Through the depot in service? (Yorkshire Traction, others?)

[TheGrandWazoo]

Buses used to go through Grassington depot to get to the bus stand. Depots still there but its a royal mail facility now.

Yes but unsure if there was ever any maintenance undertaken there though? Don't think there was much to see! I put on a loooooong list of co-located bus stations/depots earlier (and it seemed to be a feature of Tilling/BTC thinking) though as others have said, they're not really applicable. I think the OP is asking for examples where you wouldn't have expected to go into the depot.

 

[gnolife]

The Transpeak when it went from
Nottingham to Manchester stopped at Dove Holes bus depot for crew changes if I remember correctly.

I dont know if it's stillnthe case, but the 199 Mcr Airport to Buxton also go in for driver changes

 

[WY Bus Spotter]

I'm not sure if all Arriva Heckmondwike buses do this at night, but 229 certain journeys change drivers at the depot

 

[Deerfold]

Around 20 years ago I had a couple of buses on the overnight Huddersfield to London National Express service change drivers at a depot in South Yorkshire. And on one annoying occasion we had to change buses there.

A couple of years ago I caught service 343 from Huddersfield towards Halifax - it was a slower way of getting to his house, but avoided either a change or a mile walk uphill after getting the 503. The bus developed a fault and seemed incapable of going at more than 10mph. At Elland, which should be half an hour into the journey we were running 20 minutes late. We were the only two passengers left on board and the bus took a diversion to the depot, was fiddled with by an engineer and then we carried on at normal speed, but about half an hour late by the time we arrived.

 

[RELL6L]

Back in the 1970s I took the Oxford X50 from Birmingham to Oxford, usually the last journey in the evening which left Birmingham pretty late, might have been 21.30. Coming back to Oxford the driver would sometimes call in at the depot at Chipping Norton to fuel up rather than leave this until after he had been to Oxford and back, probably to drop me off and nothing else. Easy to make up time at that hour. Almost invariably on a VRT3 in the AUD460-2R batch.

 

[plannerman]

Denbigh town centre is a bit of a bus route cul-de-sac, most routes run up Vale Street to Lenten Pool bus stops, then turn round and go back down Vale Street again. Crosville used to have a depot adjacent to Lenten Pool, and as a child in the 80's my grandad used to take me from Denbigh to Rhyl on the 51. We deliberately used to catch it running into Denbigh, as opposed to outbound, as the bus regularly used to go to the depot to swap drivers and i often remember it being washed (presumably by hose, don't think there was a bus wash there) before heading back down the hill.

Separately, the sound of Leyland Nationals screaming up Vale Street was something else....

 

[aswilliamsuk]

The discussion about Transdev buying Yorkshire Tiger prompted a question...

When I was a young kid in the mid 80s, we used to get the Yorkshire Traction 236 home to Highburton from Huddersfield. There was one particular bus around 2.30pm that we loved to get, because after it swopped drivers at Waterloo, it proceeded to drive right through the lanes inside the shed to get fuelled up and then through the bus wash before setting off again.

Which makes we wonder: Am I the only person that remembers this happening with Yorkshire Traction? Was it common elsewhere or was it a unique thing?!

Gosh, I remember that happening from time-to-time, too. It certainly happened on an ad-hoc basis in the morning, too on these routes.

 

[DunsBus]

Rather than a thread, co-located facilities off the top of my head were (and a few still are): St Andrews, Kelso, Berwick, Nairn, Dundee, Livingston, Whitehaven, Workington, Maryport, Ashington, Blyth, Newcastle (Gallowgate), Whitley Bay, Hartlepool, Darlington, Northallerton, Stokesley, Pickering, Pocklington, Hornsea, Elloughton, Hull (Ferensway), Wetherby, Pateley Bridge, Grassington, Malton, Lincoln, Newark, Scunthorpe, Southport, Northwich, Macclesfield, Crewe, Cheadle, Rhyl, Haverfordwest, Abergavenny, Bridgend, Cinderford, Monmouth, Bristol, Weston super Mare, Bridgwater, Minehead, Camborne, Falmouth, Paignton, Newton Abbot, Exeter, Exmouth, Truro, Ilfracombe, Bridport, Weymouth, Amesbury, Trowbridge, Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole, Woolston, Basingstoke, Andover, Winchester, Shankliln, Portsmouth (Hyde Park), Fareham, Eastbourne, Chichester, Bognor Regis, Uckfield, Lewes, Eastbourne, High Wycombe, Hounslow, Leysdown, Dorking, St Albans, Wood Green (E National), Southend, Chelmsford, Colchester, Maldon, Braintree, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Felixstowe, Stourbridge, Kidderminster, Birmingham (Digbeth), Kettering, Northampton, Longton, Belper, Ashbourne, Oswestry, Walton on the Naze, Tredegar.... sure there's others I've missed

That was Charlotte Road, former home of SUT, which was opposite what was then called East Bank depot of SYPTE, and is now the parking area opposite what we now call Olive Grove

Dalkeith as well, until 1992.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

Surely the mirrors would get in the way?

