Yet Another Collection of Bits and Pieces

this blog was inadvertently

and briefly published

on Monday evening 9th November

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fbb was rightly castigated for not referring to the new vehicles which now provide local services in Carlisle. Thanks to blog reader Peter (email received 2322 yesterday!), this heinous omission can be rectified in part. Herewith service 62 in all-over blue with purple gash, but paying only minimal respect to the traditional Stagecoach logo and even lacking rear-end swoops.

Very different!

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First Bus Corporate Livery Policy

(Courtesy of the Dave Clark Five)

(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
Barbie's gone and I wonder why
(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
All I do is sit and cry
(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
You took away my much loved Barbie
(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
And that's the way it'll always be

(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
You said you loved pink and that would be fine
(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)

Livery refreshed till the end of time
(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
Now it seems it is just a game
(It's in pieces, bits and pieces)
Always changing and nothing's the same.

We have already seen how First's enthusiasm for fruit in "The Potteries" seemed to diminish after an initial burst of fructation. There's been no measurable crop since Raspberry.

Meanwhile, in Leicester, the "intersting" liveries extolling the virtues of Leicester's commercial and technical heroes ...

... has given way to more raspberry paint for services 14 and 14A.

Do not be afraid, however, they are not all-over puce, just the current craze for a front-end triangular slash.

In Bristol we are also promised colour route branding and the first of these is ... yawn ...

... service 70 and 71 not raspberry line. In both these cases the buses are "Streetdecks" in Wright's new uglier body style with appalling bad visibility from the top deck front corner seats. Hey, some think its great - should have gone to Specsavers. In deference to First's corporate image, their back ends (excuse the phrase) remain corporate.

And ditto Worcester!

You would tend to assume that First has ordered to much puce paint!

But less so in Stirling.

Here there is lip service to diagonals at the rear but only the white logo and the curious blocky lettering of " UNILINK " to identify the First brand.

And in Southampton.

It began with " thethree " and all-over red. Then everything started going red ...

... as in  CITYRED  7  above.

Now, even the 3 is invaded by the occasional cityred un-numbered vehicle.

So, as would be expected, when even more Streetlites arrives for the X4 between Southampton and Portsmouth, they were coloured ...

Red? No.

Raspberry? No.

Front-slash blue with no blocky body-side name and some wiggly wave lines. These are repeated in the brand name above the wndows. And note, of course, that to be "on trend" part of the name has to be in thin near-illegible lettering.  SOLENTRANGNERS 

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SIGNAL BOX RESURRECTION

Ages ago, fbb wrote about hus purchase and subsequent kit bashing of an discontinued Hornby kit, nominally labelled Dunster Signalbox. See "Kit Bashing for Beginners" (read again)

fbb chopped his to make something a little smaller.

The kits were produced by German manufacturer Faller and "badged" for Hornby.

But look what has appeared in the catalogue of Gaugemaster with shop just outside Ford Station ...

... exactly the same model but now in green and cream and called "Fordhampton Signal Box"

What goes around, comes around!

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HOW MUCH?

Back in July, fbb blogged effusively about the GWR autocoach and his purchase thereof.

It cost him £12 and was in better nick that the above "stock" illustration. But now Bachmann Branchline have produced a similar vehicle but in the later body style.

Bought new it costs ...

Wait for it!

SEVENTY QUID

£68.95 actually. And that's just a coach. Old and decrepit railway enthusiasts sit around swigging their tea and bemoaning the fact that the younger generation aren't interested anymore. It doesn't take too much brain to work out at least one possible reason.

And at normal viewing distance the pricey Bachmann autocoach doesn't look that different from the ancient Airfix version. Perhaps fbb should go to Specsavers?

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Shorter Hours for First Bus?

This from a recent press release:-

Local bus operator First will be increasing the frequency of its Sunday services on its popular X74 Slough to High Wycombe route from this weekend (15 November). Sunday journeys on the service, which calls at Farnham Common and Loudwater, will now operate on an hourly basis between 08.00 and 16.50 from Slough with the return journeys from High Wycombe running an hour later.

Some hours, it appears, have only 50 minutes in Berkshire!

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 Next "might it be Sheffield" blog : Thursday 12th Nov