Heres one for us older members of the forum.
I've just been remembering some of the services and operators that came about on or around deregulation October 1986.
Obviously you have the main operators and some of the well known independents such as
OK Travel
Low Fell Coaches
Catch a Bus
Resby Coaches
Hunters
But there are a couple that I can remember but unable to locate details on Google search etc.
These are
North Eastern Buses
Trojan Travel
Both of these operated in a livery similar to NBC green at the time.
North Eastern operated services in the Gateshead area numbered 91/92 I believe and operated similar to 93/94 loop, so will have been a competition service
Trojan operated as the Trojan Outer Circle (not sure if there was an inner circle) and this was Heworth to Washington.
Any one remember these and got any info on them?
NB. I may have queried this many moons ago but can't remember responses and can't work out how to direct search either scrolling through everything
(08 Mar 2022, 7:06 pm)ifm001 wrote [ -> ]Heres one for us older members of the forum.
I've just been remembering some of the services and operators that came about on or around deregulation October 1986.
Obviously you have the main operators and some of the well known independents such as
OK Travel
Low Fell Coaches
Catch a Bus
Resby Coaches
Hunters
But there are a couple that I can remember but unable to locate details on Google search etc.
These are
North Eastern Buses
Trojan Travel
Both of these operated in a livery similar to NBC green at the time.
North Eastern operated services in the Gateshead area numbered 91/92 I believe and operated similar to 93/94 loop, so will have been a competition service
Trojan operated as the Trojan Outer Circle (not sure if there was an inner circle) and this was Heworth to Washington.
Any one remember these and got any info on them?
NB. I may have queried this many moons ago but can't remember responses and can't work out how to direct search either scrolling through everything
North Eastern were based on the Team Valley at BRS. Altona were based there too. North Eastern ran the 92 Gateshead to Kibblesworth route.
Trojan's route was basically a works service serving the industrial estates at Washington. Anyone could use it though. I did it in the late 1980s. The driver was the owner and he seemed to know most of the passengers. A lot of them seemed to work at a textiles plant. The service went all the way around Washington. I remember getting off at Concord and photographing the coach. He only had two vehicles.
Charles
(08 Mar 2022, 7:30 pm)Charles41 wrote [ -> ]North Eastern were based on the Team Valley at BRS. Altona were based there too. North Eastern ran the 92 Gateshead to Kibblesworth route.
Trojan's route was basically a works service serving the industrial estates at Washington. Anyone could use it though. I did it in the late 1980s. The driver was the owner and he seemed to know most of the passengers. A lot of them seemed to work at a textiles plant. The service went all the way around Washington. I remember getting off at Concord and photographing the coach. He only had two vehicles.
Charles
Wasn't North Eastern formed by ex drivers?
(08 Mar 2022, 7:06 pm)ifm001 wrote [ -> ]Heres one for us older members of the forum.
I've just been remembering some of the services and operators that came about on or around deregulation October 1986.
Obviously you have the main operators and some of the well known independents such as
OK Travel
Low Fell Coaches
Catch a Bus
Resby Coaches
Hunters
But there are a couple that I can remember but unable to locate details on Google search etc.
These are
North Eastern Buses
Trojan Travel
Both of these operated in a livery similar to NBC green at the time.
North Eastern operated services in the Gateshead area numbered 91/92 I believe and operated similar to 93/94 loop, so will have been a competition service
Trojan operated as the Trojan Outer Circle (not sure if there was an inner circle) and this was Heworth to Washington.
Any one remember these and got any info on them?
NB. I may have queried this many moons ago but can't remember responses and can't work out how to direct search either scrolling through everything
There was conversation in another part of the forum and I think it was North Eastern that was mentioned then.
It came about when I queried an independent that I used a few times from the Southend Road/Whinlatter Gardens area and I think it was MurdnunoC who solved that mystery.
Cant remember much about them, other than the saloon was always a mess.
Didn't last long, hence the poor memories.
North Eastern also ran the 91, formerly, the 647 between Newcastle and Lobley Hill but curtailed at Gateshead.
