A selection of my slides of Western's fleet in the 1990's taken around Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, as well as on the Isles of Bute and Arran, and on the Cowal Peninsula. This collection runs from 1990 through to July 21st 1994, when Western Scottish Buses formally passed into the ownership of the Stagecoach Group. These include the arrival of the first new Dennis Darts for Western and a couple of Mercedes Benz 709D's for the Machars network plus ex Greater Manchester Leyland Atlanteans and Leyland Nationals from Northern and from British Airways. Plenty more traditional Western tackle as well, including Seddons, Leopards, Nationals and Fleetlines, including a fair number in more remote locations.

Further collections of scanned slides will continue the Western story from July 1994 onwards at some point, covering the intoduction of the Stagecoach livery and the acquistion of the Ayrshire Bus Owners (A1 Service) and AA Buses (Dodds, Ayr) plus the services of the Arran Transport Company. The Stagecoach A1 collection, running from January 1995 to July 1997, can be found below.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

This collections hosts visiting coaches to the Highlands and North East of Scotland as they don't easily fit any other category. Not much else to say other than there are some nice vehicles out there and generally those coaches operating tours of the North of Scotland are turned out to a decent standard.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A selection of Dundee's finest, Tayside's fleet in the 1980's and 1990's. I've included a few of my early slides from my first couple of visits, which are not particularly great shots but may be worth a look all the same. Some of the older slides I have, especially on Kodakchrome, now seem very dark although they project OK.

Anyway, this selection looks at a variety of city centre and out and about shots of Tayside's fleet from the early 1980's through to the late nineties, some of the latter shots taken in Travel Dundee ownership. For the pedants amongst us, I've labelled all the images as Tayside so that the fleetnumbers flow in order in the collection, but some of the latter shots would carry Travel Dundee lettering. Ailsas abound but of course(!) but also a couple of Dominators and the sole Metrobus plus some of the unusual single deckers purchased in the early 90's

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A selection of my Strathtay slides taken on "passing through" visits and Omnibus Society tours in the 1990's. I didn't manage so many visits in the later 1990's, due I guess to being busy through career moves at Stagecoach A1 and Stgaecoach Glasgow. Still I hope there's a reasonable balance of the fleet scanned here, including the new Darts, Olympians and assorted minibuses alongside the more traditional types.

Note that Strathtay changed its fleetnumbering series from a four digit alpha numeric series to a three digit numeric series in April 1993 which will have an implication as to how the fleet will be shown through the 1990's in this collection. Fotopic will list the later slides with three digit fleetnumbers first before starting again with the four digit SXYY type of fleetnumber. Does this make sense or am I babbling again?

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Some Strathtay slides from the 1980's taken (obviously!) after the company's formation in 1985. Some of the earlier shots are on film which doesn't lend itself too well to scanning, like Perutzchrome or Agfa in dull conditions. Here is a fair cross section of the fleet taken on various passing visits showing the earlier fleetnumbering series and some vehicles in Northern and Midland livery as acquired. I probably took more Routemasters at the expense of supposedly more mundane vehicles at the time time, but ach......well they were Routies!

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A smaller collection here, some scans of slides taken of Strathclyde's Volvo Citybuses taken through the 1980's and 1990's. Based around an underfloor engine and the successor to the Ailsa in the Volvo catalogue, the Citybus is a beefy powerful vehicle with a ride quality well matching anything of the 21st century. Strathclyde Buses are best associated with the batch of 95 Citybuses delivered in 1989, the last dozen or so still giving good service on Services 19 and 43 and I build this collection in September 1987. However there were also six delivered in 1983 - 1984, five with Alexander bodies which were easily confused from afar with similar bodied Ailsas, and AH1, which was delivered with a Marshall body.

As with other Strathclyde collections, I've labelled all the images under SBL to keep some form of numerical order throughout. However I'm know that at least three sets of legal lettering would have been carried during the period covered - GGPTE at the start (well just!), SBL and of course First Glasgow.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A selection of scanned slides of the "A", "AV" and "AS" class of Volvo Ailsas operated in Glasgow from 1982, which was my first visit to the city with a decent camera, up until 2000. This is another collection which will gradually grow over the next few months as time permits. I've generally taken a lot of slides of the Ailsa class, being a firm favourite of mine, and there's a further collection created on this gallery looking at the hired fleet after the Larkfield fire, which included a fair fleet of Tayside Ailsas.

For the purists, I've labelled all the images under SBL to keep some form of numerical order throughout, although I'm aware that at least three sets of legal lettering would have been carried during the period covered - GGPTE at the start, SBL and of course First Glasgow.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Metroriders and Metroliners, Seddons and Scanias, Leopards and a Tiger, B10M's and so on. A selection of Strathclyde buses and coaches that don't fit into the other collections and aren't worth one of their own. Oh plus a green and yellow Titan.

As with other Strathclyde collections, I've labelled all the images under SBL to keep some form of numerical order throughout. However I know that at least three sets of legal lettering would have been carried during the period covered - GGPTE at the start (well just!), SBL and of course First Glasgow. This selection will include some of the vehicles bought in by First in the "allover red" era, but will, for now, stop short of the First Willow livery - which may yet appear elsewhere from my slides, and certainly features in the several digital collections of Glasgow I've created.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Olympians, both Leyland and Volvo, feature in this collection. Strathclyde's Olympian collection can really be split across at least four four generations, although further Volvo Olympians were purchased by First Glasgow and continued the VO series of fleetnumbers.

1. 1980 - 1983 saw 46 TL11 engined Leyland Olympians delivered with bodies by Alexander, Roe and ECW.
2. 1991 saw three Workington bodied Cummins engined Leyland Olympians delivered, allegedly as a sop from Volvo for initial problems with Citybuses AH7 - 101
3. 1993 and 52 Alexander low height bodied Cummins engined Leyland Olympians were delivered, many operating on services afflicted by the low railway bridge at Busby
4. 1996 and 30 Alexander bodied Volvo Olympians were delivered, the last new buses ordered by Strathclyde Buses before the company was bought by First Group.

As with other Strathclyde collections, I've labelled all the images under SBL to keep some form of numerical order throughout. However I'm know that at least three sets of legal lettering would have been carried during the period covered - GGPTE at the start (well just!), SBL and of course First Glasgow.I have included some of the long wheelbase Royale bodied VO's bought in by First in the "allover red" era, but will, for now, stop short of the First Willow livery - which may yet appear elsewhere from my slides, and certainly features in the several digital collections of Glasgow I've created.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Musical Metrobuses wailing and howling through Glasgow and environs in the 1980's and 1990's. Some of my scanned slides from these two decades, including a few of the coaches and a couple in the original green/yellow/black livery that the early MB's were delivered in. A great shame that we don't have a restored Strathclyde Metrobus resplendent in orange and black to enjoy and the chances now look very slim.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Here's a selection of my Strathclyde Leyland Atlantean slides scanned, taken in the 1980's and 1990's. Atlanteans were probably the important contribution to the Glasgow bus scene in the 1960's and 1970's, and continued to provide front line service through the 1980's and through most of the 1990's. These slides concentrate on the buses I photographed on student trips to Glasgow and from my own twelve years living in the Glasgow area between 1987 and 1999. As such these are all the later AN68 type of Atlantean, the distinctive roar of which could be heard around Glasgow streets for many years.

I've done the same as with the Ailsa collection, in labelling all the images as "SBL", to try to allow the pictures to flow in numerical order, despite the the fact that legal lettering and ownership changed a couple of times in this period - GGPTE at the start and latterly First Glasgow. The exceptions to that are three early shots taken for me in 1978/81 by visiting friends which are labelled as GGPTE.

I've included one or two slides which could be described as a bit "iffy" and have not scanned that well - just a rushed shot or the first camera! I've included them simply because the bus or shot is interesting

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

During the summer of 1993, Strathclyde Buses launched a new low cost unit, registered to an "off the shelf" company called Comlaw No 313 Ltd and trading as GCT. The unit was registered to an address on Glasgow's Great Western Road which was actually the address of Knightswood bus depot.

Livery was green, yellow and black and the fleet was initially made up of Atlanteans, Olympians and Metroriders transfered in from the main SBL fleet. The Atlanteans involved included the seven former Nottingham Atlanteans purchased the previous year along with all the acquired ex Busways fleet plus some homegrown examples. A variety of services were operated in the short life of the unit, generally the more marginal routes, tendered services or on competitive corridors. Towards the end of the GCT era, after First Group had purchased SB Holdings, the GCT fleetname name was used on a few vehicles in the new style, with vehicles painted in the new Glasgow red livery.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Strathclyde Buses lost over fifty buses in the Spring of 1992, caused by a disasterous fire at their Larkfield Depot, situated on Butterbiggins Road in Glasgow's South Side. For the first few days, SBL pottered on with what they had, aided by a few elderly Atlanteans which were hastily brought back to life.

Temporary hired help was sought and this came initially in the form of Ailsas from Tayside, Atlanteans from Grampian and Busways plus a sole former Grampian Atlantean from Midland and a sextet of Western Atlanteans which Western had just purchased from Greater Manchester Buses. Some Ikarus DAF saloons also lent a hand as did a couple of Plaxton Verde bodied Scania N113's whilst other oddities which dropped by included a Grimsby Cleethorpes Dennis Dominator, a Greater Manchester Scania and a Scania "R" type demonstrator which later became Nottingham City Transport 369. A new "C900" fleetnumber series was adopted for these hired visitors.

The Busways Atlanteans were eventually bought in September 1992 and more were sourced whilst the pair of Verde bodied Scanias also joined the fleet. These purchases lost their "C" class fleetnumbers around this time and assumed LA and SS fleetnumbers, and may form a further Fotopic gallery if there is any interest or the whim takes me!

These slides are all taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and have been scanned with a Nikon Coolscan ED V film scanner.

This collection of scanned slides covers the Western fleet after the takeover by the Stagecoach Group in July 1994. The fleetnumbers are shown without the alpha prefixes to allow the numbers to run in order although Stagecoach didn't drop the letters until mid 1995.

This doesn't include the vehicles operated under the Stagecoach A1 licence which operated between January 1995 and July 1997. However it does include a selection of the older vehicles in both Western and Stagecoach stripes plus a good number of the new vehicles introduced to the fleet, which by mid 1994 needed some serious investment.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100ASA and 200SAS slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan DMC_FZ30 film scanner.

Stagecoach West Scotland's website records the 75th Anniversary Open Day at Kilmarnock Depot on Saturday 9th June as a "roaring success" and the good turn out from gricers, former staff and public alike combined with excellent weather certainly made for a great day. From my own personal perspective, it was good to catch with so many old faces at Killie once more. All cash raised on the day went to support the Ayrshire Hospice

The following day, members of the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust organised a vintage bus running day in Ayr, operating both clockwise and anti clockwise services via Alloway, Doonfoot and the Esplanade. This was a superbly organised event and the GVVT team deserve a hearty slap on the back for the carrying off the day. Again, cash donations on the buses went to support the Ayrshire Hospice.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30 digital camera.

A selection of Stagecoach West shots taken around Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud. plus a selection from the neighbouring Wales fleets around Cardiff, Newport, Pontypridd, Merthr and Brynmawr. Some of the routes local to Stroud are worthy of comment, with Olympians trundling through scenic and rural spots linking the main centres.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

A few shots of various Stagecoach and other visitors on Citylink and Megabus duties around Inverness and the West Highlands. Stagecoach Scotland, Fife and Glasgow vehicles will feature on a variety of services.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30 digital camera.

The Stagecoach Group purchased Highland Country Buses and Orkney Coaches from the Rapson Group on Friday May 16th 2008. This collection covers the transitional days of the former Highland Country network from May 17th 2008 as Stagecoach assess and develop the fleet and network. Ironically, the first Highland Country bus I caught up with in Stagecoach ownership was Enviro 232 with new livery vinyls for the Culloden Battlefield visitor attractions, complete with Rapson branding - this bus had run in allover dealer white since delivery in 2007.

New Stagecoach group fleetnumbers are used throughout although these numbers were not used initially. From August 25th 2008, the Highland Country depot at Seafield Road in Inverness was closed and the allocation transfered to Bluebird's depot nearby in Burnett Road. From that date, both fleets operated under Bluebird "O" discs and the former Highland vehicles are shown in the Stagecoach Blubird Inverness collection.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30 digital camera

A selection of shots of my local operator and former employer taken between 2001 and the present day. There has been a few changes in the local Bluebird fleet since I moved back to the North East in 1999 as Stagecoach's Moray manager, although these are all digital images taken post summer 2001. Most obvious is the complete lack of double deckers in Moray today after the August 2002 Moray Council tender regime improvements, seeing an end to the dependable Gardner/Voith Olympians, whilst Titans and then ex Hong Kong Olympians have now become a feature of operation in Macduff working for Aberdeenshire Council. However the continued investment in Bluebird, especially in the Moray patch is remarkable, by mid 2008 providing a very youthful profile indeed.

I'll include any Stagecoach Strathtay shots taken in the Abereen area here as well as the few workings through from Montrose don't justify a new collection. Bluebird Moray vehicles are also included here on service in Inverness.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera up until October 2004 when I moved onto a Canon Powershot A95 camera and then to a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 camera in August 2006.

A selection of shots of Stagecoach Bluebird vehicles in the Inverness area, including those services in Ross-shire operated from Tain depot which is part of the Inverness division. This digital collection commences in 2001 to the present date, and from August 25th 2008, includes the transfered Inverness allocation of the Highland Country fleet which now operate under Stagecoach Bluebird licences.

