Trivia: Repatriated buses in the UK

[Strathclyder]

Are you suggesting that export to Australia would be expected to have completely knackered it?

Well in this case, it did! Took us ages to get it back in shape again, especially the electrics.

Not at all (even if it was indeed the case here lol), just that from how it looks now, you'd have no idea it had been exported in the first place, such is the high quality of the restoration.

 

[busesrusuk]

Were they ?
I thought they were still out there ?
i used to ride them to UC Davis campus in 1998/9 when I worked out there…
They were renegined with a natural gas engine i recall.
Staff were from the university and the buses still had old London adverts on.. but it was odd having to walk into the middle of the road in order to board.

on a separate note c2003 I found myself domiciled in Singapore for a period, and Sentosa Island had an open top ex-Northern Counties Leyland Olympian, with open top roof running about, it was there a few years but as the island became hugely developed it dissapeared, but I was told it had gone back to the UK, c2008.

The Olympian you refer to was, IIRC, a Bexleybus example - I have a pic of it in Sentosa. From memory, it had been fitted with an aircon unit in the lower deck. Did it have wooden frames on the side (like a moggy traveller) - I seem to recall the bus being dark green?

Sentosa actually had a fleet of RT's that had the side panels removed to give them a more "open" feel. Rumour had it that when they were withdrawn they were just driven into the sea! No idea how true that was...

 

[Busaholic]

The Olympian you refer to was, IIRC, a Bexleybus example - I have a pic of it in Sentosa. From memory, it had been fitted with an aircon unit in the lower deck. Did it have wooden frames on the side (like a moggy traveller) - I seem to recall the bus being dark green?

Sentosa actually had a fleet of RT's that had the side panels removed to give them a more "open" feel. Rumour had it that when they were withdrawn they were just driven into the sea! No idea how true that was...

Looking on Google, the Olympian was dark green, looks like it could well have been Bexleybus, but no obvious wooden side frames on nearside. The AEC Regent I found a photo of looks like it could well originally have been a RT, but with a new, raked upper deck, plus side panels removed on lower deck.

 

[Sm5]

The Olympian you refer to was, IIRC, a Bexleybus example - I have a pic of it in Sentosa. From memory, it had been fitted with an aircon unit in the lower deck. Did it have wooden frames on the side (like a moggy traveller) - I seem to recall the bus being dark green?

Sentosa actually had a fleet of RT's that had the side panels removed to give them a more "open" feel. Rumour had it that when they were withdrawn they were just driven into the sea! No idea how true that was...

Below are pictures of two of the Sentosa Olympians, both taken Summer 2005:


I didn't take many pictures of the RTs when I was in Davis (I was surprised to see them, but RMs were all over London so I didn't appreciate it at the time). I lived in the apartment block behind the bus. (Photo shows ex-London RT bus taken in Davis, December 1998)


Meanwhile my bus to work in Sacramento was a Natural gas powered bus. I’d hang my bike on the front like the one shown in the image below. The bus could only carry 2 bikes, so it was a calculated risk; you could have 10 minutes extra in bed, but if the bus had 2 bikes, you're having to cycle 16 miles and be 20+ minutes late for work. An odd thing about California is bike registration; you're supposed to get a registration plate for your bike which is actually a sticker under the seat mount, and is a form of tax disc and identification. I still have that bike in the UK with its California registration plate. (Image below shows Sacramento bus carrying a bicycle on the front. Taken December 1998)

 

[XAM2175]

Well in this case, it did! Took us ages to get it back in shape again, especially the electrics.

Not at all (even if it was indeed the case here lol), just that from how it looks now, you'd have no idea it had been exported in the first place, such is the high quality of the restoration.

I'll allow it

 

[Robertj21a]

Looking on Google, the Olympian was dark green, looks like it could well have been Bexleybus, but no obvious wooden side frames on nearside. The AEC Regent I found a photo of looks like it could well originally have been a RT, but with a new, raked upper deck, plus side panels removed on lower deck.

I think Sentosa had the first 3 Olympians in the Bexleybus fleet.

 

[Wyrleybart]

This might not be the right thread and I don't really know where it was originally from in the UK, but I saw an ancient little bus in Southampton this week. I think it was on a flat trailer, was painted mostly yellow and was about the size of an old Bedford OB. It had a the snout of an old single deck bus too. I think it was dumped in a car park and may have been there for a while - any ideas what it was ?

Going the opposite way on the export quays was an open top decker - possibly a President - mostly white but with stylised union jack ends.

