London Buses DAF Ikarus on the 726 at Croydon

Not the most attractive of vehicles and numbered by London Buses as DK 6 was this Ikarus bodied DAF at Croydon on the 726 from Heathrow to Dartford.

HT Scania 1682

In Eighties Leyland lost it's grip on some of it's key customers like the Danish HT of Copenhagen where as well as Volvo which it had always vied with Scania started to take chunks too. Looking very much like one of the former DAB Leylands was one of those swedish buses dating from about 1984-5. 

Western National ANA 92Y

Former National Bus coaches got spread far and wide by their new owners and this former National Travel NW ECW bodied Leyland Leopard found it's way to Tavistock on the edge of Dartmoor and in an area with it's narrow roads, stone walls and sharp bends it was perhaps not the most suitable vehicle for here. However it did look smart enough and the Western National livery of that time was fairly simple with a pleasant blue and white and agreeable to live with without the assistance of Ray Stenning to jazz it up with logos and bold branding.

Purple Motors of Bethesda UMG 230F

Purple Motors of Bethesda was one of the best known North Wales independents with roots going back to the 1920's In the early Eighties the fleet.contained only thirteen vehicles and despite half of them being Bedfords bought new there were some second-hand Leylands and AEC's too including this former Essex County Coaches Plaxton bodied Reliance.

B.V.G 1774 at Bahnhof Zoo

Before Reunification and the fall of The Berlin Wall the premier route in The West used to be the very frequent 19 which traversed the Kurfurstendamm and which also offered shoppers a cheap hop-on-hop-off cheap fare. But symbolic of the new order was the 100 which crossed the old divide bringing together the old city centre destinations like Alexander Platz and Unter den Linden in the East with the Reichstag and Bahnhof  Zoo in the West. Being a top tourist route usually mostly newer buses could be found on here but when it was busy it also saw the oldest and I enjoyed a ride on one of these MAN buses when only a couple were left in service, but like once familiar landmarks I miss them as fellow MAN 1774 of 1981 was so very typical of the fleet between the mid Seventies and early Nineties.

Warrington Dennis Dominator A746 GFY

A number of Municipal operators ran a few Dennis Dominators including Warrington which took four X and four Y-Reg buses with as usual here East Lancs bodywork. Following is a second-hand Daimler Fleetline for they had some from London or like this example from Greater Manchester.

Bedford OB BEP 882 at Wythall

To many mention old buses and they will immediately recall the very economical petrol-engined Bedford OB and with an elegant Duple Vista body like the second bus along, it was the classic early post war coach. As well as small country operators they also appeared in small numbers particularly in the big nationalised BTC companies fleets as they were ideal for local half-day tours particularly at the seaside.

Priory of Gosport Leyland Tiger

It's hardly surprising Victoria Coach Station in London has changed so much for there always seemed to be building work going on. Here in the Nineties a Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tiger of Priory from Gosport breaks up the monotony of National Express white coaches.

Winterthur Articulated Vovo Bus 305

As well as narrow-gauge mountain railways and trams Switzerland still has a good number of trolleybus systems including Winterthur best known for it's 'Assurance' insurance advertisements. Here in 1989 was a Volvo articulated bus and a Saurer trolleybus in the background. It's easy to tell them apart as in the cantons trolleybuses don't have to carry registration numbers.

BNE 736N: R Bullock of Cheadle

From a frontal view alone one would never be able to guess whether this former Greater Manchester Northern Counties bodied bus negotiating the building work at Piccadilly for the tramway was one of it's vast fleet of Atlanteans or a slightly less numerous Fleetline. As it turned out like most of the Manchester Independents who had a go following Deregulation Bullocks went for the Daimler Fleetline so I knew already. But they were in good company as Mayne and Walls liked them too. Following former 7420 was GM 7916 an Atlantean with a Park Royal body and easy to recognise against the crisp angled NC bodied buses as it had a more rounded front dome

ORD 120R Reading Trasport MCW-Scania Metropolitan

Reading Transport has always had a look of it's own reflected in the vehicles it bought, but another characteristic was that it sort of glanced over it's shoulder and looked to see what London was buying for it often seemed to copy them, and a good example was this MCW Metropolitan double-decker which was hoped with a chassis and running units by Scania might be a better buy than what the lackluster  Leyland organisation had to offer. It's downfall though was over-sophistication and rust. Nevertheless not only did they buy  thirty-three of these, in 1983 they acquired another twenty-one from London Transport so perhaps they could still be a good bus if well looked after and loved . No 120 looked not only smart but still rather impressive as it sped off from Reading Station for Ereleigh Road.

London Transpot RT LUC 291

Elderly RT 2043 displayed at Alton this year as a new Putney Garage bus finds a young admirer in need of a photo.