13/2/2012 Nuw's night out!Well Nuw the Titan finally hit the road on the 4th February when she transported a party of friends to a paranormal investigation in Ramsgate. We picked them up in Herne Bay on one of the coldest nights of the year. In fact a severe weather warning had been issued for heavy snow! The outbound journey was fine, with Nuw happily arriving on time and depositing her happy - if a trifle cold - passengers. Two things of note. Nuw's heating and demisters are non existent! My hands had to be prised of the steering wheel. Also, she is very nippy around the towns, happily reaching 30mph. This kind of doesn't work on main roads or motorway where she hammers all the way up to her top speed of .... 40mph! When we left the location at 0200hrs on the Sunday morning, the promised snow had arrive with a vengeance. A sprinkling of the white stuff turned into an inch which turned into five inches - deeper in the drifts. Good news is that Nuw plodded back to Herne Bay and then back to Sandwich without too many issues. The drivers side wiper failed - my fault for over tightening the nut - and that was it. We arrived back at the yard in a blizzard at the pictures show. All in all, Nuw is a great bus to drive and I'm looking forward to taking her out this season.
29/1/2012 Nuw to hit the road at last!Titan T553 or Nuw as she is known, has had her destination equipment fitted and will be on the road this week. Hopefully she will be attending various events this season still in her 'as withdrawn from Roberts Coaches' condition. I hope she'll be at Herne Bay, Preston and maybe Dover this year. Eventually she will be reunited with her original number of NUW553Y and will be repainted. Due to 7681's gearbox issues (see picture of the month Feb 2012) Nuw will be used in her place.
31/10/2011 YouTube Bonanza!Andy and me have been busy down the yard exercising the buses. I decided to video on my phone while Andy took them around. I hope you enjoy them if only for the sound effects! 1/6/2011 Naughty Nuw!Nuw our Titan failed her MOT due to some of the rear lights failing at the test centre, typical eh? She goes back for a part re test on the 17th which will give me chance to get the faulty switches replaced.
On a brighter note, I now have a windscreen for National 1178 so once everything with Nuw is sorted out I can get this fitted. 24/5/2011 Nuw's MOTDue to an electrictal fault that affected several lights and the screen wash unit, Nuw failed her MOT last Wednesday. Apart from those very minor glitches, Lee, the MOT tester reckoned she was a very good bus and she passed the brake test well - so it's not all bad news. Tony from FotEK is going to give me a hand this Friday to blitz the problems before she goes back up the following Wednesday (1st). Although it's always a pain to fail the MOT at least (especially with a new bus to the collection) it gives you a 'heads up' on any faults.
9/5/2011 Getting Nuw ready for test.Yesterday Nuw our Titan was being worked on for her MOT. The battery panel flap which had fallen off was screwed back on and the drivers seat was replaced with something less thread bare and more authentic. She just needs a clean inside and the spare seats removed that were being stored in her and she should be ready. I've checked all the lights, buzzers, bells and fittings and they all seem to work ok. The upper deck rear emergency exit needs to be wedged shut as the buzzer keeps going off as the bus moves so this is another little job that I will have to do. Once tested work can then start on painting Nuw's exterior.
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! 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.
15/3/2011 2 Comments MOTs booked.Well I'm starting to grind back into life after a rather nasty cold winter and have booked the tests for 5137 and 7980. Both Bernard and me had assumed (wrongly) that 5137's MOT was in June, BUT we found out it ran out on the 27th March, whoopsy! She is now booked in for a class 5 on the 30th March meaning if she passes she will certainly be at the M&D event stated in a previous post. 7980 has her test booked for 15th April and I would really like to check her brakes before she goes up (they did smell rather warm in Hastings on the hills last year) but apart from that she should be ok.
Other little jobs that need doing involve all the fleet having a good clean out inside and out as well as: 7681: Swap F/N/S tyre. Install the opening front windows and tidy bodywork by August. 7980: Floors to be tidied and painted. Seats to be tidied. External bodywork carried out. Also start trying to source the front push out windows. 5137: T-Cut and wax bodywork for April 9th. Waterproof front screen area. Try to source a ticket machine for her. T553: Resolve stuck leveling valves. Uncover destination area. Start on bodywork. Maybe give her a service. 1178: Source O/S windscreen and fit. Service (oil change and lube). Check brakes. Smoke test. MOT. Both 5807 and DMS550 will be stored VOR (Vehicle Off Road). If you would like to lend a hand please get in touch HERE. We welcome help with everything from cleaning to other tasks important to keeping these ladies on the road. |
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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