‘Scene’ Coaching in Scotland Part 1 on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

A few days based in Fort William enabled me to get a reasonable cross section of images of coaches both local and from further afield.

 

Seen at Moffat Mill Services.

 

BX63 BCE ‘Epsom Coaches’ SETRA S416GT-HD

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

 

 

 

The clue to its ownership is the fleet number over the door which reveals it to be a ‘Stagecoach’ group vehicle.

 

‘Stagecoach East Scotland’ having taken over ‘Rennies of Dunfermline’ when the company’s owner retired in 2008.

 

Seen at Moffat Mill Services.

 

HKZ 726 ‘Rennie’s’ 53038 Volvo B12M / Sunsundegui Sideral

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

 

 

Seen in Fort William.

SP08 FPG ‘megabus.com’ 54048 Volvo  B12B / Plaxton Panther

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previously Y759 WSM with ‘McEwan of Amisfield’, Scotland.

 

Seen in Fort William.

 

T9 RTG ‘Ross Travel’ ‘Scania K1241B / Van Hool Alize T9

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen in Fort William.

 

K55 SBL ‘Shiel Buses’ Mercedes-Benz 1523LL / Esker

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formerly Y20 BGS with ‘Swindells’, Chadderton, Lancs.

 

Seen in Fort William.

 

K60 SBL ‘Shiel Buses’ Volvo B10M / Plaxton Premiere

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen at Mallaig ferryport.

 

X7 TCL ‘Telford’s Coaches’ VDL FHD2 / VDL Futura

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wearing an older livery which dates back to when ‘Shearings’ merged with ‘Wallace Arnold’ in 2005.

 

Seen at Kyle of Lochalsh.

 

BK09 RNA ‘Shearings Holidays’  Setra S416FHD-GT

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen at the Kyle of Lochalsh with the Isle of Skye in the background.

 

BF15 XPX ‘Shearings Holidays’ Mercedes-Benz Tourismo

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

 

 

 

 

 

Seen at Mallaig ferryport.

 

‘Shiel Buses’ work a service to Mallaig from Fort William.

HSK 735 ‘Shiel Buses’ Volvo B12M / Plaxton Paragon

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of a fleet of about 18 with this operator.

 

They are unusual in that the emergency exit is on the nearside to allow rapid loading and unloading of passengers in safe comditions.

 

Seen parked outsde ‘The Dalmally Hotel’, one of four hotels that the company own.

 

SN05 DVZ ‘Highland Heritage’ Volvo B12B / Van Hool Alize

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seen in Inverness.

 

2 WR ‘Parks of Hamilton’ Volvo B9R / Jonkheere SHV

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ at Tamworth services. on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

‘Scene’ at Tamworth services.

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

 

I know that ’17’ plates have been out for a while but this is the first one on either a bus or coach that I have seen.

 

AT17 ASH ‘Ashley Travel’ (Chesterfield) Irizar i6 / Irizar

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

 

 

‘Scene’ in the Southwest. YOR 456 on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

In transport terms, I have always been drawn to the new, the old and the unusual.

 

I think this particular coach qualifies in 2 of those categories.

 

At first glance, the bodywork bears a very strong resemblance to the Van Hool Alizee but it is in fact bodied by Jonckheere.

 

New to ‘Clarke’ of Lower Sydenham, London in 1995 as M325 KRY and currently operated by ‘Roselyn Coaches’ of Par in Cornwall. 

 

It gained its current registration in 2005.

 

Seen at Dawlish Warren, Devon.

 

YOR 456 ‘Roselyn Coaches’ Volvo B10M / Jonkheere

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YOR 456 ‘Roselyn Coaches’ Volvo B10M / Jonkheere /1

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YOR 456 ‘Roselyn Coaches’ Volvo B10M / Jonkheere /2

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

 

 

YOR 456 ‘Roselyn Coaches’ Volvo B10M / Jonkheere /3

on ‘Dennis Basfords railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

 

‘Scene’, Working for ‘Centrebus’ (Cb) on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

An interesting bus that crossed my path recently was AN09 BUS, ‘Centrebus’ No. 759.

 

A VDL SB200 with Wright Pulsar 2 bodywork, it was new to ‘Kimes’ of Folkingham’ as its No. 59.

 

This company became part of the ‘Cb’ group in 2011.

 

The slightly different to normal livery application where the white front panel extends further back across the bodyside is overlaid with ‘five counties’ branding.

 

The counties being Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland with the lengthy service 19 running from Nottingham to Peterborough. 

