The Ones that Got Away

Fylde RE 37 chases a speeding cyclist down Woodlands Road bridge on route 4 towards Lytham Green Drive in original livery.

Fylde Borough acquired five Bristol REs in 1975 - just as production for the home market was coming to an end. These were the third batch of OPO single deckers purchased following the three Leyland Panthers in 1969 and six Seddon RUs of 1972. They were fitted with 44 high backed seats to be attractive for private hire work and were to the shorter 10m "RESL" format with Leyland 0.680 engines in common with the Leopards and Atlanteans that arrived during the 1970s.

37-41 (HRN104-108N) entered service in July 1975 and operated mainly on the Lytham St. Annes local routes 1-4, contracts, private hire and even the odd summer National Express dupe. A joint route with Ribble was introduced from Spring Gardens via St. Annes, Lytham and Freckleton to Wesham in 1978 and REs were quite common on this and the new St. Annes Roamer services introduced the same year. They were increasingly common on the trunk services to Blackpool in the evening and on Sundays.

Service 4 was a pre-deregulation haunt of the REs and every Wednesday included a diversion to the local Cemetery where 39 is leaving in this 1982 shot. This is version two of the livery.

They carried two versions of the blue, white and yellow livery, with their first repaints between 1979 and 1981. From 1984 onwards four out of the five carried all-over adverts for bus travel:

37 Fylde Coast Rover 5/84-10/86; Blue Bus Rambler 10/86-10/89

38 Lancashire Bus Pass 8/84-2/87; Blue Bus Rambler 2/87-8/89

39 Travel by Bus 6/84- 9/89

41 Lancashire Concession Passes 8/85-1988 (lettering then changed to Baby Blues until 7/89)

40 retained fleet livery, uniquely gaining the blue band version in June 1986.

All bar 40 received in house adverts 39 imploring people to "Go by Bus to your Local Club Day" in this in Elswick, whilst 37 encouraged you to use the Fylde Coast Rover bus ticket.

Deregulation gave the Bristol REs new vistas with various tendered services picked up from both Ribble and Blackpool. For example 27 April 1987 found:

37 on routes 190-2 (Blackpool-Great Eccleston/Kirkham) during the day and the 23A (South Pier to Mereside) in the evening
38 did a morning and evening contract for Langdale School and the off peak 8A/8B St. Annes Roamer and the evening service 3 (Gynn Square to Mereside)
39 did morning peak trips on the 15 (Staining to Blackpool), an afternoon contract and provided the second duty on evening service 3
40 did an afternoon college contract and the peak and evening work on service 15.
41 enjoyed the day off!

After renumbering 15 ex 38 heads along Corporation Street on service 44 to Mereside (Keith West)

Tendered services came and went and the REs continued to appear on the St. Annes Roamer and the 193s to Wesham as well. In 1989 all five received the new two tone blue scheme, 41 with a yellow band and lettering for Baby Blues services and Seagull Coaches excursions, though it gained the standard version (but without the white stripe) in February 1991. All four were renumbered 14-18 in March 1992 as part of a tidy up of the fleet numbering system. By this time REs had begun to see regular use on the trunk 11/11A (Cleveleys to Lytham) services, alongside Atlanteans and three new Deltas of 1991 as minibuses took over much of the tendered duties.

Their use had always been quite bitty, with their working day often made up of several different duties and it was not until August 1992 that they had a single regular route. The 44 (Blackpool to Mereside via Whitegate Drive and Great Marton) was a minibus route that had seen an escalation of competition from Blackpool. Fylde converted it to RE operation - incongruously with "Baby Blue" fleetnames and four of the five were required daily. It reverted to minibus operation the following March and the REs utilisation declined. Generally they could be found on the 11/11A and 193. During 1993 four Atlanteans single deck rebodies arrived and entered service, virtually sidelining the REs. The inevitable happened and on 3 August 1993 all five were noted without tax, ticket machines and destination blinds, just 15 and 16 seeing use in August with 16 believed to be the last to operate on 2 August (route 3 Town Centre to Zoo).

All five were quickly snapped up by Northern Bus of Sheffield who at the time had a large fleet of REs. They left on 27 August in convoy and became their 2504-2508. Initially used in Fylde livery they gained Northern Bus blue and cream. However their second career was to be short as Leyland Nationals started to oust the REs and progressively the Fylde ones journeyed to PVS in Barnsley for scrap during 1996. 41 was advertised for sale to preservationists but sadly went unclaimed. Still you cannot save everything sadly, though personally this batch represents the one that got away.

Line 11 goes orange

Following last week's Solo exploits, its the turn of the Trent Olympians today. 401 and 409 have both, briefly, operated on Line 11 before the appropriate pool or branded buses became available as swaps. 364, fresh from its role in the mini Atlantean line up at the LTT Depot open day yesterday is out on Line 6. Another orange Olympian - 410 - covered a Line 7 working on Saturday before settling onto its normal Line 1 duties.

