Operators who adopted/retained the livery of companies they bought buses from

TheGrandWazoo · 1 Feb 2019

61653 HTAFC said:
One could argue that Yorkshire Rider livery was simply an adaptation of the WYPTE MetroBus livery...

In the same way that Busways, GM and West Midlands did. Not really what the OP was driving at

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tbtc · 1 Feb 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
Stagecoach launched a competitive service 192 from Manchester to Stockport against GM Buses South so vehicles in full Stagecoach livery. They then sold said operation to Finglands in order to clear the way for a purchase of GMS! The Volvos passed with Finglands to EYMS Group and had the stripes overpainted in Finglands colours. Many later operated for East Yorkshire in Humberside.

I don't think I knew about that bit of history - really interesting (especially given how Stagecoach were doing similar predatory stuff in Glasgow around the same time - which I was aware of, living north of the border in those days)

Hophead said:
I seem to remember a Leeds-based operator adopted the London Country South West livery rather than repaint a batch of acquired Atlanteans. This would have been back in the late 1980s. My memory may be a little adrift from the reality, but I think I'm pretty close.

Andyh82 said:
It was Optional Bus in the mid 90s

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcd481j/36702606592/

They kept that livery and also used it on other buses not acquired from London & Country

Fascinating re Optional Bus - especially given that the livery looks very similar to the modern livery First are using in Leeds - the more things change...

TAS said:
EOS London (actually based in Rainham) used a livery based on that of Pennine Motor Services, having started with some vehicles acquired when Pennine ceased operation.

As someone living in Yorkshire (and doesn't get down to Essex very often), it's great to hear that the Pennine livery has continued and that there's some corner of an Essex field that is for ever Skipton (with apologies to Rupert Brooke for mangling his poem!) - how weird/wonderful to find out that one of my favourite old fashioned bus liveries from a rural corner of Yorkshire was adopted for down there!

Sandy Drew · 1 Feb 2019

Devaway up in Chester adopted the Halton Transport livery.
South Riding in Sheffield also adopted Halton Transport livery, with the addition of a green stripe.

If understood correctly??

Bletchleyite · 1 Feb 2019

Actually, on that one, a number of the cheap-and-nasty Aylesbury based independents just run vehicles in the livery they were purchased in, though they do have liveries when they can be bothered to apply them.

TheGrandWazoo · 1 Feb 2019

Bletchleyite said:
Actually, on that one, a number of the cheap-and-nasty Aylesbury based independents just run vehicles in the livery they were purchased in, though they do have liveries when they can be bothered to apply them.

Red Kite adopted Go North East’s old livery having bought some of their old Olympians

Eyersey468 · 1 Feb 2019

Barnetts of Hull tend to use vehicles in whatever livery the previous owner used. They bought a load of ex TWM Presidents a couple of years or so ago and have never bothered to repaint them. Consequently they look really tatty.

Cambus731 · 1 Feb 2019

Smiths bought some Bristol REs from Western National and ran them for some years in the WN livery

Non Multi · 2 Feb 2019

Mwanesh said:
Keep it in mind that some of the Carousel buses come from parent COMS in red already .Not all the fleet is ex London.The red Enviro 400s have come from Oxford.

I should have added that Carousel started out with a fleet of ex-London MCW Metrobuses. It's a happy co-incidence that COMS also operates red buses and any transfer just involves changing the vinyl lettering.

Strathclyder · 3 Feb 2019

JMB Travel of Newmains is a interesting case. When they acquired several 52/53-reg ex-Lothian SPD Darts, the livery they latterly carried was adpated accordingly (from the trademark red/white & gold palette to a smart green, cream and purple affair; the cream was later replaced by silver). The latter version was later adapted for the company's sizable school bus fleet, namely the ex-Stagecoach Volvo Olympians and Alexander PS-bodied B10Ms.

175mph · 3 Feb 2019

After Stagecoach took over Lincolnshire RoadCar in late 2005, most notably some of the old double-deckers could still be seen as late as 2009 in the RoadCar colours.

W-on-Sea · 3 Feb 2019

The disastrous and the thankfully short-lived "low cost" Bexleybus subsidiary of what became London Central, in the late 1980s, started out in part with a fleet of buses that has been originally ordered by Eastbourne Buses (but never used by them). Their blue and cream livery (very similar to that used later on of RH of Oxfordshire, as it happens) became Bexleybus's livery.

W-on-Sea · 3 Feb 2019

When Metrobus started out in Orpington, they acquired routes (and I think buses) from Tillingbourne. And kept essentially the same blue and yellow livery.

Flange Squeal · 4 Feb 2019

W-on-Sea said:
When Metrobus started out in Orpington, they acquired routes (and I think buses) from Tillingbourne. And kept essentially the same blue and yellow livery.

This was originally because what became Metrobus was originally ‘Tillingbourne (Metropolitan) Limited’, with Metrobus being formed when two of the subsidiary’s directors bought the operation.

LancasterRed · 4 Feb 2019

Preston Bus have two unique buses - one is a Hallmark bus with the Preston Bus logo stuck on it and one is a London Bus with the logo also stuck on. Interestingly, these logos are on a white background on the red bus so they're quite the eyesore

Typhoon · 4 Feb 2019

W-on-Sea said:
The disastrous and the thankfully short-lived "low cost" Bexleybus subsidiary of what became London Central, in the late 1980s, started out in part with a fleet of buses that has been originally ordered by Eastbourne Buses (but never used by them). Their blue and cream livery (very similar to that used later on of RH of Oxfordshire, as it happens) became Bexleybus's livery.

Interesting. I could never work out why they chose such a livery. Shows what a low cost operation it was.

