THE LAST BUS!

I AM SORRY BUT CHRISTOPHER IS IN BERLIN SO THERE WILL BE NO NEW POSTS FOR ONE WEEK.

RTF 561L- Blackpool bound a rare bird flies out of Stafford

Formerly No.701 in the Ribble fleet this Leyland Leopard PSU5/1R with unusual looking Alexander bodywork became North Western No.1200 in 1976 and it was not exactly a frequent visitor to Stafford, so I was lucky to get this picture when I was out taking something else. It's bodywork had been heavily influenced by the American Greyhound Coach etc.. and it was exhibited at the 1972 Commercial Motor Show. It looked rather drab and out of place in NBC white but a whole load of far more colourful and impressive examples of the 12m M-Type plied the Scottish Bus Group's overnight London Services

East Kent

In 1988 two brand new Metrobuses Mark 2 buses pass one another in Whitstable looking resplendent in East Kent traditional dark red and cream colours following re-privatisation..

Neat and Tidy: Sunday at HT Horsholm

This view taken one Sunday Afternoon in 1982 with everything neatly in it's place sums up Copenhagen's HT 'Country Fleet' as the standard bus was the Aabenraa bodied Volvo like NV 5b 1329 delivered the previous year. Also in stock were a few attractive former DSB buses still in red and built by the same manufacturers. DAB Leylands were a rarity in the outer District 4 but there were two batches of articulated buses including the first one's of 1976 which would be busy working again tomorrow on the No.75 Peak-Hour express service between Holte and Copenhagen.

Lugano: Trolleybuses Departed

Sadly trolleybuses seem to be on the decline in Europe including Switzerland where the small system in Lugano disappeared about a year ago. Pictured on one of the four routes in 1993 this Hess bodied Volvo was delivered in 1975.

Brunig: At last my last PTT Naw

I know it might sound silly but I had a lot of fun going on holiday and trying to see every PTT Regie Post Bus in Switzerland. Sometimes I'd travel all day and still not see the one I most wanted and it was even more difficult because of not speaking the various languages very well. I did discover however that the last bus I needed at that garage NAW Number P24425 was always out-stationed away from the town of Meiringen up the narrow-gauge railway at Brunig. However I didn't want to waste too much time by alighting the train at Hasilberg where it could be found anyway but it was just my luck that every time I went through there I was always greeted by a sister bus. In the end I had to make the extra effort and leave the train to finally spot it but to my utter amazement within five-minutes it turned up working my connection down to the little garage. But it did take me ten years to see it and by this time in 2000 it had lost it's P-Number as all the area operations had passed to two nearby contractors and so it had gained a BE for Bern, canton plate. To celebrate my conquest I had to take an unconventional photograph because the direction of the sun was wrong. Actually to say this was the last of it's type I needed isn't quite correct for another one P24434 was sold before I had chance to see it at Uznach and I lost sight of it.

You can see a better view taken here of one of these buses when it was still new and other Post Buses on my website gallery. .

Mercedes Town Bus in Lubeck

It's difficult to take a view of buses in service without street furniture getting in the way so just imagine how difficult it must be for film-makers to both get permission to film for short periods and to hide or even dismantle road signs etc...Fortunately I like everything as it is but more of a problem for Myself on this occasion in Lubeck was holding that camera horizontal. Maybe it was because I only had a few moments to press the shutter. Of course I could straighten the print on the scanner but I would lose some of the picture especially the church steeple.

Barnsley: NBC Variety

I feel inclined to think that buses during the NBC reign look much better when photographed in black and white. The newer types we got used to fairly quickly but as far as the older buses were concerned the bland Toy-Town image was rather depressing, which looking back was a shame as the vast fleet operated a lot of interesting vehicles. Some operators were more interesting than others like Yorkshire Traction whose varied fleet can be sampled by this glorious scene of parked buses at the main bus station.

Wonderful Denmark

In the Eighties and early Nineties when I went exploring Denmark I loved all it's private bus operators as it seemed there seemed to be one in every village, many of which despite their size had really elaborate liveries which incorporated a garter as a kind of tradition. Even if one didn't know the name of the bus one could recognise it by it's livery like this particularly emblazoned DAB Leyland caught in Aalberg a town then well served by different operators.

Trolleybuses: Lausanne's Finest

Not surprisingly my favourite Swiss buses are the ones that were in service when I was at school there between 1963 and 1965. But these elegant Lausanne FBW trolleybuses with locally built Eggli bodywork are a hit with many enthusiasts and despite their age still managed to look more modern than many of the newer buses with their square profiles. In September 1990 No.669 still managed to look both smart and sunny despite the Summer Showers.

Leylands in The Netherlands

Once Leylands and AEC's were everywhere in the Benilux Countries. Sadly in Amsterdam and at Arnheim on the German border I saw only DAF based buses of this standard Dutch type but whilst travelling I made a brief detour to follow this the only Leyland I saw and had to get a picture. Maybe I should have gone to Rotterdam or The Hague too but even though I had to take this one against the light I got my bus and an audience.

We are a bit Square: Nottingham

Nottingham has long been famed for it's interesting fleet having been big enough with about 350 vehicles to order buses to it's own specification. Nottingham's double-decker Standards were usually well-rounded so one-offs like No.395, EMY 560Y with it's uncompromisingly square body was something of a contrast. Waiting to depart for Gedling one is left in little doubt that it is a Scania because it was originally a manufacturer's demonstrator.