October Visitors' Gallery
October 1st (above)
Sent in by one of our visitors under the name of "Innocent Bystander", this splendid photograph features our very own Leyland Royal Tiger Doyen E50TYG in the company of two sisters, CAZ2747 (E53TYG) and E317OMG, the last Doyen ever registered.
(Photograph taken in September 2020)
October 2nd (above)
This one was sent in by Mark Byard and was taken during a break at the Redbeck in Crofton on 1st August. The buses were on a tour of West Riding's former operating area to celebrate Yorkshire Day and visited Wakefield, Castleford and Pontefract.
October 3rd (above)
Not to be outdone by a visit to the Redbeck by the Arab and the PD2, Leyland Tiger PS2 EHL733, Ethel, got in on the act with a visit of her own. Photograph by Andy Hartley.
October 4th
Sent in by our friends at JB Travel of Leeds, this MAN tri-axle coach was pictured at Watford Gap services whilst working on the M12 Megabus service. This coach has been a regular attender at the Honk for Hope rallies up and down the country.
October 5th
Taken by Steve Tolley, this MAN tri-axle belongs to Tolley Travel, a new operator in Barnsley.
6th October
Although this photograph, sent in by Tim Brown of Worcester, was not taken this year, it is included because it is great picture of a unique survivor. BMMO-built experimental prototype underfloor double deck D10 (943KHA) is seen in the sunshine at BaMMoT at Wythall in 2015.
7th October
Seen having a rest outside the East Yorkshire Motor Services depot in Pocklington is this rare Albion Aberdonian VKH674. Photograph by Mark Byard
8th October
Whenever is see the word Yutong. my mind comes up with an image of the Goon Show with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe. Anyway, the picture, sent in by Adam Tolley of Barnsley, shows four coaches of Yorkshire Rose Holidays in Beverley. On the left is YB17ECA, a Yutong TC9. Next to it are three Van Hools, the first of which is D45YRC, a TX16 Astron; in the middle is T9YRC, another TX16 and to the right is D1YRC, a TX16 Acron.
9th August
The restoration of former Bristol Omnibus FLF EHT108C nears completion. Photographed on 12th Sept by by Nigel Blair
10th October
Seen in a very familiar location on 9th October is BV19XPJ, a Volvo B11RT with a Caetano Levante 3 body belonging to the Yorkshire Traction Company. It is 54406 in the Stagecoach fleet list and was delivered to Chesterfield (Stonegravels) depot with six identical machines (54404 - 54410) in May 2019. A further two were delivered in August the same year, 54411 and 54412. They can be most commonly found on the M1 motorway on service 560 (Barnsley - London), service 561 (Bradford - London) or service 564 (Halifax - London). Following the acquisition of The Kings Ferry of Gillingham by National Express, Kent to London services, which had been operated by The East Kent Road Car Company since the invention of the wheel, were transferred to their new subsidiary leaving Yorkshire Traction as the sole Stagecoach company still contracted to provide National Express services.
11th October
Seen during a test run during the summer is Leyland Olympian A577NWX. This was the last Olympian to be in active service with the West Riding Automobile Company of Wakefield. It was withdrawn at Selby depot on 7th September 2007 and passed straight into preservation and is now part of the Dewsbury Bus Museum collection. Although it was delivered on 6th July 1984 in the WYPTE (Metro) verona green and buttermilk livery it has been restored in the Caldaire "slant" livery adopted by the company after the privatisation of the National Bus Company. The red wheels were peculiar to Savile Street vehicles.
12th October
This is possibly the scariest bus and coach picture I have ever seen. It was taken at 12.47 on Tuesday 24th March, the day after the Prime Minister instructed to country to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. It looks like people were listening to him.
In normal circumstances, Victoria Coach Station would be packed with coaches and passengers going to all parts of the country and beyond and you would barely be able to see any of the concrete floor slabs. All you can see here are two National Express Levantes and a Megabus Elite-i 74 seat coach which is about to depart for Huddersfield with twelve passengers on board.