The Olympians have evaded the camera, but here is 364 leaving the newly reopened section of Abingdon Street on Line 6 today.

Solos Broaden their Horizons

An apparent full size vehicle shortage has stimulated some unusual Solo workings on 'big bus' routes:

Tuesday 20th: 262 on Line 11 (above c M Crisp)

Thursday 22nd: unknown Solo on Line 11, 279 on Line 14.
Friday 23rd: 261 on Line 14, 263 on Line 11 (above c B Turner).
Saturday 24th: 273 on Line 11, 275 on Line 6

Repaints

More Solo repaints have taken place with 282 now out in pool livery joining 279 and 281 - all three having lost Line 2 colours.

294 is now in the works for its Line 3 blue to be replaced by Line 2 green.

Route 53 The “Easyway” to run a bus service?

Easyway JWU248N at the Royal Oak on its main service 53 towards the Airport

Deregulation provided the opportunity for new bus operators to compete with existing ones. Prior to this, during 1986, licensing was relaxed with Traffic Commissioners taking the view there was little point in objecting to a service that could start at deregulation, unless it was direct competition.

A small coach operator in Blackpool, Easyway Coaches, took advantage and introduced a new service in March 1986. Most bus services in Blackpool ran to the town centre – there was no form of orbital route. Easyway therefore designed a single service, which avoided the town centre and provided several overlapping links. It ran from Squires Gate to Poulton. From the Airport it followed Blackpool’s 12 route along Lytham Road to Royal Oak; then the 26 route via Waterloo Road to Spen Corner, and the 6 via Daggers Hall Lane and Vicarage Lane to Cherry Tree Road, Hypermarket before running via Penrose Avenue, Oxford Square, East Park Drive to Victoria Hospital. Here it took the 23 route via Grange Road to Layton, 5 route to Grange Park then continued via Collegiate School and the 14 route to Castle Gardens and then into Poulton. An hourly service was provided including Sundays. The evening service was restricted to journeys around Hospital visiting times. As its fleet was primarily 53 seaters – Easyway chose this number and provided two of its coaches for the route.

This was a rare innovation – a new operator providing new links and probably the sort of initiative deregulation was supposed to encourage. At deregulation Easyway expanded competing on Blackpool’s 9 and 14 routes.

Easyway kept its buses on Princess Street, here two of the six Leopards from West Yorkshire PTE (JWU244/7N) repose shortly before they and two others returned to the PTE. 244 is now preserved.

It purchased six Leopard Buses from West Yorkshire PTE (JWU244-249N) and two Bristol RE coaches (NCN815L from Northern General and XBW74N from Hampshire Bus) for these routes.. There were regularly press reports of poor behaviour from the company and by the end of 1986 it had been banned from operating the 9 and 14. Four of the Leopards returned from where they came leaving JWU248/9N and the two REs to cover the 53 route. There was a running battle with the traffic commissioner and Easyway ran for a period on a “free” basis with passengers able to make donations! Easyway expanded with a new route 54 (Town Centre to Lindale Gardens via Lytham Rd and Harrowside in summer 1988 and briefly ran this as a circular from Layton to Lindale Gardens via Lytham Road and Marton before giving up at the end of the year. For this two ex Great Yarmouth AEC Swifts joined the fleet. Operating and maintenance problems persisted and the final straw came in November 1989 when the traffic commissioner withdrew Easway’s license and operations ended.

Seeing an opportunity and no doubt being aware of the business generated by the 53, Blackpool Transport took over the service immediately. Within six months new Optare Deltas were provided. In April 1990 a review of the route was undertaken. To reduce competition with its own services, it was re-routed via St. Annes Road and Marton Drive between Waterloo Hotel and Spen Corner and from Hypermarket to Hospital via Mereside Estate, Great Marton, Stanley Park and Newton Drive. The Sunday service was withdrawn with Lancashire County Council procuring a replacement provided by Fylde – oddly this used Highfield Road instead of serving Royal Oak. In June the Marton Drive and Stanley Park diversions were discontinued by BTS, though it still served Mereside and the new Tesco store there.

In the meantime a new operator, set up by a relative of Easyway’s owner, began trading. Town Bus purchased three former Easyway vehicles, including JWU248/9N, and introduced a competing service in August 1990. The original route was followed with buses leaving five minutes earlier than Blackpool’s journeys using number 53A. After three weeks the timetable was, sensibly, revised with Town Bus operating on the opposite half hour. This presumably was not worthwhile as two months later they returned to running 5 minutes ahead!

Blackpool decided to withdraw from the battle in June 1991, though it continued to operate between Poulton and Grange Park by way of an extension to service 6. There was a somewhat odd position where Fylde continued to run the Sunday 53 to a version of Blackpool’s route, but Town Bus ran the original route as a 53A. Town Bus continued unchanged until 1994 when it decided to re-route its buses along Whitegate Drive and Newton Drive instead of via East Park Drive over the 2 and 26 routes. This prompted Blackpool to use a spare minibus five minutes in front of Town Bus from Airport to Victoria Hospital. Town Bus then reverted to its original route and Blackpool ceased its 53 in July. Meanwhile Lancashire County Council withdrew support for the Sunday service and it ceased in April 1994. For a while an early weekday morning journey ran from Airport to Poulton Industrial Estate via the former Blackpool route, operated at times by Carriages and Archway Travel.

