‘Scene’ in Sheffield. TM Travel (TMT) part 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

COACH & BUS UK19 is being held at the NEC on the 2nd and 3rd. of October 2019. ALL BEING WELL ! I will be attending on the 3rd.

 

I will then publish a blog a day for the next week detailing those entries that caught my eye.

 

My view is that for that week, I will be ahead of most of the professional press. So if you want to see some of what’s new first.

 

Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ Is the place to be.

 

 

I was in Sheffield primarily to gather material for another blog when as often happens whilst I was there other buses of interest turned up which resulted in a number of blogs being produced.

 

‘TM Travel’ was founded in 1995 by the father and son team of Tim and Malcolm Watts with just one bus. 

 

The company went on to operate widely across South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

 

In 2010 ‘TMT’ became part of the Derbyshire based ‘Wellglade’ group continuing to operate from their own base at Halfway near Sheffield.

 

SA52 DWC ‘TM Travel’ No. 1170. Volvo B7L / East Lancs Nordic /1

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

 

New to ‘First Glasgow’ as No. VT9.

 

 

 

 

SA52 DWC ‘TM Travel’ No. 1170. Volvo B7L / East Lancs Nordic /2

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

 

New to ‘First Glasgow’ as No. VT9.

 

 

 

 

1294 RU ‘TM Travel’ No. 1167. DAF DB250 / East Lancs Myllenium Lowlander

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

 

 

 

 

YN54 SYG ‘TM Travel’ No. 1171. DAF DB250 / East Lancs Lowlander

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

 

 

 

 

FJ03 VXA ‘TM Travel’ No. 633, ‘SHEFFIELD’S LINE 30. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

New to ‘trentbarton’ an associate company of ‘TMT’.

 

 

 

 

YD63 VDX ‘TM Travel’ No. 835, ‘SHEFFIELD’S LINE 30. Optare V1110 Versa

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

‘Scene’ in Edinburgh. ‘Lothian Buses’ No. 584 ‘Pride Edinburgh’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Stuart Montgomery, one of ‘Lothian Buses’ voluntary photographers has appeared as a guest on my blog before.

 

The quality of his output is superb.

 

I think that this particular livery is one of the best that ‘Lothian’ has produced yet and he has agreed to my reproducing 2 of his images here. 

 

The livery is made up from the constituent colours of the spectrum as seen in the Rainbow which are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

 

I well remember my old work colleague John Barlow teaching me the mnemonic by which I still remember them I.e. ‘Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain’.

 

Gemini 3 Hybrid 584 is in partnership with ‘Pride Edinburgh’ and ‘Lothian Buses’ and is now the organisation's transport partner, helping to promote equality and diversity in and around the capital city.

 

584's rainbow colour splash has been designed by Lothian's in-house design team and gifted to Pride Edinburgh at the Scotia March in June. It's a great hit with the Edinburgh public.

 

Hope you like them.

 

Stuart’s ‘flickr’ address is reproduced below for anyone who would like to view his work in more detail.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_montgomery/48679101312/in/dateposted-ff/

 

SJ67 MGV ‘Lothian Buses No. 584 ‘PRIDE EDINBURGH’ & ‘Fab u bus’. Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/1

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SJ67 MGV ‘Lothian Buses No. 584 ‘PRIDE EDINBURGH’ & ‘Fab u bus’. Volvo B5LH / Wright Eclipse Gemini 3/2 

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

‘Scene’ in Nottingham, Further Gas Double Deckers on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

COACH & BUS UK19 is being held at the NEC on the 2nd and 3rd. of October 2019. ALL BEING WELL ! I will be attending on the 3rd.

 

I will then publish a blog a day for the next week detailing those entries that caught my eye.

 

My view is that for that week, I will be ahead of most of the professional press. So if you want to see some of what’s new first.

 

Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ Is the place to be.

 

So, to Nottingham’s gas powered deckers and still they continue to arrive !

 

This time it’s ‘Lime Line 58’ that is getting the new buses.

 

Linking the City Centre to Sherwood and Arnold which lies to the North of the City. 