Other services off the top of my head were:
606: Clara Vale - Metrocentre - Gateshead
634: Hole-in-the-Wall Estate - Metrocentre - Dunston
635: Hole-in-the-Wall Estate - Newcastle
I think I may have posted the timetable to the 634 elsewhere on the forum.
Other operators include
Moor Dale
Classic, Annfield Plain
I think A-Line started services around that time.
Jolly in Sunderland
Andersons of Westerhope.
Calvary Coaches
(08 Mar 2022, 11:22 pm)Rapidsnap wrote [ -> ]Other operators include
Moor Dale
Classic, Annfield Plain
I think A-Line started services around that time.
Jolly in Sunderland
Andersons of Westerhope.
Calvary Coaches
Was Moor Dale owned by arriva/Northumbria?
Did arriva/TGM sell classic to JH coaches or did JH just take on extra work following the closure?
(09 Mar 2022, 9:16 am)Mark1 wrote [ -> ]Was Moor Dale owned by arriva/Northumbria?
Did arriva/TGM sell classic to JH coaches or did JH just take on extra work following the closure?
Eventually it was along with Rotchester and Marshall (R +M). There was also the short lived Easyway in Gateshead soon sent packing by the Big Orange Mk2 Nationals of Go Ahead and I am suprised no one has mantioned TMS/ Tyne & Wear omnibus. there was also Welcome and South Durham Buses.
These operators existed on both sides of deregulation:
In the Nexus area: Jolly (Sunderland) Economic (Whitburn). Coming into Newcastle from Northumberland: Vasey (Otterburn), Wrights (Nenthead), Gold Leaf (Wooler).
Services within Northumberland: R&M (Hexham and to the north-east), Snaith (Otterburn), Rothbury Motors (Rothbury), Northern Garage (Bellingham to Kielder), Raisbeck (Bedlington local), Crown (Morpeth), Tyne Valley (Hexham and north -west), Pattersons (Beadnell), Wansbeck (Ashington), Craiggs (Amble). There were also several other operators who ran school services within Northumberland which were open to the public.
(09 Mar 2022, 9:16 am)Mark1 wrote [ -> ]Was Moor Dale owned by arriva/Northumbria?
Did arriva/TGM sell classic to JH coaches or did JH just take on extra work following the closure?
Moor Dale, and it's associated company Rochester & Marshall were acquired by Proudmutual Holdings in December 1989. Produmutual was the holding company for Northumbria Motor Services.
Moor Dale had no stage carriage work prior to deregulation, most of their work was schools, works & private hire. At de-reg they won a number of services on tender from Tyne & Wear PTE.
I'm not entirely sure on the whole history behind JH, though I believe the former owners of Classic Coaches bought Jim Hughes coaches, ultimately becoming the modern day JH coaches.
Moor Dale were for a long time Newcastle Uniteds official travel partner and had the team coach and supporters club contract during most of the 90s.
I remember Welcome Buses as well who were the catalyst for Stagecoach bringing in Magic Bus on Tyneside and Stagecoach finally bought out Welcome.
(09 Mar 2022, 11:37 pm)Ambassador wrote [ -> ]Moor Dale were for a long time Newcastle Uniteds official travel partner and had the team coach and supporters club contract during most of the 90s.
I remember Welcome Buses as well who were the catalyst for Stagecoach bringing in Magic Bus on Tyneside and Stagecoach finally bought out Welcome.
Welcome was a good few years before Magic Bus - Busways had taken over Welcome in 1993 (prior to Stagecoach era) and discontinued the name in 1995. Magic Bus didn't come on the scene until 1997.
(10 Mar 2022, 12:14 am)stagecoachbusdepot wrote [ -> ]Welcome was a good few years before Magic Bus - Busways had taken over Welcome in 1993 (prior to Stagecoach era) and discontinued the name in 1995. Magic Bus didn't come on the scene until 1997.