Town Bus replaced its Leopards (having bought a third similar bus from West Yorkshire as LUG515P) with a Dodge minibus and a Leyland Cub single decker (C813KBT). It expanded into schools services in 1994 and in September 1995 won a contract to take over Blackpool Transport service 15. Having already cut the Saturday service to every 2 hours, Town Bus withdrew the 53A in September 1995. Fylde, now a Blackpool subsidiary, won a short term contract for its replacement.
Meanwhile a new local independent was being set up. Phoenix North West commenced some contract services and arranged to operate a revised 53/53A on a franchise with Blackpool Transport. From 13 January 1996 a new half hourly service re-routed to penetrate further housing developments en route commenced using minibuses. For a while it was extended to St. Annes but in 2000 was split. The 53 continued to run from Squires Gate to Poulton, but on the alternate half hour service 10 was provided operating from Squires Gate to Cleveleys (Pheasant Wood) on a common route to Victoria Hospital. Meanwhile Town Bus ran the 15 for six months – Fylde providing a commercial replacement for the summer, which was then integrated into the 23 service. Like its predecessor Town Bus was closed down by the traffic commissioner. It seems the 53 may have been a curse. Easyway, Town Bus, Carriages and even Fylde were now defunct and the suddenly in March 2001 Phoenix North West ceased trading. After a day without service, Blackpool Transport provided an emergency contract. This lasted until November when a permanent arrangement was made, including revisions to other services. The 53 was replaced by service 9 which ran from Poulton to Royal Oak then onto Mereside – jointly funded by Blackpool Borough and Lancashire County Councils. Sadly the two councils went their separate ways after six months and the service ceased. Parts were incorporated into a new service 2A but the 53 had finally died. Its spirit lives on, however, as the Lifestyle Line L1 (now 16) was started in July 2002 providing an orbital service centred on Victoria Hospital and links several points once served by the 53 – but via a very different route.

Buses run on normal routes

With 2009 as the year of the diversion, an element of normality returned this morning when buses began operating through the newly titled St John's precinct. Lines 2, 3, 4 and 6 returned to their established route via Abingdon Street and the Winter Gardens through the new 'shared space' zone. Line 15 previously also served this area, but from the September changes it was re-routed to serve Layton and thus approaches the Town Centre via Talbot Road.

Town Centre Diversions and Pontins closure

Lines 2 and 15 (and the 3 and 4) have been on diversion via Talbot Square since February.

Monday 19 October is the scheduled date for the end of the diversions in Blackpool Town Centre with the reopening of Abingdon Street and Church Street. These will see the ending of the diversions in place since February.

According to BTs website Line 2 and 2C will operate into the Town Centre via Church Street and Abingdon St then Talbot Road to North Station and leave via Larkhill Street and Grosvenor Street. It implies this applies regardless of destination with the Poulton/Knott End and South Pier/Wesham workings taking the same route. Lines 3 and 4 will once again serve Tesco and the 4A shuttle will end.

Promenade buses have used Pontins forecourt as a terminus since 1988 but this comes to an end this month with the site closure.

Pontins Holiday Centre closed ealier in October but the forecourt has continued to be used for service buses. This will end on Sunday and on Monday Lines 1 and the City Sightseeing Line 20 will now terminate at Blackpool Airport. The 'Blackpool By Night' City Sightseeing Illumination Tours will continue to depart from Pontins at 1930 each night, but will use the main road stop rather than the centre forecourt.

Atlantean Afterlife

The sole surviving Atlantean with Blackpool Transport is 364 seen here on Line 2 in August 2009

Blackpool's solitary Atlantean has had something of an Indian summer appearing on various Metro routes including Line 2, 6, 7, 10 and 11 - and even the 4A - Wordsworth Avenue to Tesco. Blackpool bought 64 Atlanteans new and inherited 46 from Fylde in 1996. 3 were destroyed by fire in October 1986 (310, 335 and 342) but otherwise routine withdrawals commenced in 1989. The Fylde takeover saw disposals of the East Lancs examples cease in 1994 and not resume until 2002, since when 54 remained with the last (other than 364) withdrawals taking place in 2008.

This article reviews the disposals and the survivors in batch order.