 

YN19 EGJ ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 493 ‘Lime Line 58’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400CBG City /1 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YN19 EGY ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 496 ‘Lime Line 58’. Scania N280UD/ Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400CBG City /2 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YN19 EGF ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 492 ‘Lime Line 58’. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400CBG City /3 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YN19 EHE ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 501 ‘Lime Line 58'. Scania N280UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400CBG City /4

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

‘Scene’ in Sheffield. Retro liveries on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

At the time of the 100th. anniversary of motor bus operation in Sheffield in 2013. 

‘First South Yorkshire’ painted several Wright Gemini/Volvo buses into retro liveries that had graced the fleet in earlier years.

 

One was in the dark blue and cream of Sheffield’s Tramways and the other was in the azure blue and cream of the pre and post war period. 

 

This was the livery that I grew up with and to this day, I don’t think that it has ever been bettered by anyone. Then again, I might, just be, a little bit biased.

 

Surprisingly, six years later, both buses are still wearing the same livery and when I have seen them (usually in the far distance) they are have been working on service No. 51 to Lodge Moor.

 

Unfortunately on the day I caught up with them it was after a lot of rain so the buses do show a small amount of ‘weathering’.

 

There is a further Volvo/Wright Gemini bus painted in ‘South Yorkshire PTE’ colours which I have not, as yet caught up with.

 

Watch this space!

 

YN58 ETX ‘First South Yorkshire No. 37528 ’The Sheffield Corporation Tramways’ No. 1  ‘SHAUN WILSON’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse. /1

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YN58 ETX ‘First South Yorkshire No. 37528 ’The Sheffield Corporation Tramways’ No. 1  ‘SHAUN WILSON’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse. /2

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YN58 ETX ‘First South Yorkshire No. 37528 ’The Sheffield Corporation Tramways’ No. 1  ‘SHAUN WILSON’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse. /3

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YN58 ETX ‘First South Yorkshire No. 37528 ’The Sheffield Corporation Tramways’ No. 1  ‘SHAUN WILSON’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse. /4

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3910 WE ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 37229 ‘Sheffield Transport No. 229’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse /1

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

 

New as FJ58 HYU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3910 WE ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 37229 ‘Sheffield Transport No. 229’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse /2

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3910 WE ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 37229 ‘Sheffield Transport No. 229’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse /3

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3910 WE ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 37229 ‘Sheffield Transport No. 229’. Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse /4

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SF55 UAK ‘First South Yorkshire’ No. 69017, ‘Mainline’ No. 1017. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban

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

 

Also operating on the 51 is a Wright/Volvo saloon painted into Sheffield ‘Mainline’ livery.

 

This bus also worked for a number of years for ‘First South West’ for its ‘Buses of Somerset’ subsidiary.

‘Scene’ on Another trip down memory lane on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Back in the late 1980’s towards the end of Leyland as an independent company they produced a mid engined double decker called the Lion.

 

Leyland had successfully been building rear engined double deckers (Atlantean, Fleetline and Olympian) for 30 years so the mid engine position was different and my view at the time was that it was a bit of a blind alley.

 

They were built on under frames imported from Leyland’s Danish subsidiary and bodied by East Lancs amongst others.

 

Only 32 were produced prior to Leyland being taken over by Volvo who cancelled the project to concentrate on building the Olympian under their own name.

 

‘Nottingham City Transport’ (NCT) bought 2 batches bodied by East Lancs. These were registered F382-6 GVO numbered 382-6 and F387-91 GVO numbered 387-91. The 382-6 buses were fitted with coach seats.

 

I remember them but never got round to photographing them because at the time I was more into video than stills.

 

They served their time and passed Into history.

 

20 years later (2009), I was on a ‘Transpire’ (The Chesterfield Bus Society) organised visit to bus and coach operator ‘Andrews of Tideswell Ltd.’ in Derbyshires Peak District.

 

Parked under trees were a small number of vaguely familiar buses with registrations in the VIL XXXX series.

 

They were, I was told being used on schools contracts.

 

Research proved them to be former ‘NCT’ vehicles.

