Sunday Variety (mini blog)

 fbb Sheds A Tear For A Shed

Northampton Corporation Transport bus depot at St James' has been the home of the town's public transport for almost ever.

Firstly it was home to the Borough teams ...

... back in the days when Munciipal staff had immense pride in their work and the service they offered to their public.

Trams yielded to buses which served the town well ...

... until bought by Grampian Transport, later morphing into First Bus.

The Barbie years were not good for the town ...

... or, apparently good for First Bus and eventually the Aberdeen monster capitulated to the Perth monster leaving Stagecoach in full command.

Sagecoach never occupied the St James' premises preferring,  firstly, part of the doomed Greyfriars bus station and later its own depot in the south of the town.

The Corporation depot remained empty and unloved with tram tracks being the only memory of its former r role.

The site was bought by neighbour Church's (of shoot and boo fame) but the depot remained unused and unloved. Church's footwear expansion never happened and, here comes the tear jerker, the depot is soon to be demolished.

fbb understands that the posh "front offices" are a listed building and will remain as a tenuous memory of how things were and where the bosses toiled to keep the town's passengers happily and cheaply transported.

Sigh!

One Dies, One Is Saved

Once it was fairly primitive ...

... but later improved and given a grand entrance ...

... as befitted its importance to the city.

Actually that was pretty much the only "grand" bit there was!

Buses began to move undercover as stuff was built over the top.

The current edifice (at the top of this piece) is more fully submerged and not as pleasant as, say, the much more open Buchanan in Glasgow.

Recently there was a local rumour that the block was to be sold for some major redevelopment and the bus station would be no more.

But a deal has been agreed and a lease renewed so the Capital's long distance bus and coach passengers can wait in the dry!

The queues will probably never be as long as this:-

Sigh!

Bikes By Bus IoW Style
Our senior Island correspondent read the piece about Dartford Tunnel and Silvertown Tunnel bike buses and reminded fbb of and Island version.

Buses were adapted to carry four bikes on the route that used the celebrated (but falling to bits) Military Road between Ventnor and Freshwater.

Above, a bike bus climbs up from Freshwater Bay travelling east.

More often than not, the buses ran bikeless ...

... but Alan did capture a rare occasion when one velocipede was stowed in one of the often unused bike racks.

Bikes By Bus L A Style

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, every bus run by the city authorities is equipped with a fold down rack for two bikes.

There is no charge and no booking. If the bike rack is full, you are counselled to wait for the next bus.

Or you could ride your bike!

That is the way to do it!

Beiciau ar y Trenau

Say it, see it, sorted! You can read the Welsh!

Transport for Wales (TfW) has begun to deploy its "Bike Trains" where passengers pedal really hard to drive the train.

Oh, sorry; not that sort of bike train.

TfW is enthusiastically converting class 153 single car trains to carry 10 bikes.

Articles enthusiastically picture the single car units and their interior then get excited about extra seats!

12 bikes and extra seats in a 153? It will be a bit cramped!

Fortunately, at least one article explains it properly.

Now; we remember that years ago, these one car 153s were created by disconnecting a two car set and adding extra cabs.

So it is back to the future again. TfW is re-creating two car sets!

The line is not as mountainous as Snowdonia, but there are plenty of beautiful hills.

On balance, it might be better to stay on the train than work with pedal power - it takes a lot less effort and you will probably see more.

The Perils Of The Modeller

One of the delights of on-line entertainment is the series of YouTube videos about the exploits of Simon's cat. Simon is author Simon Tofield and the adventures of his cat and a younger kitten regularly appear on YouTube.

fbb thought this little snippet might be an appropriate introduction to these videos which are strongly recommended.

The video illustrates the dangers.of model building in the presence of a determined and hungry feline.

Mr Tubbles really couldn't be bothered!

 Next Hampshire blog : Monday 10 Mar