PORTO 70; EFACEC TROLLEYBUS

We thought East Germany was backward: Not any more

I'm afraid in Britain with it's love of the motor car Public Transport is considered more of a nuisance like those cyclists and hoodies than as a viable means of getting from A to B. Consequently it has taken longer to convert to low-floor disabled-friendly buses and unlike places which we used to laugh at we don't have aids like real-time information at bus stops outside the large cities, indeed often at bus stops there is no information at all. In Potsdam one never has long to wait for a tram.

One every twelve-minutes-You must be joking!

Stafford's main bus route is the No.9 which runs via the Town Centre and Railway Station from the large Highfields Estate to the SW of the town beside the M6 to the Hospital and University to the East. The twelve-minute frequency dates back to the days when Chaserider Ford Transit mini-buses in the town ran every few minutes. This route under Arriva became council-sponsored and gained a fleet of eight dedicated new buses, and with the exception of 2338 from Shrewsbury these low-floor Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Darts Nos.2329-332/4-8 have become the oldest in the town that haven't come in being exchanged as cast-offs from other garages. The batch still mostly work the No.9 but now it runs half-hourly as another half-hourly Town Service No.1 makes it every fifteen-minutes to the Hospital and the half-hourly Cannock services also serve the Hospital. Still it seems a long time if you just miss one as the Cannock and No.9 tend to come together.

A sad day at Indra Ghandi Str

Like the first leaf-fall of Autumn it's always slightly upsetting when we see the first withdrawal of our favourite buses. It's not only for when we remember them as being brand new as a reminder that we too are getting older but before too long as part of our eveyday they will be just a memory. Whilst quite a few of the previous generation were still running about 1984 MAN 3501 in the Berlin BVG fleet might probably have been about first normal withdrawal of this next major type to go as it was one of three pre-droduction prototypes. However I took this view at the old compound at Indria Ghandi Str. about ten years ago and for all I know one or two might hopefully still be hanging on.

Autumn in Beechy Bucks: London Country SNB 451

Yes Autumn is here again and many a London commuter has been attracted to the pleasant countryside of beechy Bucks (Buckinghamshire) and leafy Berks (Berkshire). Chilternlink was the marketing name given to the former green London Transport Amersham area services of the NBC and this short economy specification B-Series National was typical of the thirty buses allocation there at this small Buckinghamshire town

NAW bound for Tiefencastel

In the actual Post Office (PTT) owned bus fleet there were just over forty of these rather attractive and very Swiss NAW B4-23 buses built to the old restricted standard dimensions for mountain roads at the former Saurer factory by then owned by Mercedes-Benz. Not surprisingly about half of them were allocated to the Regie (Owned) Garages in the Graubunden particularly at Davos, Thusis and Scuol. More unusual was an almost identical Hess bodied example of 1990 found working with a PTT Contractor in the Canton too and I had to look at the manufacturer's plate just to check to see if the still new GR 4125 had already been sold off from the main PTT owned fleet before I had time to tick it off my list as occasionally happened.

Blackpool's Golden Mile

Heading along Blackpool's Golden Mile was this former Greater Manchester Duple Commander bodied Leyland Leopard of 1972. They had withdrawn these by then in the mid-Eighties and I suspect it might have been here for a bus rally as other heritage vehicles passed as well. Sadly not many Commanders have made it into preservation today so maybe they all rotted away before anyone thought about saving them.

Lisbon: MAN 2146

A wash-off by the Seine

Way back in Christmas 1965 a Dutch based Bussing coach of Malser was having some of the winter weather washed off beside the River Seine in Paris. In Britain our vision is slightly blinkered and because of more recent imports we only think of Van Hool and Jonkheere but the Benelux Countries had a number of other quality coachbuilders like Stoelen, N.V of Joure, and of course the superb designs of Verheul to be found on AEC Reliance 691 coaches of Vavo-Greyhound in the late-Sixties.

Metro-York National2

On Deregulation the former West Yorkshire PTE expanded slightly when it acquired the York based services of the former NBC West Yorkshire. Call it standardisation but often it's a way of getting rid of unpopular types and a number of the PTE's Leyland National2 buses found their way here. I don't know the story but no less than three can be seen in this view with York Minster in the background.

Stafford: Minibuses No More!

Believe it or not in Stafford minibuses have featured with the various owners of Midland Red and of course more latterly Arriva since 1983 but no more. In the early days they were Ford Transits, but there have also been horrible Dodge and Northern Counties bodied Renault's too. But in more recent times the only slightly more glamorous but unquestionably very reliable Mercedes workhorses have featured prominently including far travelled second-hand 608's from Stagecoach Group where this one started life on the South Coast with Southdown before moving to East Midland. The modern local Arriva fleet is very much dominated by the Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart,

Some buses you never frow to love

There are vehicles that I quickly dismissed when they were new that I grew to love, but i'm afraid that doesn't apply to this East-Lancs bodied Volvo of Blue Bus of Horwich. Of course it is always nice to see Independents buying new service buses and a double-decker to boot but it severe profile is not helped by the cold harsh colours of it's livery that was similar to Derby, The red element didn't improve things either but First's GMT(North) buses in that tomato soup with purple lettering was not much better. To think in Bolton as well as the Corporation with it's stunning ' Ralph Bennett' visionary Atlanteans there were two other superb fleets at work here, LUT and Ribble.