Who decided who gets which bus? (Ie in readiness for the sale offs)

[overthewater]

Lets start off with Scottish bus group but this will easily incorporate NBC. When the companies were being recognised, who decide which depot got which fleet? IE Somehow Eastern scottish Mk2 Nationals went all over the place. Within a year companies started swapping buses back around, Did these swaps cost money or where there all free to a point, this seems to have happened a few times.

 

[GusB]

Lets start off with Scottish bus group but this will easily incorporate NBC. When the companies were being recognised, who decide which depot got which fleet? IE Somehow Eastern scottish Mk2 Nationals went all over the place. Within a year companies started swapping buses back around, Did these swaps cost money or where there all free to a point, this seems to have happened a few times.

I assume you mean reorganised rather than recognised. I think in most cases where depots changed hands, the existing vehicle allocations were transferred over at the same time. That's how Kelvin ended up with three different decker types: Olympians from Eastern, Metrobuses from Midland and Dominators from Central. Similarly, Strathtay ended up with Olympians from Northern and Metrobuses from Midland.

In the case of the Eastern Nationals that you mentioned, some were allocated to Airdrie, thus going to Central and I assume (though don't know definitely) there must have been some at either Ballieston or Linlithgow when those depots passed to Midland.

After 1985, I'm not sure if vehicles were actually purchased, but there were a few one-for-one swaps, eg the four P-type Tigers that ended up with Strathtay were exchanged with four Nationals that headed north in return.

 

[DunsBus]

I assume you mean reorganised rather than recognised. I think in most cases where depots changed hands, the existing vehicle allocations were transferred over at the same time. That's how Kelvin ended up with three different decker types: Olympians from Eastern, Metrobuses from Midland and Dominators from Central. Similarly, Strathtay ended up with Olympians from Northern and Metrobuses from Midland.

In the case of the Eastern Nationals that you mentioned, some were allocated to Airdrie, thus going to Central and I assume (though don't know definitely) there must have been some at either Ballieston or Linlithgow when those depots passed to Midland.

After 1985, I'm not sure if vehicles were actually purchased, but there were a few one-for-one swaps, eg the four P-type Tigers that ended up with Strathtay were exchanged with four Nationals that headed north in return.

Baillieston didn't pass to Kelvin - it was closed by Eastern a few months ahead of the 1985 reorganisation. The vehicles based there went to Midland's Stepps depot, thence to Kelvin a few months later. A number of Eastern's Nationals had been transferred to the Borders in 1983-84 and they passed to Lowland.

As I recall, Kelvin inherited 11 Seddons which were quickly withdrawn as being non-standard. Lowland bought four of them and Midland also bought a couple. The remaining five went for scrap, two of which were just seven years old.

 

[GusB]

Baillieston didn't pass to Kelvin - it was closed by Eastern a few months ahead of the 1985 reorganisation. The vehicles based there went to Midland's Stepps depot, thence to Kelvin a few months later. A number of Eastern's Nationals had been transferred to the Borders in 1983-84 and they passed to Lowland.

As I recall, Kelvin inherited 11 Seddons which were quickly withdrawn as being non-standard. Lowland bought four of them and Midland also bought a couple. The remaining five went for scrap, two of which were just seven years old.

Thanks for clarifying. I couldn't quite remember the exact sequence of events relating to Baillieston, but I knew the vehicles went to Stepps.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Also, have to remember that in readiness for privatisation, there were some changes to NBC firms and allocations. Part of it was simply that in the good old days when making money wasn't an issue, you'd have modern fleet allocated to the sheep and seagulls territory. In the real world, there was never the justification and they wouldn't be able to carry the depreciation so some vehicles were shifted around, within firms usually prior to a split rather than from one subsidiary to another.

I remember the Nationals doing Gala locals though. Thought they were rather modern looking and raucous for the sedate Borders in comparison with the Seddons

 

[Tetchytyke]

In more recent times, how has it worked? When companies sell a depot they always seem to move the demics just before the sale, which makes sense from a seller's perspective but not from the buyer's. Look at, for instance, when First sold their Wigan depot to Stagecoach. Does the buyer not get a say on the buses they buy and, if not, do they price accordingly?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

In more recent times, how has it worked? When companies sell a depot they always seem to move the demics just before the sale, which makes sense from a seller's perspective but not from the buyer's. Look at, for instance, when First sold their Wigan depot to Stagecoach. Does the buyer not get a say on the buses they buy and, if not, do they price accordingly?

It’s a question of negotiation.

The seller may value fleet at X and if the buyer doesn’t want to pay, they don’t.

Rotala have traditionally not purchased fleet when buying from First (Worcestershire had some but mainly fully depreciated) because they didn’t agree with the valuations.