Viscount Northern Counties Bodied Leyland Olympian F509 NJE

Bus rallies are all a bit different, some are always the same and some refreshingly so. But for me a new one I went to this year was at a large village just outside Peterborough called Whittlesey where even the main street is closed off to display the exhibits. This makes a nice change from displays in fields and car parks but a serious problem is the bored locals sometimes get in the way. It all seems like yesterday to me but these teenagers might be too young to remember the local operator Viscount who adopted this unusual yellow and white livery following the sell-off of the NBC.

Voel Coaches Volvo B10M in Caerarvon

Seen in Caernarvon in the late Nineties was this Volvo B10M of Voel Coaches with Van Hool coachwork.

Willowbrook Spacecar at Hilton Park

When I was still working and not in a great hurry I often used to pull off into the motorway services to see what coaches were in there. Of course now I'm glad I did as I have shots from 1980 like this Leyland Leopard with distinctive Willowbrook Spacecar bodywork at Hilton Park on it's return journey to Southport for National Travel West.

Why-Why delilah or ratherYY63 OJD

Sorry it's not even South Wales and I haven't even been hit across the head with an old Tom Jones fan mag but I seem to have a habit of using song titles for my posts. I guess it's not quite as informative as writing about a 2013 National Express Caetano Lavante arriving in Peterborough on a quiet Sunday.  However women's names on National Express vehicles is not so far fetched as it might seem for they do just that in the West Midlands.

Trying the Dennis Dominator in Southmpton A277 ROW

The first generation Atlanteans were troublesome especially compared to the tradition half-cab bus. Perhaps operators had got used to it to a certain extent and the the improved AN68 version from Leyland was certainly good enough to boast a strong following including the Municipal fleets along the South Coast. When it was axed it caused quite a quandary as Municipals in particular didn't like change and with good reason preferred the tried and tested to the new. Leyland's replacement for the Atlantean the Olympian was tried along with Dennis Dominators like this. Sadly the threat of Deregulation killed off the big bus market and the mini-bus boom so nothing was really clear any more. As at Plymouth it's non-standard Olympians were soon sold off but more Leylands appeared in the shape of the new Lynx which had it's fair share of faults.

Stagecoach Solo in Chester MX54 YZT

Optare Solos are everywhere it's not surprising I so easily get distraced as seen here in Chester.

Western National Strike Buster Buses in Plymouth

In the old days when the trade unions had more influence I doubt if Western National drivers would have been willing to go out to steal Plymouth's work whist the crews were out on strike. But in the true spirit of Deregulation and cut-throat competition Western National went out on the cold wet winter streets made hay whilst the sun shines. I expect buses were drafted in from far and wide as this former London DMS carried stickers for Cornish Busways.