You Have To Look Twice L503-CPB

 Seen in Stafford, at first glance I thought this was one of the East-Lancs EL2000 bodied Dennis Darts L503 BNX delivered to Midland Red North but it was in fact an almost identical bus which came from London and Country L503 CPB.

A Is For Augsburg

The letter 'A' in the German registration codes is for Augsburg as carried on this rather overpowering red and black Neoplan coach of Reim.  WIS carried by the by then quite elderly Setra might be a lot more difficult to guess but it's for Wismar, formerly part of the DDR and situated on the coast half way between Rostock and Lubeck. I've learnt something today as I had to look that one up and even though I've been to Lubeck I've never heard of Wismar before.

Chester City or Subway City

For once a Subway sandwich take-away lives up to it's name for as soon as one exits this one there it is. The Arriva Enviro double-decker carries a cherished registraion and as well as J400 ABW I have J100 ABW so I imagine when new it was to boost their image as part of some promotion. Little do I know!

Stagecoach Enviro WA11 CHN heading for Topsham on the T

The trouble with Stagecoach buses is they tend to all look the same and one has to see the destination before they can guess when the photo was taken. Topsham is a well known destination, a quiet hamlet or village that many years ago got swallowed up by the city of Exeter as it expanded. It is interesting though that letters are used here instead of route numbers as this was how it used to be in the time of Exeter City Transport.

P443 JOX Reminds you of something else?

There are some buses we like and not for the most obvious reason. I liked these Volvos anyway but this batch made me think of Midland Red as this is P443 JOX whilst by coincidence Midland Red had both Nationals and Plaxton bodied Leopard coaches in the pervious registration scheme and the series which included JOX 444P. JOX 443P was another one but it never ran for Midland Red as it moved to another NBC operator South Wales along with 442 before entering service in the Midlands. Before anyone pulls me up, yes there were two Daimler Fleelines as well which had been ordered by Harpers JOX 439-440P.

Invictaway Leyland Tiger ESK 988

Maidstone and District retained it's striped NBc Invictaway coach livery after the break-up and I rather liked it. One thing for an enthusiast that was annoying though was the number of mystery vehicles carrying 'cherished registrations' like Duple bodied Tiger 2191 seen here in London. Actually it started life with Southdown as B815 JPN.

Midland Fox SHE538S: She's a Lady

I think a lot of people think of vehicles as being either male or female but this former South Yorkshire PTE Alexander bodied Daimler Fleetline by then with Midland Fox at Leicester has already made up their minds. Of course this was taken in the Nineties long before Coronavirus but looking at the Cadbury's advert today not so much a chocolate treat but instead the unwelcome finger of fate.

Playing With Numbers: Arriva VDL Plaxton YJ57 BWE

In the UK operators taking a pride in their fleet is very much a thing of the past instead they just keep them going. To a true tradesman it might annoy them so much they would have to pull it all off and do the job properly. I am talking about the fleet number alteration on the front of this Arriva VDL as it must have been something like 3145 but when they tried to change it to an eight there was not enough space so they used a small sized number instead. I don't suppose the passengers will take too much notice they will just be glad to see the Stafford Hospital bus turn up. At least unlike the 825 from Lichfield which didn't always bother to finish the last leg of it's journey the H shuttle service is fairly reliable and runs to time. 

You're Never Alone With A Biro: Street Line MA 120

This 'Ace Spotter' in the 90' certainly picked a good spot outside Victoria Station to catch all the frantic bus activity but what makes people want to spot numbers as an adult. When I did it as a youngster most of the pleasure came from the unknown, the mystery of it and getting a pleasant surprise or two on a good day like a prospector looking for rare gems or or panning for gold. When as a family we first started taking breaks in London, Victoria seemed to be it's heart for buses at least especially with the coach station nearby and I always ended up there. The buses going north went up Tottenham Court Road and passed where we stayed at The Ivanhoe on Gower Street heading south. To tell you how long ago it was only one route with Routemasters came past and that was the 29 with Wood Green RM400's and 600's I think.  I knew very little about the bus network yet armed with a Junior Red Rover and  ignorant of how far it might be just hopped on a bus heading back to a garage sometimes even as far away as South Croydon if I was lucky or just my luck to to Camberwell.  Despite my ignorance I was 'street-wise' enough to spot about 1500 of the 8300 buses in just five days. As it is today there have always been enthusiasts who know everything but in a way I'm slowly going back to my early days as an enthusiast for I'm not really that interested and when I take a bus photo of Arriva in St Helens I get a kind of satisfaction as I don't know how many buses they have there or if it is rare or about to be withdrawn. The fact that it is a bus is good enough for me and it's making the photo that counts. Indeed the fact that I chose to take minibuses too like this instead of the good stuff means I have things that others missed too so it isn't that stupid really.

