A recent repaint into Stagecoach livery is Mercedes 330. It is seen approaching Oxford along the Botley Road on a 44.
News
from Oxford, High Wycombe
& the surrounding areas
update Sunday, May 23rd 1999 - 0200hrs by Dave Root
Another news update from me - this time with pictures!
Firstly, a correction to last week's correction(!), namely that 624 should not have appeared in the list of repaints. Further recent repaints to add to the list include 604 and 610.
Oxford Tube coaches continue to enter service, with 41/42/47 (T41/2/7 BBW) all in service by last Sunday 16th May, and joined by 46/49 (T46/49 BBW) by Friday 21st May. By the end of this week, all were still running without rear end vinyls - could this suggest another change of plan regarding the rear end design, or merely an eagerness to get the coaches into service?
Following the use of a Kidlington route branded MAN on the X39, last Sunday saw a red-topped Rose Hill branded Volvo B6LE on that route; I was unable to ascertain which one it was, other than that it was not 833 which was on its normal duties on the 3. Meanwhile another blue-topped Kidlington MAN to stray from its usual route was 927, which was operating the 31 on Saturday evening, 22nd May. Oxford Bus also came up with a couple of unusual workings during the week; as has been mentioned, Darts are to become the norm on 51 road, but the use of an SLF example, as happened on Tuesday 18th, is likely to be less common. The SLFs also scored several other "escapes" from their normal duties on 13 road this past week; 404 in particular has been "seeing the world", appearing on 2 road on Thursday, and more unusually still, on Park and Ride 400 the following day. Meanwhile, sister 405 busied itself on 60 road both days. Finally, the X3, for which three Plaxton Verde bodied Volvos 616-618 are specially lettered, unusually saw the services of ex-London Volvo/Paladin 650 on Friday.
Following the return to the service fleet of 966, this week has seen both 201 and 202 in use in the training fleet. Also in use were Leopards T4 and T2.
Two of Wycombe's Leyland Nationals, 389 and 391, were in works for attention yesterday. Volvos 622-624 are tipped for transfer to Wycombe when the new vehicles arrive in Oxford.
This week, in addition to a couple of photos from the past week, we present a selection of older photos, with a particular emphasis on old liveries from the past couple of years.
A recent repaint into Stagecoach livery is Mercedes 330. It is seen approaching Oxford along the Botley Road on a 44.
One of the oldest coaches in the Worths fleet is Volvo B58 FFC 322V, seen here on the 70 to Charlbury and Chipping Norton earlier this week. It carries Plaxton Supreme IV coachwork and wears Worths' silver livery. Coaches purchased new by Worth's during the 1970s and 80s had the number 322 in their registrations; this was the company's telephone number prior to the prefixing of extra digits by BT.
You may wonder why, in our coverage of unusual workings, we do not mention the exceptionally unusual appearance of a Dart on 35 road. The reason is that it happened over a month ago! Illustrating the importance of the digital camera to the Oxford Bus Page's news service, 508 is seen awaiting departure on an afternoon journey to Abingdon.
A scene from the past - the Thames Transit grey livery is now extinct on big buses. Among the last to carry it were Lances 901-3, and 901 is seen here at Horspath Road depot.
This Mercedes, 403 (H104 HDV) is one of several transferred to Thames Transit from a sister company. It is seen on service to Bicester still wearing red, white and blue livery.
Sister H109 HDV, now renumbered 367 but formerly 408, is seen in Thames Transit grey. It has since been repainted in Stagecoach stripes, but retains a black bumper which distinguishes it from other vehicles of the type.
Now withdrawn, Thames Transit 309 displays the navy blue/cream livery still to be found on a handful of Mercedes midibuses in service.
This interesting study of three Citylink/City Link rear ends shows the development of the Citylink livery. In the centre, 151 (now 51) wears the original style of white/blue/black with diagonal yellow blocks. It carries rear end branding for the airport services. On the left, 157 (now 57) carries the later blue/white/grey with yellow flags and revised fleetname, whilst newly-delivered no. 2 on the right carries the latest version with the grey replaced by blue, a thin red coach stripe and the blue extended up the rear of the coach. The Citylink name no longer appears on the sides of the coach, with the exception of Paramounts 59-63. The whole Citylink fleet is now in this livery, apart from 63 which carries an allover advertisement for Victoria Coach Station.
Two types of vehicle which regularly work the 300 Oxford-Uxbridge service are seen here. The first picture shows 3116, L316 HPP, a Northern Counties-bodied Volvo. The second is of Leyland National Greenway 3057, TIB 4886. Also used on the route are Mercedes midibuses from various batches, and occasionally unrebuilt Leyland Nationals including 3899, GFR 799W.
Double deckers are sometimes converted into playbuses when their service life is over. It is rather more unusual for a vehicle to be purchased new as a playbus and then converted for PSV use, but this is what happened to F506 OYW, now 5108 in the Arriva The Shires fleet. It is seen here with two Atlanteans at Wycombe depot, carrying the Chiltern Rover identity.
Although Stagecoach's LoLiners were the first low floor buses in Oxfordshire, Wycombe Bus, across the border in Buckinghamshire, had its first examples over a year earlier. Here we see 525 (P525 YJO) in High Wycombe bus station. It has since been renumbered 425 in the new series for low floor Darts.
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