 

 

AN09 BUS ‘Centrebus’ No. 759 VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar 2

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

 

 

 

AN09 BUS ‘Centrebus’ No. 759 VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar 2 /1

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

 

 

 

AN09 BUS ‘Centrebus’ No. 759 VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar 2 /2

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

 

 

 

AN09 BUS ‘Centrebus’ No. 759 VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsar 2/3

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

 

‘Scene’ in the SouthWest. Exeter 1 on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

The City of Exeter is one of my many favourite places. A small City (as cities go), near the sea, compact, clean and busy. 

 

A ‘Stagecoach South West’ (SSW) stronghold but there are some intruders.

 

It used to have a good bus station and parking area that at the end of March 2017 unfortunately closed for re-developement.

 

We shall have to wait and see what sort of facility replaces it.

 

 

 

WA05 MGY ‘Stagecoach South West’ No. 18307 ‘part open top’ Dennis Trident / Alexander ALX 400

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

 

Very recently converted to open top, (the bare metal panelling has not yet been repainted) and due to be repainted into a yellow/orange livery.

 

For a colour image of the new livery, see ‘Buses’ magazine page 9 of the May 2017 issue.

 

 

 

YN65 XDT ‘Stagecoach South West’ No. 15254 ‘Gold 57’ Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

Alexander Dennis Ltd. have continued to develop the Enviro 400 body which is now over 10 years old. 

 

We have seen the ‘MMC’ and the ‘City’ but I do not think that for sheer elegance of design that the original has ever been bettered. Particularly when carrying a stylish (and clean) livery.

 

 

SN66 VVE ‘Stagecoach South West’ No. 10694 Alexander Dennis E40D / Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC

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

 

 

 

KX60 DVP ‘Turner’s Tours (Chumleigh)’ Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 200

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

 

I thought at first that this was a livery but closer inspection shows it to be simply road dirt. 

 

You have to feel sympathy for the passengers trying to see out of the windows.

 

New to Powell & Watson, Thurmaston, Leicestershire.

 

 

 

HX08 DHK ‘First Hampshire & Dorset’ No. 37582 ‘Jurassic Coaster’ Volvo B9TL / Wright Gemini Eclipse

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

 

The ‘Jurassic Coaster’ service which links Exeter to Poole has been much reduced in recent times which is a shame because it is a magnificent run. One of the must do journeys.

 

 

 

 

YJ59 NNK ‘Country Bus’ No. 317 Optare Solo M780

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

 

New to ‘Hatch Green Coaches’ of Hatch Green, Taunton.

 

 

 

P804 XTA ‘Stagecoach South West’ No. 52344 Volvo B10M / Plaxton Interurban

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

 

 

Delvered new to ‘Devon General’ (a constituent of ‘Stagecoach South West’) and now part of the training fleet.

 

 

YY14 WGX ‘Stagecoach South West’ No. 37141 ‘ex-citi’ Dennis Dart SLF 4 / Alexander Enviro 200

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

 

YN14 OWR ‘Stagecoach South West’ No. 15963 ‘Gold’ Scania N230UD / Alexander Dennis Ltd. Enviro 400

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Scene’ at the Midland Railway Trust (MRT) at Butterley on Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk

On the 24th. of December 2016, I published a blog about a ‘British Railways’ (BR) former ‘Great Western Railway’ 0-6-2T locomotive No. 5619 which at that time was employed on ‘Santa Specials’ in ‘BR’ green livery and carrying the later version of ‘BR’ logo.

 

Over the winter of 2016/2017, No. 5619 has been repainted into ‘BR’ black livery and now wears the earlier ‘BR’ logo which was known to enthusiasts as ‘The Cycling Lion’.

 

No. 5619 a member of the 56XX Class which was built between 1924 and 1928 specificaly for use on the valley lines of South Wales, primarily hauling coal.

 

 

5619 ‘British Railways’ 0-6-2T Black Class 56XX

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

 

 

 

5619 ‘British Railways’ 0-6-2T Black Class 56XX /1

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

 

‘Scene’, going ‘spare’ with ‘Nottingham City Transport’ (NCT) on ‘Dennis Basford’s railsroadsrunways.blogspot.co.uk’

I have seen this style of painting on an ‘NCT’ single decker before but this was the first time I had seen it on a double decker.

 

According to ‘NCT’s website, this is the new spare bus livery being known as ‘Silver Spare’.

 

It is interesting to compare this livery with the ‘Navy Line’ double decker pictured in my blog of 31/03/17 where the relationship between the two colours is reversed.

 

 

YT59 OZS ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 976 ‘Silver Spare’ Scania N270UD / Optare /1

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

 

 

 

 

YT59 OZS ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 976 ‘Silver Spare’ Scania N270UD / Optare /2

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

 

 

 

YT59 OZS ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 976 ‘Silver Spare’ Scania N270UD / Optare /3

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

 

 

 

YT59 OZS ‘Nottingham City Transport’ No. 976 ‘Silver Spare’ Scania N270UD / Optare /4

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