Stagecoach's Go Inverness branding is applied to a modern fleet of Plaxton Pointer and ALX200 bodied Darts, Optare Solos and ADL Enviro 400's which compare well with some of the earlier shots here of older Olympians and step entry Dennis Darts.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera up until October 2004 when I moved onto a Canon Powershot A95 camera, and then to a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 camera in August 2006.

A small number of slides passed to me through the Dundee Bus Forum with the suggestion that I scan a few of them to share on the web. The slides had come from company sources when an office was being cleared out. These shots appear to have been taken in early 1994 and early 1997 and feature new Stagecoach Bluebird Interurbans and PS's along with a few shots of Ballater Depot and Elgin Bus Station and the Royal Route branding.

Whilst the shots are relatively recent, it's worth taking stock of how much the bus scene has changed since these shots were taken. Film used appears to be a fairly high speed Kodakchrome which doesn't always scan too well, even when using the special Kodakchrome settings on the scanner.

These slides are all scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Some slides taken in the couple of years after the Ayrshire Bus Owners sold out to Stagecoach. After many years of dependable service on the Ardrossan - Kilmarnock corridor and around the Three Towns, the remaining partners of the A1 Service sold their shares to the Stagecoach Group on Sunday January 29th 1995. That evening, the buses ran out of service to a newly rented depot off Princes Street, Ardrossan or to Kilmarnock's Nursery Avenue. On Monday 30th January, Stagecoach A1 took to the road, although the legal formalities took a further ten days, a new company of Stagecoach A1 Service being created on 9th February 1995.

The public face of the A1 Service changed almost immediately, with a number of Leyland Titans drafted in from Stagecoach East London to cover for some of the less reliable vehicles inherited from the various A1 owners. The traditional blue livery was supplemented not just by red Titans but by a selection of Stagecoach VR's, hired Olympians and other assorted Atlanteans, Fleetlines, Leopards and a Seddon or two. In the fullness of time, a fleet of new Volvo Olympians took over the main corridor whilst older A1 vehicles were either repainted or sold off.

3rd September 1995 saw the local services of Clyde Coast taken over and integrated into the Ardrossan depot network. This included three peak hour commuter routes into Glasgow which has today evolved into today's X34/36 network.

The Stagecoach A1 license was merged into the larger Stagecoach Western fleet on 23rd July 1997 and it's this period, January 1995 - July 1997 that this collection covers. These images are taken on a variety of 100ASA, 200ASA and 400ASA slides and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Sure, I can do south of the border! A selection of scanned slides from several trips to the Isle of Wight in the late 1980's and 1990's. Mainly Southern Vectis's smart fleet around the island in 1987, 1990, 1993 and 1997 along with a few private operator shots. Some wonderful Lodekka rides at various times there plus of course the superb open topped Bristol RE 864 AKA Shanklin's Pony. A great place to spend a few days....about time I went back with a digital camera.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A small collection of scanned slides, Rhymney Valley being a fleet I only visited once before its demise. Former in 1974 under local government reorganisation, the district council inherited the municipal bus fleets of Bedwas and Machen, Caerphilly and Gelligaer urban district councils. The joint fleet was treated to a smart but unusual dark brown, cream and gold livery, and ran operations throughout Rhymney and into Merthyr Tydfil and Newport.

Under deregulation in 1986 the fleet passed to Inter Valley Link Limited, owned by the district council at "arms length". Competition was very strong in the South Wales Valleys, and Inter Valley Link was sold to National Welsh Omnibus Services on 21 March 1989. National Welsh subsequently went into receivership in January 1991, the first big failure of privatisation.

These slides are taken on Ektachrome 100ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Another small collection, of a fleet I only visited once, in August 1985. Merthyr Tydfil's fleet was a colourful one at the time of my visit, the burnt orange, dark brown and cream livery replacing the lighter orange and white scheme. Merthyr's fleet was transferred to an arm's length fleet the following year but it's fortunes were sadly short lived.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Islwyn Borough Transport has operated a network of bus services around Blackwood, Pontllanfraith and surrounding towns in Caerphilly county borough for the past 34 years, having assumed the mantle from the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board. In October 2009, IBT was the smallest of the remaining municipal bus companies however it trades as an arms-length company since the Transport Act 1985. These slides are taken on two brief visits through Blackwood in 1985 and 1994.

On Wednesday 28 October 2009 a press release from Caerphilly County Borough Council confirmed that IBT is to be sold to its larger neighbour Stagecoach in South Wales.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V_ED film scanner

Two days in Singapore in September 1998 on route from the UK to Hong Kong. Looking back at the slides now, I really didn't do the place justice although I suppose it's easy to say that now in light of the convenience of digital photography. Weather was fair enough really, a mixture of sunshine and heavy cloud and heavy cloudbursts. Looking back now, I wish I'd taken more close ups of the Singapore Bus Services Alexander bodied PS's and also the Trans Island Alexander Strider bodied Scanias. Guess that's an excuse to go back, even if the fleet profile of SBS has changed quite remarkably!

These slides are taken on Fuji 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V Ed film scanner

A second visit to Shenzhen in November 2007, this time crossing into China by means of the new almost seamless Western Crossing through Shenzhen Bay from Yuen Long by New Lantao Bus opened in 2007. We returned by another newly opened crossing at Lok Ma Chau, served by the KCR and KMB on the HK side.

This time the search was on for the a sight of the few remaining Daimler Fleetlines in service with Shenzhen Bus Group. These were rebodied in the late 1990's by Sui King Eagle in Guangzhou, and approximately 130 were built, using Fleetline chassis from Kowloon Motor Bus. Now only about a dozen remain, operating the lengthy Route 226 from Red Bay to Zoological Park alongside an assortment of older Chinese built King Long and GZ saloons. And very nice they are too, it being a real pleasure to hear classic Fleetline tune from the Gardner 6LXB engine and SCG gearbox. The gear selector remains semi automatic but with an innovative push button control rather than the traditional H shaped cast iron gate. New chassis numbers were cast into the chassis when these vehicles were built, effectively creating a brand new bus in the eyes of the Chinese authorities.

A selection of other city buses shown as well, mainly operating with the massive Shenzhen Bus Group, SZ Bus, Kingswell and the Peng Yun double deckers on Routes 1 and 2.

These are digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A few hours spent in the Chinese border city of Shenzhen in November 2006. The city bus fleets appear smart and well cared for and most drivers and conductresses seemed pleased at being photographed. Many of the vehicles are owned by the Shenzhen Bus Group and include modern King Long and Yaxing Benz vehicles in the fleet.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasomic DMX-FZ30 digital camera.

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N

Another notion which has come about through scanning the slides of RE's, LH's and Metrobuses along with the Non PSV's. Here's a fair selection of Scottish buses which have seen further service south of the Scottish border.....in places like Wales.....and Englandshire....and maybe more. Included here are Atlanteans from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, former SBG VR's and Fleetlines, Leopards and Fords, Graham's Bus Service gems including a Ford.........and there's more as I go along.

A few of these shots were taken for me and my collection in the 1980's by my late friend, Bill Philip, whom I'll always hold in admiration and gratitude.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Greater Manchester single deck Fleetline is included to compliment shots elsewhere and may at some long distant point form the basis of a mirror image of this collection.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Not to be confused with longer established family member RGH Rapson of Brora, A.H. (Sandy) Rapson came to the fore following the sale of Newton's Coaches of Dingwall to the Scottish Bus Group in November 1985. A network of express services was quickly established under the High Class brand which largely mirrored what Morris Newton had operated. In turn, the company saw an opportunity to launch competitive services against Highland from Easter Ross into Inverness and an eclectic variety of vehicles were acquired for these services and for some tendered services won from Highland Council.

In turn, Rapsons purchased Highland Scottish in August 1991 in conjunction with Scottish Citylink Coaches, and in March 1993, Rapson became the sole owner of the former SBG company. A true case of the wheel turning full circle.

For avoidance of doubt, any Rapson shots taken prior to November 1985 are labelled under the Brora company as it was not clear as to the division of the two business's prior to that date. RGH Rapson scans will be found in the collection named "Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire Buses and Coaches 1980's and 1990's" The end of the Newton business truly saw the Alness based business under Sandy Rapson become a separate business with a clear vision for the future.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

I'm no great rail photographer when compared to the quantity taken through the main interests of buses and trams; however I do take the occasional rail shot when in the right place and the humour takes me. This sudden flurry of shots has come about through catching South West Trains liveried 158786 on an Aberdeen - Inverness journey the same week as EWS commenced operating a weekly Elgin - Mossend freight working, first loaded journey leaving Elgin at 1457 on May 30th 2008.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera

Oban and District was formed from the Midland Scottish fleet based at Soroba Lane depot in Oban in 1992, the network and fleet being sold off in the run up to privatisation. Oban was somewhat remote to a company with a headquarters in Falkirk and it's transfer back to Midland ownership from Highland's was always questionable.

It's a small collection showing some of the fine fleet of Leopards that were operated along with some newer vehicles purchased along the way. Oban and District was purchased by West Coast Motors in 1998 and a new depot built on the outskirts of town, replacing the old Soroba Lane Depot and the overspill facility at the auction mart.

These slides are taken on 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A few sunny hours in Nottingham in June 2004, and a reasonable depiction of the rainbow colours of the Nottingham City Transport fleet, along with the rainbow branding of the Trent Buses fleet! Overall, public transport looked good here at the time, the two principal operators turning out smart, fresh and clean vehicles. Colour branded routes on this scale will always require a disciplined structure to maintain the concept for the customer, and NCT had not long introduced a brave major new network, replacing a more traditional municipal set up.

A few shots also of the very smart and impressive Nottingham tram fleet.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

A selection of Northern Scottish Omnibuses slides scanned from the 1980's. It's very noticeable how different films treated the Northern yellow, with Agfa, Perutz and Boots film tending to turn the livery into a sand like shade, whilst some early Fuji films treated bright sunshine shots as a lemon colour. Latterly I standardised on Fuji 100ASA which has been my preferred 35mm slide film choice since other than in very low light. As a student in the 1980's, I tended to buy whatever was the best deal in film at the time. The new Coolscan scanner affords far more flexibility than existed with my now semi retired Epson Flatbed flatbed and Paint Shop Pro assists in polishing the finished article in some cases......but there's a limit to what can be achieved.

Included here are the final days of the Lodekkas, Fleetlines, Leopards and Fords galore, new Olympians, Tigers and Dennis's and the new liveries that crept into replace the standard yellow and cream. There is no particular methodology in selecting these slides. I've picked some because they are nice shots and others because they've struck a chord or rekindled a memory of something I'd forgotten about.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA film and have been scanned with a Nikon Coolscan ED V film scanner.

This small collection of pictures was taken on a three day coach trip of Northern Guangdong Province in China from Hong Kong, again with my chum Hosea from Hong Kong, who arranged the trip. Tours of all varieties into China are very popular from Hong Kong and are quite fantastic value but are aimed at the local population and therefore are advertised and conducted in Cantonese. This tour was based around the Guangdong city of Shaoguan, staying about an hour from the city centre at Caoxi, in a most enjoyable natural hot springs resort. Most of the vehicles shown are coaches, as the only city visit was late evening to see the lighting displays around the three rivers of Shaoguan. Given the language and Chinese script difficulties for a visiting gweilo, the images are labelled by location rather than company or owner. The more I see of China, the more fascinated I become!

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

United Automobile Services or United, as it was commonly known, was a major provider of bus services across the North East and North Yorkshire for 80 years or more. Nationalised in 1948, until broken-up and privatised in the late 1980s, the company provided bus-services across England's widest geographical area, stretching from Berwick on Tweed on the Scottish border, south to Filey in East Yorkshire.

By the early 1990's, the Northumberland and Scarborough areas had been hived off into two new companies, Northumbria Motor Services and Scarborough & District. In 1990, the Cleveland and Middlesbrough operations were renamed Tees & District, with the Stockton depot operating as TMS (Teesside Motor Services). United was purchased by the Caldaire Group, then North East Bus, then Cowie, which was renamed Arriva on April 2nd, 1998, with North East Bus becoming Arriva North East.

These slides were taken on visits to the North East in September 1992 and April 1995.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

TMS was formed as part of the large United Automobile Company empire in 1990. United's Cleveland and Middlesbrough operations were renamed Tees & District, whilst Stockton depot operated as TMS (Teesside Motor Services) using the blue themed livery seen here. United was purchased by the Caldaire Group, then North East Bus, then Cowie, which was renamed Arriva on April 2nd, 1998, with North East Bus becoming Arriva North East.

These shots were taken in April 1995 whilst passing through the area.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Tees and District were formally part of the large United Automobile Company, being set up in February 1990 to operate the United's Cleveland operations. With headquarters in Middlesbrough and depots including Hartlepool, Redcar, Loftus, Stokesley and of course Middlesbrough, a sizeable fleet of 200 plus vehicles were operated, including initially a large number of United's beloved and long lived Bristol LH's.

