The Canvey Curse

Today was Canvey rally day - one of my favourite events as I get to operate my vehicles in service on the link shuttle between the museum and the display site.

Weapon of choice was Volvo B10M Plaxton Premiere coach W649FUM.

Just like last year, the coach was well received and carried healthy loads on several trips. Just like last year, it ran like a dream all day long.

And then, just like last year, we encountered a problem right at the end of the day.

This time one of the fuel injector pipes has sprung a leak; quite a big one too - it's like the pipe has split rather than gotten a pin hole in it.

I'm startring to think this motor dosen't like Canvey Island!!

Familiar Face Returns!

317 during a break on the journey "back home"

Two years ago I reduced my fleet in order to try and bring my finances under control and as a result my first ever bus (that I owned), Dennis Dart J317XVX, was sold to a new owner in the North West.

Well fast forward to September this year and word reached me that the owner had put the vehicle up for sale on eBay.

Notwithstanding the fact that it was the first vehicle to get me in the bus preservation game, the Wright Handybus bodywork is relatively rare in preservation terms, so I couldn't stand by and watch some non bus preservationist get their hands on it and butcher it again for a failed non PCV "project" (I originally acquired it from someone who had chopped up the original interior in order to create a mobile IT suite).

With a price agreed, today was collection day.

Although some electrical issues seem to have crept in since I last owned the vehicle, it duly completed the 240 mile journey back to Essex without fuss.

First job, electrical issues aside, is to sand down the orange paint job and get it back into the Cream & Green County Bus livery.

New Fleet Addition

Dennis Dart P327HVX has joined my coach, under my ownership.

I decided some time ago that there are things the coach cannot do as well as a bus and so should the right motor come along........

The Dart is of particular interest to me as I drove it when it was new at County Bus. It lives in the same location as the coach and so I had been aware for some time that the owner was looking to sell it. I had been resisting as money is still tight for me at present and I had my own Essex Bus Rally (a week ago now) to finance as a priority over buying any buses.

However the day has arrived. I could resist no longer and so with a price agreed the deal was done.

I'm not sure when it'll be back on the road, but I know I will enjoy having a "proper" bus again!

Hastings 2019

It was my first time at Hastings Bus Rally, and their first time at a new venue.

Frankly, I hope they don't use the site again as it just wasn't suitable for a bus rally.

For starters one had to squeeze between two bollards to enter the roadway off the main drag, then it was an immediate and tight left turn to access the display area. The display area itself wasn't wide enough to accomodate buses on both sides but the marshalls persisted with parking vehicles opposite each other regardless - as a result it took me 8 shunts to get my coach into position.

I left my coach in the display area whilst I went for an explore and when I returned I found Ensign's Enviro parked at an angle to the coach such that it was blocking access to the rear emergency exit door on the coach. Given that I'd blocked the front entrance door of the coach with a piece of wood to prevent unauthorised access, the plan was to access the vehicle via the emergency door which I can lock with a key. But of course with the Enviro parked as it was, I had no access to my vehicle.

I would stress that this was in no way the fault of the Ensign driver. He'd simply parked his vehicle under the guidance of the marshalls and they were trying to make the vehicle fit in the only [unsuitable] space available.

Vehicles struggled to manovoure around the extremely tight display area with several shunts often required to get into or out of display positions.

W649FUM on display

This image shows the blocked rear emergency exit door

And the end of the day was just as bad with a now tight right turn to get through the tight bollards.

Whoever looked at this site and thought is was suitable......it just wasn't I'm afraid.

Detling 2019

On display at the 2019 South East Bus Festival

Today was the first rally of the 2019 season, the South East Bus Festival at Detling in Kent. It was a 150 mile round trip from the storage barn in North Essex and 649 soaked up the miles effortlessly. So much so that despite departing some time after the other vehicles from the same barn at the end of the event, we arrived back "home" first!

The weather forcast for the day was cloudy but dry. In reality there was a freezing cold breeze and it rained on and off all day with rolling mist towards the end. The weather certainly didn't ruin the event - indeed no vehicles got stuck on the damp grass - but mother nature could have done better!