These were tiny 1960s mirrors and passengers were you used to greater stepping distances in those days, low height Atlanteans had pretty low platforms as well so the less agile could have stepped down and back up. I was about 12 at the time so the leap was considered compulsory

 

[olddriver]

Does First Glasgow’s 240 go into Overtown depot to terminate or does it stop outside?

 

[LUYMun]

Arriva The Shires' route 321 (Watford - Luton) I recall a driver change resulted in the bus driving into Garston garage and being sat there for a few minutes, which in that time I saw a few of their London ALX400's parked in the corner.

 

[ACBest]

When Marshalls of Sutton on Trent had a depot at North Muskham, a few journeys would operate via the depot front for driver changes.

The service depot is now just outside Sutton on Trent on the Great North Road, and driver changes are done in the village using ferry vehicles - but I did once take a bus through the depot early one morning when I’d got to my start point and realised that I’d left my phone in my car - and it was just as well I did call in to fetch it, as I later had a few technical issues and needed to phone the engineers!

 

[Roverebbw]

If on a evening National Welsh bus from cardiff to blackwood the bus sometimes us to go into the cross keys depot for fuel before continue the service

 

[40129]

IIRC a couple of Arriva routes in Cannock used to call in to the depot at Delta Way for driver changeovers. I've also experienced the tour de depot by Arriva in Runcorn mentioned above.

The only time I've had to change buses in a depot was about 31 years ago on Hotspur Midland Red's Harlescott Happy Hour S98 service due to the original bus having doors that were stuck open.

 

[Roilshead]

Rather than a thread, co-located facilities off the top of my head were (and a few still are): .... sure there's others I've missed

That's a comprehensive list, there can't be many left over - but there was Kingston (LT), Victoria (LT) allowing for the LT Tours coach station, Brixham, Rushden (Birch Bros), Southend could boast both London Road (Eastern National) and the old City depot/station at Tylers Avenue, and Ramsey in the Isle of Man. The Malakoff bus station at St Ives incorporates what was intended to be a bus garage underneath, but even in the days of the much smaller vehicles of the 1930s Western National could not get permission to use the access road, and the "void" has been used - at best - for storage. On a similar theme WYPTE's Bradford Hall Ings depot was below the Interchange, with a direct connection; and WMPTE's Coventry depot is connected directly to Pool Meadow Bus Station.

 

[DunsBus]

Could we also add Kelso to the list? I remember that of its two stances, only one of them was in use for passengers on Sundays.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Could we also add Kelso to the list? I remember that of its two stances, only one of them was in use for passengers on Sundays.

Kicking myself for forgetting Dalkeith (a place I remember well) and Kelso (one of my favourite spots to catch a bus)

 

[Zamracene749]

Kicking myself for forgetting Dalkeith (a place I remember well) and Kelso (one of my favourite spots to catch a bus)

Also in the North East were the United depot at Rothbury (albeit more of an outstation) and the Northern depot/bus station at Winlaton, plus IIRC Jarrow?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Also in the North East were the United depot at Rothbury (albeit more of an outstation) and the Northern depot/bus station at Winlaton, plus IIRC Jarrow?

Don't think Winlaton really counts; there was quite a gap between bus station and depot! Rothbury (a fantastically overspecced facility) and Jarrow are ones I forgot.... and Sunderland Park Lane as well. Knew I'd have missed loads

As I said before, the United Auto/Arriva depot in Richmond was on the main road to Catterick and was where driver changeovers happened on the large apron out front. Going into the depot wasn't unknown but even not doing so, the front doors being open usually allowed a good view into what was going on inside (credit to photographer)

Lowland view

A rarish shot of a Daf DB250/EL Lowlander working at Arriva's Richmond depot. 7444 Y694EJR was covering for the usual decker, one of many loans from Darlington depot. A Daf Ikarus hides in the now demolished depot

www.flickr.com

 

[Wolfie]

Last year l was on an Arriva number 8 running out of Telford Centre to Bridgnorth. No sooner had we left Telford than a warning kept going off in the cab. Cue an impromptu trip to the Stafford Park Depot (incidentally the previous Wellington garage didn't have a bus station but did have stops directly outside). A fitter got on, poked around and gave the bus, complete with the alarm still going (irritating as hell that was), the ok to continue.

 

[DunsBus]

I have a recollection of one of the legendary Go North East C-OCN DP "tarmac chomper" Metrobuses going in to Philadelphia depot yard for a driver changeover. This was in 1997, a year or so before the new depot at Deptford replaced both it and Park Lane.

And - being perhaps being a bit naughty with this one - Lothian's service 19 between King's Road and Granton, uses the Marine Garage ramp as a terminus.