Initially the livery involved adding a broad yellow band around the waist of most vehicles but a more stylised red and yellow livery was subsequently adopted. This batch of scanned slides were taken on visits to the North East in September 1992 and April 1995.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

A few scanned slides from the early days of Stagecoach's Darlington operation, the creation of which is well documented elsewhere. By the time these slides were taken in April 1995, the Darlington fleet had been operating without the compnay of the Darlington Transport fleet for some five months.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Wade Emmerson's O K Motors originate from the County Durham town of Bishop Auckland, commencing operations in the early years of the twentieth century. This was a fleet of great enthusiast interest and immaculate presentation which focussed on serving the County Durham area for many years. Deregulation saw the company expand substantially beyond their traditional boundaries into Newcastle and beyond, taking the fleet size from around seventy buses to over two hundred.

The company eventually agreed terms with the Go Ahead Group in March 1995 and became a subsidiary of that company at that time.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner

Northumbria Motor Services was made up of another segment of United Automobile Services, taking in United's operations north of the River Tyne. This particular fragmentation took place pre privatisation in 1986, as United was felt to be too large to be sold off as one entity. With depots as far afield as Whitley Bay and Berwick, Northumbria still covered a fair swatch of N.E. England and operated a fleet of just under 400 buses in the early 1990's.

Northumbria's striking red, grey and white livery was not to every one's taste but I rather liked it. These shots were taken on visits to the area in September 1992 and April 1995.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

A selection of the varied independent fleets that served the North East of England in the late 1980's and 1990's.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Hartlepool Transport operated a very traditional fleet through the 1980's and 1990's, ECW bodied Bristol RELL6G's forming the backbone of the operation for many, many years. A true municipal operation, it became an arms length limited company by statute in 1986 and was purchased by its employees in June 1993. In December 1994, the fleet passed into Stagecoach ownership.

These slides were taken on vists to the area in September 1992 and April 1995, the last visit four months into the Stagecoach era.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Go Ahead Northern was formed from Northern General Transport in the mid 1980's and was the foundation of the current Go Ahead group. Go Ahead Northern operated a wide range of local identities across the North East including the blue liveried VFM Buses and the green and grey Wear Buses scheme to name but two. These slides were taken in September 1992 and April 1995 around Newcastle, Sunderland, South Shields and Durham.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

A few scanned slides from a brief visit to Darlington in September 1992. Darlington Transport operated an eclectic variety of vehicles in a smart blue and cream livery including a selection of ageing Daimler Fleetline saloons, Ward Dalesmans and Seddon RU's, plus at the time of this visit, some former Nottingham Fleetlines with unusual dome conversions.

The demise of Darlington's municipal fleet is well told elsewhere, various events leading to the collapse of the company on November 9th 1994, and the cessation of all services by November 11th 1994.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

These slides were taken on visits through Middlesbrough in September 1992 and April 1995 and show off Cleveland Transit's smart green, yellow and white livery well. The company operated around the towns of Middlesbrough and Stockton and took over from the former Teesside Municipal Transport. In November 1994, Cleveland Transit was approached by the Stagecoach Group and in line with other adjacent municipal operator Hartlepool agreed to sell to Stagecoach.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Busways began trading in 1986 under the ownership of the Tyne and Wear PTA to take over the Tyne and Wear PTE's bus operations as per the requirements of the 1986 Transport Act. An attractive family of liveries were formed around the traditional yellow base, with blue for South Shields, green for Sunderland and maroon for the Newcastle city area. Added to that were various smart low cost units, Blue Bus Services being of particular note with their small fleet of elderly but immaculate Bristol RE's, and Favourite who operated a small Sunderland operation in an attractive orange and white livery.

By the early 1990's, Busways management were becoming concerned about their vulnerability, being encircled by Northumbria, United and Go Ahead Northern. An alliance with a larger group was sought and in July 1994, Stagecoach acquired Busways. However the livery lived on until 1998 as allowed under the term of the takeover. With such a firm hold in the area, Stagecoach were in a good position to consolidate with other operators such as Darlington Transport, Cleveland Transit and Hartlepool Transport.

These slides were taken on visits in September 1992 and April 1995 which hopefully show this most attractive of operations as best I can.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N.............T H I S T I M E

A few non PSV vehicles around the land - this collection will be updated from time to time when the notion takes me! I've included vehicles which are obviously non PSV as well as contract vehicles which would not have operated on stage carriage/local bus service work. I've also included the fleet of Scottish Bus Group Engineering in this collection, which whilst PSV vehicles, did not actually belong to a PSV operator - they were just hired as such. No idea where else to include them!!

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A selection of my Midland slides taken in the 1980's on various trips from Aberdeen and Inverness prior to 1987 when I moved to Glasgow and hence a little closer to Midland's core area of operations. As with other slides taken over twenty years ago, the colour resolutions in various different films seem to have varied far more than one was aware of at the time, with some of the earliest Agfa slides seeming so grainy for 100ASA.

This era takes us through the hiving off of parts of the Midland company to form the Strathtay Scottish and Kelvin Scottish companies, as well as the transfer of Linlithgow depot from SOL to Midland and a brief spell when former SOL Baillieston vehicles worked with Midland fleetnames before transfering to Kelvin . It also sees the arrival of the Tiger and Metrobus fleets as well as the adoption of a new Midland Bluebird fleetname and some livery changes and experiments in the late 1980's.

These slides are taken on a variery of 100, 200 and 400 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Well it might have been nearer twenty minutes, but certainly long enough to have numb fingers in the biting wind. This visit to the North East came about through a business meeting near Redcar and a superb return flight from Aberdeen to Durham-Tees airport on one of Eastern Airways Jetstream 61's.

For the local enthusiast, these will seem very mundane shots, mainly taken at the exit from Middlesbrough Bus Station in a wintry sun. Must admit it was a pleasure to hear the Mercedes 0405's and assorted DAF's with Arriva North East, and an even greater joy to see the Transporter Bridge in action, and looking far smarter than my last visit in the early 1990's.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

And that's just what this is. A business visit to Manchester's G-Mex and two brief visits to the city centre with the camera to catch up with fleet activities around Picadilly Gardens and Oldham Street. Light was poor due the times I had free to escape! Caught up with my first Enviro 400's, seen operating in the Stagecoach fleet and cutting a fine contrast with ex Stagecoach Kenya tri axle Dennis Dragons and Citybus Olympians. Interested too, to catch one of the ex Dennis Dukinfield East Lancs bodied Tridents in Stagecoach livery. Plenty else to catch the eye, including First's impressive articulated Scania Omnis.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera

I first became aware of the existence of the railway and tramway systems in Malta through the excellent books published by local historians Joseph Bonnici and Michael Cassar. The railway operated from the capital city of Valletta through Floriana, Hamrun and Attard to the ancient "Silent City" of Mdina, the line tunnelling under this former capital city of Malta to it's terminus at Museum Station. When launched in March 1883, the line was initially company owned but passed into government hands in February 1892 after a two year cessation of operation due to poor returns. The line functioned from 1892 until 1931, when competition from the ever increasing numbers of private bus operators forced the inevitable.

One of the pleasures of visiting Malta to sample the esoteric bus fleet is the ability to get about such a small island state very easily. Buses are frequent, cheap and cover the island comprehensively. These shots show some of the remaining traces of the railway, namely the stations at Valletta, Birkirkara and Museum. Few visitors who make the necessary crossing over the ditch from the bus station at Valletta's main gate into the city are aware that the railway station is directly beneath them and is now home to the Yellow Garage. Birkirkara Station is now home to a small park (and a large number of semi ferral pussy cats), adjacent to the 71 route bus terminus whilst Museum Station is currently empty again, having been converted to a restaurant in recent years. The restaurateur owns the Peristyle Restaurant above the station at Rabat's Roman Villa's and has a fine selection of old railway prints around his main restauarant.

I hope this selection of shots gives a flavour of the railway, and next year, I must make more an effort to find other remaining evidence of the line ; the ticket office at Attard and station at Hamrun for example, both of which stand.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Ixus 950IS digital camera.

Slide scans from my March 1999 visit to Malta, a trip frustrated by the fact that Fuji, or the Royal Mail, lost several films from the holiday which have never been found. Most frustrating that some of the best shots of the holiday were lost, taken on a day when I vowed to avoid Valletta and it's bus station all day; instead choosing to walk some sections of route and exploring less well know places like Kirkop, Luqa, Zebbug, etc. For all that, they make an interesting comparison with the digital pics from March 2009 and reflect the changes in the Route Bus fleet. As in the past couple of years, it's been a pleasure looking through these slides once again whilst scanning them.

These slides are taken on Fujichrome 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

To compliment my March 2008 visit to Malta, this collection of scanned slides takes in Malta and Gozo ten years earlier in March 1998. Other than the four Darts and the Excel, the low floor fleet is still some five years away. Many of the familiar "faces" of the Malta bus featured here have now been replaced and it was a pleasure looking through these slides whilst scanning them.

These slides are all taken on Fujichrome 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner

Fuelled by my visit to Malta and Gozo in March 2007, I've scanned some slides from my first visit to the islands ten years earlier in March 1997. The first five low floors had just arrived - four Darts and an Excel - but otherwise it was pure Malta with lots of amazing buses to enjoy travelling on and listening to. Interesting to compare with ten years later - many buses having gone yet some old timers looks so alike wihilst others have gained new "faces" and are repowered with more contemporary engines.

These slides are taken on Fuji and Boots 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

This collection was taken in October 2003, my first visit to Malta in three years, and the first with a digital camera. This was an exceptionally hot week of weather for October in Malta, and many a pleasant glass of Maltese red wine was enjoyed and chilled out to in that super little bar in Valetta down the steps on Crucifix Hill. Around half of the new BMCs, King Longs, MCVs and other new types had hit the road but the Maltese flavour was still strong - of course, as I send these in Spring 2005, the traditional Malta route bus is still alive and kicking (or certainly making good noises!) in much reduced numbers. A total of 436 images in this collection, representing every vehicle I noted in service from the 508 possible Route Buses.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

This small collection contains images of former route buses stored across the island of Malta, for the most part in excellent condition and maintained in secure premises. Included are the vehicles belonging to the owner of Paramount Coaches, four of which were replaced by the Dennis Darts of 1997.

Perhaps my own personal favourites are the two beauties, Bedford OB Y722 and Ford Thames FBY732, which have been beautifully restored by their owner, the current operator bus of Bedford FBY722 and Dennis Lance FBY732.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30 digital camera.

This year's trip to Malta partially coincided with an organised visit of busfans from the UK, Europe and beyond, which allowed me to join a couple of excellent day tours - thanks Marco and Richard. Weather was bright and at times breezy.....maybe even stormy at a couple of times. Again we enjoyed the excellent hospitality at the Castille Hotel in Valletta, superbly set just a few minutes walk from the frenetic activity around the bus station.

As always, the selection of refurbished route buses continues to impress, with gems like AEC Swift EBY525 surfacing for the first time in many years, allowing one to enjoy the AEC 505 gearbox music traditionally associated with the Swift. However it must be remembered that time is marching on, and the commissioned Halcrow report of 2008 may have severe ramifications on the existing set up. For those who haven't been to Malta, get there soon - it's well worth it to wallow in some superbly engineered vehicles and the hospitality on the island is most welcoming.

The "future" could well be a single operator franchise of around 220 vehicles replacing the 400 or so owners of 508 route buses, and there's a tremendous cultural and vehicle heritage here that needs to be represented in preservation for future generations. There's little doubt that progress will continue towards total modernisation and there can be many benefits for the regular passenger in this. However Malta's tourism benefits from the legendary island buses and campaigning has begun to allow owners to be able to retain their vehicles if so minded as family heirlooms, currently almost impossible for them to achieve. Campaigning has also begun to convince the authorities to consider heritage services with some of the best of the old fleet. Fingers crossed that we get somewhere with this and any like minded individuals are asked to consider contacting the Transport Minister's Private Secretary on emanuel.j.delia@gov.mt in support of this approach.

Enjoy. These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

Our visit to Malta in March 2008 was again blessed with generally fine and warm weather ; a couple of very short showers dried up within minites of having stopped. This time we elected to stay in Valletta, in the attractive and stunningly set Castille Hotel just minutes from the Triton Fountain and all that bus action.

New additions since the previous year include a pair of ex Stagecoach Yorkshire Alexander bodied B6's, three former TWM Lynx's, two former Preston Lynx's of which one was in service and a trio of ex London Buses LLW class Wright bodied Dennis Lances. The ex Preston Lynx was particularly stunning in it's turn out and performance whilst both B6's look very smart in the route bus colours. Some very smart rebuilds since last year as well, including the Zinnu Coachworks recreation of Indiana 424 and almost completely new structure on Dominant 594.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera, assisted on occasions with the pocket Canon Ixus 950.

A Spring visit to Malta for the first time in three and half years and time again to wallow in the wonderful assortment of buses used on the Route Bus network. Still a good selection of traditional Maltese vehicles in operation, along with the new low floor stuff which was being delivered when I last visited. These are beginning to come through their first repaint and some have been superbly customised in true Maltese fashion, as is shown here I hope.

The large fleet of buses imported by the Maltese government in the early 1980's have now completed 25 years service on the island. Duple Dominants and Plaxton Supremes, former London Swifts, NBC Bristol LH's and a few former municipal Tigers Cubs and AEC Reliances - many have been rebuilt to a superb standard, and internal refurbishment with smart laminates can be seen on some.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A selection of the coaches used on charter and tour work around Malta, with representation from most of the well known coach operators such as Cancu, Koptaco, Paramount and Zarb, as well as some of the smaller operators. As well as conventional coaches readily recognisable from our UK highways, there are some more unusual vehicles, including Unicar and Camo bodied ERF Trailblazers, Ghabbour bodied Scanias and Scarnif bodied Optimal Leylands and Bedfords. One particular gem is BCY881, a 1952 Leyland Royal Tiger with Brincat coachwork dating from 1972.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

Malta March 2009 and I'm back there again, seeking out good noise route buses and catching up with activities on the private hire and tour scene. Cancu's open top fleet has increased since March 2008, with three of the four open topped former Glasgow Citybuses now in traffic, leaving just G524RDS awaiting licensing. Oppurtunites were also offered to visit Garden of Eden where several of their open toppers wee viewed at the depot as well as a most pleasant hurl on their Daimler CVG6.

