Showbus 2015

Yesterday was Showbus a really big bus and coach display and rally it was held at Woburn Abbey.

Sadly,due to the distance I was unable to attend but some of my blog contributors did attend and they have let me use some of their pictures. I have used them with Credit going to their owners and they remain copyright to them. From what I have seen in pictures loads of buses and coaches were in attendance. 

I have always wanted to put pictures on the blog of the Spirit of London and thanks to my contributors I have been able to now. Some people don't know what the Spirit of London means and I'm a proud owner of a Spirit of London badge I got from visions. The Spirit of London is a Enviro400 which is with Stagecoach London and is registered LX55 HGC with a fleet number of 19000. The first picture on here is a Plaxton President which was new in 2000 and has a W plate.

A W plate Plaxton President with Red Rose Fleetnames Copyright Harry P

Stagecoach Enviro400 19000 ' Spirit of London ' Copyright Harry H

Spirit again Copyright Harry H

 The next picture is of Enviro200 with Thamesdown 106 MX13 BBV I'm a bit unsure on the livery though.

Thamesdown Enviro200 106 MX13 BBV Copyright Harry H

 Now onto some more Presidents that attended First Essex LT52 XAB I have seen a picture of this President in Buses magazine and DAF ALX400s that used to be with Arriva the DAF is DLA 147. Also one of Ipswich Buses Presidents 24 SN51 AXO.

DLA147 Copyright Harry P

President LT52 XAB copyright Harry H

Ipswich Buses 24 SN51 AXO Copyright Harry H

 Now onto some First interest with Gemini 46 KP54 AZL and Enviro400 33808 YX63 LJO.

KP54 AZL Copyright Harry H

X1 branded Enviro400 YX63 LJO Copyright Harry H

I would like to thank Harry P and Harry H for letting me use their photos it has been a real pleasure using them and that rounds off the blog.

Double Deckers on the Loop

This may be a bit weird for a blog post but I will do it anyway. There have been some odd workings on the Eastbourne Loop recently in the form of Double Deckers. The Eastbourne Loop is meant to be Enviro200s but quite recently the Double Deckers have started working it in the form of ALX400s and Enviro400s. Most of the pictures I have for you are some of the Double Deckers in action on the Eastbourne Loop.

Enviro400s:

Enviro400s have been working the Loop ( 19651, 19655 and 19656 ) recently the majority of Enviro400s that have appeared on it are the Ex-Tayway 73 Enviro400s. Because of MMCs in Scotland on the route and later on they were with Sheffield before Transferring to Eastbourne. 19656 ( SP60 DPZ ) is photographed below in Hampden Park.

Enviro400 19656 ( SP60 DPZ ) in Hampden Park

 ALX400s: 

A few ALX400s have also been appearing on the Loop recently 18173 ( GX54 DVR ) has been on the Eastbourne Loop quite a bit recently. The 2 pictures below are of 18172 ( GX54 DVP ) the ALX400 after that picture is Ex-London 17528 ( LX51 FOM )

Trident ALX400 18172 ( GX54 DVP ) on the Loop

A rear of 18172 ( GX54 DVP ) on the Loop

17528 ( LX51 FOM ) on the Loop

 Here is one of the Loops allocation Enviro200 36901 ( GN13 HHS ) seeing as Double Deckers have been working the Loop quite a bit recently it has allowed some of the Enviro200s to work different routes here is 36901 on the 1A below.

Enviro200 36901 ( GN13 HHS ) on the 1A

TransBus Enviro300s in service and more SP60 Enviro400s in service

On Tuesday I went out to see how all the recent transfers in the Stagecoach Eastbourne Fleet were getting on in service. The Buses I'm referring to are the TransBus Enviro300s and the SP60 Enviro400s. There are now thought to be 4 or 5 06 plate Enviro300s in service. Not only did I photograph 27521 ( GX06 DZC ) I also managed to board it as well. It is one of the best Enviro300s I have been on and the bell sounds a lot different to any other Enviro300 I have been on these have come from Dover in exchange for the 58 plate Enviro300s which have gone to Dover. As I'm writing this 3 58 plate Enviro300s remain in the Eastbourne Fleet for now they are 27580/1/2 ( GX58 GKN/O/P ) it is unknown when they will be going.

TransBus Enviro300 27521 ( GX06 DZC ) in the rain on the 1

 I have also found out that 2 more SP60 Enviro400s transferred in last weekend are already in service they are 19662 ( SP60 DRX ) and 19668 ( SP60 DTO ) there are also 3 more as well. 19662 and 19668 are both unbranded the other 3 that transferred in over the weekend are still in branding from what I have seen in pictures both were photographed on the 1A.

Enviro400 19668 ( SP60 DTO ) on the 1A

Enviro400 19662 ( SP60 DRX ) on the 1A

The Stagecoach Eastbourne Fleet has had some changes made to it the GX58 Enviro300s and most of the MANS will be going and TransBus Enviro300s and SP60 Enviro400s joined the fleet.

Trip to Hastings

Last week I went to Hastings it wasn't just going along the seafront and going in a peddle boat I also had a bit of time to watch the Buses as well. I stood at Hastings Train Station where all the Buses go in to pick up and drop of passengers. I got onboard Trident ALX400 17106 ( V106 MEV ) on the 99 and to my surprise it didn't break down. Once I got off 17106 I had about 30 mins to watch some Buses. I finished at around 12:20pm.