301-310 BFR301-304R, CBV305-10S new July/August 1977
The first to arrive and the first to leave, 301-307 were withdrawn in March/April 1989 after just 11.5 years service. 308/9 followed in March 1990. 301/4-6 were repainted out of expired route branding (or a Hitachi advert livery for 304) whilst stored, 305 being the only one to run again - operating for a few weeks in October 1989. Sale did not take place until May 1990 when 303 left for Toxteth Community Council, 305-309 for Norfolk's of Nayland. 301/2/4 left in June for Liverline, Liverpool. All had several other homes, 301/2/4 with Sheffield Omnibuses, 302 ending up with First Devon and Cornwall in Exeter. 305-309 went to Hedingham Omnibuses, 305 returned north to ABC of Southport and 307-9 finished with Thorne's Bubwith. 301-308 are believed to have now been scrapped - 308 after being over-turned for an episode of "The Royal" - set several years before it was built! 309 has a valid SORN declaration (to July 2010) so is presumably still in store with Thornes. 310 was one of the 1986 fire victims.

311-320 JFV311-320S new July 1978
These were withdrawn in two batches - 311-314 in May 1991 (at nearly 13 years old) and 315-320 between July and October 1993 (at around 15 years). 311-314 left in August 1991 to North Devon (311/2) or Blue Bus of Horwich (313/4). 315-320 hung on in 'reserve' until February 1994 when they were sold. 315/6 heading to Eastbourne Buses while 317-320 (and newer 321) forming the initial fleet of new operator North Birmingham Busways. 311/2 survived (with 302) until 2001 by which time First had absorbed North Devon. 312 then became a store at their Plymouth depot for local preservationists until it was scrapped in 2008. The Blue Bus pair went in different directions, 313 ending up in Scotland (where it was deroofed and scrapped) while 314 was exported to Saudi Arabia. 315 passed to Philip's Penrhiwceiber then Shamrock, Pontypridd before being scrapped in 2000 while 316 was broken up by Eastbourne. The North Birmingham Busways ones went for scrap, save for 320 which ran for Sutton Trailways (who used 318 for spares) before it too reached the breakers yard. Unless 314 survives, this batch is now extinct.

321 to 330 URN321-330V new September 1979.
This batch had a protracted disposal. 321 was retired in October 1993 and sold to North Birmingham in February 1994. It returned for the 2004 open day but has since been scrapped. 322-330 all went to Fylde after it was taken over in 1994 but later rejoined the fold when the subsidiary was absorbed. 322/3 became driver trainers in 1999, lasting until 2007. 323 was sold for scrap, 322 was sold - possibly for preservation. 324-330 survived until May 2002 (June for 328) accruing over 22 years in service. 325-7, 329/30 went to Liddel's of Auchinleck in Scotland, 324 to Red Kite, St Helens and 328 to GM, Bridgend. 324 ended up with KJB, Lincoln and after a period of SORN has been unlicensed since March 2009. 328 was sold for scrap in 2007. Of the Liddels examples 327/9 moved onto Howell's of Deri in 2007 who disposed of them in April 2009 - 329 certainly being scrapped. 325/6 remain on SORN, whilst 330 has been unlicensed since 2003, though was still at Liddels some time afterwards. Current status of these is unknown.

331-340 AHG331-40V new June/July 1980
Other than fire victim 335, these survived until May 2002 (331/2), Feb 2003 (333/6) or May 2003 (334, 337-340). 331 was bought by LTT and 334 by Graham Oliver who later passed it onto LTT, allowing 331 to be sold on. This moved to Fargo, Braintree rejoining 339/40 (and 343-5). Fargo gradually withdrew its Atlanteans from 2006 and 331/9/40 have all been scrapped. 332 joined 325-7/9/30 at Liddels and remains on SORN but was seen heavily stripped and partially dismantled on a lorry in June 2009 presumably heading for scrap. 333 was one of a handful sold directly for scrap by BTS, 336 went to Ayrways, Ayr (scrapped 2006) and 337 was privately preserved but broken up in 2008. 338 went to GM, Bridgend with 328 and has also been scrapped. 334 is thus now the sole survivor of this batch.

341-350 GHG341-50W new May/June 1981
2003 saw the withdrawal of 341, 343-349 in May (341) or July (the rest) with 350 surviving until November 2005. 342 was the third fire victim of October 1986. 341 joined 328/31 with GM, Bridgend and has been scrapped. 343-345 went to Fargo Coaches, 343/5 being the only two of their six to be repainted in red/yellow and they passed to Stephenson's of Essex with the Fargo business. 343 was purchased for preservation by Steven Hughes in 2009. 346-349 went to Ayrways joining 336 and all have since been scrapped. 350 was acquired by Blackpool Borough Council and converted to a mess bus for the Streetscene tramway PW gang. It remains in use.

Restored 353 on display in Birkenhead for the Wirral Bus and Tram Show 4 Oct 2009

351-354 UHG351-4Y new August 1982.
This small batch was withdrawn in stages. First to go was 351 in November 2005 and was used for spares by preservationists before being scrapped in 2007. 352 was withdrawn in June 2006 but stayed in store until April 2009 when it finally went for scrap. 354 came off in June 2006 and left in November for Scotbus of Inverness. 353 meanwhile survived its initial withdrawal of June 2006 by returning to use in January 2007 and lasting until a last day on Line 1 on 29 July 2008. In September it was collected by Chesterfield 123 Group who quickly restored it to the post 1994 livery.