The following day, Victoria Coach Station was closed completely.
This picture was sent in by Jamie Osborne.
13th October
First Midland Red Enviro 400 33404, in heritage livery, is seen in Worcester whilst working the X50 service to Evesham. Compare this with the BMMO D10 featured here on 6th October. Another photograph from Tim Brown of Worcester
14th October (right)
Continuing with the theme of emotions, today's photograph by C.D. Brigg is one of the saddest bus picture I have ever seen. It is the frame of ex-Bury Corporation Guy Wulfrunian LEN101. The story of this bus could fill many pages and I only have about ten lines so I would recommend that you put LEN101 into your favourite search engine and read all about it or click HERE.
The chassis had passed to the West Riding Omnibus Museum Trust as a source of spares for Wulfrunians 970 and 995 but after stripping off what was needed, nobody within WROPS had the heart to cut her up so she spent 25 years or so outdoors waiting.
Eventually, after repeated attempts to find a home for her and because, by then, space was at a premium, she was finally cut up on site in the spring of 2020. RIP Len.
15th October
Whilst Megabus inter-city services are very reduced, Stagecoach have been using Megabus coaches and staff to run duplicates to service buses in Manchester, carrying only school children. These are parked at the Hazel Grove Park & Ride between school runs. Picture by Lee Lawson
16th October (left)
It may be strange but today's offering is a bus photograph with no buses! Vicar Lane bus station opened in 1937 in traditional Tilling style and was home to the services of the West Yorkshire Road Car Company in Leeds and also vehicles of joint operation companies like East Yorkshire Motor Services (to Hull and Bridlington) and United Automobile Services (to Scarborough, Ripon and Whitby) until it closed in March 1990, when services were transferred to the Leeds Central Bus Station. The word "central" in this context is a bit of a stretch really as it is very much on the outskirts of the city centre. For over 30 years, the bus station apron has been used as a car park whilst the building, which used to incorporate a booking/enquiry office, a staff canteen, various traffic offices and WCs, is now a pub/cafe/canteen/restaurant called, appropriately, The Old Red Bus Station.
Photograph by "West Riding"
This is the end of the October Visitors Gallery. We would like to thank all of the contributors for sending in their work to make this feature a success. We do hope that you enjoyed it.
The pictures in the October Photography Feature are also in an album on our Flickr site at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/albums/72157716643008381
Please do not re-post them on facebook, Flickr etc but do feel free to post links to them.
The Visitors Gallery Feature will be back in December but the theme will be "The Festive Season" so do dig out your pictures of Santa driving a bus or a driver digging a bus out of a snowdrift etc. There is no time limit on when photographs were taken so send in your entries now.
17th October
Following a very thorough restoration, Coventry Corporation Daimler CVA6 GKV94, with Metro Cammel highbridge bodywork, takes a cautious peep at the weather outside as AEC Regal III LPT328 watches on. Photograph by Ken Jones of Birmingham
18th October
Andy's Man Club is an organisation that provides men with support during difficult times in their lives. Do please have a look at their website andysmanclub.co.uk The coach is a left hand drive Van Hool TX27 Astromega which belongs to MM Band Services of Kingston-Upon-Hull. They specialise in providing coaches for bands on tour. I wonder if this coach would have survived a Who tour in the 1960s. Does anybody know where this picture was taken?
