‘Scene’ in Exeter Once More on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

This small selection is in response to the blog I published on Monday the 10th. of August 2020 illustrating one of the current breed of ‘Stagecoach’ group’s driver trainers.

 

The number of ‘views’ that that particular image attracted in its first week was excellent so there is obviously somebody out there who likes them.

 

That being so, see if you like this small collection of other ‘Stagecoach’ group driver trainers which were all taken on the same day in the parking area at the old Exeter Bus Station in November 2008.

 

J727 CYG ‘Stagecoach Devon’ No. 26027 ‘DRIVER UNDER INSTRUCTION’. DAF SB220 / Optare Delta

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

 

New to ‘London Buses’ as No. DA27.

 

 

 

 

P806 XTA ‘Stagecoach in Devon’ No. 52346 ‘STAGECOACH DRIVER TRAINING DEPARTMENT’. Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premiere Interurban

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

 

New to ‘Devon General’ as No. 806.

 

 

 

 

HSV 195 ‘Stagecoach in Devon’ No. 52071 ‘STAGECOACH TRAINING DEPARTMENT’. Volvo B10M / Plaxton Paramount 3500

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

 

New registered E905 UNW to ‘Wallace Arnold’, Leeds.

 

‘Scene’ in Burton-on-Trent (BoT) once more 1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

It is now about 18 months since I last went to ‘BoT’ so it was time for a revisit.

 

Well then, what has changed in that time?

 

The elderly Wright bodied VDL’s that were inherited from ‘ARRIVA’ seem to have gone.

 

Also, sadly the Optare Spectra seems to have gone as well.

 

The Optare Metrocity’s and the buses on the X12 to Lichfield have acquired revised liveries.

 

Two buses I knew when they were with ‘yourbus’ have joined the fleet and a new style of company fleet name has been adopted.

 

So, last first. The revised fleet name.

 

‘Midland Classic of Burton’ revised fleet name

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

 

Smart, sharp and I think the black and red show up well against the yellow background. 

 

The white ‘of Burton’ seems to get a bit lost against the yellow but it looks stronger on the revised liveries on the Metrocities’s and the X12’s.

 

Maybe the ‘of Burton’ could have given the town’s name ‘of Burton on Trent’ or as appears on the X12’s ‘Burton upon Trent’.

 

After all, the company operates well beyond the boundaries of the town.

 

Anyway, I like it, what do you think!

 

 

 

 

For a fleet with around around 20 double deck buses, there is a surprising variety in that number.

 

Wright Gemini bodied Volvo VDL 250DB’s, Dennis Tridents with Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400 bodies, Scania N94UD’s and N270UD’s with Optare, East Lancs and Scania bodies and a solitary Routemaster.

 

In the preserved fleet there is a Leyland Olympian with Alexander bodywork and a MCW Metrobus.

 

YN08 MKP ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 62. Scania N270UD OmniCity / Scania

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

 

It has appeared before in one of my bus blogs but I make no apology for including this magnificent vehicle again.

 

New to ‘Reading Transport’ as No. 1103.

 

 

 

 

LJ04 LFV ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 46. DAF DB250LF / Wright Gemini Eclipse

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA London South’ as No. DW82.

 

 

 

 

LK57 AXJ ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 92. Dennis Trident / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

New to ‘Metroline’ as No. TE831.

 

 

 

 

LJ04 LGA ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 47. DAF DB250LF / Wright Gemini Eclipse

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

 

New to ‘ARRIVA London South’ as No. DW87.

 

 

 

 

SN11 BNE ‘Midland Classic of Burton’ No. 68. Dennis Trident / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

Is the lady in the facemask waiting to catch it or admiring the superb finish on the paintwork?

 

New to ‘First Capital’ as No. DN33619.

 

‘Scene’ in Chesterfield yet again on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I don’t usually do 1 image blogs but I was in Chesterfield yesterday (Monday) on other business and this came my way so I decided to post it as a ‘bonus’ blog because I liked it and I hope you do as well.

MX54 LRN ‘Stagecoach Yorkshire Traction’ No. 22087 ‘Driver Training’.  MAN 18.220 / Alexander Dennis Ltd. ALX300

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

 

New to ‘Greater Manchester South’.

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

I must say what a pleasure it was to  get back to something vaguely like normal, taking pictures of buses again in Derby after a break over 4 months.

 

The bus station was very quiet with buses waiting on the streets before entering to pick up.

 

For those who know Derby, I spent most of my time on the bit of road outside the Council House.

 

Traffic roundabouts at both ends, slowing traffic down. 

 

Buses coming at me from three directions. 

 

Blue skies and sunshine.

 

What more could you want ??

 

FJ10 OXP ‘notts+derby’ (n+d) No. 74. Scania K942B4 / Irizar i4

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

 

It has appeared in my blog before when it was in the red livery of associate company ‘TM Travel’ (TMT).

 

New in 2010 with others to work ’trentbarton’s prestigious ‘red arrow’ service from Derby to Nottingham.

 

They were replaced on that in October 2015 when ‘trentbarton’ introduced Volvo/Plaxton Elite coaches.

 

Since then they have spent their time with’ ‘n+d’ and ‘TMT’ .

 

 

 

YX65 RFY ‘ High Peak Buses’ No. 525 ‘TRANSPEAK’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200 

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

 

It has appeared on my blog before when it was working a genuine TRANSPEAK service.

