28/9/2010 0 Comments New Vehicles Joining our Fleet!We have some new arrivals in the Bamford Sealy fleet. New to East Kent Leyland National EFN178L which was owned by Fiends of the East Kent until earlier this month. 1178 was saved and restored by Carl Underwood after working in the Nottingham area for GK Kinch as a mobility bus. She is currently restored in the 'de-reg rhubard and custard' livery the same as 7980. 1178 needs a new drivers side windscreen and a few electrical jobs done and she should be fit for an MOT. We're hoping to get her out and about this year - something she's sadly missed out on for about 4 years. We also have a limited run of shares available in her if your interested in becoming a part owner. CONTACT ME for more information on this.
Today Bernard and me picked up new to London Transport Leyland Titan T553 (NUW553Y, HIG5681) which was really off the radar and somewhat out of the range of our collection you may think? Well, no not really. NUW worked for Stagecoach when she left London and was converted to single door and 'provincial' style destination panel so as she stands she is more Stagecoach than London and makes a very tidy bus. These Titans worked everywhere in the Stagecoach network when they left London, from Bluebird in Scotland to East Kent and everywhere in between! We may use a little 'artistic license' here, after all, the Stagecoach stripes aren't really a classic enough livery for a preserved bus! NUW will be appearing in a 'heritage livery' of a Stagecoach subsidary that operated the ex London Titans, and no, it's not the old East Kent livery! NUW laterly served with Roberts Coaches of Wingham who of course ran former T953 as HIG5682. This was subject of a recent NEWS post so I won't recap apart from saying NUW was VERY close to heading off to the scrap yard too. In fact only a last minute phone call at 0715 that morning saved her from being driven off to scrap at 1000. They don't get closer than that! NUW comes with an MOT and is ready to roll. She needs a damn good clean out thugh having spent 6 or 7 years taking the local cherubs to and from school. Both buses bring new technology into our fleet, air suspension and dodgey electrical systems (7681 please take note!) so this should be an interesting learning curve. Look out for new webpages on the site for both buses coming soon to this site.
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This was my second run on this event, last time I used 7681 but this time I decided on Bernard's 7980. It's basically a run around Thanet on the former 49/52 and 69 routes and gives enthusiasts chance to get pictures of the buses in their native enviroment as well as giving us owners a chance to meet up at the end of the season. As well as 7980, 0977 (Pride Of Thanet), AEC Regent PFN867 and ex London Transport RT4139 were there too. A full report will follow soon.
24/9/2010 Madness!All the years that I have been working in the industry and involved with bus preservation it never fails to amaze me when perfectly good buses go for scrap. This Wednesday (22/09/10) I encountered former Roberts Coaches Leyland Titan T953 (HIG5682) heading to the local scrap yard. After work I went over to the yard. There she sat, engine ticking over, hazard lights flashing, interior lights on as they started smashing the windows prior to breaking her up. What was even more mad was that this was no MOT faliure or time expired bus but one with a current class 6 MOT that was still capable of going out in service and doing a days work. Fortunately I managed to salvage a few seats that will fit DMS550 and after a phone call to London bus guru Stuart Boxall, the engine and gearbox which he could use as spares. The people at the yard were very helpful even suggesting we save the tyres too. I know we can't save everything but to me this did seem total madness! 7/9/2010 0 Comments 5137 visits Michelham PrioryGlobe trotting 5137 (She has certainly clocked up some miles since she joined us) took Thanet Ghostwatch on an overnight investigation to Michelham Priory at Upper Dicker in East Sussex. We left Thanet at 1330 on Saturday 4th stopping for a pick up at Dover and loo break in Dymchurch. We travelled on to Polegate, East Sussex, arriving there at 1730 where we enjoyed fish and chips. We drove on up to the Priory arriving about 1815. I left the investigation at 0530 on the Sunday morning to have a few hours shut eye before the long drive back. We left Michelham at 0800 arriving back at Thanet at 1130. All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend. 5137 is a delight to drive and does all the right things when you ask her to. 5137 is also one of the few Bristol VR's that actually accelerates when going up steep hills, despite the extra bulk of the 14'6" bodywork. M&D certainly knew what they were doing ordering these for hilly Chatham and Hastings. She does seem to have a minor transmission oil leak which I will check as time permits. Driving along the south coast she certainly turned a few heads which was nice. A full report will follow soon.
7/9/2010 New Blog up and running!I thought I'd slightly change the format of the news pages. Instead of a page of Bristol VR news and a page of DMS news I've decided to combine them all on one new blog. I will make life easier for you and me- we both don't have to keep dashing between pages to follow different buses. The old news pages will remain active.
Another good thing about this is it enables you to post feed back about topics I raise, although I must stress that any swearing, bad taste comments or personal attacks on people will not be tolerated and the post will be deleted. Lets keep in nice and friendly and clean please! |
Click here for the archive news pages dating back to 2008.JakeOwner of 5807, 5809, 5137, 7656, 7681, 7041 & 40301 All pictures and information contained within this website are the copyright of J Bamford, R Addison, P Tripptree, B Sealy & R Harrison 2008-2019. Any images or information supplied by individuals will be credited to that individual and will be copyright of that person/persons/website.
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