The money there got from purchasing welcome passenger transport was used to set up HMB and used a depot at Felling then there started Welco and there had the old Jolly Bus depot at South Hylton and operated the W20/W21 plus other services in Sunderland and Newcastle, South Hylton had a good bus services through those years with busways having the 8/9/9A and have buses in front of welco with the 8A/20A and 20B, and northern having a couple of double deckers on the 126 in front of Welco W21 as that went up Chester road and Nookside then down to South Hylton , if I remember rightly magic bus started up in Newcastle for competition against HMB buses, I think old welcome depot was just around the corner of saltmeadows depot
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah, I think the Welcome depot was further along Saltmeadows Road. The CPS Haulage yard rings a bell. Anyone remember where the HMB depot was?
(10 Mar 2022, 1:02 pm)Chris 1 wrote [ -> ]Yeah, I think the Welcome depot was further along Saltmeadows Road. The CPS Haulage yard rings a bell. Anyone remember where the HMB depot was?
Felling, I remember walking past it seeing some of the minibuses in black and white for Newcastle area and red and white for Sunderland area
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
(10 Mar 2022, 1:02 pm)Chris 1 wrote [ -> ]Yeah, I think the Welcome depot was further along Saltmeadows Road. The CPS Haulage yard rings a bell. Anyone remember where the HMB depot was?
I'm sure Altona were around there somewhere too. Certainly late 90s/early 00's.
Catch a bus seemed to do alright in South shields always an interesting fleet.
The end was always coming when they started introducing services like the 48 and C20 against the established busways 18 and X20. Had Stagecoach taken over busways when catch a bus were still around?
Were catch a bus based next to east Boldon metro station?
(10 Mar 2022, 3:30 pm)Mark1 wrote [ -> ]Catch a bus seemed to do alright in South shields always an interesting fleet.
The end was always coming when they started introducing services like the 48 and C20 against the established busways 18 and X20. Had Stagecoach taken over busways when catch a bus were still around?
Were catch a bus based next to east Boldon metro station?
Catch a Bus were Hylton Castle Coaches, IIRC.
(10 Mar 2022, 3:30 pm)Mark1 wrote [ -> ]Catch a bus seemed to do alright in South shields always an interesting fleet.
The end was always coming when they started introducing services like the 48 and C20 against the established busways 18 and X20. Had Stagecoach taken over busways when catch a bus were still around?
Were catch a bus based next to east Boldon metro station?
Busways tried and failed to get catch a bus off the roads, when stagecoach took over there still didn’t budge, so stagecoach put dupes on dupes in front of every catch a bus service until there started to run empty and ceased bus service operations
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
(10 Mar 2022, 1:02 pm)Chris 1 wrote [ -> ]Yeah, I think the Welcome depot was further along Saltmeadows Road. The CPS Haulage yard rings a bell. Anyone remember where the HMB depot was?
HMB was on the west side of Green Lane, Felling next to F Short Haulage.
(10 Mar 2022, 3:44 pm)MurdnunoC wrote [ -> ]Catch a Bus were Hylton Castle Coaches, IIRC.
Correct, commenced operations in the 1950s according to the history books. Pre de-reg work consisted of factory contracts, mines and schools; with services in South Shields and a service to Newcastle commencing at deregulation. The fleet eventually settled on predominantly Bristol REs, though i can remember Plaxton Pointer Darts in later years. I'm sure they also operated Leyland Atlanteans, converted to single deck by East Lancs at some point.
Did Low Fell Coaches literally just run one service, as most of the photos I’ve seen of them just display ‘Cross Tyne Service’ with no service number displayed?
(11 Mar 2022, 7:49 am)Wybus wrote [ -> ]Did Low Fell Coaches literally just run one service, as most of the photos I’ve seen of them just display ‘Cross Tyne Service’ with no service number displayed?
That's all I ever remember them running.
Originally St Thomas St to Allerdene if memory serves. Omitted Gateshead Metro as well I think.
(11 Mar 2022, 7:49 am)Wybus wrote [ -> ]Did Low Fell Coaches literally just run one service, as most of the photos I’ve seen of them just display ‘Cross Tyne Service’ with no service number displayed?
