Arrivaderci Arriva : Ciao Carousel

But Not Completely 

Almost as soon as Arriva announced its withdrawal from High Wycombe, Carousel (A GoAhead company) was up front with its response that it would be taking over completely in High Wycombe.

And it has just happened - nearly.

Yesterday, the Carousel web site was showing the new timetables but there were no new maps available. This is a pity because he old town network has been changed significantly.

Some while back, Arriva unglued its cross town services and, guess, what, Carousel has now joined them back together again.

For the record, here is the network which operated until Saturday last; below showing the western "half" ...

... and then the eastern half of the town.

But, in the absence of a new map, fbb will concentrate, for the time being, on a route which has NOT changed in the slightest other than gaining its new operator.

Service 800 and 850 runs from High Wycombe to Reading.

The two services provide a half hourly frequency between Wycombe and Henley ...

... where the service splits for the onward section to Reading. 

The timetable is identical with that operated by Arriva ...

The service has had a chequered history in Arriva's hands with a wide and inconsequential variety of vehicles allocated .

A more recent development was the relatively short-lived "Max" branding complete with route details on the buses.

Another short-term development was competition from Carousel with an X80 variant ...

... which vanished as Carousel and Arriva started to work together in the town.

But things are not quite so straightforward for Carousel's newly acquired 800/850; as we shall see in tomorrow's blog.

Good Time In Lyme : Trips For Chips

In the eleven years that the fbbs have lived at sunny Seaton, buses to Lyme Regis have undergone a spectacular spurt, from an irregular service to an hourly 9A by Stagecoach; followed disppointingly quickly by the reversion to the days of old.

The much reduced service is now back in the hands of Axe Valley based just along the road from fbb mansions. The Devon County timetable page shows today's Monday to Saturday service as well as the winter reduction to Monday to Friday only. Late afternoon journeys will also end.

It sure is a big let down compared with Stagecoach's hourly 9A!

So it was on Friday last that the fbbs took a trip from Seaton to Lyme Regis using the 378 departure from Seaton at 1135.

More to follow in due course.

What the Beading Is Needing?

fbb's skill at painting is almost non existant when it comes to fine detail. Fortunately most of the artistic genius of Peterville Quarry (model) Railway has involved enhancing kits and doing large scale terraforming.

One of the oldest coach models in fbb's eclectic assortment is one manufactured by Triang; which dates the model to 1966 or soon after. From then on the brand became Triang Hornby and later just plain Hornby.

fbb cannot remember what livery this vehicle wore when he bought it for a fiver off the grot shelf in a local model shop. But he repainted it in Southern malachite green.

The old bloke also fitted new glazing and had one abortive attempt at adding interior seating, lacking in the original Triang model. 

But assuredly, thought the expert bodger of modelling, it would look better if that beading were picked out in gold or yellow paint,

But, equally assuredly, fbb's skills were inadequate for such a task.

Maybe, maybe not!

London Country Comparison

It pains your aged blogger to remember how inadequately he began his appempt to compare the London Country bus network back then (1960s) with what applies today.

EBay has helped, but in Saturday's postal delivery came a luscious bag of London Country route maps from correspondent Julian. (Huge thanks)

Together with the timetable books already purchased, that should enable your esteemed blogger to do a proper job!

On way or another, there are lots of good things to follow over the next few days.

Sunday and Monday 4th and 5th August are the fbb's next duplicate Fellowship Meetings for which preparation is a priority. Quantity of blogging may be somewhat reduced, but armed with all the journalistic projects above, quality should be maintained.

 Next High Wycombe blog : Tuesday 30th July