Sunday Variety

Another Whoops!

fbb forgot to tell you what the Bearded Bus Beautifier from the Bush thought was nuts! The remark was in response to a twitter.

London has some of the worst bus publicity in the UK.

There are no timetables anywhere on the TfL site.

There is no network map or even some area maps.

The declining number of spider maps are near to useless.

And, surprise, TfL is now beginning a massive reduction in services "due to a decline in passenger numbers".

Perhaps Mr Khan ...

... needs to seek the Wisdom of Mr Khan.

Mike Harris produces the London Network map as supplied for many years by the predecessors of TfL.

So why cannot TfL just order a gazillion copies from Mike, thus supporting his charities and providing visitors with some idea where the buses go. Sadly, from TfL ...

IT ISN'T ALL ON LINE

Another Day, Another Bus Station

The brick wall on the far right is the link between these pictures ...

... seen better from above!

From the casual perambulation of non-passengers, we may assume that this was an exhibition of the latest vehicles on opening day in 1957.

By the late 1960s, an office block had been built above the station. Its building supports ate into the platforms and so reduced the available space.

It was a dismal place ...

... but that wall was still there.

The station closed on 2 July 2000, as part of developments of the site, which included a new bus station and Scotland's first Harvey Nichols store.

During its reconstruction, a number of issues appeared. Several bus operators complained that the departure fees were too high and planned not to transfer services back into the bus station. Plans were considered that would have moved the bus station within four years to a new redevelopment at Waverley. In a report to councilors, the director of city development, Andrew Holmes, said: "With the delivery of this project now a firm prospect in the next few years, there are potentially opportunities for accommodating integrated facilities for strategic bus services".

The new, more modern bus station opened in February 2003, four months late. It was built and is owned by Coal Pension Properties, as part of the redeveloped site, and is leased by The City of Edinburgh Council.

Still underground but not quite so dismal.

And, Talking Of Edinburgh ...

Above: trams old and new and below ...

... the advantage of trams. They can speed through congestion like that on Princes Street!

Just The Right Word

It is a London Underground map that replaces current station names with their historical origin. (click on the map above for an enlargement). fbb likes "Muddy Pond Street", "Stream in a Sacred Wood" and "Efe's Farm".

fbb cannot guarantee their accuracy - but they are fun!

Not Quite, Metropolitan Railway

The optimism of the Railway Companies as they expanded their services is legendary. Here is the "Met" showing you a picture of part of Watford shopping centre. The white building is still there.

The company even built a station right in the  middle of the High Street. Only they didn't.

The property purchased by the Metropolitan Railway at 44 High Street is located on the western side of the street close to the junction with Clarendon Road. The original building was named Derby House, and after extensive refurbishment in 1916 which included refacing of the frontage and the addition of two medallions of Queen Victoria, the rear garden was opened as The Empress Winter Gardens and Tea Lounge.

The premises still stand today and have local listed building status, although the elaborate Winter Garden buildings which once stood behind the property have been demolished. After acquisition by the Metropolitan Railway in 1927, 44 High Street was let out to a succession of tenants and eventually passed to the Lewis Omnibus Company ...

... which was itself taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. In the following years, the building was used as a furniture shop and later it became a branch of the clothing retailer, Next. Today the building is occupied by Wetherspoons as The Moon Under Water public house.

Oddly, although the frontage was not built as a station, it does have a Metropolitan Railway "look" about it.

Watford "Met" Station ...

... is a good mile from Wetherspoons, and thus a good mile from the cheery location on the original poster.

It's a long way to walk!

It's The Real Thing

fbb was jealous of his young chums who had what appeared to fbb to be a vast collection of Dinky Toys. A bit like Model Railways, nowadays diecast models are much more a plaything of the wealthy adult than toys for little boys.

The Oxford range (a company based, as its name suggests, in Swansea) is huge. Here is one page of their current promo stuff showing some of the different taxis they make, all 1/76 scale the equivalent of OO in model railway terms.

Their current on line catalogue lists 29 vehicles in Coca Cola livery of which those below are recent releases ...

... although some are shown as "out of stock".

fbb was too underwhelmed to count the number of Land Rover models on offer but it is about 100!

But little vehicles are exquisite and superbly detailed for such small models. The headline in this month's Oxford news sheet is a new version of the Austin Healey Sprite, nicknamed (for obvious reasons) The Frog Eye!

It is barely 3 centimetres long.

It almost makes fbb want to start a collection. But what of - and where will he keep them as fbb mansions fills up with railway modelling stuff?

 Next scheduled blog : Monday 28th March