News from Oxford
High Wycombe & the surrounding areas

update Sunday 7th November 1999 by Malcolm Crowe

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.

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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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Back on seat now after two weeks in Sydney and Hong Kong. The bus scene in Hong Kong is quite amazing. However many times I go there I never cease to be amazed. There are literally hundreds of magnificent 6 wheel double deck buses and the number of older buses has dwindled with ever growing pace. I took the opportunity to sample the A12 City Flyer Express from Hong Kong Island to Chep Lak Kok Airport and have to compliment Hong Kong Citybus on a really super service. The views from the new bridge to Lantau Island are really magnificent. 

The buses used on the services are Dennis Trident IIs with a third axle bodied by Salvador Caetano in Portugal to a Duple Metsec design. A very nice model is also produced by Corgi in their Hong Kong bus range.

And so back to the UK and reality ! I have minimised the pictures from overseas but hope you like the small offering. 

More of you are now sending useful information and I include two report from my readers.

Gordon Brown writes from Stagecoach South to say the he is now with that company.  Four Darts have been transferred from Stagecoach Oxford. One ex 774 (now 404 in the SS fleet) was involved in an accident and was severely damaged. It may have been written off after the accident which involved a lorry and a lamppost which came through the roof... Gordon also says that he has  also caught up with some Metroriders ex Oxford Cityline. They are with Emsworth and District - a local operator. They have been (mostly) repainted - The passenger door is still in Oxford colours, while the rest of the bus is in green & yellow. [Ironical seeing that they entered service new in yellow, blue and green ! Ed.]  778 & 779 are the former fleet numbers from Oxford. Thanks Gordon.

Nigel Peach writes from Wycombe to say that he was in Wycombe bus station recently. Two more of the old Oxford Olympians were at the back: 214 (we've had that before) and 223 (Fox FM advert). He had not seen 223 in Wycombe before. At least 5 of the 6 Leyland Nationals are still around - including 388 which he had not seen for some time. It looked to be sporting a new front grille.
Of the Easy-Access Darts 421 424 & 425 all now have adverts totally covering their rear. Nigel comments that it's all a matter of taste but thinks they look quite ugly! The other 4 from this batch are unaffected, with 423 the only one showing the bus station phone no & website address on the rear window. (These transfers are only gradually appearing on vehicles presumably when they make trips to the Oxford works.) He also notes that my picture of Guide Friday's JPE236V brought back memories of its time at Wycombe. It was Arriva (Chiltern Rover/London Country) spending all its time at Wycombe (previously Amersham) depot. Nigel saw similar bus KPW 242W with Guide Friday in Edinburgh the previous week!

Thanks to both Gordon and Nigel for providing some interesting information and I took the opportunity today to pop into Wycombe and do a quick photo "catch up". Included in my pictures is the elusive Arriva Sainsburys Merc which has been operating the 300 into Oxford in recent weeks.

Today it was operating the 372 to Chesham, most appropriate in view of the registration !

Interestingly a number of the Olympians mentioned by Nigel Peach were at Wycombe today.
241 was in Oxford garage on Saturday seemingly awaiting attention.

This weekend I had a duty on Oxford Citylink X90 and my steeds were nr 7 followed by nr 3. Both coaches were in good order but traffic was really bad and I had to divert off the M40 at Wycombe and use the old road to Stokenchurch on my return with nr 7. This was caused by an accident on the M40 and many services were up to 30 minutes late arriving back in Oxford for much of the morning. Matters did not improve until later in the day.  

One item of note on Saturday was the use by Heyfordian of an ex London Metrorider  K428HWY, still in London red but able to show the route number which is an improvement. I understand that this bus arrived some two weeks ago.

Unusual workings for Saturday included 801 on the 2 road. In works were a number of ex London Darts which are under going overhaul for service in Wycombe. Citylink coach nr 52 was nearing completion of a major overhaul and will return to service in X90 livery. Both 782 and 783 were out of use in the garage. I am however informed that they still put in the occasional appearance if required. Q busting Olympians 204 and 208 were still in service at Oxford.

On the Stagecoach front Mercedes 371 was in Oxford Gloucester Green on Saturday bearing Bicester Village vinyls. This was the first time I had seen this bus since its delivery.

371 at Gloucester Green.

If anyone else has any interesting news items please send them to me at 

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