 

[Strathclyder]

I'll allow it

Arf arf!

Breaking my own rules with this one, but it's worth mentioning in the broader 'imported buses' category (perhaps a candidate for such a thread should one be created).

A ex-CIÉ/Dublin Bus Bombardier KD double-decker (70 JZL/KD70; new December 1981) was imported from Ireland to Scotland, specifically Glasgow, for preservation/restoration in 2001 (she had been a training bus since 1995; I believe she was the last KD in Dublin Bus ownership when finally withdrawn from that role in February 2001, though am open to correction there from the likes of @DunsBus). Given how a KD is a totally alien machine to anyone outside of Ireland (even to the very capable lads in Glasgow) and how it became clear KD70 needed a lot of work, her restoration gradually came to a halt pending a decision on her future. Being repatriated back to Ireland in 2008 & surviving prolonged periods of (thankfully dry) storage, she found a new owner in September 2019 and full restoration to working order latterly commenced (which, as of August 2021, is progressing nicely).

For visual context, here she is in a partially stripped down state at Glasgow's Busworld (from the Gary Mitchellhill Flickr collection) in February 2004 after the first restoration had stalled....

Preserved Bus - 70JZL - Preserved-Buses20040235

Company: Dublin Bus / Bus Atha Cliath Fleetnumber: KD70 Registration: 70JZL Chassis: Bombardier KD Bodywork: Bombardier Location of Photo: Bus World, Hillingdon Previous Registrations: N/A New to: Dublin Bus / Bus Atha Cliath (Fleetno: KD70) Other Notes: N/A

www.flickr.com

...and here she moving under her own power in September 2020 in a stripped down state (from the markthebusman YT channel; her current owner) in the midst of her 2nd restoration:

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Going the opposite way on the export quays was an open top decker - possibly a President - mostly white but with stylised union jack ends.

Like this?

File:English Riviera Tours LF52URJ.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Or an East Lancs/Optare Visionaire?

File:Windsor - Original Tour VLE620 (LJ07UDD).JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

 

[Wyrleybart]

Like this?

File:English Riviera Tours LF52URJ.JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Or an East Lancs/Optare Visionaire?

File:Windsor - Original Tour VLE620 (LJ07UDD).JPG - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

Yes. The upper one of those I think. Saw it off a ship with it's offside nearest the water. You know how the President lower deck windows don't all line up.

Thanks "Gag"

 

[DunsBus]

I think Sentosa had the first 3 Olympians in the Bexleybus fleet.

Close - they took the three coach-seated examples, Bexleybus 2-4 (London Buses L265-7).

 

[busesrusuk]

Below are pictures of two of the Sentosa Olympians, both taken Summer 2005:
View attachment 101341View attachment 101342

I didn't take many pictures of the RTs when I was in Davis (I was surprised to see them, but RMs were all over London so I didn't appreciate it at the time). I lived in the apartment block behind the bus. (Photo shows ex-London RT bus taken in Davis, December 1998)
View attachment 101345

Meanwhile my bus to work in Sacramento was a Natural gas powered bus. I’d hang my bike on the front like the one shown in the image below. The bus could only carry 2 bikes, so it was a calculated risk; you could have 10 minutes extra in bed, but if the bus had 2 bikes, you're having to cycle 16 miles and be 20+ minutes late for work. An odd thing about California is bike registration; you're supposed to get a registration plate for your bike which is actually a sticker under the seat mount, and is a form of tax disc and identification. I still have that bike in the UK with its California registration plate. (Image below shows Sacramento bus carrying a bicycle on the front. Taken December 1998)
View attachment 101346

Many thanks for sharing the Sentosa pics. I had a quick look for mine last night but couldn't lay my hands on them. They do appear to have some bodyside embellishments..

 

[flymo]

Don't forget the humble Dennis Darts that both First and Stagecoach brought to the UK and in this photo, you see both (credit to photographer) https://www.flickr.com/photos/34016...28RqNnt-CwjaDF-RmAJ2H-2kgaNHJ-BU386s-28eCU67/

Oh my, looking at that photo and others in the stream bring back memories of what became the Stagecoach ones at Citybus in Ap Lei Chau Depot. Horrendously underpowered for some of the routes they were used on (260). Wouldn't have missed working on them for the world but so glad when they left the company.

Travelled on a few of then when visiting Torbay one year and one of the ones I was on still had the aircon working although it might have been just the fans maybe, and not cooling? Anyway it felt like bliss in the summer as it was a warm day I remember.

