘which proved to be my transport to and from ‘BoT’.

Not the comfiest of buses with particularly hard seats.

 

Tamworth is an ‘Arriva’ stronghold with a number of the fleet’s standard types represented.

 

BJ12 YPZ

 

A Mercedes-Benz Citaro. YPU and YPV also put in an appearance.

 

YN08 HZL

A Scania Omnicity working on the Tamworth-Nuneaton service for which it carries specific branding.

 

Other Omnicity’s were present wearing variations on ‘Arriva’s livery were.

YN08 HZV

 

YN08 HZT

 

Other single deckers in the fleet were,

BF52 OAE

 

Which is a DAF SB200 with Wright Commander bodywork.

 

MX61 AWV

A VDL SB200 with Wright Pulsar bodywork.

 

‘Arriva’ has brought its ‘Sapphire’ standard to Tamworth to work on service 110 to Birmingham.

YX64 VMC

 

An Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E40D which carries Enviro 400 bodywork. VMF, VMH and VMD all put in appearances.

 

Also working on the service was fleet liveried

FJ08 LVL

 

A Volvo B9TL with Wright Gemini Eclipse bodywork.

 

Other operators in the town were ‘Central Buses’ who had a pair of ‘ADL’ Enviro 200’s wearing different liveries.

YX63 ZXK

 

Branded for the service 55 to Lichfield. The route number being cleverly worked into the ‘expre55’ branding.

 

SK15 GYA

 

In fleet livery. 

 

The driver of this bus entered into the spirit of things by positioning his bus especially for me. 

 

If you read this sir,

 

Thank you, it was appreciated !

 

‘Stagecoach in Warwickshire’ came from and went back to Atherstone with.

KX60 DUA

 

Another ‘ADL’ Enviro 200.

 

MX12 CGE

Yet another ‘ADL’ Enviro 200. 

 

This one having previously worked for both ‘Sheffield Community Transport’ and ‘Quantock Motor Services’.

 

Now working for ‘Solus Coaches’. A local Tamworth based operator.

 

KX07 HFJ

This Mercedes-Benz 813 minibus carried ‘FLEXIBUS’ branding, with ‘Warwickshire County Council’ legal titling whilst its crew wore ‘West Midlands Special Needs Transport’ Hi-vis vests.

 

No doubt it was on Community Transport type work.

 

 

 

Another Day out with Dennis to Uttoxeter

This set of images is to illustrate an article written for a magazine called ‘All Things Local’.

This community magazine is produced and distributed from a base in Kilburn, Derbyshire and covers large areas of the towns of Ripley and Belper.

 

The first bus of the day will be one of ‘trentbarton’s ‘tb’ ‘red arrows’ if you are traveling from the Ripley area or one of the same companies ‘the sixes’ buses if you are traveling from the Belper area.

 

From Derby to Burton on Trent you stay with ‘tb’ on board one of its ‘the villager’ liveried buses. These carry images of farm animals so underlining their ‘rural’ credentials.

So far if ‘tb’ are using vehicles branded for the services, you have been traveling on Swedish built Scania chassis. In the case of the ‘red arrow’ with coach bodies largely built by a Spanish company called ‘Irizar’. On ‘the sixes’ and ‘the villager’, the bus bodies come from Wright’s of Ballymena in Northern Ireland.

 

At Burton you switch to the Uttoxeter service provided by ‘Arriva’. I have known this service to be run with double deck buses but recently they have been using Wright bodies again but this time fitted to DAF chassis. These are made in Holland. The company is also known as VDL.

 

It’s back to ‘tb’ for the trip to Ashbourne aboard one of their ‘the swift’ liveried buses. Yet one more Wright body on another Swedish chassis this time produced by Volvo.

 

You can elect to stay with this bus back to Derby or the alternative is to change to ‘yourbus’ for the run to Belper from Ashbourne.

 

This is a bus which is supplied in its entirety by Wright’s again and is called the 'Streetlite'.