Sunday Variety

 More Yellow and More More

A few more bits of comment are emerging on the subject of Yellow Buses in receivership. The receivers report (on Twitter as a JPEG, hence the poor quality of the image below) that discussions have been ongoing with a possible purchaser but, to summarise, time (and money!) have run out.

A respected commentator on the bus industry has contacted fbb and offers a somewhat acerbic point of view.

The boss of Morebus has also commented as below:-

Of course Andrew Wickham is "sorry" to lose a competitor in the Bournemouth area.

Yeah, right!

But, there again, Mr Wickham continues:-

Well, that is a real surprise!

The End Of The Emirates Air Line

But not the end of the Emirates Airline.

The Air Line (two words) web site still operates under the well known "label" ...

... of the cable car that links The Royal Docks and the Greenwich peninsula.

But the name has changed!

Wikipedia explains all.

At least the revised nomenclature removes the possible aspiration that an intercontinental jet plane will whisk you across the Thames!

Don't be deceived, dear reader, to see the Cable Car on the London Underground map. Although it is technically operated by Transport for London it is NOT part of the normal fares scheme. It will cost you a fiver for a single journey!

Not a very original name, now is it? Wikipedia's "Dangleway" is much, much better!

Happy Birthday!

fbb hopes that they are having a proper  Pink Party !

Welcome Back

When fbb was somewhat smaller in years and somewhat less in girth, he was so very excited to be taken to London. "It is so easy on the Underground," he was told, "you just follow the lights!".

It turned out that these were not as stunning as the lad expected, being (from memory) little internally illuminated coloured boxes at ceiling level, guiding perplexed passengers to their British Railways terminal station.

Platform "indicators" were much more interesting

This one was pictured at Colindale as recently as 1971.

Your mystified junior could not understand how the signs knew which way the train was going - there was no man in a uniform changing them!

But even more intriguing were signs that already had the destinations printed on them.

How did they work. Often the arrow pointing to the next train's destination was feebly illuminated, adding to the mystery when a train trundled noisily into the platform..

Earls Court still retained such "heritage" signs although there was concern recently that some dating from 1905 ...

... had been removed. But, hooray, thay have been fully refurbished and returned to the platforms ...

... and the arrows are a bit brighter!

A T13 fbb Bludner

This aerial picture at St Germain-en-Laye was NOT, as fbb wrote recently, the last vestiges of the construction of the RER line A terminus underground. This opened in 1972, long before aerial drone pictures were de rigueur. The construction seen above is that of the new foot tunnel linking tram T13's terminus with the RER A platforms.

The centime dropped at 0230 yesterday morning as fbb adjourned to the "salle de bains" (la toilette/les cabinets) for whatever a PNB is in French!

Uncle Roger Votes For Localism

Roger's thesis (and fbb has not read the article) is that, with the demise of Shearings etc., coach companies are much more local than bus companies. He opines (quite rightly) that, as buses are essentially a local product, they should be managed/controlled/provided by local people and not national giants ...

... or, as they soon will be, international giants.

Hear Hear!

But it hasn't worked with Yellow Bus, has it?

Railway Modelling Snippet

On his little layout, fbb has a modified Airfix/Dapol/Kitmaster loco shed. The model dates from the early 1960s.

Back then it cost three shillings (15p) but it will now cost you over £10. fbb has one, seen below in the process of modification.

In a recent edition of Railway Modeller, fbb spotted a "cut and shut" version as a low relief warehouse.

That was/is the joy of Airfix kits - they were so easy to modify and (usually??) they still looked good.

Tomorrow we look at a remarkable happening - a brand new ten minute frequency bus service. And fbb means brand new - it does not replace any remotely similar existing route.

What's more, nobody seems to know much about it!

 Next New Frequent bus route blog : Monday 1st August