362 at Blackpool Zoo on the Farewell to the Atlantean event in October 2006

355-362 A355-362HHG new August 1983.
The final bus seated batch remained intact until June 2006 when all eight were taken out of use. 355/9 were quickly sold for scrap and 356 became a playbus. 358, 360-362 were then reinstated especially for the (premature) last Atlantean event with 361/2 running on Line 20 (with 364) on Saturday 28 October and on Sunday 358/60/2 ran on the 20 and 361 on Line 6 (with 363/4). 362 was then sold to LTT for preservation, while 357 and 361 went to Scotbus, Inverness in November. 360 returned to service in January but lasted just one month, as 358 then replaced it. 360 survived in store until it was scrapped in April 2009 and 358 ran until July 2008 before passing to LTT for spares in April 2009.

363/4 B363/4UBV new Sept 1984
The final pair had coach seats to a lower capacity but in their last years were used interchangeably with the bus examples. 363 was withdrawn in July 2008 and scrapped in July 2009 whilst 364 has survived as something of a company pet, regularly rallied by the Blackpool Transport Omnibus Group. Hopefully it may be restored for 2010.

16 are believed to survive - though 332 is doubtful and they can be summarised as:
Preserved: 322, 334, 343, 353, 362 (5)
On SORN: 309, 325, 326, 332, 358 (5)
Scotbus, Inverness: 354, 357, 361 (3)
Blackpool Council: 350 (1)
Playbus: 356 (1)
Blackpool Transport: 364. (1)
Directly for scrap by BTS 310, 323, 333, 335, 342, 352, 355, 359, 360, 363 (10)

Every Little Helps

Olympian 415 (A719YFS) leaves Staining for Tesco on the new free bus service on 7 October

Last month's changes to Line 15 saw the end of the link from Staining to Tesco - though in practise it had ceased in February due to the long term temporary arrangements arising from the redevelopment outside the Winter Gardens. The 15 terminated at Marton Mere where passengers could wait for the 4A shuttle to Tesco.

Last Wednesday (30 Sept) saw the start of service T1 - a Tesco free bus operated by Blackpool Transport from Poulton via Highcross Road, Normoss Road, Staining Road, Chain Lane, Mythop Road, Preston New Road to Tesco at Mereside. It operates on a trail basis until the end of December on Wednesdays and Fridays with two journeys each way departing from Poulton at 0930 and 1230 and from Tesco at 1100 and 1330. Journey time is 23 minutes each way.

The Metrorider Story (so far)

The ‘minibus revolution’ of the mid 1980s was predicated on replacing big buses with cheaper, smaller, more frequent minibuses. NBC led the process, experimenting with Ford Transit van conversions. Unit costs were much lower – partly because drivers did not require a full psv license at the time (they do now, however) yet some questioned the validity of the economics given that the Transit had a short service life and it took several to replace one big bus. Manufacturers and operators started to stretch the concept and the van conversion era soon moved to the coachbuild era. Northern Counties, in particular, started coach building bodies on Dodge S56 chassis cowls. Optare broke the mould with its stylish City Pacer – on a van chassis but without the cowl. MCW then launched the Metrorider with similar appearance to the City Pacer but as an integral rather than as a van descendant. MCW closed down in 1989 and Optare bought the rights to the Metrorider, redesigning it and re-launching it.
Blackpool chose the City Pacer for its minibus fleet and moved onto Optare’s Delta to replace its single deckers. When the City Pacer replacements became due, Optare – not surprisingly – wanted the business. It had already provided a demonstrator back in May 1991 (H844UUA) but in March 1995 a seed vehicle arrived in full Handybus black and yellow livery as 584 (M924TYG) – built for stock by Optare. It spent six weeks on service 26 from Rigby Road and a month at Squires Gate on Fylde’s 44B before returning to Rigby Road. It was duly taken onto the permanent fleet strength and eight more were ordered. These arrived as 585-592 (N585-92GRN) in October and November 1995. All nine were normally to be found on the 2/2A/2B (Poulton to Bispham) though did appear on other minibus routes on Sundays. A long wheelbase 29 seat example arrived for demonstration in January 1996 as P507NWU, but the next batch of eight was ordered as 25 seaters again. The first four were 593-6 (N593-6LFV) and arrived in May, with the second four coming in September as 501-504 (P501-504UFR). With 17 now in stock allowing the full 2 route to be covered by Metroriders, 584-587 moved to Squires Gate Depot to work the 33 (Cleveleys-Mereside) inherited from Fylde. Various sisters – including 588/9 – briefly ran from Squires Gate with 589/91 moving there in April 1998 to convert route 193 to minibus operation. The depot closed in April 1999 by which time several Metoriders had spells there.
589, meanwhile, was an unusual (and so far unique) example of a minibus that received an all-over advert. It promoted Harvey’s American diner from October 1997 to September 1998 when it emerged in a reversed livery of yellow with black skirt rather than the established black with yellow skirt.