A fair number of coaches included here as well, plus some shots of the former McKindless of Bogside King Long at Zinnu's Coachworks being prepared for the Malta Freeport as an internal transport vehicle.

These are all digital photographs taken with a DMC_FZ30 digital camera.

Cancu Supreme's double deck operations dominate my 2008 look at the private charter bus and coach fleets of Malta, having successfully commenced operation of the North and South island tours. Both trips are highly recommended to any visiting enthusiasts and trippers to get a feel for the island, and the pleasant mix of Fleetline, Titan, Citybus and Routemaster should please most gricers. We were particularly impressed with the conversion undertaken by Cancu on the first ex Strathclyde Volvo Citybus whuch can be seen here - former SBL AH53 now Cancu's COY005. COY013/AH80 is also seen awaiting attention at Cancu's yard whilst the other pair, COY010/AH60 and COY011/AH46 were tucked away out of site awaiting completion.

Some smart coaches as well - particularly pleased to ctach up with Garden of Eden's Javelin BCY930 in a new livery which is better know to me as Mayne's of Buckie's H10GSM. Likewise a nice record shot of Paramount's JCY905, a 1953 Leyland Tiger rebodoed by Paramount to Plaxton Paramount style in 1996.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

Back in Paradise for the first time in three and half years. Caught up big style with the Route Bus fleet but here's a few coaches from the various private hire fleets, plus one of the weary Ministeru Ta L'Edukazzjoni AEC Swifts at Saqqajja, one of two we saw from the operational fleet of five. Double deck sightseeing operation is finally getting off the ground in 2007 and two of Cancu's former Swindon Fleetlines were seen at Sliema Stance on trianing work.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

We were lucky to be granted a visit to the Malta Police Headquarters in Floriana in this visit. It's a fascinating place just under the fortified walls of Floriana, and there's a selection of the vehicles operated seen here.

Included are the PSV buses operated by Pulizija Ta Malta, all of which originated from the UK, plus several vehicles under restoration by the Force. The Ivecos originated from Arriva Herts and Essex whilst the Bedfords operated with Croyden Council.

A big thank you to the Senior Officer who gave his time and friendship to show us around. These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30 digital camera

My first visit to the former Portuguese territory of Macao (or Macau) since 1996, and a pleasure to see how smart the fleets of Transmac - Transportes Urbanos de Macau S.A.R.L. and TCM - Sociedade de Transportes de Colectivos de Macau S.A.R.L. are in 2005. Both fleets still have fair fleets of older front engined saloons with Transmac's Jit Luen bodied Fusos and TCM's Luen Sing bodied Mercedes OF1313's and Nissan CB12s.

However the investment of new stock is plain to see, with new MCV Sterling bodied Darts, Hispano bodied MAN's and King Longs with Transmac and a range of new Rainbow bodied Hino's with TCM. The area can be visited eaily on a day trip from Hong Kong but we chose to stay overnight on Taipa, enjoying the local Portuguese cuisine and savouring the old city atmosphere on Macao around Largo do Senado.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

A further trip to the former Portuguese territory of Macao (or Macau) in March 2006, and some additional shots of the two franchised route bus companies along with some of the local coaches. Transmac - Transportes Urbanos de Macau S.A.R.L. and TCM - Sociedade de Transportes de Colectivos de Macau S.A.R.L. both operate modern fleets with some recent investment, along with some older types. TCM showed off a couple of new Chinese built models which are illustrated here.

Again, we chose to enjoy an overnight package on Taipa from Hong Kong at very reasonable rates and again visited some more of Macao's tourist attractions.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera

My first visits to the then Portuguese territory of Macao, both taken as day trips from Hong Kong for a few hours. I didn't really do the place justice unlike my more recent visits in digital days, and never visited the island of Taipa or Coloane....just not enough confidence to find my way about. Transmac's fleet of Fuso's were supplemented by the Plaxton Pointer Darts in the 1996 visit whilst TCM underwent a livery change between the 1995 and 1996 livery. I was lucky to catch the last two Bedford SB's working with TCM over both visits.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 ASA slide filsm and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Lowland is another company, like Central, that I never really did justice to, and never spent any time in their operating area beyond day visits. A great shame really, as the Borders are a beautiful part of Scotland and I'm sure that had I made the effort, I could have secured some very nice scenic shots away from bus stations and Edinburgh City Centre. Lowland Scottish Omnibuses came into being in 1985 as the Scottish Bus Group prepared for deregulation and privatisation. The company was sold to its management in August 1990 and then to GRT Holdings in November 1994. GRT of course then became First Group and the rest is well told already.

I've kept this collection concentrating on the depots and services associated with the original Lowland company although I'm aware that in the late 1990's, the winding up of Eastern Scottish under First Group saw Lowland legal lettering on vehicles operating from depots like Musselburgh and Dalkeith. Whilst I catalogued slides of vehicles in this category (correctly if pedantically!!) under Lowland at the time, when the time comes, SMT branded vehicles in the greater Edinburgh area will probably form part of an Eastern Scottish/SOL/SMT gallery on this site.

As with most slide films, there's some variation in how the yellow and green of Lowland has been depicted, and even with some colour alteration, it's easy to differentiate Fuji from Agfa from Ektachrome. Notable amongst these slides however is a couple of shots of National 172 in the original bright green which was swiftly changed to a more sombre green akin to that of Eastern/SOL.

These slides are all taken on a variety of 100, 200 and 400 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

An all too quick trip through Leicester on a warm and sunny day in June 2004. First's fleet was sporting several liveries of the past, including the unusual lemon, green and white offering whilst the final few vehicles carrying the GRT inspired livery were also evident. Arriva's fleet was uniformly turned out smartly, the East Lancs Myllenium Lowlanders cutting a fine dash, whilst newcomer Centrebus had a fine selection of musical Metrobuses to tune into. A real pleasure to see the attractive Hylton and Dawson Plaxton Derwent Bedford operating the traditional route into the city.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera

A first for Lathalmond in May 2007, this event was an organised running day covering several routes radiating from the Museum and using a wide variery of vehicles. We used our own Northern Leyland Leopard "T" type as transport to and from Lathalmond once more, and enjoyed setting up a line up of restored Northern yellow and cream buses basking in the sun.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

Wet, Wet, Wet. A fair description of the first day on the SVBM annual weekend, with almost continual rain, at times heavy. Unfortunately, there is some evidence on the weather showing on a few of these shots, as the rain spattered the lens filter, and my own glasses were so fogged up I could hardly see myself.....and the lens cloth became as wet as the rest of me.

For all that a good day with plenty catching up and chat, and few new vehicle restorations to enjoy. Particular note are the pair of former Midland Metrobuses, Gary Conn's MRM100 now in Kelvin Scottish livery and MRM105 in Midland Scottish livery, and both sounding just as they should!

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A selection of shots from the August 2005 weekend at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond. Some excellent warm and sunny weather, showing off some of the regular visitors and resident vehicles, as well as some new vehicles. Good to see Denis Strange's former Badgerline Bristol RE up from the South West - always a pleasure to hear an RE in good fettle! Some other interesting vehicles, including the Blackburn Leyland PD2 and Irvine's of Law with their immaculate excellent Nottingham Volvo Citybus.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

A few shots from a chilly Fife day at Lathalmond, attending the second May event organised by the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum. The theme was "Old and New" hence our attendance with three new Moray Council vehicles, including the first licensed BMC Hawk in the UK, along with a Moray allocated Stagecoach Bluebird Profile, our own restored "T" type Leopard and Chris Hall's newly acquired former Burnley and Pendle Leyland Leopard.

Some nice vehicles to be seen, including a smart Mercedes Citaro from McGills and an Autosan from Rennies. Notable also was attendance of Edinburgh Tours/Lothian Routemaster 15 in the Hearts of Midlothian FC colourscheme.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95.

A selection of the vehicles present at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum at Lathalmond, near Dunfermline in Fife, on their 10th Anniversary Running Day, on Sunday 15th May 2005. For once, the sun split the skies and it was warm, leading to a most satisfactory event. Good to see to many vehicles there, representing the themes of "Old and New", and to sample so many in service.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

Kelvin Scottish was one of the four new companies formed by the Scottish Bus Group in mid 1985 with minds focussed on the forthcoming processes of deregulation and privatisation. Kelvin was made up of existing SBG subsidiaries Central Scottish Omnibuses, Old Kilpatrick depot and Midland Scottish Omnibuses, Milngavie, Kirkintilloch, Kilsyth, Stepps and Cumbernauld depots. Initially a two tone blue livery was adopted, not so dissimilar to Highland's coach livery, but this was soon replaced by a much more striking and handsome two tone blue and yellow livery.

Initially my exposure to Kelvin was restricted to day trips to the Glasgow area and the occasional Kelvin migrant north on Citylink; however I moved to the Glasgow area in July 1987 albeit working for another one of the new SBG companies, Clydeside at their Gordon Street Head office. Kelvin Scottish's existence as an operating company was short lived, being merged with Central in July 1989 to form Kelvin Central Buses - another tale and another collection to be found on this site. As with other collections of scanned slides, the varied films I used have varying characteristics which seem all the more obvious 23 years later, especially those taken on Agfachrome 100 ASA and (shudders) Fujichrome 400 ASA.

Kelvin initially used a simple numbering system with alpha prefixes for chassis type and alpha suffixes to indicate dual purpose(D), coach(C) or express type(X). This was replaced in August 1986 by a pure numeric system although the Routemaster initially continued to use the London RM numbers for a time before being renumbered in the 19xx series. Not all RM's survived long enough to receive the 19XX series, some ending up being sold on to Cumberland or broken for spares; consequently I've left the RM's in this collection under their RM fleetnumbers so all flows numerically.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 ASA, 200 ASA and 400 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A selection of my Kelvin Central Buses and Coaches slides taken between July 1989, when the company was formed, and 1998. KCB was a merger of Kelvin Scottish and Central Scottish in preparation for privatisation, and operated until July 1998 when the company became First Glasgow (No.2) Ltd and the allover red livery became King. During its nine years of operation, it operated an eclectic fleet of vehicles, with almost every available chassis type of the day operated, and in a wide variety of liveries and livery applications.

As ever, I do have doubts about how well slides scan generally even with a decent film scanner, given that the vast majority of these images project well onto a screen. I have included a couple of "lemons" in the collection, purely because the vehicle or livery is of interest. 200ASA Kodakchrome scans very poorly with strong colour casts that editing can only do so much with, whilst Boots/Agfa 200ASA seems very grainy on scanning. Likewise, bright sunshine and Kelvin allover yellow slapheid fronts don't always come out too well on film.

Fleetnumbers should roll through in numerical order although those shots taken post August 1996 will appear towards the end after the Strathclyde Buses alpha-numeric system was adopted under First Group ownership.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Our third visit to stay with PJ and Maureen at their excellent Tinode Guest House in Upper Drumcondra, and oh dear, this time the weather didn't keep up with previous years. Indeed, the forecast was so bad that we skipped the enjoyable rail trip on the Enterprise to Belfast, and how wise were we! On the day planned for Belfast we went at the last minute to Cork instead - just as well as Belfast suffered badly from flash floods which made headline news. Cork was dry and mild and it was my first visit there for several years - oh, what a shame to see such a modern city fleet of buses so badly neglected.

We also did Sligo for day, but on that occasion the rain did catch up with us.....how fortunate for us that the City Hotel Sligo offered a fine dinner menu and how fine that we can make dinner last three hours! Our timing was poor for the new Enviro 400 and 500 stock in Dublin, which is in course of delivery....but there is next year. We did at least catch up with Dualway's new East Lancs bodied stock.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC FZ30 digital camera.

Having enjoyed the short trip to both South and North Ireland in June 2005, we decided to repeat the break this summer. Staying in Dublin for three nights, we sampled Dublin's new Enviro 500's, most beefy performers with six speed Voith transmission and most impressive sounding exhaust retarders. We also struck lucky on Dublin's Ghost Bus tour, enjoying what was one of the last night's of Molly's reign on the tour on a regular basis. Molly is DublinBus 450, a 1972 Leyland Atlantean with the unique body style of the fleet built by CIE. Nice to hear the roar of the DAF engine as well as the howl of the wind in the graveyard visits! Plenty new Volvo B7's as well in the DublinBus fleet, seeing the elimination of the RH class of Olympian the weekend before our visit.

Also visited Galway for a day, sampling Lally's ex Manchester Atlantean on the city tour as well as observing the Citaros and Darts at work on the city routes. A trip to Belfast saw further repaints into the pink Citybus standard livery although a couple of Tigers turned out in the evening peak. At Bangor, some new Solo's in the latest light blue and while livery were evident alongside older types.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot digital camera.