Low Fell precede deregulation by about a year or so. Below is a timetable taken from the 1985 Tyne and Wear Timetable booklet.
[
attachment=9985]
At that time they only had one service but later expanded to two services after deregulation. Here is the timetable for their other service - taken from the Deregulation Day (Gateshead, Felling & Birtley) booklet.
[
attachment=9986]
(11 Mar 2022, 8:17 am)MurdnunoC wrote [ -> ]Low Fell precede deregulation by about a year or so. Below is a timetable taken from the 1985 Tyne and Wear Timetable booklet.
At that time they only had one service but later expanded to two services after deregulation. Here is the timetable for their other service - taken from the Deregulation Day (Gateshead, Felling & Birtley) booklet.
Can't remember that second service at all! What year/years was that? Just 86 or beyond? I remember a minilink down Whinlatter Road (Gateshead to the QE perhaps - via the Racecourse Estate that set off from the Bensham Bank/Lobley Hill set of stands at Gateshead. M92?). But not this one.
(11 Mar 2022, 9:00 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]Can't remember that second service at all! What year/years was that? Just 86 or beyond? I remember a minilink down Whinlatter Road (Gateshead to the QE perhaps - via the Racecourse Estate that set off from the Bensham Bank/Lobley Hill set of stands at Gateshead. M92?). But not this one.
Yep. October 86. January 1987 was the next set of major changes and, arguably, when the era of laissez-faire bus operations post deregulation really began.
Edit: Another little snippet of information regarding Low Fell Coaches (and Gateshead in General).
[
attachment=9987]
Taken from Buses Vol.38 No.379 October 1986
really interesting that.... so it basically says that buses going into town was as in direct competition with Metro after dereg.?
(11 Mar 2022, 9:40 am)MurdnunoC wrote [ -> ] Yep. October 86. January 1987 was the next set of major changes and, arguably, when the era of laissez-faire bus operations post deregulation really began.
Edit: Another little snippet of information regarding Low Fell Coaches (and Gateshead in General).
Taken from Buses Vol.38 No.379 October 1986
Mustn't have lasted that long in the grand scheme of things. Who knew Southend Road and Whinlatter Road were such a hive of competition!
(11 Mar 2022, 10:31 am)Rob44 wrote [ -> ]really interesting that.... so it basically says that buses going into town was as in direct competition with Metro after dereg.?
In a nutshell.
Interesting about the cuts to evening and Sunday services.
I remember the change to the 26 at the time. Dropped from every 20 to every 30, last runs finished early (last bus around 7pm) and nothing on a Sunday. The PTE funded a couple of late runs on a Friday and Saturday several hours later for a few years.
The PTE also funded and diverted the 733 on a Sunday via Barley Mow to fill the gaps left by the 26 withdrawals.
(11 Mar 2022, 10:48 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]Mustn't have lasted that long in the grand scheme of things. Who knew Southend Road and Whinlatter Road were such a hive of competition!.
For the purposes of completion, here's the state of play in Gateshead when first set of post deregulation revisions happened in January 1987.
[
attachment=9988]
[
attachment=9989]
As you can see, rhe second Low Fell Coaces service survived the first call.
(11 Mar 2022, 8:01 pm)MurdnunoC wrote [ -> ]For the purposes of completion, here's the state of play in Gateshead when first set of post deregulation revisions happened in January 1987.
As you can see, rhe second Low Fell Coaces service survived the first call.
Interesting.
At the time, I was using buses between Barley Mow and Gateshead/Newcastle or Southend Road/Whinlatter Gardens and the same.
I remember the furor when the 26 was sent to the Metrocentre and the aggro when they decided to miss out The Drive and have it terminate on Suffolk Place (missing out several stops on the way) or for a very short period, Chester.
This was all in the same era as the apparent NorthEastern and Low Fell Coaches bus war - that I have no recollection of at all.
Thanks for clarifying it did happen though!