Here We Go Again? (Part 3)

Which Hand On The Brand?

First it was Catch22, then it was Coastliner ...

... but then the Coastliner brand seemed to vanish from the vehicles. Was it an objection from Transdev ...

... or Stagecoach?

Who knows? 

We have also met Londoner Buses...

... and Altonian Coaches ...

... all part of Mr Philip Higgs growing and widespread public transport empire. 

And not forgetting the open top bus tour of Manchester.

But then, something changes. Instead of Coastliner on the smart green and blue buses, a new name appears.

Transpora?

Of course Transpora has a web site plus Facebook and Twitter pages. It appears to be yet another name for the Blackpool bus operation, but now (as Transpora Group) including Londoner Buses and Altonian, plus Wedding Buses ...

... which might not be easily bookable if they are trundling up and down route A in London.

There is also MiCab ...

... but clicking on the graphic was ineffective! The only likely MiCab fbb could find was a bit too far away for even Mt Higgs to operate - Mexico.

But there was something strangely familiar about the style and the possible over-optimism of the Transpora web site. Companies House reveals that there are two "active" directors of Transpora. One is Mr Higgs and the other ...

... a certain Mr Rhys Hand.

Mt Hand came to some prominence in Bristol in 2016 running various bus operations and a fleet of taxis. His web sites were full of optimism and promise but delivery was shaky at best.

The Higgs-Hand togetherness also shares directorships at Altonian Coaches where we read that vehicles can be hired from depots at Southampton, Blackpool, Manchester and Bristol.

Bristol? Yes Mr Hand with the newly created Transpora, is back in the city!

Plus goodies ...

And here is the route via the Bridgwater Road and across to Hengrove Park (shown in GREY).

The buses also appear on a staff shuttle for the Co-op.

As far as fbb can gather Transpora, as a new company, has yet to file its first annual accounts with Companies House. Those who do so regularly will know that the requirements for a small business (a micro entity) are minimalist. But a disaster in the making might well reveal itself as, indeed, would a potential gold mine.

Neither is likely after just one year of trading. But bus watchers will be keeping a close eye on the future of Transpora's operations; especially in view of the previous experiences of its two directors.

And A Beverley Bell P.S.

Mrs Bell was the Senior Traffic Commissioner involved in the long-running spat with Philip Higgs as per the first blog in this series.

She resigned.

She now runs a consultancy service specialising in helping operators cope with the regulatory side of the transport business ...

... notably appearing at the Public Enquiries led by ...

... you guessed it ...

... Traffic Commissioners!

In the blurb she proffers the thought that such appearances can be daunting and very stressful. Yep! In her time as a TC, she did plenty of daunt and caused plenty of stress!! Whether justifyable or not depends on whether you won or lost!

On reflection, either way was daunting and stressful!

 Next Cartographic blog :Wednesday 4th January 

Bank Holiday Bits

Hopefully Hi For A Hie To Hythe!

Recently, Blue Funnel have taken over the long-sailing ferry between Southampton Town Quay and Hythe, At Town Quay it shares a terminal with Red Funnel's Red Jet to the Isle of Wight .,,..,

... but you would never know from outside!

This means that there is a bus connection from Southampton station and the city centre direct to the terminal.

But you would never know from the bus publicity which is, of course, paid for by Red Funnel.

On Saturday last, Roger French blogged about what should have been his last ever trip on the ferry because Blue Funnel had announced the closure of the route.

Only it didn't and, so far, it hasn't. There were protests, of course ...

... but protests don't pay fuel bills! Nevertheless ...

... there may be, not another White Horse, but a White Knight sailing to the rescue! But, potential and regular users please note, if White Horse couldn't "make a go of it" and Blue Funnel likewise, then how will another newcomer manage.

Surely they won't and the new operation will be doomed to an ignominious failure.

Let us hope that the superb Hythe Pier tramway can be preserved.

It is historic ...

... quaint beyond belief ...

... and an utter joy to experience.

Is there any way the ferry service could be improved?

Of course there is. If this were a typical European city, the ferry, the buses and, possibly, the local trains would all be under the control of one organisation. There would be a simple zonal fare system which applied at all modes with a simple single ticket for any journey however complex.

