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Recent content by quarella

  1. Q

    Snowbus

    My school bus was whatever was left so we occasionally had an open top. Not all drivers would let us upstairs. I have also had an open top to myself on Rail Replacement from Ealing Broadway direct to Paddington some years ago. I assume the other passengers used the Underground.
  2. Q

    Free Bus Travel Rhondda Cynon Taff March 2023

    For the month of March bus travel in the Rhondda Cynon Taff Council area is free. RCT News item I'm not convinced passenger numbers were greatly increased today but snow yesterday followed by rain and temperatures barely above freezing were not going to bring out the casual traveller.
  3. Q

    Trivia: Bus services which are run by more than one company

    An unusual historical one that appears to have run in the early 1970s. According to Andrew Wiltshire's "Independent Buses of South & West Wales" R I Davies and Merthyr Tydfil Corporation transport operated a shared service between Merthyr and Cefn Coed for alternating 3 month periods.
  4. Q

    TRIVIA: The first and last operators to ban smoking

    SWT had banned smoking around the time of privatisation but in the mid 1990s permitted it again for a while on one route. The Big Red Bus ran on an established route from Swansea City Centre to Blaenymaes.
  5. Q

    Trivia: What things don't you see on buses these days?

    Never wore long-johns but I well remember the draught up the trouser leg from the pedal holes in the floor in the 15 or so year old Bedford coaches I drove on some bus bus routes. My grandfather was a bus driver in the 1940s and 50s. When I was a child I was allowed to try on his BTCC winter...
  6. Q

    Uncommon Bus specific road signage

    There was a Badgerline "Stop and engage first gear" sign albeit a Badgerline sticker on the Bristol Omnibus sign on Rownham Hill between Abbots Leigh and Ashton Gate for buses on the Portishead route. I expect there were others across the area. Bath I would think has a suitable hill or two.
  7. Q

    TRIVIA: Relics of the past still visible today at railway stations

    When I was at Bristol Temple Meads last year one of the platforms still had boards on the canopy for the mail train.
  8. Q

    Trivia: Your favourite bus station

    I know most will disagree but I did like the combined bus station and depot. It was what I was used to at Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. Seeing new vehicles before they entered service. Withdrawn buses parked for weeks then suddenly gone. The various smells - Diesel, cigarettes, sometimes...
  9. Q

    TRIVIA : Unusual modifications to PSV's

    ADD 50Y was the prototype ECW Coach Leyland Olympian for National Express in 1982. 1985 Transferred from Wessex to Badgerline. Painted in Swift Link livery. Luggage capacity reduced with additional seats. Plug door replaced with bus door. 1987 sold and exported to Citybus Hong Kong for Cross...
  10. Q

    TRIVIA: Bus routes in the UK serving at least 3 or more counties

    NAT X7 Traws Hafren Bristol - Chepstow/Magor serves Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire. First Cymru X10 Swansea - Sarn for Cardiff serves Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend. T6 Swansea - Brecon. Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Powys. The T1C had a mention earlier with 1974...
  11. Q

    Trivia - obscure non-passenger vehicles in operator livery?

    Sadly I do not have a photo but around 1970 Coombs Coaches of Weston-super-Mare converted one of their Ford Transit minibuses into a Yellow Submarine for the Winter Carnival. Company colours were yellow and white.
  12. Q

    Private plates on buses and coaches

    Easyway of Bridgend have an Optare Solo registered BW53 BUS. Bws being the Welsh for bus.
  13. Q

    Britannia Bridge fire

    Thanks Tomos y Tanc. Most interesting. http://www.2d53.co.uk/britanniabridge/menu.htm has the Fire Report and photos from immediate aftermath through the rebuilding.
  14. Q

    Lowest capacity service bus?

    While not strictly meeting the OP's criteria a 3 seater Morris Marina bus operated by Bristol Omnibus on a dial-a-ride service when Bristol Parkway station opened in 1972. https://www.flickr.com/photos/28431353@N02/6399580015/in/photolist-aKvwbt
  15. Q

    Trivia: Less obvious stations on a through route where passenger services terminate/start

    In the late 1990s a service started from Highbridge and Burnham around 0715 (0712 I think) running via the mainline bypassing Weston-super-Mare to Worle then all stations to Bristol Temple Meads except Parson St, carrying on to Bristol Parkway. It was very popular with people working at Filton...

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