By 1998 the City Pacer fleet was down to 18 and a batch of 14 further Metroriders was expected to see these off. However as they arrived between October and December 1998 an elaborate cascade plan was put into place. The new buses would convert the 12A and 26 back from Delta operation to minibuses (undoing a change made in August 1996), the Deltas eventually moved onto the 11, 11A and 12, releasing Atlanteans for school work, in turn releasing several very old Atlanteans for disposal.

The new buses were 505-518 (S505-518LHG) and arrived in the mainly yellow livery pioneered on 589. 505-515 entered service on 7 December (505/6/9/11/13/14 on the 26, 507/8/10/12/15 on the 12A) with the last three following over the next couple of weeks as they arrived. From January 2000 a total of 24 buses were now required in service covering routes 2/2A/2B (9), 12A (5), 26 (7), 77 (1) and 193 (2) with new Solos replacing the City Pacers and operating on the 23, 24, 25 and 33.

In August 2000 BTS withdrew services 77 and 193 which used three minibuses and place its first Metroriders into store, with 586 and 587 being delicensed. During the summer routine repaints into the new livery commenced with 584, 588, 590, 594 and 595 treated. 2001 started with the reinstatement of 586 and 587 but the withdrawal of 585. This returned to use in early April following the sudden demise of Phoenix North West. At the start of the month BTS had resumed the 77 (St. Annes Roamer) and soon after Phoenix ceased trading with BT taking on the emergency contracts for routes 7 (Kirkham Roamer) 10 (Pheasants Wood-Halfway House), 53 (Poulton- Halfway House) and 180/2 (Poulton to Preston) which needed seven minibuses. This resulted in some big bus workings on minibus services however the introduction of the new Metro network from the end of April was intended to reduce the minibus requirement. The new services included a revised Line 2 (Poulton to Blackpool with 7 buses), route 26 (South Pier to Mereside with 7 buses) and routes 8/8A/9 (South Shore to Marton with 2 buses) This 16, plus the 8 required for tendered services occupied the 31 buses nicely. Another surprising addition was tendered service 88 (Fleetwood-Knott End-Lancaster) in July 2001 using 2 more buses. Sundays also saw Metroriders operate tendered service 167 (St. Annes to Preston) between May 2001 and October 2005 and the 158 (Knott End to Preston) from October 2003 to October 2005

In July 2001 the process of dedicating buses to services progressed with 505-10 allocated to Line 2, 511-516 to Line 26 and – surprisingly – 517 to Line 3. The six buses on the 26 were all quickly repainted into its green/yellow livery during September and October and then attention turned to painting spares into the generic yellow, mustard and grey livery. 590-5 and 501/2 had all been treated by February. The 8/8A/9, 10 and 53 were revised into a new 8-10 group in November 2001 but then completely withdrawn in April 2002 along with the 180/2 and the Lancaster service followed in July. This allowed 584-588 to be withdrawn, though 584 was soon reinstated.

Also in April 2002 the 2 and 26 were merged, this also incorporating parts of the 8-10 group with 14 buses required. Line 26 Green was adopted - nothing ever received the intended black/yellow Line 2 livery, though it was later adopted for the pool fleet. Repaints into green restarted with 504-510 all treated between May and August 2002 making 13 buses for 14 duties. 585-8 were briefly reinstated in September but were back in store in November with 584.
Two more buses were required for an extension of Line 2 to Lytham in January 2003 and in February 517 and 518 were repainted in the line livery with 503 following in November for another extension to Thornton. September 2003 saw a further reinstatement of 584-587 surprisingly for use on Promenade service 1 to release double deckers for an emergency school contract. 584-6 had a brief period of storage in November but returned to use from December to April 2004. In May they were joined by 587-9 following the arrival of three new Solos for Line 3 and 590 joined them between July and August.

Autumn 2004 saw the return of the stored buses. First up was 588 which still retained the mainly yellow version of Handybus livery. This was followed by 584-587 which all went through the paint shop to receive pink and yellow livery for new Line 15 (Staining to Poulton) which started on November 22. Other repaints included 596 – from the original black and yellow Handybus livery into the new Black and yellow Pool fleet livery. Sometimes the more things change, the more they stay the same. December saw 501/2 lose the old pool livery in favour of Line 2 to make up a full route allocation of 17 buses (501-510 and 512-518) as 511 had suffered major accident damage and was out of use from October 2004 to August 2006. More pool repaints during included 588 and 592 in February 591/4 in November and 589 in December. 595 gained Line 2 colours in November reflecting an increased requirement due to the extension of certain journeys to Knott End. 593 was repainted blue and yellow in December for new one bus Line 10 (Town Centre to Midgeland Road). 590 was the last to lose the original pool livery in favour of the new one in January 2006. This meant that 501-18 carried Line 2 green, 584-7 Line 15 pink, 588-592, 594-596 pool black and 593 Line 10 blue.