So, instead of a stonking £7 single, the ferry, bus and future train (?????) would all cost the same, say £3 from central Southampton to Hythe.

A journey from Eastleigh to Calshot would be possible on one "outer" zone ticket with no faffing.

Of course the ferry would not be profitable, certainly not in the depths of winter; but with comprehensive and integrated marketing - and perhaps even a big sign at Southampton saying "Ferry to Hythe" - it would soon become part of everyone's knowledge and daily routine where appropriate.

And, if you have never hied to Hythe by ferry, fbb suggests you do so as soon as possible.

The White Knight may yet fall off his horse!

A Train Spotter's Challenge

Writing all the coach numbers down would be well-nigh impossible. Modern train spotters dictate into recorders, but you wouldn't get all 8 trains. Maybe with a well-prepared assistant you could get unit numbers for the main line - but, even them,  the trains crossing over the bridge in the distance; no way.

fbb thinks the shot was filmed from a footbridge ...

... linking the park at Northwick Park with housing to the east of the West Coast Main line where be Preston Road Station. The bridge is just north of South Kenton station.

The line on the bridge is the Metropolitan line. 

Clever London experts should be able to date the pictures from stock deployment and livery. fbb could if he tried but would, inevitably, get it wrong!

What you saw (roughly in order) were

Down Pendolino

Up Bakerloo

Down "local"

Down Bakerloo

Up Pendolino

Down Metropolitan

Up "local;"

Up Metropolitan

The video is catalogued as "incredible million to one shot". Indeed!

All I Want For Christmas Is ...

Sadly, with the duplicate Sunday and Monday fellowship meetings to prepare and deliver, fbb did not have time to rewrite this delightful little ditty, But start with a revised title ...

All I Want For Christmas

Is A Big Bus Seat

... and you have the basis for a charming seasonal snippet from Sheffield.

Four year old Ivy really wanted Santa to bring her a bus seat. So mum got in touch with Stagecoach who duly delivered the gift ready wrapped for the festive day.

Ivy was delighted.

You can find her "unboxing" video on line - actually unripping - complete with squeals of delight.

A bus enthusiast in the making?

Behold, Better Ballast!

It was our senior Isle of Wight correspondent who remonstrated with fbb (genly, of course) that the station area at Peterville "had too much green". fbb weakly reposted that the volunteers at Peterville Quarry Railway were determined to keep weeds at bay and present the sidings in an attractive part-grassed way.

But he knew that Alan was right. The gaps between the ballasted "four foot" needed filling with something other than very green grass,

And he was right - it does look much better, It needs a bit of "dirtying" but pots of poster paint are ready for a splodging so all should be well in due course. replacement old buffer stops are also ready for installation.

Then there is the rest of the station to do.

Big Birthday Book

(Jesus' Birthday a k a CHRISTmas!)

Keith Beeden, its author, died in 2014 ...

... and the Sheffield Transport Study Group has brought together a collection of his articles written for the M & T News, the organ of the Sheffield Omnibus Enthusiasts. So we have twelve chapters covering the new bus intake from 1947 until the PTE take-over in 1974.

The text has been updated and extra illustrations have been added. It is, as they say, "lavishly illustrated" in monochrome.

Keith's interest always as with vehicles, engine knock, fluid flywheels and pneumocyclic gearboxes (very much a dark art for fbb!) so route information is limited to accurate locations on all the captions. fbb has already had two sessions of gibbering nostalgia as he arrived in the Steel City in September 1963 and remembers almost all the vehicles discussed.

Not sure about remembering the Crossleys, though!

But nostalgia can be VERY spooky. Here is a bus climbing up Barnsley Road from Fir Vale and passing, on the left, fbb's first digs in the city.

That was nearly 60 years ago! Yikes!

Here is Stagecoach going in the opposite direction with a very annoying street lamp obscuring the view,

Fir Vale Church (red roof) is the location clue.

Thanks, Giles.

 Next "Here we go again" blog - Tuesday 4th January 

Sunday Snippets

Boston Lodge : Big new Look

The Festiniog Railway depot was run down even before the original slate line closed post WW2 and decay continued. The depot, at the end of the causeway called The Cob, was in a poor shape, yet claims to be the oldest steam railway depot still in use in the whole wide world.