A quick break in Ireland in June 2005, staying in the excellent Tinode House in Dublin's Drumcondra Road. Enjoyed some decent trips on DublinBus's well set up Olympians and B7's, as well as a few trips on the DART suburban trains and the impressive LUAS tram system. Weather was favourable as the images will show, unlike our day in the North by Enterprise, which was damp and humid, although it dried up as the day went on. Time for a quick look at the Belfast and Bangor fleets, with Belfast being a rather chaotic mixture of the pink Metro livery, various incarnations of the turquoise based Translink livery and classic Citybus red and ivory. At least the new Spanish built Northern Ireland Railways diesel units are smart and impressive.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

Some scanned slides from a visit to Eire in July 1997, staying in Dublin but venturing out and about as will become obvious as the collection builds. The face of Dublin's buses has changed so much in the past ten years, with the Bombardier family having been retired, as have many of the older Olympians, whilst the DAF saloons have now been pensioned off as school buses in the provinces.

Sadly the weather was not that great on this holiday, and that will be reflected in a few gloomy looking shots in Corcaigh and Gallimh, where I reckoned the subject interest was still worthy of scanning the original slide. Untill revisiting these slides, I'd forgotten just how smooth and sweet sounding the Cummins/Voith powered KC class Bombardiers could be, even allowing for the weakened "brokeback" look of the body. KR's DAF/Allison combination sounded like well worn early Dennis Darts, and the KD's combination of General Motors two stroke engine and Allison box.....well try throwing a bag of bolts into a washing machine.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

Inverness Traction was formed in May 1988 by a group of Highland drivers, initially operating a fleet of leased minibuses in competition with the established city network in the Highland Capital. Some unusual vehicles were operated, including Freight Rovers bodied by Aitken of Linlithgow. An attractive livery of grey and pale blue was carried with a bold red and blue "IT" fleetname.

Highland fought back against the interloper with some vigour and whilst both companies suffered financial losses, Inverness Traction was forced into receivership in April 1989. IT's services and leased fleet were then taken on by another newcomer in the North, Alexanders (North East) Ltd, who continued the competitive strategy in Inverness. Alexanders (North East) then went into receivership seven months later in November 1989.

Stagecoach immediately purchased the assets and service network of IT in November 1989, maintaining the bold blue and red "IT" logo as Stagecoach liveried vehicles were drafted in. In turn, Stagecoach also took advantage of the Scottish Bus Group privatisation process and acquired W. Alexander and Son (Northern) Ltd in March 1991, which was renamed Bluebird Buses Ltd. Later, in September 1991, Stagecoach Bluebird took on Highland's city services in Inverness along with the Easter Ross network and Tain depot after Highland drivers walked out en masse and joined Stagecoach. The Stagecoach IT fleetname was perpetuated for a few years but gradually the Bluebird fleetname took over.

This collection of scanned slides covers the early days of Inverness Traction from 1988, with a few shots taken during the few month's of Alexander (North East) ownership. It continues with the early days of Stagecoach ownership and into the full Stagecoach Bluebird fleet through the 1990's. There may be a couple of liberties taken with fleetnumbering for labelling convenience, especially in the early days of Stagecoach ownership when some vehicles carried a separate series of numbers for a short time; some vehicles are listed here with their Stagecoach Bluebird numbers although shown carrying IT or Northern Scottish numbers, to allow the photographs to flow. I've also included Aberdeen and Moray based Stagecoach Bluebird vehicles seen in Inverness on service with effect from September 1991 which will compliment the more modern digital collection.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A "peerie" collection of slides scanned from my first visit to Orkney in the autumn of 1982. I just wish I'd had more sense of adventure in those days as most shots are taken around Kirkwall Bus Station before adjourning to Mrs Fowlis's guest house in Buttquoy Road. Again I guess the parsimonious nature kicked in, as there's other vehicles in the background that I could have photographed; as I've said before, slide film didn't have the disposable nature of the digital era.

Also included here are a puckle of slides taken for me by a friend who visited Shetland the following year - thanks Robert. I recall the pleasure of getting a slide of Leask's ORS84H, the only semi automatic Albion Viking built for the Scottish Bus Group. What a shame such a fine motor hasn't survived.

These slides are all taken on a variety of 100ASA and 200ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

Here's a small selection of scanned slides taken on two visits to Lewis and Harris in 1987 and 1991, and supplemented by a few shots taken in 1985 by a friend (thanks Robert!). At that time, the last of the traditional Bedford SB's bought new by island operators were coming towards the end of their days and replacements included ex SBG Leopards and Ford saloons. Given that these were both quick visits, I didn't have much time to travel around the local services from Stornoway which of course I now regret - many of the Lewis services have remarkably good headways given the remote location.

Planning a visit this summer which should hopefully provide a digital comparison with the slides scanned here. Some of these slides are taken in very low light at a slow shutter speed and that may reflect in the quality.

These slides are all taken on a variety of 100ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

This is a rather mixed bag of slides scanned from across the more rural parts of North West Scotland and Skye but expanded as it went along to include as far south as Oban and Easdale. I haven't included Oban and District here as that will form a separate small collection of it's own.

The largest operator involved is Clan Coaches of Kyle of Lochalsh whose coaches were part of the express scene for a few years under the very smart Skyeways banner. On Skye there's a few shots from Cally Nicolson of Borve and Willie Sutherland of Glenbrittle - now both part of Skye's transport history. Elsewhere, I've included Westerbus in it's original form founded by Martin Taylor and in it's current form as MacKenzie and MacLennan's garage at Gairloch. Moving south, this seemed a decent enough place to include Morar Motors, Stewart of Dalavich and McColl of Benderloch.

These slides are all taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner. Thanks to Peter Findlay for giving me the shots at Sutherland's Glenbrittle premises and for the Queen Mary of Cally Nicolson's in NBC green.

This collection started out by fishing out the slides taken of Newton of Dingwall's coaches prior to the sale to the Scottish Bus Group in November 1985. In doing that, those vehicles of Dunnet, Keiss and Morrison of Castletown came to light and the collection has come to embrace the independent operators of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire....broadly speaking those operators north of Inverness until the Pentland Firth is reached. The Rapson vehicles shown are those credited to RGH Rapson of Brora; a separate collection covers Sandy Rapson's Alness based fleet post November 1985 which took up where Newton left off on the Express market and is entitled "Rapson (Sandy Rapson) Buses and Coaches, Alness and Inverness 1985 - 1993".

Some of the older slides are showing their age, and there are a few slides taken on a thankfully shortlived (but ohhh so cheap!)Dixonchrome which are almost electric blue in tone, even after some tweaking in Paint Shop Pro.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 ASA and 200 ASA slides and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner. Thanks to friend Ewan Wood for taking several of the Dunnets shots over the years for me.

A few shots of the private operators around the Highlands, including the City Sightseeing fleet in Inverness. This is one of those collections that will grow slowly as many Highland independent fleets are small outfits which take a bit of finding. For all that, companies like the excellent D&E Coaches in Inverness are making their mark.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera up until October 2004 when I moved onto a Canon Powershot A95 camera and thence to the Panasonic DMC-FZ30 in August 2006.

A collection of the buses and coaches of the many independent operators in Moray and Aberdeenshire. This includes some interesting vehicles, such as Allan and Black's 1969 Leyland Leopard which is still in regular use with the company, and also their ex Nottingham Scania "R" type decker. Watermill Coaches large fleet of contract double deckers is shown, as are the school and local bus service vehicles of Deveron Coaches, based at MacDuff and Buckie. Several of the pictures are taken close to schools and I feel obliged in the current environment to add, for the avoidance of doubt, that these were all taken with full knowledge of the local authority and school management.

There are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera up until October 2004 when I moved onto a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

I was lucky to join a BusFanWorld trip to local coachbuilder Jit Luen on my visit in November 2007. Jit Luen Auto Body Works are a well established Hong Kong coachbuilding business, based at Hung Uk Tsuen near Tin Shui Wai in the New Territories. The company was established in 1978 and have offered a range of coach bodies to local operators. Bus bodies were also built for, amongst others, on Fuso chassis for Transmac in Macao in the 1980's, and on Volvo B6's for Citybus in the 1990's.

The current coach body is the Jit Luen JL-09, whuch is offered on the Volvo B7, Scania, Isuzu and Irisbus C35 chassis. Our hosts allowed us free reign of the premises where we were able to see several coaches in build as well as several completed vehicles. This included the first Irisbus chassis completed by Jit Luen for cross border operator Guangdong Hung Wai. It also allowed me a chance to experiment with a new pocket camera, the Canon Ixus 950IS.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Ixus 950IS

Two of Hong Kong's most enduring icons to the transport enthusiast. On November 11th 2006, the gates of the Star Ferry terminal at Central on Hong Kong Island closed for the final time. The first departures on the following morning, Sunday 12th November, left from a new terminal on reclaimed land, somewhat less accessible to the pedestrian than the old premises. The loss of these buildings, whilst seemingly an insignificant 1960's design, has caused some stirring of conscience within Hong Kong, with protests around the terminal over the loss of cultural heritage and seemingly hundreds of local Hong Kong residents taking their last photographs. It seemed quite an honour to be there in Hong Kong when this event took place

Another iconic landmark under threat of closure for ever in 2007 is the seemingly immovable Star Ferry bus station. KMB's traditional Kowloon services have turned there since the early day's of the company's operation adjacent to the original Tsim Sha tsui KCRC railway station. It's closure, if confirmed, will be another sad loss to transport enthusiasts and to Hong Kong's recent history.

These are all digital images taken in November 2006 with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A selection of ex Hong Kong vehicles in service with United Kingdom operators. China Motor Bus ML class Metrobuses, DL class Dennis Condors and LM class Leyland Olympians are included, along with Citybus Leyland Olympians in the the Megabus fleet of various Stagecoach subsidiaries. I have listed the former Hong Kong fleet number as well in the image label.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera up until October 2004 when I moved onto a Canon Powershot A95 camera .

November 2008 was a superb time to visit that most fragrant of harbours, with the weather most days in the high 20's and low 30's. Perhaps if anything a bit too warm but we coped;-). New vehicles which were on the hit list included new Enviro 500's with Citybus and NWFB, which I'd seen being built at Heng Fa Chuen depot the previous year. The Citybus examples are primarily used on the network of routes serving Shenzhen Bay Port, officially a closed area to non permit/visa holders, but my brief visit went unchallenged. I had a spare entry on my China visa anyway so could have justified my presence there.

The previous year had seen the preparatory work being carried out for the merger of the KCR and MTR fleets under the MTR name, which would see MTR acquire a fleet of buses for connecting services. New into the MTR fleet are a batch on Enviro 500's whilst Leyland Olympians have dropped out the other end of the fleet into storage at Fo Tan depot. New Lantao Bus also have new Gemiilang bodied MAN's NL273's which were found at Yuen Long/Shenzhen Bay Port, and at Tung Chung.

KMB continue to introduce new Enviro 500's whilst aircon Olympians and Dragons from the AL and AD classes are now the oldest members of the fleet; older than many of the 190 non aircon Olympians and Dragons left. Despite their proportionally smaller and smaller numbers, the red and cream non aircon livery is still kept smart and still has a relatively high profile as almost every non aircon bus has a daily allocation, with older aircon deckers being the fleet spare capacity. We were especially pleased to travel the entire length of KMB Service 70 from Jordan to Sheung Shui on Olympian S3BL410 just weeks before this well known route was withdrawn on December 6th 2008, have outlived it's original market.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A start in labelling the 900 plus shots taken in Hong Kong in the first couple of weeks of November 2007. As in 2006, the weather was excellent with warm sunshine most days. Pleased to capture both KMB Euro IV powered deckers, the Volgren bodied Volvo B9 and the Salvador Caetano bodied Scania, both of which operate the same allocations most days.

I also enjoyed a visit to New World First Bus's Heng Fa Chuen depot to see the first Enviro 500's being assembled for both Citybus and New World. The Citybus batch will likely work Service B3 which links Tuen Mun West Rail with the Shenzhen Bay crossing into China. I used this corridor to enter Shenzhen although our mode of transport was the route from Yuen Long West Rail which is operated by New Lantao Bus, using some very attractive Asia bodied MAN high floor dual door coaches.

The first fortnight in November 2006 in Hong Kong produced some superb weather with long hours of lovely warm sunshine. I stayed in Tsuen Wan this time, which offers the opportunity to enjoy the Hong Kong experience on all fronts away from the commercialised gweilo haven of Tsim Sha Tsui. KMB's non aircon fleet is fading fast and I reckons this will have been my last opportunity to enjoy a few trips on KMB's SM class of 11 metre Metrobuses. One of those I rode on, S3M221, was withdrawn during the holiday. The final one of the batch, S3M254, was sole example to pop at Star Ferry and I apologise now to the poor pair of drivers who were spooked by my frequent appearances on ths bus. Lots of new stuff as well in KMB - how smart do these 2006 lettered ATE class Enviros and AVBW class Wrightbus double deckers look, eh?

Few changes to either the Citybus or New World fleets but Long Win have four more Enviro 500's and New Lantao Bus's fortunes must have improved with the options available from the Ngong Ping 360 Skyride cable cars, which opened in October 2006.

These are all digital images are all taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digial camera.

