New Local Livery : Not Long Lasting
Under yet another change of legislation, and in preparation for privatisation, the PTEs, having been operators of the home-based public transport (buses AND trains) were told that it would all have to be taken over by the private sector or (if the authority created a lot of fuss) operated by an "arms length" company with no direct connection.
So Tyne and Wear PTE became Busways Travel Ltd ...
... a company which was subsequently sold to its management/staff and further subsequently bought by the grasping hands of Uncle Brian The Bearded a k a Stagecoach.
To its credit, Busways set about bring back a little of the area's former local identity. The four depots were given four identities.
Newcastle Busways and City Busways ...
... were brown branded for the two Newcastle depots whilst Sunderland ...
... and South Shields picked up the colours of their former municipal operators.
There is an element of confusion on-line with the colours of the two Newcastle divisions. Some pictures show red ...
... others are brown as above, but some seem to offer an in-between maroon.
Were these different colours, or maybe different shades of paint in different lighting conditions. fbb can only say "Dunno".
But the vehicles in their appropriate areas certainly looked different enough to help the public feel they were getting back some of their "old" bus system from the avaricious grasp of the PTE!
Sunderland ...
... and South Shields buses looked smart and distinctive enough to be "different".
But whether the brown was "right" remains debatable ...
... whatever the shade; with your noble author preferring the red!
If it ever was a bright red?
Other pictures on-line show the same vehicle as above with much more of a maroon shade??
A right mess!
An then there was Blue Bus.
And they look even better in pristine preservation garb!
Mystery? No doubt someone can answer. (mail to fbb@xephos.com)
What was most definitely unsatisfactory (according to fbb's very unhumble opinion!!) was the reversed livery used for fares promotional vehicles.
Darras Hall is an upland housing estate located in the village of Ponteland. It is on the southwestern outskirts of the village, 7.4 miles northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is generally regarded as the most expensive and exclusive place to live in the North East of England and is home to numerous celebrities, professional footballers and some of the region's most powerful business leaders.
It is separated by a green buffer from Newcastle International Airport 1.5 miles to the east and is one of the most affluent estates in North East England. It has very expensive housing stock as well as the most expensive road in the North East. Former professional footballers & fans such as Alan Shearer, Peter Beardsley, Kieron Dyer, George Hall and Phil Barton live on the estate along with many former and current players from both Newcastle United and Sunderland.
It is not what the industry calls "good bus territory"!!
So with privatisation in 1986, Busways Travel make a significant announcement.
Was this a cunning plan to provide the wealthy of the estate with high quality bus services? Erm, no! Standard Busways vehicles were painted blue and renamed ...
... and decidedly "tired" second hand motors appeared.
As usual, things got even more messy as competition hit the Busways operating divisions.
fbb ends today with another clue to the resolution of the E2 bus picture.
Curiouser and curiouser?
When is a bus company NOT a bus company? When it is TWO bus companies!!
Next Economic bus blog : Wednesday 8th December
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So far the nomadic "People of God", the Habiru, had just about survived and been welcomed into Egypt by one of their own, Zaphenath Panea, a k a Joseph, who never had a coat of many colours; it was a misunderstanding of the original text!
Arguably, the last of the Patriarchs was Moses; and his story is full of ups and downs. Remember:-
In a battle of wills, witchcraft and woes between God and the god-king (Pharoah), nine disasters befell the Egyptians.
Before the tenth plague - which was to be the death of the oldest child and oldest animal in Egypt - the Habiru (Israelites, Jews) were told to prepare in a weird way.
You may choose either a sheep or a goat, but it must be a one-year-old male without any defects.
The people are to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and above the doors of the houses in which the animals are to be eaten.
The blood on the doorposts will be a sign to mark the houses in which you live. When I see the blood, I will pass over you and will not harm you when I punish the Egyptians.
Weird or what? But the idea of the blood of a perfect lamb, shed and left on posts of wood, would return about 1200 years in the future.
Then they would be Going, part of God's (long term) plan.
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The Busways livery in Newcastle was definitely enhanced by maroon, not red nor brown! City Busways denoted Byker depot whilst Newcastle Busways was Slatyford depot, until latterly when both depots were branded Newcastle.
ReplyDeleteBlue Bus was a low cost centre, joined ultimately by others with Favourite being introduced to compete with Trimdon's Tyne & Wear OC that was then purchased in controversial circumstances!