The Optare Solo fleet had grown progressively with the first 15 replacing City Pacers in 2000, followed by examples for the new Lifestyle Line in 2002/3 and for Lines 3 and 5 in 2004. The next new batch arrived in 2007 for the Lifestyle Line and cascaded older Solos into the pool fleet and for Line 2. This triggered a cascade. First of all 518 moved onto Line 10 receiving a new grey and yellow livery and 593 was repainted into pool colours causing 591 to be withdrawn. 584-587 were withdrawn between May and September as 514-517 were painted into pink for Line 15. 584/5 and 595 went on loan to Arriva in Darlington between June and August 2007, reprising a similar visit by 589/90/6 two years earlier. 588, 589 and 590 were also withdrawn during 2007 once the various Solo repaints had progressed.

Some of these buses continued their charmed life. 590 was reinstated again in January to service a one bus requirement for a shuttle on Line 15 while Mythop Road was closed. 584 also returned to use in January, partially repainted into pool livery but a failure in February saw it withdrawn again. More new Solos arrived in May and caused further cascades of older Solos. 590, 592 and 594, 595 and 596 were withdrawn in May – 593 escaping by virtue of its tachograph. This left 501-513 on Line 2, 514-7 on Line 15, 518 on Line 10 and 593 in the pool fleet. 590 escaped once more, returning to use in late June and surviving until it failed in November 2008. 516also suffered a failure in summer 2008 and kept slipping further behind in the queue of vehicles to repair. So much so it was officially withdrawn at the end of the year and replaced by 513 which gained Line 15 livery.

The 2009 Solo order was intended as a direct replacement for Line 2 Metoriders. The new buses entered service in May and 501, 502, 504, 505 and 507 were withdrawn. 503 and 506 continued in service and were replaced on the doomed list by 508 and 514 which suffered failures during July. September 7 saw service changes which took out 503, 509, 510 and 593, while 506 was retired at the end of the month. 511/2 remain on Line 2 currently but are on borrowed time. Other than these just 513/5/7 (Line 15) and 518 (Line 10) now remain in use.

Disposals
Considering the first Metrorider was stored back in 2000, it was not until 2007 that the first permanent withdrawal took place and April 2008 for the first disposal. 586 – withdrawn in May 2007 – was stripped for spares at Rigby Road in spring 2008 and taken for scrap. 584 – finally withdrawn in February 2008 was similarly stripped in April 2008 but the shell hung around until final scrapping in March 2009.

Two preservation sales took place with 589 passing to Alan Hayward in summer 2008 and 590 to LTT in February 2009. Other than that everything remained undisturbed until summer 2009 with most withdrawn examples stored at Jackson’s Coaches. 594 was the next to leave in July 2009 having been used for spares. The process then accelerated with the sale of several examples to Wigley’s Carlton who collected them in pairs. 24 July saw 516 and 596 leave; the following week saw 501/4 go then on 7 August 508 and 591 left, with 514 and 592 a week later and 587/8 on August 28. 591 had been the first withdrawal back in April 2007 and survived over 27 months in store. Its travel companion – 508 was withdrawn and disposed of with almost indecent haste by comparison.
September saw three further sales with 502, 509 and 510 passing into private ownership. 502 and 510 have stayed local, the latter is preserved, the former intended for caravan conversion. 509 is believed to have been preserved in the North East. 585 and 595 have come back to the depot for component recovery ready for scrapping leaving just 503 and 593 of the 1995/6 purchases still in stock.

So with the fleet decimated and just seven left in use, the Metrorider is entering its 11th hour with Blackpool Transport. With further service cuts planned in January their farewell may be just round the corner.

124 fire

Reports have been received that Delta 124 suffered an electrical fire at Rigby Road at 0030 on Saturday morning. Depending on the damage this may be the third Delta lost to fire - 120 was the first in June 2002 and 131 in March 2004.

Latest

The first of the cascaded Solos has now entered service on Line 2. 286 made its debut on Wednesday and 287 has now been outshopped and should enter service soon. Both buses have been transfered from Line 16. They have replaced 279 and 281 which are now receiving pool livery in the paint shop.

Metroriders 511 and 512 were both noted on Line 2 on Tuesday, though presumably not for much longer as repaints progress. The last of the long term stored examples (585 and 595) have now returned to Rigby Road for component recovery and eventual scrapping. This would leave the following Metroriders:

Service: 506, 511, 512, 513, 515, 517, 518 (7)
Store: 502, 503, 505, 507, 593 (5)

Seddon RU

Most enthusiasts can trace their bus preferences back to early childhood influences and this is probably the only rationale explanation for my interest in Seddon RUs. Loved by Darlington and hated by just about every other operator, 274 of these were built, mostly with in house bodywork by Seddon's Pennine Coachcraft subsidiary. Crosville had 100 foist on it, LUT bought 50 (with Plaxton body) and most of the rest when to Northern municipals. The RU was a clone of the relatively successful Bristol RE but with a few particular failings. Most notable was the length of the prop shaft which was too short and led to failures, second was the brakes which were poorly balanced. Most went back to the manufacturers for rectification and by the time Lytham St. Annes bought its six most problems had been solved. However production soon came to an end with just five more for Hyndburn, eight for Darlington, two for Morecambe, one for Graham of Paisley and two for West Yorkshire PTE built. Darlington's lasted a full service life - most others were withdrawn prematurely after their seven year certificate of fitness expired. However this was not that uncommon amongst single deckers of that era as operators moved to double deckers.