Copyright Dylan Thomas - awaiting the Arriva bus connection

At the event we did three round trips on the external shuttle service that links up with Arriva's local services passing on the nearby A249 dual carraigeway. Each of the trips carried a decent load and again 649 took it all in its stride.

Hopefully I'm not tempting fate when I say it seems to have setled down nicely after the issues that plagued the 2018 season.

So all in all, a cold and damp day. But enjoyable all the same.

2019 Season Begins

Here it is being washed

So Winter appears to be over and the first big rallly of the season - the South East Bus Festival at Detling in Kent - is just over a week away....

Seems like a good time to visit the storage location and wake up my preserved Hedingham coach in order to get it prepared for the season ahead.

First things first, it was given a wash. Not only has it gained a layer of dust over the past few months, but it rained on the day it was last out on the road; a private trip for friends and family only to Rochester in early December hence the yellow signs which were required due to special parking restrictions. It had gotten a bit dirty from that rainly day.

All systems were given a check and all appears to be healthy. Happy days. I'm hoping the 2019 season will be much more enjoyable - and indeed busier - than 2018 proved to be.

Ensign Running Day 2018

Having driven the last two Ensign running days, its now become a regular thing for me to offer my services to Ensign Bus for their annual December running day - they support my bus rally in the summer (shameless plug: www.essexbusrally.com) and so I return the favour by supporting their running day.

Best thing about it is getting allocated a vehicle from Ensign's own heritage fleet. Last year it was an RMA; this year it was the last ever DMS built - THX646S.

I'd never driven a DMS before but they're pretty similar to an Atlantean, right?

I have to say it was an absolute pleasure of a vehicle to drive and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. Especially as the cab heater worked perfectly.

Here it is at Tilbury Ferry:

2018 Season ends

Well 2018 was my quietest year as a preserved bus (& coach!) owner.

A combination of dire finances and unexpected alternator repairs on the coach made it quite a challenge to be able to attend any events. In the end I did manange to get the Olympian to my own Essex Bus Rally in July but had to resort to selling it soon after as my financial situation showed no signs of tangible improvement.

Originally I was going to sell the coach and get out of the preserved owner game altogether but lack of interest and a ridiculously low price from the scrapman has led to me re-evalauting things and the decision to keep it.

So with the Olympian gone (for further preservation in the North West) and an improving financial position as a result, I set about getting the coach fully repaired and MOT'd - the target being to get it to the last event of the season; the Castle Point Transport Museum's Canvey Bus Rally.

An MOT was successfully gained at the begining of September and with a month's window before the Canvey event, I thought I'd have a go at refreshing the external red area's and re-doing the fleetnames as the large one's on the side's were both peeling off and the front one was in lower case whereas originally it was all uppercase. This turned out to be a bad move as the new red paint just would not go on right - after five coats I had to throw in the towel and go with it as the rally date was getting to close for comfort.

The vinyl logo's don't quite match in terms of colour; this was the result of two different methods being applied to make them. This is something I may revisit next year, along with the dodgy red paint job.

Anyway, she was all set for Canvey and performed faultlessly all day. We did five or six round trips on the special shuttle service and although a coach rather than a bus (I'd previously been warned that "no one likes coaches"), she carried healthy loads and attracted positive comments. From my point of view, I'd never driven a coach with passengers on board before and immediately there was an obvious difference compared to driving a bus - the passengers are much closer to the driver on a coach.

So Canvey rally was a success from my point of view, and I particularly enjoyed how the coach cruised along the A130 and A12 - a much more pleasent driving experience compared to a bus!

Then 15 minutes from the storage barn I got a low suspension warning on the dash along with an audible alarm. I duly pulled over in a safe place to check and sure enough the front suspension had dropped. Then the air system dropped to just under 4 bar causing the safety brake to apply - this could not be released with the air so low.

To cut a long story short, I called for assistance via the breakdown policy we preserved owners have on our insurance policies and after a five hour wait the coach was eventually moved to its storage barn.

The actual fault is suspected to be a cracked pipe somewhere near the compressor.

So it was a cracking end to a poor season. I'm pleased that the 2018 season is now over - hopefully the 2019 season will go a lot more smoothly!