Photograph: Andrew Beever
19th October
A new addition to our collection is this 11m Leyland Tiger 245 with Plaxton Paramount MkII DP bodywork. It was new in 1986 to West Riding Automobile Company as part of a batch of ten. They arrived in National Express "venetian blind" livery and were intended to work as DPs during the week and on National Express duplicates and coastal expresses at weekends. The privatisation of the National Bus Company put a stop to that. Photograph by "Seaside Snapper"
20th October
DSG 169 is a preserved Leyland TD5 dating from 1942 and now in the ownership of Quantock Heritage. It has recently been repainted from its SMT blue livery into 2 tone green SMT Edinburgh livery to match the interior. It was in Warwickshire recently for some pictures before joining the Shropshire & Staffordshire road run on the 18th. It expected to be at Wythall on October 25th before returning to Somerset. Photograph by Ken Jones
21st October (left)
New to Glenton Tours of South London in 1968, this AEC Reliance 6MU3R with Plaxton Panorama II coach bodywork passed to a Potteries-based operator’s “fantasy fleet”. They painted it in the livery of Berresfords of Cheddleton, in whose livery it remains. Photograph by Stephen Waggitt
22nd October (above)
This fine pair of AEC Reliances with Plaxton Supreme bodies are in the livery of Anderson Travel of Horsforth. EPM150V was delivered to London Country Bus Services with "grant" doors in December 1979 for use on Green Line services. It was the last Reliance to come off the Southall production line. Its friend is YEW380T which was new to Duncan's of Sawtry with an "express" door in July 1979.
Photograph by James Simpson of Tadcaster
26th October (above)
The MkII Leyland Lynx was fitted with an intercooler ahead of the front-mounted radiator which necessitated a revision to the styling of the front panel. The slab front gave way to what was once described as a "Trojan"-front, bearing some resemblance to a Brooke Bond tea delivery van of the 1950s. Having learned the painful lesson of engine options with the National, Leyland offered a Gardner power plant as well as its own TL11 from the start. Following the takeover by Volvo, the Leyland engine option was replaced by a Cummins L10 and eventually a turbo intercooled Volvo THD series engine was offered. Photograph by Mark Byard
27th October (above)
KAD 359V is a former National Travel South West Leyland Leopard with Plaxton Supreme IV body. It has some strong south west connections, and is marked up to represent a Black and White coach of the 1980's wearing National Express livery. Black and White being part of the Associated Motorways network of coach services which ran across the UK. The coach is to have some cosmetic exterior restoration to body and paintwork during winter and is part of the Roger Burdett collection.
Picture by Ken Jones taken in Warwickshire in March this year
28th October
Photographed in his home city by Tim Brown of Worcester is UK09DRM, a tri-axle Scania Omni-city. It is a former demonstrator and was acquired by DRM Bus of Bromyard as YR09GXP when it was only four months old, during which time it was mostly with Go North East in Newcastle.
A tri-axle bus is an unusual choice of vehicle for a company whose service area is largely rural but in these Covid-19 times, probably allows more socially distanced passengers to be carried than a more conventional vehicle.
29th October
In September, Stagecoach Yorkshire hired in seven Volvo B7TLs with Wright Gemini Eclipse bodywork from Ensign of Purfleet to run Supertram replacement services in Sheffield during permanent way works. They were fitted with semi-permanent vinyl destinations. They had been new to Lothian and then East Coast Buses prior to disposal. This bus was subsequently hired by Stagecoach Midlands where is was used on services around Northampton. Photograph by John Young of Stockport
30th October
Seen in Rutland Square in Bakewell is Hulleys of Baslow's well-travelled Volvo B7TL Wright Eclipse Gemini at the start of its journey to Chesterfield. BX55XNT was new to National Express subsidiary Travel London in February 2006 (hence the Birmingham registration) who had taken over the operations of Connex in 2004. In 2009, NatEx sold the operation to NedRailways which subsequently became Abellio London. On withdrawal, it passed to People's Bus of Liverpool. Photograph by John Young
31st October
The last photograph of this feature is of the only surviving West Riding thououghbred Guy Wulfrunian WHL970. This side-on view clearly shows some of the unusual features of the marque. Through the asymetrical bi-folding front doors, you can just see the cover of the Gardner 6LX engine that is mounted forward of the front wheels. Above the doors can be seen one of the Cave-Brown-Cave grilles, behind which are the engine cooling/saloon heating radiators. Just behind the doors is the triangular window which follows the line of the nearside-mounted staircase. Then there are the wheels; the front ones are fitted with 11.00 x 20 tyres whilst the rear ones are 9.00 x 20. Covid-19 notwithstanding, this bus will be returning to the road in 2021 after a very long and very extensive restoration. Photograph: Seaside Snapper