Admittedly it is a bit like the worker's yard brush that is still in use after 50 years with only 20 new handles and 25 new brush heads!

The most recent major project has been to rebuild and extend the carriage sheds, seen here at the estuarial edge of the site (right) ...

... and seen in diagram form below.

As well as further rebuilds in the shed area, the latest mega project is to rebuild, replace and restore (as appropriate) the various workshops some of which are shown at the head of this piece.

The aim is to recreate something of the works in their heyday; but, this time, to provide viewing access for the public. A second aim it to improve areas used for training apprentices in the engineering skills needed to run a busy heritage railway.

So, take a ride past Boston Lodge, recorded in 2018.

For the record, Boston Lodge is just south of Porthmadog at the southern end (eastern end?) of The Cob.

Bad News For Buses - Again!

Both on-line and live on the six o'clock news on 29th December, the BBC has reported on fears of further bus cuts when the current round of "aid" runs out in April this year. Fairly short on fact and over-blessed with negative "vox pop", interviews were conducted at the Northern General Hospital (NGH) bus stop on Barnsley Road in Sheffield.

The opening shot of a lonely passenger was elsewhere ...

... at a location fbb has been unable to identify.  But, call fbb a cynic, interviewing folk outside the NGH about a lack of buses is a bit of a weak case as, despite cuts, there are at about 15 buses and hour in each direction!

Interviewees spoke about all the usual suspects; no evening buses (there are evening buses), can't get to church (you can), and even a remark from one chap who told us about new bus shelters being installed on a road with no buses. fbb can't think where that might be either, but it is certainly nowhere near the film's location.

One "expert" bemoaned that fact that, even if you read the timetable, the buses did not turn up.

What timetable? There have been no printed timetables in Sheffield for years, which has clearly contributed to the decline in passenger numbers.

Both the live piece and the on-line item ended with comments from Alice Ridley for Campaign for Better Transport ...

... but she was outside Broadcasting House in London!

There will, indeed, be a huge problem when (maybe if) the Government funding stops, but a better and more credible report (buses were passing by all the time the interviews were happening) could have made the case more effectively.

And, as a helpful bonus, the on-line piece was headed with pictures of buses in Birmingham.

Birmingham? Surely that cannot be right, BBC. The buses are red so it must be London!

Coming to a TV Near You

The first series struggled to find enough variety, fbb thought, but it may have been OK for the occasional viewers of "Yesterday". Pre-broadcast highlights of the new series include a visit to Jools Holland's mega model railway and an account of Peter Waterman's recent exhibition model.

Will we hear about TT120, and how will they explain it?

Big Bulky Boxes Bursting with Biomass

Biomass?

Drax Power Station uses compressed wood pellets sourced from sustainably managed working forests in the US, Canada, Europe and Brazil, and are largely made up of low-grade wood produced as a byproduct of the production and processing of higher value wood products, like lumber and furniture.

So it's sawdust, then - but compressed into pellets? And it is transports from all over the world to the UK and then carried in trains (diesel hauled of course) from port to power station. And then burnt.

The Mail On-line, always known for its even handed journalism, is not impressed.

The wagons are big.

The trains are big ...

... and this video example apparently ties up THREE locos - although possibly at least one of them was not under power. But that's a whole lot of sawdust!

So has fbb got this right? This sawdust pellets are made, inland, in Louisiana ...

... conveyed to Drax Port at Baton Rouge ...

... by diesel hauled train.

Then by a big oil-guzzling ship all the way to Liverpool ...

... and on to Drax in another diesel hauled train

All very environmentally friendsly - NOT!

But while we contemplate the greenness or otherwise of Drax power station, we could buy a two-wagon set of Drax Biomass "tankers" for our N gauge railway.

They are to scale and thus very big for most N gauge layouts ...

... and only £90 for the pair.

Hornby used to make an OO Version, with a set of two at about £100 to £120 ...

... but if you can find them in the blue Drax boxes and the so-called "swoosh" livery, they will probably cost more.

 Next Bank Holiday bits blog : Monday 2nd January