Some further Hong Kong shots this time taken during a cool and dull March 2006 visit. KMB's non aircon fleet is ever diminishing and the sound of the Gardner engine is now probably in it's final year in Hong Kong. A couple of Discovery Bay Transit's ex Citybus MAN262's are included, as are the latest Volvo B9's operating with KMB.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 digital camera

A pleasant few days in Hong Kong again, and pleased to catch up with some of the new arrivals. Two of Long Win's three Alexander Dennis Enviro 500's were in use on their Disneyland network, whilst I caught up with a couple of KMB's latest Wright bodied Volvo B9TL's. Also of great interest was my first visit to the San Tin terminus of the Huanggang - Lok Ma Chau shuttle service to catch up with the yellow liveried fleet fo Art East Asia Ltd.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

March 2005 in Hong Kong was as cool as I've ever experienced in the territory - in fact it was downright cold. Good weather for the hiking we did around Nam Chung and Pat Tam Au but not so good for standing about with the camera and digicam. There's a reasonable selection of all three main fleets here, including some KMB nightshots at Star Ferry, Tsim Sha Tsui and at Mong Kok. Must admit I was very pleased with the quality of the night shots of which is down to the Canon A95 - good purchase then. On the whole, weather was on the dull side which affects the light in a city of high buildings. Still plenty of KMB's older non aircon fleet, along with the first aircon Olympian, AL1, which made an appearance.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

This, my sixth trip to Hong Kong, took place in October 2002 in what was generally a fine spell of weather - some low cloud but dry throughout. I was lucky to catch up with the final half dozen KMB Mercedes 0305's operating around Wah Ming and Sheung Shui on Route 76K, and was so impressed with their performance and condition, just weeks before retirement. Friends arranged a trip to NWFB's depot at Wong Chuk Hang, near Aberdeen, where I caught up with the former CMB retired stock on the depot roof. Lots of older KMB stuff as well around Tsing Yi where I was staying.

Thanks to Stuart for arranging the NWFB depot visit and for his company and assistance on the trip to Discovery Bay. These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

This was my fifth trip to Hong Kong and the first with a digital camera, although I was dual taking with 35mm as well as I just did not trust this new fangled digital thing! These are all digital shots, representing Citybus, Kowloon Motor Bus, New World First Bus and Hong Kong Tramways. Of note are a few shots of the Citybus trolleybus based on Dragon 701 being worked on at Ap Lei Chai Depot and the former China Motor Bus non aircon DM class Dennis Condors in their last few months of service with New World First Bus.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

A collection of slides scanned from my September 1998 visit to Hong Kong, arriving just five days after the transfer of undertaking from China Motor Bus to the newly formed New World First Bus. Perhaps not the best timing, as had I known that CMB were going to lose their franchise from 1st September, I would have booked my holiday in order to be there at the handover. However I was still able to see the first Tridents and Darts operating for New World, and plenty older CMB fleet members carrying New World branding.

It was also my first time flying to the new airport at Chep Lap Kok, which had opened a few months earlier replacing the old but much loved airport at Kai Tak. The new Long Win fleet were taking delivery of Tridents to operate the new network of services although a handful of Volvo Olympians were also in service untuil the Trident order was fulfilled.

Weather was mixed, which is reflected in the quality of the images seen here. The light was so poor that I had to purchase a supply of 400ASA film to compliment my supply of 100ASA film. Inevitably the grainy quality of the 400ASA film shows up badly in the scanned image.

These slides are all scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

This collection of photographs were taken on my second trip to Hong Kong on October 1996. A fair selection of China Motor Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus non aircon vehicles, most now all gone from the territory, plus some Citybus and Discovery Bay Transit Weather was mixed, so there may be some allowance for some of the darker shots. Most of these slides were taken on Boots/Agfa 200 ASA slide film which I find doesn't scan so well. Whilst it may be my imagination, it seems that the original film has faded a tad and a green cast is most apparent

These images are all scanned slides on 100ASA and 200ASA film, scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

A selection of shots taken in Hong Kong in October 1995 showing amongst others the colours of China Motor Bus some three years before the franchise was lost to New World First Bus, and two years before Hong Kong passed back into Chinese administration. There's plenty evidence of the UK connection with the vehicles shown here, including several shots of your host's beloved Guy (Leyland) Victory double deckers with China Motor Bus and Kowloon Motor Bus.

There's also some shots of Hong Kong Tramway Company trams on Hong Kong island, along with newer LRV units in the Tuen Mun area, and buses from the fleets of relative newcomer Citybus, and Kowloon Canton Railway Company.

These images are all taken on 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

I only manged to reach Oban twice during Highland's fifteen year stewardship of the Oban area. The depot and local service network passed from Midland to Highland in 1970, bringing some unusual types into an already eclectic fleet, including what was Highland's first Leopard, AMS293B (JL1). Fifteen years later the area reverted back to Midland control as the Scottish Bus Group reinvented its structure in an attempt to appear leaner and more marketable in the run up to deregulation and privatisation. Control from Falkirk only lasted seven years when in 1992, fleet and network passed to the privately owned Oban and District.

A small selection from these two visits plus a few slides taken on other visits to Oban showing Highland vehicles on service from Fort William.

These slides are taken on 100 ASA slides film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

My visits to Skye have generally been day trips from Inverness or on one occasion, on route from Stornoway via Tarbert and Uig. This collection shows the various Fords and Leopards that have served the island, many of which were outstationed around the island. Also included are a couple of mainland shots which are most appropriately shown here.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200ASA slides films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner

Here's a selection of my Highland slides from the Fort William and Lochaber area taken in the 1980's and 1990's. Fords came and went, Nationals came and went to Kelvin, Leopards came from Kelvin and Fort William saw it's first double deck allocation in 1986. I just caught the last couple of vehicles carrying peacock blue in the early 1980's, Fords T111 and T112 being amongst the last vehicles in the fleet to carry the MacBrayne's inspired livery.

Whilst the majority of these shots are taken within the Loachaber and Fort William town areas, I've included a few outwith the area where the connections are obviously towards the area - Urquhart Castle and Fort Augustus come to mind.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon V ED film scanner.

Caithness was always the hidden gem for me as a youngster in Inverness, as their vehicles were only seen occasionally so far south, when required for maintenance. It took me well into my teens to realise that the only service linking Caithness with Inverness direct in my schooldays was the Sunday only bus to Raigmore Hospital which didn't appear in the timetable. Occasional Sunday excursions into town would see Albion Vikings and AEC Reliances parked on the riverside after hospital visiting time was over, whilst I also noted Albion Lowlanders and older AEC's down to Inverness for repaint. If only I'd a camera them.

By the early 1980's my parents decided I was old enough to be allowed to wander overnight and my first trip to Thurso came in autumn 1981. Leaving Inverness on Willowbrook Ford R192 T25 at 0750 I eventually reached Thurso at 1710 on Fleetline D25, with two changes in between. Epic days and fortunately much improved today.

This collection of scanned slides covers the Caithness allocation on visits there in the 1980's and 1990's, when the scream of the Ailsa and the, well, "roar" of the Fordie typified the fleet. Highland's red varies quite dramatically between film types and whilst I still think Fujichrome has captured it best, the almost orange of Ektachrome and darker red of Agfa shows here.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100ASA and 200ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

After the relatively stable 1980s, Highland went through some tough times and changes in the 1990s, with Sandy Rapson as a new owner and transfer of much of the Inverness and Ross-shire network to Stagecoach IT. All the relatively new Olympians were sold off, a variety of second hand acquisitions were picked up and various liveries and fleetnames were dabbled with under Highland and Rapson ownership before the current stable operation of today came into being. This selection will grow over the next few months, and will offer a comparison between the Scottish Bus Group owned early 1990s and the excitement of what followed on.

These images are all taken on 100/200 ASA slide film and scanned using an Epson 124OU scanner.

It is no secret for those who know me that I grew up in Highland territory and have both taken and collected slides and photographs of the Highland fleet for many years. Even during the twelve years I spent working in Renfrewshire, Ayrshire and Glasgow, I had regular family trips which took in the passing bus scene, prior to moving back north to Moray in 1999. Highland was a fascinating fleet to grow up surrounded by in the 1970s and 1980s, and I am sorry that my family were not camera buffs as I did not pick up my own first decent SLR until 1981. This collection of scanned slides covers the 1980s around the Highlands, and I have opened a 1990s collection as well. Highland's fleet numbering system changed in 1985 to reflect the introduction of the early Wayfarer ticket machines and this will apparent in the collection here. These images are all taken on 100/200 ASA slide film and scanned using an Epson 124OU scanner.

As well as hundreds more of my own, I have a lot of copied slides from the 1960s and 1970s, and it may be possible to use some of these at some point if there is interest, once I have contacted the original photographer.

Perhaps a slightly tongue in cheek title for this collection of digital shots of the Highland and Rapson fleet taken around Inverness and outer districts since 2002. There was always some slight confusion as to which vehicles were in the Highland fleet and which were in the Rapson fleet so I generally catalogued images as Highland up until mid 2004, when the Rapson name was adopted by the company for all vehicles, and the Highland Country identity dropped.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera up until October 2004 when I moved onto a Canon Powershot A95 camera, and then to a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 camera in August 2006.

A selection of city buses in the Guangxi Province cities of Guilin and Liuzhou in Southern China. Guilin and the surrounding countryside was one of the earlier areas opened up to tourism, based upon the attractions of the famous limestone caves and "karsts" - strange shaped limestone hills which dot the landscape. Situated on the Li River, it is a very tourist savvy place, unlike Liuzhou, which is visited much less by tourists, whether Chinese or Western. Both cities operate smart modern single deck fleets as is now the case in most Chinese cities, with Liuzhou seeming to operate one double deck route which may be aimed more at the leisure market with the open sided top deck.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

A quick and less than wonderful trip to the Chinese city of Guangzhou in October, formerly known to many of us as Canton. The weather was heavy and grey, and due to a bad fall just after arrival, I just felt awful. Clumsy feet, marble flooring and water sprayed from a nearby fountain = one flying gweilo! Fortunately camera survived but the camera owner looked somewhat blood spattered and dishevelled for the rest of the day. And to add to the fun, every auto teller was out of service that day, making the acquisition of some Chinese currency rather awkward. If only I'd bothered to convert some cash before leaving Hong Kong!

Consequently, I didn't wander too far from the Guangzhou East Rail Station, and left much earlier than planned, feeling rather dizzy. These slides have been scanned for a Chinese acquaintance and the dull conditions are all too apparent. Anyone familiar with the Chinese buses of today will realise by looking at these front line vehicles how quickly the Chinese bus manufacturers have embraced modern technology.

These slides are taken on Fuji 100 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

This collection continues on from the Grampian Regional Transport/GRT fleet collection by looking at slides of vehicles operated under the Grampian Transport company name between 26th August 1986 and 26th February 1998. Grampian Transport came about through the requirement of all local authority fleets to be set up as arm's length operating PLC's, a legal requirement under the terms of the 1985 Transport Act.

On 20 January 1989 the company was privatised, bought by its employees under an Employee Share Ownership Plan. While the company continued to operate as GRT in Aberdeen, its holding company GRT Group went on to acquire other bus companies, eventually becoming FirstBus plc in 1995. At the same time, GRT adopted the First Grampian fleetname, a branded subsidiary of FirstBus . In a further re-organisation of FirstBus into FirstGroup, First Grampian became First Aberdeen Ltd in 1998, but post 1998 is outwith this collection of slides.

Almost immediately after formation in 1986, Grampian Transport adapted the rather bland Grampian Scottish livery by adding a seond darker green skirt to the livery along with a smart Grampian fleetname complete with thistle emblem. By this time, those vehicle still retaining the ember red band were looking rather careworn, and the orange/red band more pink in hue. As new Mercedes single deck vehicles arrived in the late 80's/early 90's, a lighter ivory was adopted with a broken green squiggle band, first seen on the celebrity Mercedes 0405 artic number 1. The ivory base and stripe layout would go on to become a corporate livery for the GRT Group, albeit with different colours for the stripes.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100, 200 and 400 ASA films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner. As with other collections, Agfa and Boots films have not worn as well as Fuji and Kodakchrome and that might be apparent on some of the older slides I've chosen to scan. Likewise, 200ASA and 400ASA film shows its grainy nature when scanned.

I enjoyed four misspent years in Aberdeen as a student in the first half of the 1980's, and as a result, took a fair number of slides of the Grampian Regional Transport fleet in that time, and on many subsequent visits. Grampian's smart green, cream and ember red fleet was highly standardised on the AN68 class Atlantean when I hit town although there was a batch of very musical Leyland engined Fleetlines with the same elegant peak domed Alexander body. Minority types when I first moved to Aberdeen included Leyland Nationals and Leopards, AEC Swifts and Reliances and latterly a quartet of Bristol LH's whilst delivery of Olympians commenced in 1984.

This collection contains some of my GRT slides taken between October 1981 and August 1986 prior to the formation of Grampian Transport, the arm's length company set as a requirement of the 1985 Transport Act. During that time, the attractive ember red band was dropped, the rather more bare livery initially being trialled on Atlantean 171. In time this led on to the Grampian Scottish concordat with Northern Scottish, and the simplified green and cream livery featured on the city vehicles of Northern as well as on Grampian's fleet. A revised route network reapportioning work within Aberdeen commenced on 23rd January 1983.

Included are some of the colourful advertising liveries that adorned some members of the fleet in the mid 1980's after many years without any such vehicles. Atlantean 331 was delivered new in January 1983 sponsoring the Bus and Coach Council whilst older 227/228 endorsed the Grampian Scottish concept and the tickets available. It took another couple of years until 311 appeared promoting Gillanders Volvo dealership after which allover advertising became commonplace for a time. Atlantean 305 advertising P&O Ferries Shetland link was probably my all time favourite; either that or Hydrasun's 256.