In the mean time here's some images from Canvey rally, when all was well:

2018 Season Starts....

But without my vehicles taking an active part.

Detling did indeed come and go, as did the Brooklands Spring Gathering.

The siezed alternator on the coach turned out to be very broken as you can
see on the right - something very catastrophic must have occured to crack
the casing like that!

A replacement was eventually sourced from a very helpful company in
West Lancashire and the coach is now mobile again.

Once my pocket recovers I'll be able to look at getting the original work done to fix the faulty air dryer and push on to finally get the MOT done.

It is hoped to get the coach fully fit in time for the Essex Bus Rally
(Shameless plug: www.essexbusrally.com) but time will tell.....

Pre season update

Its been hard to get the vehicles ready for the 2018 season due to the recent adverse weather we've been experiencing - snow in late March is bonkers!

I had attempted to get the coach to a bus mechanic last week as it has an air dryer fault which needs fixing, and whilst there a pre MOT inspection was planned.

However, when I started her up there was an awful squeal and lots of black smoke with an acrid burning smell attached - I geniuely thought it was on fire. Obviously it was stopped and electrically isolated straight away. On close inspection it was found that the alternator has siezed solid and the black smoke was being generated by the rubber belt that's driven by the engine trying to move the said siezed alternator.

Oh the joys of preservation!

Unfourtnately, aside from the obvious financial pain and time needed to put this issue right; the dead coach is currently blocking in 4 other motors - one of them is my Olympian.

The first event planned to attend is the South East Bus Festival at Detling on 7th April. As things currently stand, this is looking doubtful.

New year news

It's been a over a year since I lasted posted on this blog, and my fleet has been through some changes in that time.....

In terms of events attended, 2017 was the quietest year since I got into the preservation scene 7 years ago. The big issue has been lack of money - increased monthly storage costs since being forced to move due to redevelopment  of my previous storage location at Yeldham being the main problem.

So the decision was made in October 2017 to reduce my fleet from four vehicles to two. I was also paying for a spare space - "just in case something else comes along" - but in reality this was being used to store all the equipment associated with my Basildon Bus Rally. With that equipment moved to a mates garage I was able to free up 3 storage spaces and slash my storage costs back to a level which is more manageble and thus allows me to attend more events.

The decision to reduce the fleet was the easy bit - actually choosing which two to sell was initially the hard part, though I used this rationale in the end:

I had two double deckers and two single deckers, so it made sense to keep one of each.

Once I'd decided to split them into the categories of doubles and singles, the choices became a little easier to make;  the deckers were relatively straightforward in that DAF P337ROO had a brake issue that needed sorting but which I couldn't afford to put right, and I'd started repainting Olympian H105GEV into its former Grey Green livery (cheaper to do as I use Dulux and a roller!). So the DAF was put up for sale.

The choice between the single deckers was easier still - 45mph automatic Dart (J317XVX) or 70mph six speed manual B10M (D302PEV) - the B10M was originally bought to give me the "longer distance rallies motor", so the Dart lost out and was also put up for sale.......the Dart was my first bus which I'd previously sold and instantly regretted. On the previous occasion I got it back after six months; although this time I needed to let them both go because it makes finacial sense, will I regret my actions again?.....

As it happens two buyers from within the same group came forward - the group is based in Northern England and so the chances of me seeing the two vehicles again in the flesh is quite remote (though Showbus 2018 may well provide the oportunity for a timely reunion). This is in contrast to when I sold the Dart previously as it was kept in the same storage place and was thus constantly 'in my face'. I'm happy with the outcome this time around though as not only are the vehicles far enough away to not be a constant reminder of my loss, but the new owners really appreciate the livery and history of the vehicles; they've found a really good home.

So that was that........or so I thought.....

I'd always fancied a coach but I also had this self imposed criteria where I would only buy vehicles I had an association with - this limited my interest in coaches and most I could muster an association with had been scrapped anyway. Having reduced my fleet and bearing in mind coaches usually command much higher prices than buses, I'd given up on the idea of adding a coach to my fleet.

Then, just I was down to two vehicles I saw an appeal on a Facebook preserved owners group to save a coach! Agghhh!!

