The Same : But Not The Same
The bobby looks normal; the post box is standard ...
... although George lacks a regnal number!
The stamps look strangely familiar, but not quite.
Many of the street names are in French - Zut alors!
... but the Island's buses had a distinct look of Southdown about them.
Many readers will have already guessed that we are exploring something of the Island of Jersey's bus service history; part of the British Isles with a typically British anomalous existence!
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and government institutions; on that basis, it is regarded as a small nation or island country.
Its buses, run by Jersey Motor Transport, did indeed look very like those of the Southdown company ...
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... although some of the fleet was very different!
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fbb has tried to dredge from the cobweb encrusted recesses of what purports to be his memory something of the link between Southdown and JMT. It was minor, but did involve a copycat colour scheme.
Sadly for some, Jersey buses turned blue and cream ...
... much to the disappointment of the bus enthusiasts.
The, horror of horrors, the whole network was franchised by 'The States of Jersey" and the first winner was Connex ...
... and we remember what happened to them."
A new franchisee brought a new livery and a new name, Liberty Bus. The new incumbent was ...
... HCT a k a Hackney Community Transport ...
... and we know what happened to them. As the HCT group declined into ultimate extinction, a new operator was chosen, tada ...
The Liberty Bus name and livery was, however, retained. Tower Transit was just the operator of the franchised network.
fbb thinks that the coloured splodges are the sails of expensive yachts that fill the Island's harbours together with their expensive non bus using owners.
In recent developments, the Oz conglomerate has won an extended franchise contract for a further ten years. Needless to say the company has promised to improve services.
Electric buses have begun to appear ...
... complete with the Tower Transit logo ...
Meanwhile, across the water in Guernsey ...
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fbb And Lubrication
Remember these?
Both were repainted and preserved as yellow Shell wagons as used in the UK, but, oddly, without the Shell logo. Their use is self explanatory.
Here is a Hornby Dublo model, which, albeit in different liveries, existed from 1938 until the company collapsed in 1964.
The model was all metal, although this one has been fitted with plastic wheels so that it can run on two rail track. fbb does not think it was ever an official Dublo two rail product. As with all Dublo wagons, the underframe was crude.
Triang had a better underframe, but with ugly oversize couplings. The basic model appeared in the late 1950s ...
... and had a metal chassis and coupling, plus metal rods as axles. The filler cap was hugely huge and made the model too tall! The yellow tank and black cradle were each one-piece plastic mouldings.
But some modellers have improved their Triang tankers with addit0ional wire anchorage, new couplings and a dob of red paint.
Painting the black plastic "cradle" in matching yellow was also a good upgrade. The owner should have added ladders, surely? For the record in this case, his chassis was newer, better and made of plastic.
That just leaves an ugly filler cap to sort out.
Interesting beasts, these tank wagons.
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Next Tower Transit blog : Weds 19th Nov
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