Lytham six (45-50 STJ845-850L) were bought to convert routes 1 (Lytham to St. Annes via Ansdell) and 3 (Lytham to Spring Gardens via Fairhaven and St. Annes) to OMO operation in 1972. They also ran on existing OMO routes 2 (St. Annes to Smithy Lane) and 4 (St. Annes to Lytham Green Drive) and later on the trunk 11/11A (Blackpool to Lytham) routes too. At seven years old they required an overhaul and 46 was the first treated, in early 1979. 49 missed out due to serious accident damage sustained in 1978. 46 received single door conversion from B47D to B51F arrangement. 45, 47, 48 and 50 followed suit with the last not completed until early 1981. These four received a stylish variation of blue white and yellow livery adopted once Lytham St. Annes Corporation had grown into Fylde Borough Council in 1974.

The Seddons saw quite sparse use - Fylde had far too many vehicles for the work required, having built up a coach fleet using bus grant. This required the vehicles to spend six months of the year on bus work so in the winter Leopard coaches stood in for single deck buses and the Panthers, Seddons and REs didn't get much of a look in! That said it was something of a shock to hear that the Panthers and Seddons were to be withdrawn in spring 1982 to cut costs and reduce the losses being sustained. The five Seddon survivors came off in June and were parked up in the yard. Unlike most other Seddons an eager buyer was found for four - 45-47 and 50 headed south to Clydach near Swansea. 48 went to Crosville for spares, 49 was scrapped.

East End Garage of Clydach had acquired several of Burnley's Seddons and snapped up the four Fylde ones plus the operator's stock of spares. In 1991 it bought six of Darlington's eight, replacing several of the Burnley ones. In August 1997 I decided to visit on the off chance two of the Fylde ones were still there (45 and 46 have been disposed of earlier). I was not disappointed as 47 and 50 shared a line up with Darlington 62, 63 and 68 (plus spares donors 66 and 67). The last Burnley example RHG314K was tucked away withdrawn.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14545924@N03/3234206693/in/set-72157612068550527/

The general manager granted me permission to look round and opened up 47 for me - 15 or more years since I last set foot on one of these. He kindly agreed to keep it to one side when withdrawal came. Two years later a depot fire destroyed Darlington 63, 66 and 67 and badly damaged Fylde 50 - but 47 and the other two Darlingtons survived. By the end of 2000 47 was the only one in use and its MOT expired in January 2001 bringing over 28 years service (albeit quite easy service with 10 years at Fylde and 18 on school runs in South Wales!). True to his word, 47 was kept intact by the manager and was duly bought for preservation.

After a period stored in the West Midlands, 47 returned to the Fylde in 2003 and is now stored undercover at LTT's overspill storage depot. Restoration should be relatively straightforward and hopefully can start once the Trust's commitments for the Blackpool Tram anniversary in 2010 are met.

Citaro Demonstrator Arrives

A Mercedes Benz Citaro demonstrator BN09FWS is currently on hire and in use on Line 11. On Saturday 19th it covered:

Manchester Square-Cleveleys 0623

Cleveleys-St. Annes 0717, 1247

St. Annes-Cleveleys 0828, 1358

Cleveleys-Lytham 0940, 1510

Lytham-Cleveleys 1116, 1646

This is the latest in a series of single deckers evaluated in recent years:

Alexander Dennis Envrio 300 SN54HXG December 2005

Optare Tempo YJ55BJX June 2006

Optare Tempo YJ06FZK June/July 2006

Citaro BX05UVX November 2006

MAN/MCW Evolution AE06OPG November 2006

Scania/East Lancs Esteem YN06TGE December 2006

Dennis Enviro Dart 2000 SN56AYB February 2007

Volvo B7/Wright BX07AXJ August 2007

Repaints

The recent service changes have triggered a round of reallcoations and repaints amongst the Solo fleet. Firstly the routine repaint of 269 in Line 4 livery has been completed and the bus is now in service.

Three more Solos have moved onto Line 2 with 286 now complete and 287 underway - both ex Line 16 livery. 294 is to follow ex Line 3 colours. These will cascade smaller Solos to pool fleet and 279 is already in paint with 281 to 283 to follow.

This will leave the Solo fleet as:
Line 2: 240-247, 249, 284-287, 294 (14)
Line 3: 258-260, 295-297 (6)
Line 4: 265-269, 271, 272 (7)
Line 5: 248, 250-257 (9)
Line 16: 288-293 (6)
Pool: 261-264, 273-283 (15)
Total = 57.
Meanwhile Metroriders 509 and 510 are understood to have been sold, the latter at least for preservation.