 

[markymark2000]

Would these three count?
Malton. The bus station is also the Coastliner depot?
Also you have Reliance bus 40 which pulls into the depot for a driver change (kind of pulls in onto the depot land. Doesn't go into the back but stops on the depot front)
Pocklington has a variety of buses driving through it.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

And - being perhaps being a bit naughty with this one - Lothian's service 19 between King's Road and Granton, uses the Marine Garage ramp as a terminus.

You could have a whole sub-genre of depots as termini!

The United/Arriva depot at Loftus had a frontage with two doors (and the offices in between - see photo with credit to snapper) where they would enter through the right and exit via the left doors and parking out front. However, in all the times I travelled there, I think we were always turfed off at the entrance even on the local "town" service.

Arriva Loftus Bus Garage - 27/05/2011

A 2011 view of Loftus Bus Garage (depot) still very much intact, not long after closure. It opened in 1926.

www.flickr.com

Would these two count?
Malton. The bus station is also the Coastliner depot?
Also you have Reliance bus 40 which pulls into the depot for a driver change (kind of pulls in onto the depot land. Doesn't go into the back but stops on the depot front)

Already mentioned Malton in my long list. I also recall a time which might be late 1980s (it may have been 1989?) where you actually allowed to walk through the depot to use the toilets. I can't recall the circumstances such as if those were the staff toilets and they gave you access because customer lavs were out of use? However, you could walk into the depot and directly across, keeping on a walkway, whilst a Plaxton bodied Leopard would be there being fixed!

 

[L401CJF]

Stagecoach used to do this sometimes on southbound services between Birkenhead and New Ferry. It's often a driver swap on the main road outside, but if they need to change the vehicle over for any reason, buses have been known to divert through the yard with the swap being undertaken there.

Back when I was a kid and it was First Crosville running out of the depot, the driver changes all took place inside the yard for both directions on the 41 route etc. In Firsts later years they changed it so drivers swapped on the road outside, but as you say they still run in for bus swaps etc.

 

[J.C.]

When I was a growing up in Sheffield in the late 70s/early 80s we'd very occasionally have a driver change inside the bus garage on Herries Road.
(More usually in the lay-bys immediately outside though!)

 

[tramboy]

It used to be the case in Grimsby that if the vehicle required changing, or there was an issue, customers would find themselves turning off Victoria Street, passing the wash and re-appearing on the open space in the depot to change onto a bus that would normally be waiting there. Latterly, the waiting bus was pulled to the depot gates - the passengers alighted outside on Victoria Street & boarded the bus waiting to go back out again, saving the ride through the wash & depot building!

 

[fgwrich]

Buses entering Winchester’s former bus station went through the depot.

Winchester was a bit of a funny one - Of course, right up until the last two decades, it would have been Stagecoach's main base for Wincheter as both bus station and depot, before the depot side of things were moved out to Bar End. Of the two large parts to the depot building, The closed depot side then changed hands a few times - Once stagecoach were finished with it, it was initially used as a storage / maintenance facility by the Friends of King Alfred group, before changing operators again to the Hampshire Bus Preservation, who took on the lease until the changes to the bus station layout and proposed demolition were announced (a shame as it was quite a handy building having a pit in it!). The outside hard standing area remains in use by Stagecoach / Axela & Bluestar to park vehicles in during service layovers, while the depot buildings itself have since been demolished during the last round of changes, which saw the direction of buses and parking changed - from East to West to West to East.

(Though as you can see, the roof didn’t half leak and the pigeons knew how to find their way in fairly often)

 

[MotCO]

- but there was Kingston (LT), Victoria (LT) allowing for the LT Tours coach station,

I wondered about Kingston (the old garage in Clarence Street); buses used to enter the garage from Wood Street and drive through it to the front section which was the bus station, but I can't recall if passengers were offloaded at Kingston BR Station first.

Victoria Coach Station also used to have the SL1 and SL2 station link routes passing through.

Lastly, I'm sure that the X1 Excel blog in Norfolk http://fecx1news.blogspot.com/ included stories of buses calling at the garage en route when urgent repairs were required.

 

[traction22]

The discussion about Transdev buying Yorkshire Tiger prompted a question...

When I was a young kid in the mid 80s, we used to get the Yorkshire Traction 236 home to Highburton from Huddersfield. There was one particular bus around 2.30pm that we loved to get, because after it swopped drivers at Waterloo, it proceeded to drive right through the lanes inside the shed to get fuelled up and then through the bus wash before setting off again.

Which makes we wonder: Am I the only person that remembers this happening with Yorkshire Traction? Was it common elsewhere or was it a unique thing?!

I experienced a similar thing at Yorkshire Traction's Shafton depot .... though the more I think about it, I think it was his last outbound run, and if he did it in service, it saved him time later and he could knock off early

 

[175mph]

Scunthorpe's previous bus station was a combined station and depot.