Another Enjoyable Map Project
The fbb cartographic brain-cells have been worked hard recently, but above is a more helpful map of services 53 and 54 that run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. fbb is no expert, but the routes have a long history, dating back - in part - to good old single deck trams.
With the formation of Tyne and Wear PTE (now Nexus - from the pack of silly names available from all good Transport Publishers) it was decreed that all buses would be in Newcastle Corporation yellow, even those owned by the National Bus Company.
C656 LJR wore these colours when new, but became Northern red and white upon deregulation.
The company was named GoAhead Northern and trendy liveries began to appear.
The bus was repatriated from Johnson's of Hodthorpe whence it arrived in plainer attire.
... even experiencing some of the early Low Floor designs.
The route(s) even acquired a very early and modest piece of route branding.
Wowsers!
The restoration is magnificent.
The Saltwell Park routes enjoyed the new company's more trendy paint job ...
Some buses in the most recent "Saltwell Park" greenery have appeared with tease stickers for the Voltra "revolution" ...
... and tynesiders had the privilege of a ride in a London electric bus, by way of experiment.
We now await with eager anticipation to see what is to be suck upon the silver-grey electric buses before they enter service.
Here are a couple of them, parked at the juice pumps, with just a minimalist "green bit" to tittilate our livery loving fancy.
But Go Ahead have gone ahead with masses of advance promotion for their programme of electrification. On Gateshead interchange stands ...
... tucked in the corner of bus shelters ...
There is a phone box version ...
... and at least one gurt big roadside hoarding!
It is very impressive and very commendable, but there is a nagging thought buzzing around in the old man's head. The 53 and 54 are not changing!
Buses will still run both ways round each offering a 10 minute frequency.
But that's it. Maybe the electric vehicles will have lots of trendy stuff inside, but, after all, it's a city bus, innit - on a busy city bus route, innit - with simple short journeys, innit.
After an initial ride with the bairns to enjoy the sleek silent ride, will the soporific thrum of the motors really "create desire"? Will the myth of "zero emissions" encourage more geordies to take an afternoon stroll round Saltwell Park?
It all reminds fbb of a well known geordie folk song! (pause for readers' groans!)
I's a travel weary keel-man whats ower heed in love
With a new bus in Gateshead and I call her my dove
It's called Cushie Butterfield and it runs dawn to dark
And to Saltwell it goes, love, to gang plodgit in 't' park
It's a new bus, an electric bus
Good for girls and boys
We call it Cushie Butterfield
And it don't make no noise.
But it is just a bus, like the ones that is gone
You get off, go shoppin', then just get back on.
I can't hear it comin', Will I get out the road?
Or be crushed like a fag end - I'd never 'ave knowed!
It's a new bus, an electric bus
Good for girls and boys
We call it Cushie Butterfield
And it don't make no noise.
Oh, No; Another Tank Wagon Story
The magnificent Hope Valley in North Derbyshire, a few miles to the west of Sheffield, suffers from a remarkable excrescence - a carbuncle as it might be called by Prince Charles. This is the Hope Valley Cement Works which has been working cement for over 90 years.
It sends cement, in tank wagons, to all sorts of places from where cement is used and/or distributed ...
... as it did in the chilly darkness of Tuesday night. But it got no further than Platform 1 at Sheffield Station where several wagons were emptied! That was not supposed to happen.
The view from the platform end summarises the problem, similar to that occurring at every operating session on fbb's Peterville Quarry Railway.
Reports say that there were no injuries, but much damage to the station appurtenances.
There is major disruption across a large part of the UK network following a freight derailment in the heart of Sheffield’s historic Midland station. Passengers are facing major disruption for the rest of the day at least. A statement from Network Rail says there were no injuries, but the incident has led to significant damage to signalling and points equipment, which means five of the station’s eight platforms are closed.
Disruption was still being disruptive at 1800 yesterday.
Next Publicity Matters blog : Friday 13th November
I recall, some years ago now, and said by whom I know not, that a "product", to remain in the public knowledge, requires a "refresh" every 5 years or so. It may have been TrentBarton.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that, even though the basic product may not have changed very much at all, it is still helpful to update it.
In this case, it seems a good move towards "electrification" of buses to start small and use it as a springboard towards greater things. A PVR of (I guess) 8 buses plus a spare will enable experience in maintenance routines to be gained, and also for training of drivers.
So why not do some promotion as well? Martijn Gilbert has form here, and it will be interesting to see, in a small area, whether electric conversion, with no other changes, can increase passenger numbers.
Good Luck to 'em!!
It was indeed Brian King of TrentBarton.
ReplyDeleteI'm not necessarily disputing Brian King's assertion, but it would be interesting to see the evidence. Is this something which only became necessary after deregulation effectively did away with most local monopolies, or is it a consequence of companies choosing to develop 'sub-brands' for individual services rather than having a recognisable company-wide image?
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Midland Red territory and their 'product' image was essentially unchanged for the previous 50 years. Despite that - or, more likely, precisely because of it - everyone knew who ran the local buses. Midland Red was a household name, not just among bus users, as were many other bus operators.
Perhaps the current vogue for brands and the perceived need to refresh them at regular intervals has more to do with the constant need for buses to compete with other transport modes in an effort to maintain (or hopefully expand) market share.
I don't have any statistical evidence, but I guess the way that TrentBarton has continued to grow their numbers, whereas Arriva in Derby and elsewhere haven't seen such growth might be evidence enough.
DeleteLife is quite different from the great days of Midland Red . . . the car is the competition, and anything that entices passengers on to the bus and away from the car is good. The younger population is always looking for "stimulation" and the "next new thing"; this is why brands need to be updated every so often, otherwise the brand becomes wallpaper.
Indeed, it would seem perverse to have a multi-million pound investment and NOT have a publicity campaign to perhaps increase awareness etc.
ReplyDeletePresumably, ALL you need is a printed timetable.....
Standard Product Life Cycle theory is where the five years comes from I presume. It is a big coincidence otherwise!
DeleteMoving can be very tedious, especially if you own a lot of stuff. Packing up all of your things, renting a truck, loading the truck, driving to the new place, and unloading everything... This is all very time-consuming. As a result, many people choose to hire a moving company to do all or part of it.
ReplyDelete