News, debate and discussion on South West's Bus Operations.


I don't know if you've saw in the news, but a large fire overnight at the Western Greyhound depot in Cornwall destroyed a third of the entire fleet, 37 vehicles in total.

Optare Solos, Solo SRs, East Lancs Pyoneers, Plaxton Beaver 2s and 4 of the 6 Truro P&R Mercedes Citaros were destroyed. I don't know what the state of the former GNE Plaxton Presidents that were acquired from the Oxford Bus Company are like however.

The below links show reports and pictures of the wreckage.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...buses.html

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fire-bus-depot-...42216.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-22506806

Do any of you have a type of bus you like/d travelling on the most?
What about the ones you dislike?

Old school 70's/80s buses are my personal favourite.
In no particular order, MCW Metrobus, ECW Olympian, National Mk2 (used to bang my head on the Mk1 luggage racks) and the Atlanteans were mine.
I quite like the Sxxx OFT type Olympians and enjoyed a ride on the Deltas/Vectas and Sigmas/Lances too. Always hoped for a ride on the last remaining Delta based at Washington before it went, but never had any joy.

Dislikes - anything small! Although I didnt dislike the Metrorider, the original Go-ahead Minilinks, the Merc minibuses, darts and the soulless modern midi-buses aren't favourites at all.
The Spectra rear down stairs seats at the very back had no padding and were shockingly uncomforable, so they fall into this category, alongside the Solo's (my first journey on one resulted in me sitting at the back, seeing a mate walking outside, turning around to wave and saying hello to a solid backed bus... Other passengers noticed my mistake)

Anybody collect these or even pick the odd one up? I tend to pick the odd one up if I'm a fan of the branding or vehicle, but tend to stick with North East or TfL stuff. I'm hoping GNE commission something new like the green Angel.

Jet2 have leased G-POWI from Titan for this summer at Newcastle, supposedly it's covering for a 733 which has not been is condition as expected after purchase from last operator. It's a wet lease so the crews on it will be Titan too. It has been liveried though however extremely basic with white body below red lettering. Should be interesting to see if Jet2 also use this as a trial run for Airbus overall as so far they operate an all Boeing fleet of 733/QC/F , 738 and 752s!!!

I have a Question - Would anyone like to see GNE start up there own Preservation Trust which obviously includes Preserving Current/Former Buses into their former glory.

Now I have done quite a bit of research over the past few days, also if you have any other ideas, please leave a comment or alternatively send me an email - adammalarkey92@gmail.com - The more information/feedback I have the better and it would be greatly appreciated. So if anyone has any old fleet lists for MCW MetroBuses/ECW Bodied Olympians/Leyland Lynxs/Optare Deltas etc please email me them on the above email address.

So if anyone is interested if could message me your email address i'll happily send you the Word Document with all the information on it as I wouldn't be able to post it on here as it exceeds the Maximum Word Count etc.

I'm still putting it together as I type this message, but i'll send the document over ASAP.

Can anyone help with this one or does anyone know about it?
Dales & District operate a service from Northallerton to RAF Leeming.
Due to security issues, I always thought the bus would stop outside the main gates - however, it seems to actually goes inside, beyond security, to the accomodation areas!

Unusual working heading north now on the ECML.
Heading north on a1 between Darlington and Durham where the two run parallel - it was an electric 3 carriage scotrail.

Edit: www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/K98020/2013/05/09/advanced This was it

I wasn't entirely sure where to place this thread, but, as it most of the content will be probably consist of links to online videos, I've decided to post it here. If any of the admins think it should be moved, then please feel free to do so.

So, the purpose of the thread.

If anyone come across any transport-related videos whilst surfing the net (preferably documentary/historical/news-related items linked to the North East in some manner) then please use this thread to share your findings with others on the forum.

I'll start the thread off with a 1986 documentary aired as part of the BBC's Coast to Coast series. Entitled 'A Slow Train to Riccarton', the program documents the history of the old Border Counties railway line which ran between Hexham and Riccarton Junction. The line closed in 1956 and some of the track-bed is now submerged under Kielder Reservoir.

PART ONE:


PART TWO:


Enjoy.

After the dubious nature of the Airport to Sunderland route, I wondered what other gems we could come up with.

Staying witht the airport theme and to get us started:

PB0002400/494 - GO NORTHERN LTD T/A GO
NORTH EAST, 117 QUEEN STREET, GATESHEAD,
NE8 2UA
Registration Accepted
Starting Point: NEWCASTLE AIRPORT TERMINAL
Finish Point: AMSTERDAM SCHIPOL AIRPORT
Via: COWGATE, NEWCASTLE, WALLSEND
INTERCHANGE, PERCY MAIN, ROYAL QUAYS OUTLET, DFDS FERRY, NORTH SEA, IJMUIDEN, AMSTERDAM CITY CENTRE, SCHIPOL AIRPORT
Service Number: 505
Service Type: Normal Stopping/Limited Stop Effective Date: 30-JUN-2013
Other Details: Daily, hourly stopping points as
per timetable

Hi Guys

Assume that you now have to log in to see posts to lighten the load on the servers of lurkers?

Understandable but a bit faffy when I'm using Private Browsing on most of my kit