 

[341o2]

London Transport trolleybus 1812 was exported to Spain and is now repatriated.

 

[F262YTJ]

Arriva Merseyside lent VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsars 2990 to 2993 MX59JZF/G/H/J and 3058 to 3061 MX10DCU/V/Y/Z to the erstwhile Arriva Malta operation in 2011 and 2012. They we registered BUS 316/21/2/4 and BUS 319/23/5/0 whilst over there.

There are also several Optare Solo SRs temporarily exported there from Dawson Rentals in 2014 being repatriated in 2017 in the KY63xxx and KX14Fxx ranges, 6 of which operate for Rotala Prestonbus these days.

 

[cnjb8]

Arriva Merseyside lent VDL SB200 / Wright Pulsars 2990 to 2993 MX59JZF/G/H/J and 3058 to 3061 MX10DCU/V/Y/Z to the erstwhile Arriva Malta operation in 2011 and 2012. They we registered BUS 316/21/2/4 and BUS 319/23/5/0 whilst over there.

There are also several Optare Solo SRs temporarily exported there from Dawson Rentals in 2014 being repatriated in 2017 in the KY63xxx and KX14Fxx ranges, 6 of which operate for Totals Prestonbus these days.

Arriva Derby also sent some of their Solo SRs to Malta for a few years.

 

[LT02 NVV]

Does anyone know if any of the Stagecoach used 3-axle Leyland Olympians that were from Hong Kong, are in preservation? (I knew one was, but it was sadly targeted by some arsonists)

Also, First Group did a very kind thing back in 2005, in which they donated Buses to the help many places have public transportation again after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

https://www.asiabusresponse.co.uk/pdfs/abr05apr05.pdf

FIRSTGROUP JOINS BUS INDUSTRY’S HUMANITARIAN TSUNAMI
RESPONSE, DONATING 10 BUSES AND MORE TO FOLLOW
The biggest UK bus group, FirstGroup plc, has today committed 10 buses to the bus
industry’s largest ever humanitarian relief appeal in response to the Boxing Day
tsunami. The 10 double-deckers are FirstGroup’s first tranche donation, with single
deck vehicles from the company’s US and UK operations still to be confirmed.
Leon Daniels, FirstGroup’s Commercial Director, UK Bus, said, “Media coverage of the tsunami’s
devastation and subsequent earthquakes has brought home to us the need for practical help in
rebuilding infrastructure in the areas worst affected.
“Despite having contributed a significant cash sum to the emergency fund immediately following
the disaster, FirstGroup has realised that the Asia Bus Response appeal can make a real
difference to the lives of many thousands of people as they rebuild their lives and communities.
“FirstGroup is pleased to join the appeal by donating mid-life vehicles that are fit for many years’
work, are suited to the climate and terrain, and which would be replaced by more modern
vehicles if operating in the UK.”
In total some 120 buses, with spare parts to extend working lives, have been donated to Asia
Bus Response by the UK-wide bus and coach industry. In mid-May, charity Islamic Relief is
shipping the vehicles to Sri Lanka and Indonesia, where they will be distributed to provide vital
transportation for people and supplies. Islamic Relief will also train drivers and engineers in the
countries of destination and pay those people a living wage.

 

[aliceh]

If we're being technical (and why shouldn't we be? ), Yellow Buses' 2020 purchase of 5 Gemini 2s from the Isle of Man (not part of the United Kingdom) would likely count.

 

[RustySpoons]

Also, First Group did a very kind thing back in 2005, in which they donated Buses to the help many places have public transportation again after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

https://www.asiabusresponse.co.uk/pdfs/abr05apr05.pdf

Quite a few operators donated to that. Blazefield donated a couple of tidy ex Keighley B6s. Once they arrived they (amongst many others) weren't used and quickly abandoned and fell into disrepair. There's pictures floating around the usual picture sites somewhere.

 

[Bristol LHS]

I had always thought that OK Travel’s unique rear-engined Leyland Tiger Q723 GHG had demonstrated in the far east, but I read from this that it never made it to Bangkok. Interesting bus nonetheless.

A Rear-Engined Tiger Q723 GHG - Part 1 by Maurice Doggett (Torque 44)

 

[Strathclyder]

Does anyone know if any of the Stagecoach used 3-axle Leyland Olympians that were from Hong Kong, are in preservation? (I knew one was, but it was sadly targeted by some arsonists)

There was/is one in Scotland that was doing the rounds at rallies in the back half of 2018 (H987 RKG (ex-Citybus ES 3771/143; linked photo from the SelmerOrSelnec Flickr stream). Not sure if this is the one you're referring to in regards to being burned out.

