Scrap Body off midland Red WHA 229H

Seemingly a sad end for a Midland Red Leyland Leopard as what was left of it lay forlorn in a corner of the premises of Martins of Middlewich. Thankfully this old Plaxton body was replaced a new one for I well remember this coach from new as it was allocated to Stafford and I was told it was a flyer too. By the time this batch was being built in 1969 this design had been replaced by the more streamlined Panorama Elite. I can only imagine Plaxton had a lot of body parts in stock and gave Midland Red a good deal.  

Stevenson's Leyland Tiger in Birmingham A115 EPA

For a while even though vehicles gained the current MRN livery they retained the Stevenson's identity like this former Green Line Leyland Tiger seen in Birmingham on the X79 to Tamworth.

Bus Line : Zurich-Zollikon-Kusnacht at Bellvue Terminus

Difficult winter lighting conditions and a bus merging into the background didn't make this one of my best bus photos but nor is a Mercedes-Benz 0405 particularly exciting but of interest is that it's departure time is shown on the destination: Those Swiss they are so helpful when it comes to timetables and travel.

A Little Neoplan in Brig

Brig is one of the least exciting towns in the Alpine district of Switzerland, a bit grey and dour and not the sort of place one would look forwards to a good night out. Still it wasn't all it's own fault as the town was hit by one of those melting snow mud slides and the shopping area got ruined. I hadn't seen them before but Someone ran a few buses on town service work but the next time I saw this small Neoplan they had sold out to Die Post the main operator who was continuing to run it in this advertising livery. 

Preston Corporation Leyland PD3 MCW ARN 657C No.72

Just like Ribble having Leyland Motors on it's doorstep, it encouraged  Preston Corporation as well to remain a loyal customer for it's bus products. Another thing they had in common was sharing the town's registration letters as seen on this MCW bodied PD3 approaching the bus station in 1979. Unlike the one's allocated to Ribble these didn't match the fleet numbers 69-73 ARN 654C-658.  The combined Ribble group with a fleet of 1275 of course took a lot more buses and coaches in 1965 than Preston with a fleet of just 95. They had some CCK's too 608-627C but most were ARN's:- 568C-607C, 861-866C, 775-817C. All were Leopards apart from Lowlanders 1861-6.

Berlin in the Early Eighties: BVG MAN-BUSSING 2628

Before the Berlin Wall came down this is how I like to remember it by the Ku'damm. Dating from 1974 this was one of the very first of these MAN double-deckers to enter service here and early examples also carried the Bussing symbol on the grill. They had two things in common with some British buses, I'm sure many will disagree but  firstly they sounded a little bit like a Metrobus but with my second observation I'm sure many will agree for sitting upstairs the seats were quite low and one could only just peer out of windows if they were small very much like on a MCW Orion body. 

First Manchester Olympian in Leigh

Once a very familiar sight, still in the orange and blue lining First Manchester livery a NC bodied Leyland Olympian emerges from the shadows as it nears it's final destination at Leigh.

PRAGUE ZO DOSIA KLÍČOV - AUTOBUSY

As enthusiasts we welcome it when operators put a code on their buses so we can identify it's garage. M&D had letters on a disc at the back, Midland Red had it on the edge of the destination blinds, and Ribble used the spare licence holder which could be checked when the bus was standing. However in Prague they really went to town and wrote the garage name on the front of the bus as a form of local branding I expect.

Badgerline Olympian and Metrobus

Bristol Omnibus like London Country took the Roe bodied version instead of the more usual ECW body and they were easy to distinguish especially as the had windscreens first seen on the LCBS Green Line RP class. Also unusual within the NBC had been Metrobuses but Bristol had a few at Bath which it used here on the Bristol service and one of each can be seen in the more colourful Badgerline era.

Arriva Citaro at Lichfield BJ12 4BK No.3001

I was dismayed to learn that Arriva will no longer operate any buses out of Cannock Garage from April due to funding. I was fed up as I use the bus to nip to town and back. But thankfully the 825 from Lichfield will still run as they can do it from Tamworth. At least it will add a bit of variety to the local bus scene and I expect I might be riding on these Mercedes-Benz Citaros from April perhaps.

Ribble Dual-Doorway National in Stagecoach Stripes PTF 743L

I'm sure I saw many Leyland Nationals in those notorious Stagecoach stripes but any familiarity has diminished because I find it hard to picture them in anything except NBC leaf-green or like this Ribble example which once wore poppy-red. Slightly unusual on NBC examples was the additional centre exit sometimes found on earlier ones like this and locally in the North West with Crosville too. some too. Still carrying Ribble branding and fleet number was No.387 seen in Manchester.

A Midland Red LS18 at Leamington

Only the lucky few garages received the 100 Midland Red LS18 class Leylands with either Weymann or like this example Willowbrook bodywork. Other garages had to make do with the under-powered BMMO built S16 instead with it's big pedals and heavy clutch. Both Nuneaton and Leamington where this one was seen had a decent number of these Leopards. This BET style was not that common as the same at both ends look quickly superseded it soon after these early thirty-six-footers arrived in 1962-3, and maybe it's just a personal thing but I found this more square look with the split screens equally attractive. Even though other BET concerns like M &D, Yorkshire Traction, Northern General, PMT and Western Welsh had them too it seems only Midland Red 5212 has been preserved.