After going along the seafront I had a bit of time to take some more pictures before the 99 showed up to take me back to Eastbourne. My Bus back to Eastbourne was another Trident this time 17528 ( LX51 FOM ). I have a mixture of photos I've been grouping them up ( Scanias , Enviro200s , Trident Enviro400s and a Darts ) here they all are.

Scanias: 

Stagecoach Folkestone Scania Enviro400 15441 ( KX08 KZB ) on the 100

Scania Enviro400 15777 ( GN61 EWB ) on the 99

Wave 100/101/102 branded Scania Enviro400 15478 GN09 AZU

 Enviro200s:

Enviro200 36503 ( GN12 CMF ) on the Arrows

Enviro200 36487 ( GN12 CKL ) also on the Arrows.

 Trident Enviro400s: 

Enviro400 19005 ( MX06 XAD ) on the 100

19005 MX06 XAD

 Darts:

Dart 34845 GX06 DWW

I also have news that 3 TransBus E300s are now in Eastbourne service.

London Trip

Last week saw me go on another trip to watch some Buses this time to London there were loads of Buses to ride on. To start of with I got a train to London Victoria with my Grandma. The first bus of the day was Borismaster LT66 ( LTZ 1066 ) on the 11 it went round a couple of times and it missed its turning. After we had lunch we walked along Whitehall to get our next Bus and it was Volvo B5LH with Gemini 3 body work on the 6 the bus was VWH2101 ( LK15 CWZ ) we ended up in North West London. My Grandma knew we were able to get a 52 from there because the destination was the same as the 52. We didn't have to wait long for a 52 one pulled up almost straight away. The Bus was another Hybrid this time a Gemini 2 hybrid it was Metroline VWH1360 ( LK62 DHX ) that gave a good performance as well.

Now onto some pictures: 

Volvo President VP569 LK04 ELU on the 98

Enviro400 E137 SN60 BZJ on the 87

Volvo Gemini WVL120 LX03 ECW also on the 87

Volvo B9TL/Gemini 2 VW1407 LK13 BHY on the 52

BYD Electric Bus EB2 LC63 CXY 

Next week is going to be my Hastings special featuring a trip to I took to Hastings.

Enviro400 Transfers

A couple of weeks ago some former Scotland Enviro400s transferred into the Eastbourne fleet they are SP60 plates and have fleetnumbers 19648-19653. They are for the 1/1A and are replacing 58 plate Enviro300s 27571-27582 some have departed already. They all have entered service when they are yet to have a repaint after their Tayway 73 branding gets removed some have already had their branding removed while others could possibly still be in branding. As well as the 1/A they can possibly be found on another routes as well. 

On Monday I headed out to sample one of the recently transferred Enviro400s it was successful after rejecting about 3 Enviro200s and a MAN one pulled up it was 19652 ( SP60 DPU ) and I wasn't impressed with its performance its interior at the back didn't match and it sounded awful. I have a interior shot from inside 19652 and a picture of 19652 shortly I got off it.

The interior inside Enviro400 19652 SP60 DPU

19652 photographed on the 1A shortly after I got off 

 The SP60 Enviro400s joined other Buses including Enviro300 27575 ( GX58 GKF ), 17529 ( LX51 FON ) and Scania Enviro400s on Park & Ride duties for Airbourne pictured below is 19651 ( SP60 DPO ) having a rest after completing a Park & Ride duty.

19651 and another Enviro400 having a rest.

In other news the 06 plate former Diamond Enviro300s are joining the fleet from Dover to replace most of the MANs the 58 plate Enviro300s are going to Dover to replace them and 27571 ( GX58 GKA ) and 27573 ( GX58 GKD ) have already gone.

South West Special

At the start of the summer I went on holiday to Devon for the week and stayed on a site right near the beach in Dawlish Warren. It wasn't just spending time with my family I had some time to have a look at some Buses in Torquay, Exeter and Dawlish Warren. The pictures I took at Torquay are not very good so I have some better pics from Exeter and Dawlish Warren.
The main company is Stagecoach South West and they have a range of different types of buses and this post is pictures of buses in their fleet.

I have grouped them up Single Deck Enviros, Enviro400s and ALX400s so I'm not there ages explain them to you.

The pictures I have for you are of Enviro200 36254 ( WA11 CHN ) and Enviro300 24142 ( WA59 FWX ) both are photographed on a Exeter City Route and Exeter Park and Ride we also have Enviro400 19570 ( WA59 FWS ) meeting with a Solo, Enviro400 WA59 FWS on its own ( the Enviro400 is used on Park and Ride ) and a couple of Tridents at Dawlish Warren which are 18131 ( KN04 XJF ) and similar 18132 ( KN04 XJG ) both are branded for the hop 11 service because I can't put sentences above the pictures so I'm explaining them all in one paragraph. 

Enviro200 WA11 CHN on Exeter City Service A

Enviro300 WA59 FWX on Park and Ride Services

Enviro400 WA59 FWS and Solo ER05 BUS 

Enviro400 WA59 FWS on Park and Ride in Exeter

 

The perfectly matching colours on WA59 FWS

hop 11 branded ALX400 Trident ( KN04 XJF ) in Dawlish Warren on the 11

Similar ( KN04 XJG ) on the 11

Thank you for reading my post sorry if it is a bit messed up because I have been having problems with blogger today I will leave you with a picture of Trident ALX400 18077 ( WA04 CTF ) in Exeter on the 5B.

ALX400  ( WA04 CTF ) on the 5B

Lou