Paladin Four And After (1)

A Cartographic Experience

We already know that route Tvm (trans Val de Marne) travels east whilst being a bus pretending (unsuccessfully) to be a tram. 

396 is a variant of the 196 that just happens to pop into the RER station.

We also know that 379 no longer exists , having been partially replaced by the new Tram T10.

Which leaves 12 and Paladin 4, the latter also no longer in operation. Closer examination reveals that the 12 has also gone; but it ran south to Antony, then looped round ...

... rejoined the 379 and terminated at "Cyrano de Bergerac". 

Streetview is no help because it hasn't caught up either and shows the area amidst tram construction and with temporary dolly stops.

Looks like transport fun for all the family! 

"Cyrano de Bergerac" is a character with a huge nose in a famous play by Edmond de Rostand - another fbb memory from Northampton Grammar School. 

The stop is named after the "Place" (Square) which is a 1960s brutalist shopping centre with accompanying flats ...

... complete with its obligatory "Pharmacie".

So what has happened to Paladin 4 and 12, you may ask. And what is/was "Paladin" anyway?

It was a significant network of local routes in the "greater" Antony area. fbb has edited the route descriptions to fit them tidily on most browser pages but not on phones, sadly.

Paladin 1  :  Antony RER > ZI d'Antony > Antony RER

Paladin 2  :  Antony RER > Mairie de Wissous > Antony RER

Paladin 3 :  Antony <> Les Baconnets RER

Paladin 4 : Croix de Berny RER <> Malabry

Paladin 6 : Sceaux Camberwell > Robinson RER 

Paladin7 : Mairie de Bourg-La-Reine > Bourg la Reine RER 

Paladin 8 :  Antony RER <> Verrières Le Buisson

Paladin 9 :  Antony RER <> Massy-Verrières RER

Paladin 10 : Antony RER <> Massy-Verrières RER <> Antony RER

Paladin 11 : Malabry > Robinson RER

Paladin 12 : Antony <> Malabry <> Le Plessis-Robinson

Paladin 13 : Antony RER <> Bourg-La-Reine <> Robinson RER

Paladin 14 : Robinson RER <> Le Pierrier

The 12 had changed since the above list was posted - as had others beyond fbb's ability and time to research!

You would look in vain for all these lovely little local routes today as the whole network has been withdrawn and replaced by new services (as previously reported here) numbered in the 400s.

Le Paladin était un réseau de bus urbain créé en 1990 remplacé le 1er août 2022 par le réseau de bus de la Bièvre.

Despite the withdrawal, the internet's longevity helps us once again, because a Paladin web site for 2006 is more or less complete, lacking only timetables.

We get a warm, nay an effusive welcome (edited by fbb 'cos it's in French!) ...

Bienvenue sur le site non-officiel des transports de la communauté d'agglomération des Hauts-de-Bièvres, le réseau Paladin.

Well, at least it is "non-officiel" so we cannot blame the authorities for not taking the site down.

Il a pour but de vous faire découvrir le réseau sous un autre regard, en découvrant l'univers des transports en commun.

l'univers? A bit over the top, mayhap.

Ce site a été réalisé par un jeune passionné par le réseau et les bus.

Somebody is passionate about buses.

Remerciements tout particulier à l'ensemble du personnel du réseau sans qui la réalisation de ce site n'aurait pu être possible.

Bonne visite !

But it does allow us to explore Paladin 4 from our incorrect network map. Our "jeune passione" has a bright and cheerful list of services.

By clicking on the route panel we get information and the (non?) official map, so we can now explore the route of the 4 from La Croix de Berny.

And, boy, does it need some exploration.

The map on the unofficial site does resolve one misunderstanding, however. An extract from the sector map shows the main road (as used by former 379) served in one direction only, namely towards Berny.

As is often the case, our jeune passione explains better and shows these one-way positioning journeys in a dark brown.

Tomorrow, we will take a virtual ride on he Paladin 4 and try to understand what has replaced it. 

Such a task is not easy and it hurts fbb's brain - which is why the blog is spread over two days!

Meanwhile the defunct site includes a picture of each route; here the 4.

Ferocious (?) Feline Forays

fbb has reported before on the repeated arrival of "Big Ginge" to eat up Mr Tubbles'' breakfast, dinner and interim snacks. If no snacks are available, having been hidden by Mr Tubbles' staff, Big Ginge wanders round fbb mansion complaining bitterly.

Yesterday morning, after licking the near-empty plate clean, the intruder made his way into the front bedroom and settled down for a well-earned nap ...

... which did not last.

After being photographed without his permission, Big Ginge ambled off in medium height dudgeon.

As he passed Mr Tubbles, sound asleep in the back bedroom, he glanced up at the official resident and seemed to be saying "I'll be back".

Mr Nissen's Hut (Part 2)

On-line, fbb could find no photograph of a real hut that looked anything like the Hornby model. The nearest were some huts converted into residences installed in East London at the end of WW2.

The problem with the Nissen Hut name is that Nissen and a Canadian/American company held the copyright of the design. But, as a contribution to the war effort, the copyright was suspended (for thr duration). So all sorts of Nissen near lookalikes appeared and were adapted post war for various purposes.

If you wanted a model of a real Nissen hut to the official Nissen design, you could buy a kit by Ratio (a Peco company) and you would be spot on.

And you get TWO for your money!

Metcalfe offer a cardboard kit, but, like fbb's Hornby cast resin jobbie, NOT a true Nissen.

fbb's may, one day, be looking something like this ...

... but without the interior detail as you won't be able to see it.

One In, One Out

Roger French blogged yesterday about another so-called "uber-style" minibus service, this time in Worcestershire.

Roger's blog is well worth reading as it exposes the lunacy of these schemes. As Roger writes ...

How successful is this scheme after four weeks of operation?

So for four weeks Andy and his bus has cost you and me (taxpayers who are footing the bill) a huge wedge for doing nothing.

No surprise that these potty schemes all fail.

DaFT must be really really daft to keep on wasting our money. Somebody should tell Mr Sunak!

Roger's "envoi" is apposite.

Q E D!

Yet Another fbb Bludner!

The Honolulu Metro is NOT a monorail, although at least one web site said it was - and fbb stupidly just copied it down. The author of said site mixed up "elevated" with "monorail".

There - conventional two rail with a third rail providing the electric.

 Next non-Paladin blog : Tuesday 11th July