 

All 5 in F382-6 batch had been sold as a batch to ‘Andrews’

 

They were eventually sold on to a company I believe in Lancashire called ‘Moving People’.

VIL 3382 ‘Andrews’. Leyland Lion / East Lancs

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

 

Formerly F382 GVO with ‘NCT’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIL 2983 ‘Andrews’. Leyland Lion / East Lancs

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

 

Formerly F383 GVO with ‘NCT’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIL 4784 ‘Andrews’. Leyland Lion / East Lancs

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

 

Formerly F384 GVO with ‘NCT’.

 

Fast forward another 10 years to a visit in 2019 to 

‘Nottingham Heritage Vehicles’.

 

A preservation group located in the old ‘Trent’ garage at Hucknall in Nottinghamshire.

 

There at the back, waiting its turn in the queue to be restored is VIL 3382.

 

VIL 3382 ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 382.  Leyland Lion / East Lancs

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

 

So, I did get to photograph one after all these years.

‘Scene’ in Chester’s new Bus Interchange (CBI) on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

The new bus interchange in Chester opened at the end of May 2018. 

 

At the time of writing, the old bus station which is scheduled for redevelopement is still being used for the loading and unloading of visiting day coaches.

 

Chester New Bus interchange plan.

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

 

The plan clearly shows the layout of the bus stands together with the facilities grouped at one end.

 

There is space to park a small number of buses between the inner stands.

 

 

 

 

MX13 AKZ ‘ARRIVA North West’ No. 5000. MAN 18.270 Ecocity / Caetano

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

 

Seen loading at the Gorse Stacks stands.

 

 

 

 

SN56 AWV ‘Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire’ No. 19045. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Trident / ‘ADL’ Enviro 400

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

 

New to ‘Busways’, Newcastle then to ‘Glenvale Transport’, Liverpool.

 

Seen turning into (CBI) from St. Oswalds Way.

 

 

 

 

CX12 DSZ ‘ARRIVA Chester’ No. 3143. VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA Cymru’. 

 

Seen turning out of ‘CBI’ onto Gorse Stacks.

 

 

 

 

KX51 CTO ‘ACL’ (Aintree Coach Lines). Optare Solo M850

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

 

New to ‘Midland Red (South}’ as No. 613.

 

Seen in the central parking area.

 

 

 

 

PX06 DVW ‘Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire’ No. 34813. Dennis Dart SLF / Plaxton Pointer 2

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

 

Seen turning into (CBI) from St. Oswalds Way.

 

New to ‘Glenvale’ who are part of ‘Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire’.

 

 

 

 

CX61 CDV ‘ARRIVA Chester’ No. 4087. VDL SB300 / Wright Eclipse Gemini 2

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA Cymru’ for ‘Cymru Coastliner’ branded service now downgraded to bus work.

 

 

 

 

SN16 OPF ‘Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire’ No. 26051 ‘Chester Park&Ride’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC 

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

 

Seen turning out of ‘CBI’ onto Gorse Stacks.

 

 

 

 

CX12 DTF ‘ARRIVA Chester’ No. 3144 ‘Chester City Bus’. VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar 2

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

 

 

 

Seen turning into ‘CBI’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KX03 KYZ ‘Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire’ No. 47035. Optare Solo M920

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

 

New to ‘United Counties’.

 

Seen outside the Market Hall just above the old bus station.

‘Scene’ at the age of 45 years on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I saw this little gem parked outside a farm shop to the East of Kings Lynn and I couldn’t resist it.

 

This body style was always nicknamed ‘Peanut’ by the enthusiasts of the time. I think you can see why.

 

CBA 966L ‘Operator unknown’. Bedford J2SZ2 / Plaxton Embassy /1

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

 

New to ‘Salford City Council’ in May 1973.

 

 

 

 

CBA 966L ‘Operator unknown’. Bedford J2SZ2 / Plaxton Embassy /2

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

 

 

 

 

CBA 966L ‘Operator unknown’. Bedford J2SZ2 / Plaxton Embassy 3

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

 

 

 

 

CBA 966L ‘Operator unknown’. Bedford J2SZ2 / Plaxton Embassy /4

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