 

On this occasion it is working service 114 a former ‘yourbus’ route from Ashbourne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SN65 OFB ‘Littles Transport’. Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) Enviro 200 / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200

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

 

Working service 9 another former ‘yourbus’ route from Ilkeston.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FN04 HSU ‘Kinchbus’ Loughborough, No. 651. Scania L94UB / Wright Solar

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

 

Working a service that is normally worked by route branded Mercedes-Benz Citaro’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BX64 WHV ‘Kinchbus’ Loughborough, No. 908 ‘skylink’. Mercedes-Benz Citaro

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

 

Included because it might be the last time I see it. 

 

Rumour has it that it and its fellow M-B Citaro’s are going to ‘Alexander Dennis Ltd’ In part exchange for Alexander Dennis Ltd. (ADL) E20D / ‘ADL’ Enviro 200MMC’s.

 

55 of which are on order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FJ13 FYM ‘ARRIVA Midlands’ No. 3737. VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar

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

 

Formerly branded for the X38 service to Burton-on-Trent. (see by blog posted 15/01/2018 for an illustration).

 

 

 

‘Scene’ at the ‘Scottish Vintage Bus Museum’ at Lathalmond on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’ Recovery Vehicles

Recovery of broken down or damaged vehicles used to provide work for a wide variety of cut down and otherwise modified former buses.

 

These days, such are the complexities and legislation surrounding such activity that it is often contracted out to specialist operators. 

 

Fortunately there are some modified bus recovery vehicles still left to entertain us.

 

WG 8107 ‘W. Alexander & Sons Ltd’. No. 205. Leyland Tiger TS8 / Alexander /1

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

 

New as No. P528 in 1939.

 

 

 

 

WG 8107 ‘W. Alexander & Sons Ltd’. No. 205. Leyland Tiger TS8 / Alexander /2

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

 

 

 

 

CSG 29C ‘Eastern Scottish’ No. E6. Bristol FLF6G / Eastern Coach works

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

 

New to ‘Scottish Omnibuses’ as No. AA29.

 

 

 

 

DMS 359C ‘Midland Scottish’ No. ML 309. Leyland Leopard / Alexander ‘Y’

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

 

New to ‘Alexander (Midland)’ as No. MPE 73.

 

 

 

 

JK 5603 ‘Operator Unknown. AEC Matador / Bodywork Unknown

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

 

For completeness sake, I include the only genuine ‘wrecker’ on display.

 

A former military vehicle new in 1943.

 

‘Scene’ in Derby on ‘trentbarton’s service H1 on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

It seems hard to believe that its now 4 months since I last visited Derby with buses in mind.

 

However it was changes to the buses on the H1 that I had observed that required investigating.

 

Service H1 which links Derby to Heanor and hourly on to Alfreton goes back some years but since January 2014 it had been the exclusive preserve of a small fleet of Optare Versa’s.

 

These were launched to the public in Derby’s Market Place on the 11th of January that year.

 

Numbered  828 to 832 and registered YD63 VCV/W/X/Y and Z.

 

I digress slightly at this stage. 

 

Regular readers may remember my blog of 28th. Of March 2020 in which I was sad to report the ending of ‘trentbarton’s rapid1 service to Nottingham.

 

The two regular route branded Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse’s used on that route were FJ08 WHR No. 726 and  FJ08 WHS No. 727. (See blog dated 28/03/2020 for an illustration).

 

During a number of visits to Derby’s hospitals in recent weeks, I had seen both of these buses now running in H1 livery.

 

At the same time I cannot recall seeing any of the Versa’s in service.

 

It would seem possible that the Volvo’s have replaced the Versa’s although I could be wrong.

 

If I am correct then replacing six year old buses with twelve year old buses does not bode well for the future of the six year old ones.

 

Time will tell !

 

YD63 VCZ ‘trentbarton’ No. 832 (and others) ‘Heanor’sH1. Optare Versa

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

 

 

 

FJ08 WHR‘trentbarton’ No. 726 ‘Heanor’sH1. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse /1

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

 

 

 

 

 

FJ08 WHS‘trentbarton’ No. 727 ‘Heanor’sH1. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse /1

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

 

 

 

 

 

FJ08 WHS‘trentbarton’ No. 727 ‘Heanor’sH1. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse /2

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

 

 

 

 

 

FJ09 BXM‘trentbarton’ No. 732 ‘Heanor’sH1. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse /2

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

 

 

 

 

 

FJ08 WHR‘trentbarton’ No. 726 ‘Heanor’sH1. Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse /2

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

 

It has been the norm to put different ‘messages’ on the rear of H1 buses so I include the rear end of FJ08 WHR No. 726 for completeness sake.

 

‘Scene’ in Edinburgh 3, ‘Coaches’ on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

Edinburgh attracts coaches like moths to a flame. This selection is but a small sample of what was on view.

 

Unfortunately I was pushed for time. My 4 and a half hour train journey North had turned into an 8 hour marathon !!

 

To be fair, I applied to ‘Northern Rail’s delay, repay scheme and got the whole of the fare I had payed back.

 

BN66 GAL ‘Galleon 2009’, Roydon, Essex. VDL FDD2-141/510 / VDL

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

 

 

 

 

YJ64 AUR ‘Stagecoach West Scotland’ No. 50313 ‘citylinkgold’. Van Hool TDX29 Astromega

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

YR17 RHE ‘Edinburgh Coach Lines’ No. 810. Scania K420EB6 / Irizar i6

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

 

In basic ’citylinkgold’ livery without the branding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BK14 LDU ‘Thomas of Rhondda’. Mercedes-Benz OC500RF / Caetano Levante

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