.....but not just any old London Bus

No doubt these two visitors to Eastbourne on the South Coast were pleased to see a London bus. However little did they know that it's not a true London bus as it was one of a small batch of five Leyland Titans tried by West Midlands PTE alongside the MCW Metrobus and then sold off to London who was the main user of this advanced type. Whereas the Olympian was built as a flexible chassis for operators to choose the bodywork the Titan was conceived as an off the peg double-deck equivalent to the rugged all-in-one National for the large PTE fleets. Delays launching the model didn't help and many operators preferred the more cheap and cheerful Metrobus to expensive vehicles like WDA2T seen here from the London Selkent unit which by this time was probably in the hands of Stagecoach.

Stafford Greengate Street becomes Whitegate Street

Watch the misery on the news caused by the snow on Britain's roads, railways and airports and they finish off with the sheer joy of children who can play in it as they  don't have to go to school. It seems they are not the only ones who enjoy it as judging by the number of wintery views I find we transport enthusiasts too seem to love going out with our cameras to record it's magical beauty, perils and cold dirty unpleasantness. No doubt this amount of snow would seem like nothing to most Nordic drivers but here in Britain an inch of the stuff might as well be a foot. Back in the Eighties the driver of PMT Leyland Olympian No.742 A742PMT has made it safely to his destination fifteen miles from Hanley. But to be fair Stafford usually gets far less snow than outlying districts.

Post Auto departures from Chur

The new covered Post Bus Station in Chur above the railway station at the far end linked to all the platforms for easy access is not only a huge improvement on what went before but it more of less symbolises the constant investment to make the  modern efficient Swiss transport system even better. However for me I prefer to look back to the days when the cobbled forecourt was the gathering place for characterful Saurer and FBW buses dating back to their early origins. Yes a wonderful place full of historic charm to take nostalgic photos but alas no doubt not quite so welcoming when in a rush or in the snow and rain. At the beginning of the Nineties Saurer RH's were still king of the Alpine roads and here the only Setras one encountered were coaches working the long tourist routes such as those in the background bound for Bellinzona in the South. A standard PTT RH can be seen in the background too but the Regie owned fleet also took twenty of the other style more usually found with the PAH Contractors. However it was easy to tell them apart as the PTT examples like 1982 R&J bodied P25649 going to Flims Waldhaus and Laax had more yellow on their fronts whilst the others had a black lower dash panel..

New National2 Buses for the Red Arrow

Apart from the standee Red Arrow buses it is only in recent times that red single-deck buses have become a familiar sight in the West End. When they were introduced in 1966 they were AEC Swifts or as London Transport preferred to call them Merlins. At the beginning of the Eighties the second generation of these were all replaced by noisy Leyland National2 buses like LS 443 GUW443W.

Byrens of Leek

Jim Berresford and his bus operations of Berresford Motors and later Stonier are almost legendary but as well there was another small unit close to Cheddleton at Leek called Byrnes. Three members of that fleet can be seen at the depot a petrol-engined Ford Transit plus two AEC Reliance semi-coaches, one bodied by Willowbrook VDB940 and the other WFN517 by Park Royal which started life with North Western and East Kent respectively in 1963 and 1961.

A pair of No.101's

The recently privatised Midland Red West had been starved on new full-size buses running mostly elderly Nationals and Leyland Leopards. Things were to change when fifty brand new leyland Lynx buses joined the fleet in about 1988. The first of these was No.1101 G101HNP allocated to kidderminster and it is seen leaving the Bull Ring Bus Station in Birmingham where it has to negotiate West Midland Travel 8101 A101 WVP one of ten Metrobuses once used on the 'guided bus' Tracline experiment.

Another Royal Wedding

It's hard not to think of our British Royal Family when we see the name of the exclusive  Swiss ski resort Klosters and so you have to thank the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton for the inspiration for posting this winter scene. On a day when the white stuff was more slush than snow in 1998 one of the then new Mercedes-Benz Citaro type was seen busy at work for the local PAH contractor of Die Poste GR69301 between journeys to Serneus-Dorf.

Taking the tired Commuters home: Smiths of Sittingbourne

Of interest to me in the Nineties was the assortment of operators and coaches working commuter services into London. One of the firms from Kent was the black, white and grey vehicles from Smiths of Sittingbourne like Tiger regular B46XKJ.

Keighley and District in Leeds

One of my favourite pictures of friendly Leeds Girls and a smart Keighley and District ECW bodied Leyland Olmypian of 1984 B522 UWW. This bus has just passed the entrance of the former Vicar Lane Bus Station that belonged to it's original owner West Yorkshire. This operator also ran services under the title Keighley and District in that town but unlike with the Blazefield operation the buses jut carried the name and otherwise retained the normal 'Tilling Red' and cream fleet colours. Taken in the Nineties Surprisingly some of these buses are still in service today in 2010.

Barbi in Overdtive

The so-called pink and blue Barbi look that adds a bit pf colour to the overall grey First Group buses is not horrible just perhaps a little dull when we see little else. However when those Barbi colours go over the top as in this special livery to promote their Tamar Link buses that go across to Cornwall from Plymouth it can all get a bit sickly like too much sweet raspberry and blackberry yogurt. Fortunately good graphics keep it all looking very professional and we can even enjoy a murmuring of nostalgia as buses like this of the faithful Mercedes-Benz minibus like First Devon and Cornwall S529RWP gradually become a rarity on our streets.

A blue bus of Therkidsens in Lyngby

The Danes liked to name their local bus companies after the colour of their buses. But it would have been no good if Therkidsen of Bagsvaerdhad done this as the 'Da Bla Bus' at Holte also visited Lyngby. Most of this small fleet of I guess about ten to fifteen buses were DAB Leylands but the fleet included in 1982 this recent Aabenraa bodied Volvo to work their main route the forty-minute  165 from Vaelose to Hellerup.

AEC and Leyland's in the Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean is a bit of a rarely explored yet interesting backwater on the borders of England and South Wales just across the Severn Estuary  As well as some beautiful countryside it could also boast a number of interesting bus companies including the dark blue and white coaches Edwards of Joys Green. In the yard cane be seen both a.Plaxton bodied Leopard and Reliance, plus the same again with rarer heavyweight Duple Viceroy bodywork. The Duple bodied Leopard EUG474K came from Wallace Arnold whilst it's AEC sister came from the National Travel South East fleet based at the old Timpson's garage at Catford.