Ox-Blood Displaces Oxford (mini blog)

fbb's late chum Alan (formerly from Northampton) used to aver that the C O M S livery was the best ever at any time in omnibological history. It certainly sat well on vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

This introductory blog should have been posted yesterday in the fairly normal pattern of fbb blogging - but the complexities and excitement of following Leslie Green's ox-blood tiles at Knightsbridge throughout history was a more convoluted tale than your old codger blogger expected.

The City of Oxford Motor Services company ran buses, not just in the great University city, but throughout South Oxfordshire.

The onset of the National Bus Company brought universal poppy red and, from 1971, an extra name on the vehicles. That was the year that the express coaches, branded South Midland ...

... had their operations transferred from Thames Valley to Oxford. Now the label became Oxford South Midland.

To add insult to injury, that company was split into two, one part being Oxford City services and the other being the rural and inter-urban routes. Both companies were privatised under management buyouts, but as was common then, the big groups soom snaffled them up.

City buses went to GoAhead and the country services to Stagecoach via Harry Blundred's Thames Transit. The latter went minibus mad for both rural and competing city services.

A specific Oxford livery was carried ...

... but it wasn't long before ex-pat vehicles from elsewhere in Blundred Minibus World appeared.

And, of course, GoAhead responded in like manner with bread vans ...

... and some slightly more suitable vehicles.

There was cheap and cheerful printed publicity to cope with the inevitable pace ot competitive change.

Some route branding appeared in the early days of competition ...

... and stagecoach added route colours to its stripes.

For a while, GoAhead remained aloof from such colourised chaos.

Soon mini madness was replaced with bigger bus battles. In some cases both operators ran competing services along the same routes.

The road to Kidlington was wall to wall buses!

Various attempts were made (and broken) to rationalise the silliness. There was a period (quite recently) when tickets were inter available on common routes; but Stagecoach pulled out and the fares farce returned.

It got very complicated and extremely confusing on some corridors.

But most recently, brokered by the Local Authorities, agreements have been reached which seem to be holding. Is it too naive to suggest that Stagecoach got Kidlington and Oxford Bus most of the rest? Yes it probably is a simplification, but it will do for a short blog.

But tomorrow, fbb will take a closer look at service 3 to Rose Hill via the Iffley Road.

C O M S has been running it for almost ever and now is back in total charge of the route. But it is not as simple as it once was.

More tomorrow.

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Thanks For Tanks

fbb's latest tank wagon arrived on Monday. It can in a box with mountains of bubble wrap.

Here is the box and bubble wrap ...

... and here is the tank wagon that was buried within!

It is an OO gauge model and one which fbb does not have in his extensive collection.

Puzzle Picture

What is this?

Suffice it to say, when fbb last visited one of these a long, long time ago, there was no frightening red grid and you could clearly see all the works.

Thanks a bunch Health and Safety!

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 Next Rose Hill blog : Thur 22 May