I've Been Everywhere, Man ...
... to Dudley bus station when it was partly on a steep slope. And yes, buses did occasionally run away down the hill.
fbb has also been to Merry Hell shopping centre but long after the Monorail had been exported to Australia. 
Y
The Retail Therapy Temple has had numerous owners who have bought the business out of bankruptcy!
Slightly more delightful was a brief pop in to Stourbridge Interchange ...
... but not just for the buses. It was that building over the wall which was special.
Thence the joy was a ride from Stourbridge Town railway station ...
... up the hill to Stourbridge Junction station on the main line.
Another destination in the area that is etched painfully into fbb's psyche. Himself and Mrs fbb booked in to the Travelodge at Halesowen.
It was, and still is, home to the unique Parry People Mover driven by energy stored in a huge underfloor flywheel boosted by a bit of electric at the terminus.
It was in the central reservation of a dual carriageway!
Nuff said!
So why have these locations in the western reaches of the West Midlands excited the omnibological juices that dribble through the old man's persona?
Because of two "new" bus services, that's why!
National Express West Midlands made the stunning (?) Announcement on-line a few days ago.
West Bromwich Corporation used to run a service 25 ...
... as did Birmingham City Transport.
Midland Red once ran a route 142 to Redditch ...
... seen here with the most awful National Bus Company local branding ever invented!
None of these examples helps us with the National Express "new" services as revealed above.
Because the 25, 142 and 142A are not, in the slightest, new!
More tomorrow.
======================
Another Tank Wagon?
After buying two "special edition" Hornby 100 ton tankers recently, fbb realised that he did not have the basic "un-special" model in his collection.
This version (one of many over the years) was unboxed and thus cheap! The walkway across the top if the tank was black plastic and the eagle-eyed can just spot the access ladder at the right hand end. There would be a ladder at the other end.
But when fbb's model arrived, the walkway was grey ...
... and of ladders there were none.
Another on-line EBay offer also has a grey walkway and black ladders.
Had fbb bought a pig in a poke? [poke - a Scottish word for a paper bag].
As fbb often says ..
It's All On-Line!
A Collectors' P S
According to the Hornby Collectors web site, this particular wagon was manufactured by Hornby in the UK for just two years,
So fbb's recent purchase is actually at least 43 years old.
But it was home made!
Next Stourbridge Surprise blog : Thurs 16th July
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