3/5/2011 Interesting email!!!!A few days ago I recieved a very interesting email from Stuart of West Kent Buses about Nuw our Titan.
Jake - Have just been reading your website with interest. You mention that 553 passed from Fleetlink,Liverpool to Roberts. This is incorrect. Fleetlink sold 553 ( along with 554 and 595) to me( on paper) - he never saw the buses,and we picked them from United Counties depots. All three came here, 554 was repainted blue and white for Renown of Bexhill,595 was painted in our (then current) 'Hire fleet' livery,which was essentially Devon General red/cream,but with WK HIRE fleetnames,and 553 was sold to Roberts Coaches. All three were in Stagecoach original livery. We kept 595 for several years until it was sold to Farleigh Coaches of Wouldham,nr Maidstone,who ran it in our hire livery until he withdrew it. It then passed on to Nu Venture for spares,and has now been scrapped. 638,which you saw with Poynters was another of mine. This came to me from GTL (Glenvale),not MTL,and was one of five which we bought from GTL. We painted 638 in hire fleet livery,although,for cheapness,the middle cream band was omitted,and the top painted by hand. Poynters had previously bought a pair of Titans from me for a Tenterden school service ( 488/529),and 529 had been the victim of a serious accident,and was written off.they needed an urgent replacement,so I sold them 638,as our ' self drive hire' fleet was being run down at that time. Poynters never repainted 638,as you have seen. However, when they finished with 638,they sold it back to me,late in 2009. We have now repainted it into our current fleet livery ( see attached photo) and it is one of three we currently use on service work ( NUW638Y,NUW671Y and B124WUV). I also still have A871SUL,which will be returned to service in due course. I also own EYE250V,which,as you may know,was the final bus produced by Park Royal Vehicles. It was new as LTE T250,but had been the last of five intended for Maidstone & District,to be 5400 (FKM400V).That order was cancelled due to late deliveries and union problems at the factory. I bought it from Stagecoach East Kent about ten years ago,and it has stood here since then,awaiting restoration. I intend using it in our fleet colours initially,but will have it turned out as a Maidstone & District vehicle eventually - another' 'might have been',though perhaps,somewhat closer - as it WOULD have been......! Our current fleet livery is a slightly modified DEVON GENERAL livery - based on what may have happened had the fleet continued beyond 1971 into the 1980s. The larger area of cream around the lower deck is the change - all other lettering is based on DG style as I remember from my youth in Devon. I have been considering that when they are next painted,they will have the entire DG livery,with three cream bands,so watch this space. I have attached pictures of 638,671 (with black ribbons for a strange wedding customer!! I would be most interested to see 553 when you paint it! Best of luck with the fleet. All the best, Stuart Gilkes. West Kent Buses Well there you go, Nuw is linked to Devon General liveried 638! I never expected that. This has spurred me on even more to put Nuw into a Devon General livery. Stuart also sent some pictures too. Thanks very much Stuart! 3/5/2011 2011 ShowsAs stated on the Picture of the month, our buses will be at lots of local events as per norm but we haven't yet decided which ones where. I'm currently getting 7980 through her test then I'll be putting Nuw the Titan through followed by 1178 our National. I'm hoping to have 7681, 7980 AND 1178 at the Herne Bay Rally this year and maybe at the Friends of the East Kent Running Day too.... watch this space. 7681 is going on the road a little later this year, probably May or June so that she can stay mobile a little later in the year. As to the events, we will be at Sellindge on the 28th/29th May (I think that's the right date!) and Preston Steam Rally on the 25th and 26th June.
31/3/2011 2 Comments Nuw's New Livery???As you would of have seen from some of the pictures, our Titan (known as Nuw) is in need of a real tidy up outside. Inside she's ok but the exterior bodywork is rather shabby. After a lot of thought, Bernard and myself came up with putting her into a heritage livery. As stated on her page, Nuw ran with Stagecoach United Counties but Titan's like her were found all over the Stagecoach network. Yes, we could restore her back to the Stagecoach stripes which would be different now days and would allow for her to appear as a United Counties, East Kent, Southcoast or Devon vehicle. After quite a bit of thought we wondered what would've happened if Stagecoach Devon had run her in a heritage livery. Both of us being fans of Devon General and me having encountered a similar liveried Titan in Canterbury some time ago kind of swung the balance. Eventually we hope to present Nuw in a Stagecoach Devon General livery. The Titan (T638 of the same batch as Nuw) which inspired us can be seen below. At the time it was running for Poynters Coaches of Wye having come from MTL. It's seen here providing service to the local Beer Festival 2 years ago.
27/3/2011 1 Comment Spring cleaning.I've been busy getting 5137 ready for her MOT as THIS GALLERY will show. Hopefully when finished she will look a lot fresher and brighter and all ready for the M&D 100 event next month! In between all this I've managed to get Nuw's leveling valve sorted out. It's only a bodge job for now but she sits nice and level again. I also gave 1178 a quick run around the yard. Her batteries are shot so she has to be jumped to get her going but once she's up and running she's very smooth.
10/3/2011 Problems!Sometimes owning and restoring old buses can be great fun and very rewarding but other times it can be a real pain in the ####! This week I checked the fleet at the yard only to find that 'NUW' has two sticky leveling valves making her lean to the right and 7681 has a flat tyre making her lean to the left. I'm hoping the tyre is something simple like a leaking valve rather than a puncture as it has a good tread on that particular one. Changing bus wheels is never easy - because of the size and weight of the things for a start - and when I get round to doing it I will include a photographic report on it to give you and idea of what's involved.
20/10/2010 1 Comment New Look Website!Well this is it, the launch of the new look website. The site had outgrown the original format with only a limited amount of pages that could be displayed in the navigation. That was fine when it was the 2 buses (SKL681X and MLK550L) but since then 'Jake's Buses' has morphed into 'Jake and Bernard's Buses' with firstly TFN980T joining, then my PKE807M.
I hope your like it. I think it will be easier to navigate around on and it also means more pages can be added as time goes on. In fact two more pages already, one for 1178 and another for T553. The National 1178 has now finally joined the rest of the fleet and work will commence getting her ready for next season. She drove back from Dover very well - 60mph at one point. She will no doubt prove very handy for those long distance trips and shows next year. Tomorrow, Claire and me are off to the yard to start work on mucking out Nu the Titan. After many years as a hard working school bus she really needs a skip next to her when we start sweeping her out. 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. |
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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