Sunday Variety

Puzzle Picture

As is very clear on this picture untainted by fbb's cover-up of key text, the bus is run by Carousel, the GoAhead company now dominant in the High Wycombe area after the capitulation of Arriva. The pictures were first posted by Roger French.

Is it some king of route branding? Apparently not as this is a 103 ...

... and this is route 41.

Unless fbb's dodgy eyeballs are at fault, it would appear to be the same bus.

The vehicle was delivered in a grey livery for the now-abandoned "Connector" brand based on Didcot and operated by another GoAhead company, namely Thames Travel.

Maybe someone was "having a laugh" at the GoAhead paint shop? Maybe it was the same bloke that came up with the Ipswich buses strangeness of a few years ago?

VR to LA

Talking of oddball liveries!

A number of UK VR double decks found their way to Los Angeles for open top tour work. The right hand drive was preserved but, obviously, a new "offside" door was added.

There us more to come from L A.

Talking Of OTs

Confirmation posted recently of the crackpot decision made by First to abandon all their topless buses in Cornwall.

It is not that long ago that First set off a fireworks display of open toppers all over the place, including Falmouth (abandoned), Newquay (quickly ditto) and Exeter (even sooner abandoned; hardly lasted one season!).

It is hard to believe that there isn't money to be made from the glorious sunshine of the south west peninsula.

This smacks of corporate bean-counting accountancy management by people who don't understand what buses are for.

Anyone fancy setting up a circular Open Top route operating between Penzance, Lands End and St Ives?

First Bus deserves to be "run off the road" for a truly crackpot decision.

Positive Portishead?

Dan reckons he has got all the money needed.

Really?

Portishead Possibility?

Will happen?

The above picture shows the new footy stadium in the background, a roadway wiggle which is part of the Park and Ride busway-in-bits top left, and the new housing named Ashton Rise bottom left.

The site of a proposed station for Ashton Gate Stadium, on land left aside by the development of Ashton Rise.. The development of Ashton Rise, on part of an allotment site in Ashton Vale, was kept away from the railway line to leave room for a future station in the late 2010s. Passengers at the station could access Ashton Gate through the South Bristol Trade Park or on a level crossing underneath the Metrobus flyover.

The railway line IS the Portishead branch on a significant wiggle from the South West mainline which runs to Exeter and Plymouth.

Well now; it has taken about 25 years to get the Portishead branch re-opening to a stage where it might be funded and it might happen soon (that's a National Rail "soon", so at least five years once the get go gets going!).

So Ashton Gate station might be open by 2050?

LA Metro Merch**

Herewith some goodies available from the Los Angeles Metro shop.

Now there is a very signifcant fbb birthday coming up, so if any Angeleno reading this blog wishes to contribute to the fat bloke's joy and delight, a line diagram shirt with long sleeves (upper left) would be nice. At least XXXL, please!

**Merch - fbb understands that the traditional word "souvenir" (from the French for "to remember") is now supplanted by the above abbreviation of "merchandise". Ideal for fbb's special octogenarian Anniver!

A Mere Detail My Boy!

This is a "Clay Hood". It is an open railway wagon, pretty standatd, with an iron loop holding up a blue tarp to protect the contents - namely China clay from Cornwall.

You might be able to spot blue ropes dangling from the blue tarp.

Next we have an OO gauge model from Bachmann ...

... and an OO gauge model from Accrascale.

Thirdly we have an OO gauge kit from Parkside Peco.

Can you spot the detail missing from the two ready-made models? Probably not, but if you look at the right hand end you will see a faint black line crossing the diagonal white stripe. It is, modelled in thread, the rope that ties down the hood.

If those weren't there the hood would fly away and the wagon would flood, hoodless, with rain!

Now here is the latest N gauge wagon from Peco, It is 1/4 the size of the other models (by volume) ...

... and it comes with 6 rope ties each side.

Good, Innit?

 Next Variety blog : Mon 17 Feb