West Midlands MCW Metrobus 3000 F300 XOF

The West Midlands seems to have regularly been blessed with buses in heritage liveries. West Midlands did a batch mostly in the old Birmingham livery in the Nineties including Metrobus 3000 no doubt chosen for it's number which was seen passing a Wright bodied Volvo branded for the Hagley Road on Corporation Street

Why-Why delilah or ratherYY63 OJD

Sorry it's not even South Wales and I haven't even been hit across the head with an old Tom Jones fan mag but I seem to have a habit of using song titles for my posts. I guess it's not quite as informative as writing about a 2013 National Express Caetano Lavante arriving in Peterborough on a quiet Sunday.  However women's names on National Express vehicles is not so far fetched as it might seem for they do just that in the West Midlands.

The Secret of East Yorkshire 421 CKH

This East Yorkshire Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tiger leaving Sheffield for Bridlington used to be registed A521 AVN.

Abigail's Party?

It's a nice idea but I wonder how many of the West Midlands drivers at Wolverhampton can remember for example that 5401 is Abigail or enthusiasts for that matter, a photo of her which was taken whilst still in that standout green hybrid bus  livery. Fortunately this fleet is fairly clean and reliable otherwise the ladies might complain why can't there be Ali and Alf's to grumble about too.

Bristol City Line Lynx F611 RTC

If I were to write a book about the first few years after Deregulation I might well want to get 'Indian Summer' into the title as it was a good time to be interested in buses and for all we know probably the last time to feel any excitement as things would never be the same again. It was a bit like when a piece of forest is cleared of tall trees and all the flowers and saplings suddenly appear all growing as fast as they can to stop being smothered, some of course are just weeds but others establish themselves and not only prosper they can also be admired before eventual takeover. Larger companies were formed as parts of former PTE and NBC fleets were brought together and re branded. In a light green and cream Badgerline had one of the most pleasant liveries but it's fleet within Bristol itself wore a striking red blue and yellow scheme as seen on this Leyland Lynx, one of many in the group. Even though the registration marque TC was transferred to Bristol many many years ago I still can't look at it without thinking the bus should be in Lancashire.

First Potteries Streetlight SM13 NCA

People and a driverless bus in Hanley. The buses with First Potteries have a better age pofile than used to be the case but the registration letters show that they have been cascaded down lke this Wright Streetlite with a scottish marque. First might big one of the big three UK bus operators but the fleet number 63101 gives the wrong impression somewhat.

Moreira, Gomes e Costas

Seen in Porto in 1984 was this very smart very new Utic bodied Leyland which could boast a very low registration number NC 0008.

Yeoman's Bedford VAL CVJ 800C

The small city of Hereford being on the south-west flank of the giant Midland Red empire also played host to a number of large companies, indeed Red and White had a small depot here too. On the Independent front as well as Wye Valley was Yeoman's who provided an attractive bottle-green painted mix of interesting old and bought new buses including this quite rare Duple bodied Bedford VAL. A little quirk that lasted many years was the way the company tried to register it's buses with a hundred number. Probably they had a friend who worked in the local road-tax office who helped if they could to find one that was available.

Ian Allan: Bus Aren't What They Used to Be

Ian Allan realised there were rail enthusiasts who would welcome pocket size handbooks full of numbers and this led to a nationwide craze for spotting trains during the Fifties and before. With buses London Transport was well represented of course but later came other bus companies too and area books. All of these date from before my spotting days started indeed the ABC of London dates from December 1944. I think it must be quite a rariry and was given to me today by my friend Natalin, and it sumarises the bus fleet but all the trolleybuses and trams are listed individually although the trolleys lack any registration numbers. A useful reference book with includes the garages and trams sheds too.

SMB 601V Bostock of Congleton

At the time this was taken Bostock of Congleton ran a fleet of forty-five Bedford and Leyland coaches including this Duple Dominant bodied Leopard. Nearly every number was used, this was No.6 but there was no No.13.

Brighton TYS 1S: Waves of Nostalgia

I was keeping this and I know it's not the first day of the month but I've chose Brighton Corporation No.1. There is something about the number-one in a fleet and it's celebrity makes it that little bit more memorable than the others. For instance I can remember two more Brighton buses with this distinguishing mark, a Weymann bodied trolleybus maybe HUF 1, then there was a later Weymann Orion bodied Leyland PD2 5001 CD and lastly this bus one of a number of attractive East-Lancs bodied Atlanteans in the fleet. I guess these buses were not quite as exciting as the earlier examples I mentioned but nostalgia is a strange thing and it takes it's place amongst the Great of the Past. Of interest is the way some registration letters got moved to a different licensing office as happened here as YS was a Glasgow marque.