News from Oxford
High Wycombe & the surrounding areas

updated - Sunday 6th February 2000

Please note that any comments made in this news page are those of the Editors' and in no way constitute 
any official points of view from the bus companies mentioned,  or indeed any other official body. 
As a news page we reserve the right to make valid comments as seen from an editorial point of view.

Problems with the pictures ! - sometimes it seems that the pictures do not load.
I have found a solution which does work normally - 
RIGHT CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND THEN CLICK ON "SHOW PICTURE"
Good luck !

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Please accept my apologies for a shortage of reports during the past few weeks. Business commitments have been heavy and I am thereby pleased to realise how many people read and indeed look forward to my weekly reports. A number of you emailed me to ask if everything was OK and where was my report !!  Thank you.

I was most impressed by the amount of information and indeed emails sent to advise me of the details regarding those Tridents on the M40, which it turns out were for Connex Bus to be used on route 3 in London. Again many thanks.

Today I was on duty at The Oxford Bus Museum, which houses a delightful collection of buses once used in Oxford. I was able to update the Museum Web Page which now includes several new photos. Some work has been completed in connection with the Heritage Lottery grant but a great deal remains to be done. The Museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10.30 am until 4.30pm. Why not visit us if you get chance ?

Vic Gackowski reports that today, 6th February, Stagecoach 31 and 32 are diverted from Redbridge via Kennington (humps) to Radley then Whites Lane Radley , Twelve Acre Drive Peachcroft to rejoin booked route at the bottom of Lodge Hill. Oxford Cityline X3 is diverted the same way and there is no Service today at the Top of Lodge Hill Stops. This due to major road works and massive queues at the Hinksey Interchange 

Fleet News week ending 5/2/00

City of Oxford Motor Services.

The bus in works noted by me as being prepared in an overall livery, nr 620, is reported to carry advertising for Laser Quest, Gloucester Green, Oxford. It joins 628, as the only other saloon in overall advertising. The front is in full house colours. I hope to have a picture of this bus in next weekend's report. Thanks to Vic Gackowski for this information.

Coach nr 54 has emerged in X90 livery and will shortly be followed by 53. 55 is away at Plaxtons for bodywork attention and will then join the batch 50-55 on X90s.  Whilst the use of route vinyls is commendable, the difficulties of maintaining these is emphasised by nr 50 presently having had it's offside front screen replaced it has lost part of it's route information. 52 has been without X90 branding following the replacement of it's upper front screen. It thus becomes a costly business when screens get broken ! I also understand 44 is without X90 branding as well. 

Readers reports include advice that (03/02/00) Olympian 208 (Freedom Livery) was working 4 road and 629 was on 52 road. Edmund Tresham noticed a lot of unusual workings in the last few days. It is now not at all uncommon to see conventional floor Marshal bodied Darts on the 13. He saw 507 and 504 on one day (04/02/00)  with 509 the previous day. On the 4th he also saw (about 8.30) Volvo B10B 636 on the 52. and that afternoon a Northern Counties bodied B10B at a distance on the 2 road..
Another recent change seems to be that rout 12 is now worked by the Metrorider instead of a Marshal bodied Dart. (This may have been the extra bus used in the morning peak Ed ). On that day Vic Gackowski also recorded that Volvos in use on 52 Road included 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 633 and 636. Whilst such information may seem uninteresting to many, it will prove more interesting in the future, when looking back on these reports and captures the flavour of the bus scene in Oxford at this time. Finally again from Vic, 208 was on 4 Road (4C) and 610 on 22 Road - Single Door B10B on 4th February.

As always any interesting news is always welcome, especially of unusual workings and as such noteworthy, plus any photos of Metroriders which can be sent by email (I do appreciate not everyone has a digital camera or access to a scanner) would be useful as we will shortly be running an article on this page about these buses with photos of them in service for other companies. Please send this to me at malcolmhc@aol.com .

Stagecoach Oxford.  

Not much to report on the Stagecoach from but watch out for the Tubes as they are now starting to carry fleet numbers in the destination scrolls, the first being coach 38.

Wycombe Bus Company.

Nigel Peach notes that there are still no odd numbered "Shed" class Darts at Wycombe as yet. (521-530 series). Some may think it unkind to refer to these buses as sheds but they lack design flair in a way that few others buses can rival !   I am told however that wow and betide anyone or anything which should hit one, they are built like tanks !!!

Arriva serving The Shires.

Following my last report on Arriva, Dave Stewart wrote to say that re. the Shires Lynxes at Wycombe, there were eight used on route 321 at Garston till November, since when they were put into store at Dunstable. The original intention was for them to go straight to Wycombe, but plans changed. Those later 'plans' (whatever they were) came to nought, and four have now moved to HW to replace the remaining Nationals. 3068 (H408ERO), 3069 (H409ERO), 3070 (H410ERO), 3072 (F402PUR) are those allocated to HW by the company, officially from 6th January but not in service until much more recently. The remaining four from the eight are either still in store or being used elsewhere as trainers which means they may gravitate to Wycombe later (or not, as the case may be!).  Thanks Dave for that useful update.

I will be pleased to receive your reports for this section, which I have revamped and hope meets with everyone's' approval. 
Please send your reports to MalcolmHC@aol.com and thank you for all your reports, they are most welcome.

Photo Corner week ending 5/2/00
If anyone else has a digital camera and wishes to submit photos for this page please send them to the above email.

This week I have received pictures Neil Gow and Derek Latchford which I am pleased to share with our readers. Thanks to Neil and Derek.

Neil Gow has nicely captured Guide Friday JPE236V which Neil says was used at High Wycombe from new.
Neil is also running a web site for AEC enthusiasts and you can see this at http://home.freeuk.net/aecbus

Derek Latchford sent this picture of VN 1 when new and in service with 
the Clapham Omnibus. It is now 644, K118BUD with Oxford Cityline.

Oxford Bus Museum on 6th February 2000. New arrival is Ford Transit B106XJO 
which started life with South Midland as their nr 6 back in the 1980s.
Ex Oxford 999 arrived in the Autumn of 1999 along with Olympian 201.
Titan 975 is also seen in this picture with Chiltern Queens EUD256K an AEC Reliance.

Bringing us up to date, we see Dart SLF 406 standing alongside withdrawn 
Wycombe Bus Mercedes 710 at Cowley Road depot on 1/2/2000.
The Mercedes are being replaced by the ex London Darts 521-530.

Looking resplendent in a new coat of paint, Volvo 54 has just emerged from the paintshop
at Oxford. Starting life as an Airports coach numbered 154, it is now branded for the X90.

A picture of the rear of 54 shows a larger than normal X90 vinyl on the rear window. 

Another view of Plastow's two new Volvo coaches taken at their Wheatley depot.
They are Jonckheere Mistral 50s and carry a 50 year celebration crest.

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 If anyone has any further news please email below.

Malcolmhc@aol.com 

It adds to the interest of the page which I'm sure everyone appreciates.

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You can still view 
the Tube launch report  
and 
the Oxford Bus P&R Trident launch - Dateline Tuesday June 1st 1999  
Click above

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THE OXFORD BUS MUSEUM