Also included are those vehicles in non standard route liveries such as those dedicated to the Airport service and the various Christmas specials.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100, 200 and 400 ASA films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner. As with other collections, Agfa and Boots films have not worn as well as Fuji and Kodakchrome and that might be apparent on some of the older slides I've chosen to scan.

Graham's Bus Service can trace their local bus service operations back to 1922, initially based at a depot on Johnstone's Beith Road. However most of us who recall the smart orange and cream fleet will associate the fleet with the depot on Paisley's Hawkhead Road. The company is perhaps best remembered for their almost almost exclusive hold on Linwood, developed through business generated by the Pressed Steel and Talbot/Rootes car factories: however the fleet was well known throughout Paisley, Johnstone, Govan and Bridge of Weir.

My first visit to Paisley was in the autumn of 1982 and I subsequently got to know the fleet rather better when I moved to Paisley in 1987, and then to Ralston in 1989. Sadly the company sold out in April 1990, replacement services being operated by both SBL and Clydeside initially. It's interesting to speculate how well Grahams would have fared today had the company not sold out, and whether the same high standards would have been acheived.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A quick day trip to Gozo from Malta by ferry in October 2003 and shots of what was out and about at Mgarr Ferry terminal and in the bus station and main streets of Victoria (Rabat), the capital city of Gozo. After all the bright yellow, orange and white buses in Malta, the pleasant grey, red and white livery of Gozitan buses is easy on the eyes. Note the superb alter inside FBY015, one of the finest still extant between the two islands.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

Every time I visit the Maltese islands, I pledge to make of an effort to cover the Gozo fleet other than the cursery half day visit by ferry and the trip up to Rabat (Victoria). Well yet again, I flunked it so here a selection of shots from what has become the usual pattern of my visits to Gozo. We did enjoy a trip around Gozo on Route 42 on the immaculate Bedford SB FBY053, which turns 45 years young this year. The 42 is a superb route which dodges amongst some very narrow village streets in villages such as Qala - highly recommended.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

Another great day organised by the members of the GVVT, and a great chance to enjoy some decent hurls on quality machinery and meet up with so many old faces. Decent weather made it even better, the second year on the trot that the sun has shone for part of the day.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A few shots taken at the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Open Day at Bridgeton in Glasgow in October 2006. A fine selection of vehicles out and about on the service linking Bridgeton with the city centre and Glasgow's Transport Museum. As always, plenty good crack through meeting up with folk and equally good crack from a selection of Leyland exhausts.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N..........M A Y B E:-)

But don't hold your breath - don't know where this selection is going yet. The slides scanned here have all caught my eye as I dug out selections of A1 and AA slides for scanning. The Bellview RM's and the Avondale Leopard are taken on horrible 200ASA Kodakchrome film in low sun but may still be of interest. As it evolves, there's a couple of "real" buses popped up with Greenock independents which maybe should be placed in a separate collection but och, who knows....or cares.....at this stage.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

March saw the first visit to Glasgow of 2009 in mixed showery weather. Time wasn't really on my side for photography as I'd other plans involving route number blinds, some good food and some wine. Hic. Very pleased to catch up with the last Olympian in the First fleet still in the fadeout Barbie livery, however much it was a visual disaster from inception. Equally narked to just miss the former Lothian Olympian with Glasgow Citybus on the 17 - the joys!

A further May visit in miserable weather saw me catch up with with Enviro 200's out in Lanarkshire along with the Enviro 500's on the 44/44A in the city. In June, I had visitors from Hong Kong keen to see the tri-axles in Glasgow which gave further opportunity on a day of horrendous showers and sunshine.

These are all digital images taken with a Pansonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

The first of hopefully several trips to Glasgow this year in February 2008, with the usual aim of being relieved of substantial sums of money in D & F Models in Bell Street. Some heavy showers meant some time boosting the profits of Cafe Nero and Starbucks : however there are some new vehicles to catch the eye.

Arriva's new fleet of Volvos for Glasgow Airport service is certainly distinctive in the lime green scheme - claiming to be attractive may not necessarily follow. Also of interest are the branded First Glasgow Volvo B7's for the 747 service linking Glasgow's West End with the Airport and Braehead. For all that, one of the seemingly indestructible Citybuses did still cross my path - Glasgow just won't be Glasgow when they finally gasp their last.

These are all digital images taken with a Pansonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

More day trips to the South West in 2007, starting with a miserable February day, in the city to relieve Irene at D & F Models of a fair selection of diecasts. Poor light and a cold and damp air meant I was more at home indoors than out so the selection is quite small on this first visit of 2007. Further visits added at Glasgow Airport in March 2007 and a brief half hour stopover in early May 2007.

Later summer visits caught up with the second hand Citybuses picked up by First from Manchester which have complimented the last few SBL Citybuses in the fleet. A couple of the short lived Scanias with First were also seen in August as were the Mainline PS bodied Volvo B10M's a chilly visit in December saw several of the ex London ALX400 bodied Tridents. Glad to have seen the Scania deckers as they lasted only a few weeks before being dumped. Also shortlived in 2007 was the DMS operated City Tour fleet of PJ Travel which competed with the smart Pringle fleet of ex Metroline Olympians, and Pringle's final Metrobuses.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 camera

A further selection of Glasgow visits in 2006, kicking off with a gloomy January and a wintry sun February, not the best of conditions for pointing a picture taking device at moving passenger carrying objects! Kicking off the new year with a couple of First Glasgow's new Volvo B7RLE saloons and a few of the ex First London Tridents. By May, the B7's have become a major force in the First fleet, with numerous types seen in 2005 fading away, particularly the sturdy Volvo Citybuses. The last visit to the Dear Green Place in December 2006 highlighted a small number of the aforementioned Citybuses reinstated for further service

These are all digital images taken with a Canon A95 Powershot camera or with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 camera.

A few visits to Glasgow to catch up socially in 2005 and raid D and F Models in Bell Street! Plenty of new First Glasgow Geminis about which have almost extinguished the Ailsa fleet, whilst the former Central Tigers appeared well depleted as well. Generally the old Strathclyde allover red had all but disappeared by April 2005, which is no bad thing, although the older and well loved types are going with it. Visits out of the Dear Green Place include East Kilbride, Hamilton and Paisley as well, the latter town turning up both of the Arriva SPT liveried Wright Cadet bodied VDLs. Plenty of interest in EK and Hamilton as well.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

The history of McConnacher of Ballachulish can be traced back to 1919 when Alexander MacConnacher began hiring out a locally built Model T Ford car which was replaced two years later by the first charabanc in this part of the West Coast of Scotland. However to
many of us, they are perhaps better remembered as the owners of the Gaelic Bus and Gaelic Coaches trading names and a strong competitive response to Highland's traditional operations in the Fort William area. Taking advantage of the 1986 Transport Act and Deregulation, local "Green Bus" services were registered in the Fort William town area in late 1986 as well as services to Inverness, Kinlochleven and Oban.

Perhaps the most fondly remembered vehicles during the ten years of GaelicBus operation were the seven former Hutchison of Overtown AEC Reliance 760's, which gave sterling service to the company and impressively devoured the steep gradient of Lundavra Road on Fort William's Upper Achintore service. Later additions to the fleet included Leyland Nationals, Daimler Fleetlines and Bristol VR's as well as a selection of coaches. The GaelicBus era came to an end in 1996, allowing Highland full control to their local Fort William market once more.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100ASA and 200ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A visit to Aberdeen in June 2005 to capture some digital shots of the long lived Grampian and First Aberdeen Olympians of 1984/5 before the departure of most of the batch to pastures new in Cornwall and Devon. The first of the newly arrived articulated Volvos for "the Bridges" were in evidence as well.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

Another firm favourite type of mine, the 134 Alexander R type Volvo Ailsas delivered new to Strathclyde Buses have given superb service to the city of Glasgow. Delivered new between 1981 and 1985, the Ailsas are most commonly associated with Larkfield Depot and the south side of Glasgow services, although in later years, some have operated elsewhere in the patch, notably along the Gt Western Road on peak hour duties. Now, in 2005, the arrival of the new Geminis has all but finished the type. Enjoy this selection of photographs taken in the last couple of years of regular service taken between 2002 and 2005.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera or with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

Some of my Fife collection of slides from the 1980's, mainly taken on day trips through the Kingdom or of interlopers from Fife which have crossed my path wherever I've been at the time. Included are some shots in the original Ayres red with cream band livery as well as the later version of Ayres red with cream 'tween decks. A fair selection of traditional Fife vehicles along with some of the acquired Fleetlines and Atlanteans obtained from Grampian. Perhaps amongst the most choice Fife vehicles of the the time were the charismatic early Volvo Ailsas which offered the full orchestral sound effects of the Ailsa symphony!

Fife changed from the traditional Alexanders inspired alpha numeric fleetnumbering system (FRA, FPE, etc) to a straight numeric series early in 1988 which is reflected in the order that the gallery displays the scans in. A few of these slides are taken on high speed film in low wintry sun conditions which shows in the grainy quality but are included for the sake of interest.

These slides are taken on a variety of 64, 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner

Some of the Fife slide collection from the 1990's. Included are a fair selection of both the traditional cream and red liveried fleet, and subsequent repaints and acquisitions in Stagecoach livery, after the company was bought by the Stagecoach Group in July 1991 . Of particular interest are a few shots of the large Bristol VR fleet which came and went within a couple of years. mid 1990's, and a couple of Atlanteans....even the ex Tayside Ailsa which Fife picked up from A1 Service after Stagecoach had acquired the A1 fleet. My coverage of the Fife fleet does become less fluent in the second half the of the 1990's, as greater career committments meant that Saturday's were not always free for roving about.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner

OK, I don't "do" Edinburgh that often, as twelve years of adopted living in the West of Scotland have had their effect on me and I prefer a visit to Glasgow over a visit to our Capital City. "You'll have had your dinner" versus "You'll have your dinner" and all that. This early October visit was an attempt at a catch up and a social get together in the Hard Rock Cafe, and whilst the Hard Rock was sunny, sunny, sunny, the same could not be said out on the streets. No matter, it's impossible to deny Lothian accolades upon accolades for the presentation of their fleet, and every driver encountered was friendly and helpful..............and never once did I see a pulled down sun visor, a scowl or two fingers at the camera. Quite the reverse in fact with some very friendly faces around the Zoo area on Corstorphine Road.

This isn't a great collection as there's other variety in the fleet that I missed, the low light and rain not really great for standing about too long when compared with another visit to Costa. No matter as for the umpteenth time, I'm imbued with the notion of coming back more often and staying overnight.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC FZ-30 digital camera.

My first leisurely visit to Edinburgh for some time, previous day visits being purely on business with little time to take any photographs. This July day was decidedly damp and chilly and it's hoped a later visit can be arranged in the autumn. The principal reason for visiting the area was to have a look at the trial runs of Stagecoach's ForthFast hovercraft between Portobello and Kirkcaldy and a few shots can be seen here leaving Portobello. The matching bus livery is also seen on LRT bus 973 and Stagecoach Fife 13602.

The opportunity was also taken to travel out to the Gyle Centre on Lothian service 22, travelling via the guided busway. Perhaps next time I may try a couple of shots on the busway at a suitable bus stop.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30 digital camera

A selection of Eastern's finest in the 1980's taken on various visits to Edinburgh and its hinterland and of Eastern's fleet visiting Inverness and Aberdeen, including some Fleetlines on hire to Highland in 1983. A fair representation of the traditional green with cream but as the collection grows, the later variation with more cream and pale green will also be included.

These sldes are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

These shots are taken in the Eastern Chinese cities of Hangzhou, Nanking, Suzhou, Shanghai and Wuxi which I visited with my Chinese friend Hosea in October 2004. Not the easiest of places to photograph moving vehicles without being mown down by hoardes of cyclists and the ever present traffic. As fleet information is not easily available on Chinese bus fleets, the manufacturers of many of these buses is not known but there are representatives from Golden Dragon, King Long and Shenzhen Wuzhoulong manufacturers - the latter produce their FDG model in a close representation to the New Zealand Designline model. A really fascinating place to visit with remarkable differnces between the cities - Nanking seemed a very careworn old city compared with the bright lights of Suzhou's regenerated business districts and beautiful sculptured gardens, whilst Hangzhou is a most tranquil city of green parks set around Xi Hu (Lake Xi)! Shanghai is of course the most dramatic city of old colonial and new Chinese architecture with the Bund as a focal point along the Huangpo River. And of course, those buses.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum is situated at Cultra, midway between Belfast and Bangor on the coast and served by the Northern Ireland Railway line between the two points. The museum site is spectacular and attractive and the transport collection impressive - well beyond what we had anticipated. Here's a small collection of passenger transport shots but it must be said there is a large collection of rail, car and cycle exhibits, making an afternoon or morning there well worth the effort.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot 95 digital camera.

A day's flight with FlyBe from Aberdeen to Birmingham, and a visit to the Coach and Bus Live Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. This isn't the biggest event - 2008 will have more exhibits - but still some interesting stuff to take in. New Versa and Solo from Optare, a stunning looking Olympus from East Lancs Darwen Group and a very smart Wright bodied MAN for Whitelaw of Stonehouse for starters. Of course I mustn't forget the true reason for being there - to have a first look at our second BMC Hawke which had a prominent position on the BMC stand.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC FZ30 digital camera.