TheGrandWazoo · 4 Feb 2019

LancasterRed said:
Preston Bus have two unique buses - one is a Hallmark bus with the Preston Bus logo stuck on it and one is a London Bus with the logo also stuck on. Interestingly, these logos are on a white background on the red bus so they're quite the eyesore

I suspect both of those are ex Wessex vehicles. The red ex London one is, I suspect, a former Arriva London vehicle that was never repainted despite heading round Bristol for over a year like that.

However, neither really fit the criteria of adopting a livery - they're just the usual Rotala commitment to quality!!

Typhoon said:
Interesting. I could never work out why they chose such a livery. Shows what a low cost operation it was.

I guess that it was also rather different from LT red and so emphasised the difference.

tbtc · 4 Feb 2019

Sandy Drew said:
Devaway up in Chester adopted the Halton Transport livery.
South Riding in Sheffield also adopted Halton Transport livery, with the addition of a green stripe.

If understood correctly??

I'm slapping myself in admonishment - I was sure there was another bus company in South Yorkshire that had adopted the livery of buses they'd acquired but couldn't remember which one - thanks for making me nostalgic for South Riding (a company who generally tried to offer something slightly different, instead of just directly copying the Mainline routes like Yorkshire Terrier/ Sheffield Omnibus/ Andrews generally did)

Strathclyder said:
JMB Travel of Newmains is a interesting case. When they acquired several 52/53-reg ex-Lothian MPD Darts, the livery they latterly carried was adpated accordingly (from the trademark red/white & gold palette to a smart green, cream and purple affair; the cream was later replaced by silver). The latter version was later adapted for the company's sizable school bus fleet, namely the ex-Stagecoach Volvo Olympians and Alexander PS-bodied B10Ms.

That's brilliant - especially as Lothian have now moved onto a different livery (or, at least, changed the diagonal stripe on vehicles), meaning JMB have continued the Lothian "shape" whilst Lothian have moved on to something new.

Typhoon · 4 Feb 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
I guess that it was also rather different from LT red and so emphasised the difference.

True - nothing wrong with the blue but the lower (cream) panels tended to dirty easily in bad weather if my memory is correct. Minor revision of livery would make them slightly less shabby looking in the winter?

Martin2012 · 4 Feb 2019

Wasn't the Student Link livery on the South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach deckers inspired by an earlier purchase of a vehicle in that livery?

TheGrandWazoo · 4 Feb 2019

Martin2012 said:
Wasn't the Student Link livery on the South Gloucestershire Bus and Coach deckers inspired by an earlier purchase of a vehicle in that livery?

Yellow for school buses isn't exactly uncommon but the Student Link fleetname was retained on ex Plymouth Volvo Citybuses.

Statto · 4 Feb 2019

W-on-Sea said:
The disastrous and the thankfully short-lived "low cost" Bexleybus subsidiary of what became London Central, in the late 1980s, started out in part with a fleet of buses that has been originally ordered by Eastbourne Buses (but never used by them). Their blue and cream livery (very similar to that used later on of RH of Oxfordshire, as it happens) became Bexleybus's livery.

Those shiny new E reg Northern Counties olympians they had, look very like GM standard Olympians, even down to the blinds

I digress, in Merseyside, Glenvale Transport[GTL] brought CMT buses, GTL then adopted CMTs all over Red livery, GTLs livery, was the old MTL Cream/Red livery[that Cream/Red MTL livery from the mid/late 90s, was very similar style to Rossendale Transport livery, without the Green relief], but GTL never got around to painting the whole fleet, mostly because they didn't have the money. GTL came about after Arriva who brought MTL, were forced to sell Gillmoss garage, in order to give some competition.

TheGrandWazoo · 4 Feb 2019

Statto said:
Those shiny new E reg Northern Counties olympians they had, look very like GM standard Olympians, even down to the blinds

I digress, in Merseyside, Glenvale Transport[GTL] brought CMT buses, GTL then adopted CMTs all over Red livery, GTLs livery, was the old MTL Cream/Red livery[that Cream/Red MTL livery from the mid/late 90s, was very similar style to Rossendale Transport livery, without the Green relief], but GTL never got around to painting the whole fleet, mostly because they didn't have the money. GTL came about after Arriva who brought MTL, were forced to sell Gillmoss garage, in order to give some competition.

That’s because they had been a GM Buses order

bussnapperwm · 6 Feb 2019

Diamond Bus (what was the former Black and Red Diamond operations) adopted the blue Diamond Bus colours from Blue Diamond (the former Central Connect operations) and used it to replace the Black, Red and Go Ahead era livelies.

user1234 said:
Travel Express (who operate around the Birmingham area) used to operate a fleet of buses that were all 100% in their previous operators liveries complete with their previous operators fleetnames and logos and branding for almost 20 years. However they have just very recently renamed themselves to Lets Go and now have a livery of all over red buses with yellow Lets Go fleetnames on their entire fleet.

Those were the days

IIRC the owner of Hansons wasn't happy with Travel Express parading around Wolverhampton at one stage with a bus carrying Hanson's fleet names.

As an aside, anyone remember the darts that Solihull Travel "brought" off AMPM...

all they did was take the logo and green stripe off!!

Busaholic · 6 Feb 2019

W-on-Sea said:
The disastrous and the thankfully short-lived "low cost" Bexleybus subsidiary of what became London Central, in the late 1980s, started out in part with a fleet of buses that has been originally ordered by Eastbourne Buses (but never used by them). Their blue and cream livery (very similar to that used later on of RH of Oxfordshire, as it happens) became Bexleybus's livery.

The livery was the best (or least worst) aspect of Bexleybus!

Operators who adopted/retained the livery of companies they bought buses from

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