Quarter Three Snippets
​Stories, pictures and opinions from the last three months that don't merit a full article of their own...

27 September 2025
ABOVE: A variety of fascinating vehicles turned up for the London Bus Museum's Running Day over part of London Route 54 (Elmers End Green to Blackheath section) on Saturday 13 August. Amongst them was this Park Royal-bodied 1956 AEC Regent V, of Maidstone & District, DH 478 (VKR 470), seen here circling Elmers End Green. More buses from the day can be seen below.

The Briefest of Visits to Edinburgh
I was in Edinburgh for about 50 minutes (literally), which was sufficient time for me to discover this Lothian Buses Volvo BZL DD, 735e (SF25 YJC, below), one of about 70 that are in service so far in the Scottish capital. It is working route 1 (South Leith to Clermiston) on Monday 22 September.

​The location is the top of the Waverley Steps in Princes Street, in front of the iconic Balmoral Hotel. In the photo, I have tried to compromise focusing on the bus with not losing the amazing Grade-B listed structure behind it!

This bus was a 25-reg, and, having looked at BusTimes.org, I see that there are some 75-reg ones in service on route 1 as well, but they evaded me on this occasion, and I haven't yet found a 75-reg bus in service anywhere, four weeks in. The search continues... I should be able to bring you a picture of one in my Q4 Snippets...

​Sorry, Wrong Number
Here's a Transport for London (TfL) bus (below) on route 159 towards Streatham, with the number 27 displayed on the front, where it will cause maximum confusion. Incorrect or blank displays are not uncommon on London buses, and it's time TfL got a grip on this sort of thing. This is LT 158 (LTZ 1158) in Trafalgar Square, on Thursday 28 August.

​Wonder what this used to be...
Like spotting a shop that you just know used to be a Woolworth's, this (above) is so obviously an old Bus Station! This is the former Hexham Bus Station at Priestpopple in the Town Centre. The new facility, 100 yards away, opened in 2016. Even if its history was in doubt, the presence of a couple of bus stop flags (one in view above and one on the other side) is the real giveaway!
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A Disappointing View
I took a ride on route 4 between Grantham and Stamford in Lincolnshire. The bus, operated by Transport Connect of Grantham, was an Iveco Daily Euromotive Conversion (a customized Iveco Daily vehicle, typically a commercial van, that has been converted for another purpose). No problem with the conversion – my issue was that it was that it was covered in contravision, so the views from inside were dreadful!

​I had to make a choice as to whether I wanted an open window or a view. As I was feeling claustrophobic, I slid the window open to get some air! But, because the window was at eye level, the sliding window, covered in contravision, moved into my forward view instead, so that was lost.
The vehicle in question, Transport Connect 23 (GK20 PKF), is seen in Stamford Bus Station in Lincolnshire (above), on Saturday 23 August. Note the gap in the rear of the vehicle, above the “Lincs Bus” sign – that’s the window I opened.

I saw another minibus from the same company whilst in Stamford, and it was even worse! Don’t the people who specify these vehicles ever travel in them?
Transport Connect 20 (FA18 PGU, above left), a Vauxhall Movano, is plastered in contravision – imagine what it’s like to ride in! On the right, a nice contrast is provided by Bland’s SF59 BXR, a Mercedes-Benz Vario Plaxton Beaver 2. The location is also Stamford Bus Station in Lincolnshire, on Saturday 23 August.
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Old Designs Still in Regular Service
Below is former Stagecoach East Midlands 18344 (AE55 DKL), a Dennis Trident Alexander ALX400, which was working on Cawthorne's Travel route 3 (Rotherham to Ravenfield) when photographed in Rotherham on Friday 22 August. The route number is carried on one of three pieces of paper in the windscreen; the other two reading "cash only" and "on diversion".

This vehicle was new to Cambus, which was absorbed into Stagecoach East​. There aren't many Tridents around nowadays...

The occasional Dennis Dart SLF Plaxton Pointer 2 can still be found in service, although their numbers are also diminishing rapidly. Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire still has one in frontline service, in the form of 34715 (PX05 EKJ), which was parked up in Carlisle Bus Station on Tuesday 23 September (below). Although out of service when photographed, BusTimes.org indicates that it was in service earlier and later that day, and has seen daily frontline action in the few days since.

The Last Bus to Glentrool
A news story that has been doing the rounds recently reports that the last Saturday bus on route 359 to Glentrool, in Dumfries and Galloway, leaves Newton Stewart at 1135, five minutes after the first bus arrives. The story has been reported in various places. But is it true?

It's a tricky one to unpick, as the timetable presentation on the Dumfries and Galloway website presents Weekday and Saturday times in the same panel, despite the many obvious differences between the two:

It's clearly not a good service, but it does look to me like there's a 1540 service from Newton Stewart back to Glentrool on a Saturday. The timetable notes that this service runs "To/From Douglas Ewart High School on School Days", but it doesn't say that it doesn't run on Saturdays... (compare with the 0824 service from Glentrool to Newton Stewart, which is clearly marked as School Days only).

So I don't think the story is accurate. But substitute "Pinmore", further along the route, for "Glentrool" and look at the story / timetable again...

