DRT : Daft Responsive Transport
With the arrival of FlexiBus in Leeds a while back, fbb had decided not to bother to write about any more of these crackpot schemes. Whilst the idea is nobly altuistic and sometimes politically vote catching, DRT is simply the old Dial-A-Ride in an expensive technological skin.
Roger French has just completed his Odyssey to the latest of this breed, designed to cost the earth and not give the public what it needs, namely a reliable bus service!
The reason to take a look at the Ting Thing ...
... is that it has been given the desire-creating touch of the Bearded Bus Beautifier from The Bush. And he plays the piano as well!
But you might be a bit baffled by "West Hunts", even if you know that Hunts is short for Huntingdonshire. Huntingdonshire no longer exists (except at a "ceremonial" county) as it was swallowed up by Cambridgeshire leaving the former county as an inferior "district".
Anyway, West Hunts lies west of the A1 ...
... where Stagecoach has provided old solos done up externally ...
The inside does have a load of "ting" car cards ...
... to reinforce the brand. Otherwise it is like all the other App-based Dial-A-Ride services that have flourished, faded and failed in many parts of the country.
In case our eager readers have missed the point (or missed the bus), the idea is that the clever software brings together a batch of passengers wanting to travel from (roughly) the same place to (roughly) the same destination and, in so doing slow down the journey time of all of them.
Mostly the buses carry one or two people, expensively for whoever pays the bill and cheaply for the passenger for whom it is a very cost effective multi-seat taxi!
Roger French was the only passenger for the 22 mile journey from St Neots station ...
... to Thrapston Business Park, which, like Huntingdonshire, does not seem to exist. It might be off the A14 to the East of the town ...
... where th marked boundary allows for much expansion.
Roger did not pay the flat fare of £2 for his 22 miles ...
... as he used his old fogeys card. We pensioners need to be careful what we spend.
The bus was once with Norfolk Green's Coasthopper ...
... and then moved to Peterborough or Cambridge and reverted to Stagecoach normality.
fbb guesses that the 32 seat plus 12 standing Solos have not been used because of their capacity for busy trips; but more because it is a six month experiment which will, almost certainly.then close as being far too expensive "in these post-covid straitened times"!! So they are cheap in the all-important world of accountancy-speak
Roger's "envoi" says it all ...
...as does one of his comment writers.
Too true, William!
But, joy of joys, it does have a (sh, don't tell anyone at Stagecoach HQ) PRINTED LEAFLET!
Starting Model Railway
fbb is well aware that some of his readers show little interest in the world of ferrequinological fine-scale - or ever Hornby OO gauge models. But there may well be some readers who are contemplating starting a model railway as a new and stimulating hobby OR getting a Christmas gift ready for any girl of either sex. **
So fbb brings you a selection of the most recent bargains from the Margate HQ modelling mecca.
The first bargain pack offer ,,,
... a saving of £13.01.
The so-called "staycation express", now an HST ...
... available as a "train pack" ...
... at a massive discount of £4.23.
And a pack of track ...
... in The Sale of the Century ...
... with a ...
... of 78p. Buy while stocks last!
On A Frustrating Note
When fbb bought his Heljan BOC tanker, manufactured for olivia's Trains in Sheffield, he was fortunate to obtain a discount on the £90 retail price of (redacted - OK, he thinks it was £65, but they are the Rolls Royce of tank wagons!).
It seems that Hattons have bought the remaining stock (currently available at £75, so fbb is still £10 up). But Hattons are selling them for ...
... £45.
They are truly magnificent models, but ... fbb negudges as wasted twenty quid!
Picture Gallery
Delaine Sunset (or was it sunrise?)
Greenwich Timeline - 1989 to 2021
A Station Fit for a Queen
And British Rail Snail at fbb Mansions
How did it get right into the middle of the house, and ...
... two thirds of the way up the stairs?
And why?
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
P.S. "** girl of either sex" : Back in historic past the word "girl" meant a child of either sex. "Boy" was a servant - hence "garcon" for "waiter" in French. Likewise "man" was an adult of either sex. A female was a "wifman" (wifeman, later woman) and a male man was a "were-man" now only seen in "were-wolf". So rather than changing manhole to personhole, we can correctly and historically leave well alone!
Glossop & Holmfirth blog : Monday 1st November