A start on scanning my Clydeside slides and this time, for no other reason than the box came to hand first, I've started at the end of the tale by looking at Clydeside 2000 first. In due course, I'll dig out my Clydeside Scottish and "Clydeside under Western" slides to complete the tale.

The forced remarriage of Clydeside Scottish and Western Scottish in May 1989 didn't make for a happy relationship after four years apart pursuing different policies and management strategies. Upon the the privatisation of Western Scottish under a management buy out in October 1991, the Clydeside end of the show ploughed their own furrow forming Clydeside 2000 plc. Clydeside's new management and employees took a 76% stake in the new company, with Luton & District Buses purchasing the remainder.

Clydeside 2000 was later taken over by British Bus in November 1994 (stakeholder Luton & District had already become a part of British Bus), which was subsequently acquired by, and merged with, the Cowie Group to become Arriva.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100, 200 and 400 ASA films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V-ED film scanner.

A few shots of buses and coaches on the Isles of Arran, Bute and Greater Cumbrae plus Cowal Motor's and the invader Arran Transport fleet around Dunoon on the Cowal Peninsula. For those who haven't been to Cowal, Bute or Cumbrae, I'd heartily recommend a visit - advice I need to take myself sometime soon.

A fair number of these of these slides were taken in the early 1990's which was a time of great interest in the area. Arran Transport lost out to Western's fleet of Nationals on Arran in August 1992, so looked to reutilise their fleet at tender time the following August by attacking Western on Bute and Cowal Motors in Cowal. In both cases they largely succeeded, Western maintaining a small commercial network on Bute and Cowal Motors initially retaining the Inveraray service with a couple of hastily acquired Mk1 Leyland Nationals.

I haven't included any Western shots in this collection as they are/will be covered in the various Western collections.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N

Well not so much a Classic Chassis as a Subframe of Note! Metrobuses are now becoming fairly scarce on our roads and this selection of scanned slides will build up at my leisure over the coming months. This won't include any MCW's from fleets of which I've created a separate collection.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N

Bristol RE's have always been firm favourites of mine, due in no small part to the excellent sound effects that can often be enjoyed, whether Gardner or Leyland 680 powered. This selection of scanned slides will grow at my leisure over the coming months and will include RE's with the standard ECW body and those built with the less common styles by East Lancs, Plaxton, Northern Counties, Alexander et al.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

U N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N

Bristol LH's - the stotty box of the Bristol family - are not everyone's favourites but were durable and functional little workhorses. many were withdrawn prematurely as the services they were designed for were withdrawn or replaced by the first generation of "deregulation minibuses". This selection of scanned slides will grow at my leisure over the coming months and will include LH's with the standard ECW body and those built with the less common styles by Plaxton, East Lancs et al.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A small selection of Central SMT and Central Scottish slides scanned, taken from the early 1980's through to Summer 1989 when Central Scottish merged with Kelvin Scottish to become, yes, you've guessed it, Kelvin Central Buses. I don't have a huge collection of Central slides as much of my access to the company was on day trips from the North, and for some reason I always hit the West of Scotland in damp and dull conditions. Then when I moved south to work for Clydeside in 1987, my weekends were often taken up with platform duties to boost the meagre SBG admin. salary scale, and getting up to other mischief afterwards!

These slides are taken on a variety of 100, 200 and 400 ASA slide films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner.

A few shots taken in Central London on what must have been the coldest night in London ever! Well at least it seemed that way to someone used to warmer weather when travelling that far south. Here are a few Routemasters mixing with Citaro "Bendy Incendiaries" and more conventional low floor double deckers.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

A damp and miserable Saturday at the end of January 2004 saw the end of the remarkable Bristol RELL6G class operating on a regular basis with Citybus on Belfast City services. These are quite outstandingly robust vehicles and a further album will show more shots of these taken on slide and digital in due course. Four Bristols were turned out for enthusiast delectation and public fascination on the day, as 2522, 2527, 2548 and 2575 carried heavy load of visting gricers around the city and locals sat back amazed. This collection contains shots of the Bristols and other Translink vehilcles captured on digital camera over the weekend of January 31st/February 1st 2004.


These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

A four day package tour of Beijing's sights from Hong Kong along with a Chinese speaking friend in March 2006. The tour concentrated on showing us the highlights of the city's historic attractions and don't include the 24,000 strong ciy bus fleet amongst these highlights, so those shots here are taken when an opportunity presented itself. The newer articulated saloons are fully automatic front engined Jinhua vehicles and sound quite superb in full tilt, best enjoyed echoing across Tiananmen Square as they speed along the surrounding wide avenues. The oldest artics are just fun as they splutter and cough around the city. Certainly a taster for a return to the city on a dedicated busfan trip, as there are many other types not represented in this small collection, notably the double deck fleet and the articulated trolleybuses.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon A95 Powershot.

A quick September visit to Kilmarnock to attempt some shots of the latest former Hong Kong Citybus Leyland Olympian school buses, with the aim of standing outside the depot and catch them returning. Such was the rain that any attempt to stand outside before 0930 would have soaked camera and photographer and some. However I did manage a visit to the depot when the weather eased mid morning, and these shots are here along with a few taken in the bus station whilst sheltering from the torrents.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A chance for a quick couple of hours in Ayr in April 2008, a decision made to try to avoid the heavy showers in Glasgow a quick day visit. Stagecoach Western's fleet looking smart, with new Enviro 300 investment on the Cumnock - Ayr corridors and Ayr - Greenock Clyde Coaster since my last visit. The former A1 Volvo Citybus 15246 looking very smart on Craig Tara duties after a repaint as well.

A further overnight stay in July 2008 gave the opportunity to visit the two smart fleets on the Isle of Cumbrae and catch up with the current scene in Largs, including the newly introduced First Glasgow 901 service. Other places visited include Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Irvine, Kilmarnock, Galston, Cumnock and Ayr on what was a revist of old haunts. Also a quick half hour hour in a sodden and dark Ayr whilst passing through on business in September 2008.

Finally, an jaunt with the Omnibus Society in early October 2008 aboard Dodd's N type Tiger JEZ4096 in glorious October sunshine. The Tiger sounded fine for a 23 year old vehicle, and was immaculate in presentation. Visits took in Stagecoach Western at Ayr, Ardrossan and Kilmarnock, Ayrways and Dodds at Ayr, Shuttle at Kilwinning and Marbill at Beith plus a quick break at Irvine Cross. And at last, I caught with Craig Tara branded Olympian 13644, which has hidden from my camera this year on every visit.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A whistlestop visit to Irvine in May 2007 in excellent weather conditions - weather so good that it became all too easy just to stand in one spot and photograph vehicles as they approached. Stagecoach Western won the Belmont Best Bus Company for the second consecutive year in late 2006, and this is reflected in both the very smart vehicle presentation and in Trident 18333, which carries a congratulatory contravision advert. A couple of Shuttle Buses Enviro 200s caught as well, looking fresh and modern in the clean yelllow and white livery.

A follow on visit in October 2007, primarily to have a trip on one of the first Optare Versas in the UK, one of six ordered by Stagecoach West Scotland for use on Service 2 linking the Irvine Valley towns with Irvine and Dundonald. Also caught up with a couple of the Kilmarnock based bio-diesel conversions on the MAN ALX300 saloons which have been painted in a green inspired livery, prior to their official launch and branding.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A brief visit to North Ayrshire in August 2005, capturing the First Ayrshire fleet in the last weeks of service. Plenty of colour there as always, with the A1 Service liveried Tridents, AA liveried Volvo B6's, Shuttle Buses and standard Stagecoach livery. Good to see a couple of Leyland Titans in front line service along with freshly repainted ex Magicbus former Busways Olympians.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon Powershot A95 camera.

A quick visit to Greenock and Saltcoats on a damp muggy June 2006 day. Highlight of the visit was the sighting of the handsome Mercedes Citaro in Peter Harte's immaculate fleet in Greenock. McGills fleet of low floor and step entry buses also looked the part as do those of Slaemuir Coaches, affording Greenock's customers a better standard of travel than they've known in recent years.

A few shots around Saltcoats as well, including one of the newest batch of Tridents with Stagecoach A1 and Shuttle Buses' AEC Reliance.

These are all digital images taken with a Canon A95 Powershot digital camera.

The first visit to Dundee and Angus in May 2008, in the hope of catching up with the new Stagecoach Strathtay Enviro 300 MAN's across the patch. In that quest I reckon the camera did OK on the score. Included is one of the pair in the branded livery for the Hospital Link serving Dundee and Perth hospitals taken at Ninewells - I did consider hanging about an hour to catch the other one of the pair, but instead went back to the city centre. May weather was kind and it was a good day to be out and about.

Second trip in July 2008 took in Perth and Dundee on a filthy wet day, which stymied the plans for a few scenic shots around the river. However I did get the holy grail of this particular trip in Dundee, former Stagecoach A1 Volvo B10B 21051, a vehicle I'd operated in my time as manager at Ardrossan. So not a total waste of time.

Good to see so much investment in the Strathtay fleet in the past year, whilst the area retains many of the non Stagecoach spec. bought new by Strathtay. Little change in the Travel Dundee fleet in the past year but a third trip in October 2008 did come up trumps with the first two vehicles painted in corporate National Express Dundee livery.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

Some shots from the April 2009 Omnibus Society Tour of Fife start of this collection, which will be hopefully supplemented by a couple of trips around Angus to catch up with activities around Angus and Dundee all being well. Moffat and Williamson's fleet truly looks the part, every vehicle being smartly turned out and trips being enjoyed on the two new low floors at Glenrothes, the Optare Versa and the MCV bodied MAN.

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC_FZ30.

Some time spent in Montrose, Arbroath, Dundee and Forfar (ever so briefly as Tiger 59071/419 turned up and so it was straight back to Arbroath!) in September 2007. Still some interesting former Strathtay vehicles about, with five Tigers seen along with veteran Olympian 14680/801/NLO8 new in November 1981. New branding most apparent on the vehicles dedicated to the revamped Dundee-Arbroath network.

A follow up visit in October caught up with the four former Manchester Tridents introduced that month along with the other veteran Olympian, 14682, operating it's final few weeks on Montrose locals.

This also my first encounter with the Travel Dundee fleet since the fleet was renumbered. Sunny conditions for sure, although the lower autumn sun does cause some glare mid afternoon in Dundee. Must make an effort to return in 2008 in high summer!

These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FZ30 digital camera.

A few hours in Dundee city and surrounding Angus in mid August 2006, allowing the first attempts with the new Panasonic digital camera fresh out of the box. Add to this a second two day visit over the final weekend of September 2006, combining an overnight stay and social get together in Blairgowrie with the Omnibus Society Dundee and Angus tour the following day.

Travel Dundee's route branded fleet and Strathtay in transitional phase are included as the Stagecoach identity is phased in and corporate fleetnumbers applied. Interesting to see one of the East Lancs Myllenium rebodied Leyland Tigers looking handsome in Stagecoach livery, whilst the low floor Volvo B7's with their striking East Lancs bodies also look stunning. The 1993 batch of Wright bodied Darts are still operating Arbroath local services where they've been since new, only now they are branded for the "The Round O" - this network was formally launched on the date the photographs were taken, Monday August 14th 2006..


These are all digital images taken with a Panasonic DMC-FV30 digital camera.

Several visits through Dundee and Angus between 2001 and 2004, catching up with Strathtay and Travel Dundee fleets. Plenty of interest as always in the Strathtay fleet whilst the Travel Dundee fleet has moved on from the days when it was the Ailsa Capital City of the world. A few shots of local operators as well, including a couple of trips to Meffan of Kirriemuir.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

These shots were taken during a short trip to The Netherlands in June 2003, amidst generally good weather conditions. At this time, delivery had commenced of the large batch of Siemens Combino units which would see the end of the traditional and well loved Werkspoor and Beinjes trams within a few months. At this time, the remaining Werkspoor units were still much in evidence, and gave a decent quality journey for a 35 year old tramcar, smoother than the neck breaking encounters with the more sparkily driven Combinos. A few 40 year old Beinjes units were also seen, although they seemed rather more stately in progression than the Werkspoors.

These are all digital images taken with a Fuji Finepix 4700 camera.

And here's some of my AA Motor Services and Dodds of Troon scanned slides taken between 1982 and summer 1997, when the Dodds family sold their business to Stagecoach. I've included a few less than perfect shots from the early 1980's where the vehicle strikes me of being of particular interest. Sadly, like some of the A1 visits, I seemed to often hit this part of Ayrshire in gloomy weather, which wasn't the experience of my three years living there - nowt wrong with staying in Saltcoats!

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner

Here are some of my A1 Service scanned slides taken between 1982 and January 1995, when the Ayrshire Bus Owners sold their business to Stagecoach. I've included a few less than perfect shots where the vehicle strikes me of being of particular interest. I was disappointed in some ways to discover how many trips I made to A1 territory in dull and dismal weather, and how many of the slides were taken on 200 and 400 ASA film which gives a far grainier scan than 100 ASA. A few of the slides here were taken on the last afternoon of A1 operation on January 29th 1995 when the usual variety of vehicles from the A1 partners were in evidence.

A separate collection will follow at some time looking at the Stagecoach A1 fleet. For now, here's a wide selection of Ailsas, Fleetlines, Atlanteans and Olympians along with some of the less common types, such as the Scania, Citybuses, Leopards and Nationals.

These slides are taken on a variety of 100 and 200 ASA films and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan V ED film scanner