Is it current (1)?
It looks as though Dumfries and Galloway Council and the South West of Scotland Transport Partnership have been going through a bit of turmoil recently, with a large number of changes to bus services following the withdrawal of Stagecoach from many services in the region. But the bus stop timetables, where provided (and I saw a lot of stops without such luxuries) are well out of date, judging from examples like the one below, which was observed on Tuesday 23 September (2025) and was dated June 2022...
It's not exactly well-kept either...

​Is it current (2)?
At some point, you will have come to a shop, kiosk, ticket counter or similar, where someone has left a sign saying "back in half an hour". All very well, you think, but when was the sign left - just now, or 28 minutes ago? I had a similar reaction when I found this advice on the Hodgson's website:

This was on the timetable page for route 55 from Northallerton. It's the presence of the 2024 date (the timetable that follows below) that made me wonder about the currency of the advice (and, actually, about the currency of the timetable itself). I was able to verify the timetable's currency quite easily, but it was trickier to confirm the closure. There is advice on the Home Page of the site, which I missed before. But it's way down the list, and, although showing an "update" date, still doesn't say when the work started. So will it be an issue in three weeks' time, for example?
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​It IS Current...
How lovely to find a whole bucketful of Stagecoach's timetable booklet for the Lake District, next to the other tourist leaflets in the rack at Carlisle Railway station (below - the bus leaflets are on the right). I still think the cover of the booklet, which is reproduced at poster size on the container, should display a bus more prominently, as it could easily be missed... But good to see, anyway!

​A Bit Too Literal...
I bought a new phone recently, and transferred my calendar appointments into it. This phone likes to add an image to each appointment. Here's what it chose for the Hertford Bus Running Day:

​And talking of Running Days...
Here are three more pictures from the Route 54 Running Day held on Saturday 13 September - a really good day out in excellent weather (mostly). Below is preserved London Transport RT 1705 (KYY 532), a Park Royal-bodied AEC Regent III, new in 1950, at Elmers End Green. Behind it is RF 600 (NLE 600), a preserved London Transport AEC Regal Mark IV from 1953.

BELOW: Preserved 1945 Guy Arab II G351 (HGC 130) is loading up outside Catford Bus Garage (where an Open Day was held to coincide with the Running Day). The bus is the only survivor of 435 "Utility" buses built. Utility refers to a fleet that was for London Transport during and after World War II, utilising limited available materials and featuring simple, austere specifications to meet wartime and post-war needs. I may be exaggerating slightly, but it looks as though the 56 seats on this vehicle could be filled twice over by those hoping to board!

BELOW: The most unusual bus on the Running Day, to my mind, was this preserved tri-axle Volvo B10TL Wright Gemini Explorer (Super Olympian), originally operated by the Kowloon Bus Company of Hong Kong. Now registered VW04 RBH, the bus was imported into Britain in 2023, and retains its Kowloon colours. It is seen here in Lewisham Town Centre, having just completed a short-working journey from Elmers End.

​On the Railways...
Whilst 'researching' my route 128 article, I took a short trip on the London Underground to and from Rickmansworth. Rickmansworth is one of a handful of stations in this area that shares its platforms with Chiltern Railways services on the Aylesbury Vale Parkway to London Marylebone route. It's not the clearest of pictures, but the indicator board on the London-bound platform was showing that the first train was due to be a "Chiltern Train" in two minutes (below​):

In terms of information provided, I thought this was somewhat lacking. Where would the train be going? Where would it stop en route? How many carriages would it be? What part of the platform would it be stopping at? Not everyone is a regular traveller who knows these things...
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​I was also surprised by the recruitment advice on this South Western Railways (SWR) service that brought me back from Salisbury to London after my visit to Imberbus on Saturday 16 August. The scrolling advice was to look for the latest job opportunities with the company by visiting the careers website at careers.firstgroup.co.uk. The only problem is that SWR transferred from its First Group contract into public ownership on 25 May, nearly three months' prior to this journey.

​But are they Duracells?
If you thought that modern electric buses were powered by a couple of AA Duracell batteries, think again. Stagecoach London opened up the engine compartment of one of its BYD D8UR-DD ADL Enviro400EVs, 84160 (LG71 DPU), at the Catford Garage Open Day (below). They might be rechargeable batteries, but that is still some serious hardware to lug around all day!

​Where's the bell push?
Here's a photograph of my knee... I'm sitting on one of Stagecoach North East's new Yutong E12 electrics, in the first raised row, about halfway down the bus. Bell pushes have been put in the backs of seats, generally at chest level. I think this is a silly place to put them, as someone with some shopping bags or a rucksack on their lap, for example, could easily knock one by accident.

But, in the first raised row, no account has been taken of the difference in height from the seat in front, so the button is at knee level. With the poor legroom, and with someone in the seat next to me, someone of my excess height could easily knock the button by accident...

And it happens every time the seat height changes, which it does a couple of times as you move back along the bus.

Whilst travelling on one of these buses, someone did indeed knock the bell by accident, and I doubt they even realised. The driver got a bit grumpy: "the bell didn't ring itself," he said when no-one got up to get off after he had stopped especially. I think Stagecoach North East drivers, and anyone else who buys a fleet of Yutongs, will have to get used to phantom bell ringing, unless someone moves the bell pushes.

​Coming Soon to The View from the Top Deck...
The pictures below are linked to stories that I will be bringing to you over the coming weeks. Stay with me for more adventures!