Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Does anyone have any knowledge of that company running a Rochdale (or Bury) to Wigan bus service many years ago?
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The Coachmasters bus service in Greater Manchester
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Leedsbusman
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Coachmaster. Timetable here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ft0wHzIvTg_EbVgTUZuL0Cj3qkJ_J-1T/view
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Thanks for the information. I have told my friend that he gave me the wrong company name. It was 25 years ago according to the time table when that service commenced.
Did they, by any chance, run a lot of school services in the area?
Leedsbusman
Member
yes. It evolved into the First Manchester school's unit.
Quite an odd route 456 was as well, while it followed the direct 471 route from Rochdale to Bolton and then the direct 582 route from Bolton to Leigh for some reason instead of following one of the direct routes between Leigh and Wigan it instead followed the indirect 600 route.
From what I can remember Coachmasters was run by enthusiast/dealer Houston Ramm and was originally based somewhere in Castleton before later moving to an Industrial Unit in Heywood.
From what I can remember Coachmasters was run by enthusiast/dealer Houston Ramm and was originally based somewhere in Castleton before later moving to an Industrial Unit in Heywood.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
An interesting point raised by the "every 20 minutes" time section shown in that timetable is just how many buses would be needed to enable such timings to take place on this convoluted journey. time-wise.
That timetable is a masterpiece. So many questions, mostly which can be summed up in "why", and "what the?". Love the journeys from Wigan that run at 00, 30 and (for no apparent reason), 35 minutes on the hour.
Presumably they were relying on hoping to nab passengers waiting for other services, thus getting some cash instead of dead running, rather than trying to build up a regular passenger base. Because the chances of having a regular passenger base seems low
Presumably they were relying on hoping to nab passengers waiting for other services, thus getting some cash instead of dead running, rather than trying to build up a regular passenger base. Because the chances of having a regular passenger base seems low
185
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Youre right. This is quite similar to the Merseybus invasion in 1992 - timings relative to the competitions service. Seem to recall two Atlanteans in Atherton almost welded together after a prang. Ah, it was fun back then.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Reacquainting myself with this as I lived in Greater Manchester at the time....
I think you're right that it was something to do with Houston Ramm. I seem to recall him running some reasonably presented ex Hull Dennis Dominators and Scanias that weren't that old. IIRC, did indeed sell up to First and those vehicles were the basis of a schoolbus unit (as per @Leedsbusman). I remember that they ended up, along with some Dennis Arrows, at a place near Ince that First had.
Looking at Flickr, looks like they did start back up again after I left the area (c.2009?) before disappearing again
Shaw S Hunter
Established Member
Of the various routes between Leigh and Wigan the 600, at least north of Ashton, was always reckoned to be quite lucrative yet historically had seen little competition. As such not a bad choice.
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