Leyland, way over there

Preserved former Stagecoach (new to Hong Kong) H987 RKG (ex ES 3771 (Hong Kong)), pictured arriving at yesterday's truly excellent SVBM open day event. Lathalmond, 19/08/2018. Posted 20/08/2018.

www.flickr.com

 

[fgwrich]

One that comes to mind is buses from Malta. I've seen some Eclipses and Solos that were originally from Malta.
The other one that I thought of is L888SBS - a Volvo Super Olympian delivered to SBS in Singapore, and now preserved in the UK.

Courtney Buses (Now part of Reading Buses) had a small batch of Ex Maltese Wright Eclipse's - they were noticeable either by the large Air Con pod on the roof or the very tinted gasket windows.

Flickr Search — “Courtney Buses ex Malta”

www.flickr.com

Don't forget the humble Dennis Darts that both First and Stagecoach brought to the UK and in this photo, you see both (credit to photographer) https://www.flickr.com/photos/34016...28RqNnt-CwjaDF-RmAJ2H-2kgaNHJ-BU386s-28eCU67/

God, some of those take me back. Stagecoach had a good number of the P-AYJ batch in Hampshire. They often leaked, and the Air Con was, contrary to the branding, always switched off - gearboxes weren't great either. I was rather pleased to see the back of them to be honest!

P466AYJ Hampshire Bus 33040 Basingstoke

This ex-Hong Kong Dennis Dart DLF with Plaxton Pointer body is branded for "Line 3" but appears to be showing route number 1. The 3 no longer serves Popley, and the latest route branding is much simpler. This would have been one of Basingstoke's first low-floor single deckers. It ran in Hong...

www.flickr.com

The CMB Leyland Victory Mk.2 at Lathalmond (ESF 647W/CH 9399/LV36) is perhaps the most unusual of all the buses brought back from the Far East (linked Flickr image is my own). A Leyland Fleetline (SF31) was brought back with the Victory, but has sadly been sat in a yard just outside the SVBM for a number of years now, exposed to the elements. A real pity, all things considered.

Preserved China Motor Bus ESF 647W/CH 9399 (LV36) | 2019 SVBM Open May Day Internal Shuttles | Scottish Vintage Bus Museum, Fife

The only one of her kind in the UK still able to carry passengers (a cut-down Victory 'wrecker' new to New Lantau Bus, subsequently with Citybus where the wrecker conversion took place after withdrawal from passenger service, was imported in the last year or so) and one of the highlights of the...

www.flickr.com

That thing is an absolute beast. I had it a few years ago around a rather wet Lathalmond - I enjoyed it so much that it must have taken at least 3 / 4 trips around the site. It's not quite an Ailsa, but it's as good as one.

If we're being technical (and why shouldn't we be? ), Yellow Buses' 2020 purchase of 5 Gemini 2s from the Isle of Man (not part of the United Kingdom) would likely count.

I believe Xelabus in Eastleigh have also just picked up some ex Isle of Man Tridents as well.

 

[Strathclyder]

That thing is an absolute beast. I had it a few years ago around a rather wet Lathalmond - I enjoyed it so much that it must have taken at least 3 / 4 trips around the site. It's not quite an Ailsa, but it's as good as one.

I finally managed to ride it at this year's Open Weekend at Lathalmond both days. Noisy, unrefined and with rather uncomfortable seating (somehwat understandable given the enviroment it was designed/built for), which meant I had to have several rides on it over the two days. Something I've always said when it comes to the Victory Mk.II (and the competing Dennis Jubliant): looks like a Ailsa, sounds like a Metrobus.

 

[LT02 NVV]

There was/is one in Scotland that was doing the rounds at rallies in the back half of 2018 (H987 RKG (ex-Citybus ES 3771/143; linked photo from the SelmerOrSelnec Flickr stream). Not sure if this is the one you're referring to in regards to being burned out.

Leyland, way over there

Preserved former Stagecoach (new to Hong Kong) H987 RKG (ex ES 3771 (Hong Kong)), pictured arriving at yesterday's truly excellent SVBM open day event. Lathalmond, 19/08/2018. Posted 20/08/2018.

www.flickr.com

Unfortunately it’s true (image below shows the burnt-out wreckage of a bus)

 

[Strathclyder]

Unfortunately it’s true (image below shows the burnt-out wreckage of a bus)

That's truly a shame.