The motor in question, W649FUM, is a Volvo B10M and a six speed manual......so in some respects similar to already owned D302PEV. The coach belonged to Essex operator Hedingham so is local, but has no other association to me. Mind you, I did take the last UK Olympian off First Eastern Counties despite having no association with it so the precedent was already there to ignore my previous association rule I guess........

Curiosity got the better of me and so I asked what the price was - the answer that came back got my attention! Thing is, its too good to scrap but at 17 years old and with DDA regulations for coaches on the horizon, that was its likely fate. So I threw caution to the wind and bought it.

Ah!, yes, I was now back to three vehicles........ONE HAD TO GO!

It made no sense to keep two vehicles that essentially do the same thing, so D302PEV had to go. This was really hard to do given its rarity and I was extremely wary about ensuring the right person took it on, but financially I couldn't afford for sentiment to get in the way. Happily the right person did come along and 302 is very much in the safest of hands.

So there we are, my fleet now consists of just two vehicles - Leyland Olympian H105GEV and Volvo B10M Plaxton Premiere 350 W649FUM.

Ensign running day

For a lot of preserved owners the rally season finishes in September or October. Not mine!

Having acquired Leyland Olympian H105GEV with a class 6 MOT (that's what you need to operate for hire & reward), I offered myself and the vehicle to Ensign Bus for their heritage running day on Saturday 3rd December. As the running day is operated commercially, collecting fares, only class 6 vehicles can be used.

Subject to a satisfactory safety inspection, check of my licence and agreement on how the vehicle would be correctly insured etc, Ensign Bus agreed to the Olympian's inclusion in their event.

We were allocated to the X81 Grays to Shenfield route - we were unable to work either of the other two routes (X21 Upminster to Ongar & X55 Upminster to Gravesend) because of the London Low Emission Zone, and also a low bridge on the X21 means its a single deck only route.

Ensign had the Olympian stored at their depot from the Tuesday prior to the running day to allow time for the safety inspection to be completed, so it was only a short dead trip on running day morning to take up service at Lakeside on our first trip to Shenfield. We then duly completed 3 round trips.

Because the running day uses only class 6 vehicles, it is a properly registered bus service that observes all bus stops on line of route and thus offers local journey's and one off connections for one day only. It was certainly different stopping when people put their hands out or ring the bell..........and collecting fares - the last time I did that was 16 years ago! We sold £17.10 worth of local fares, so it goes to show that we didn't just have enthusiasts on board.

Here we are at Lakeside before entering service on our first trip to Shenfield:

W437CWX moves on

Having come to the conclusion that I'm getting nowhere fast with Olympian W437CWX, and given that its storage location at Yeldham is about to be redeveloped into a housing estate, I've decided that the best thing for the vehicle is to find a new preservationist owner.

To get a base value for the vehicle I got a quote from a scrap yard and then advertised the vehicle within select preservation circles. Only one serious person stepped forward and the vehicle is now destined to make its way North to Yorkshire to hopefully be restored to its former glory. The buyer wishes to remain anonymous so that's as much as I can say at the moment.

Theydon Bois & Canvey

Having gotten my new Olympian (H105GEV) painted in time, I was invited to take it to the transport sale held at Theydon Bois village hall.

The arrangement is that a small number of buses are displayed in the car park and they offer free rides around the local area as an added attraction alongside the transport sale.

H105GEV completed two trips, the first to Waltham Abbey and the second a loop via Debden and Abridge.

The image on the right shows H105GEV on display in the car park at Theydon Bois Village hall.




The day after the Theydon Bois event was Canvey bus rally. This is one of my favourite events as I get to run in service as much as I like. As the Olympian was now ready to rally this was the chosen weapon and as such I thought it would be nice to have my Dart (J317XVX) there too as they're a matching pair. I had a second driver available so all was looking good.....

Unfourtunately the Dart had other ideas and developed an alternator fault which has to led to the alternator being removed for repair. Whilst unbolting the alternator I noticed that the header tank has a slight split in it and so this also needs to be replaced.

As the Dart was unavailable I offered my second driver the oppourtunity to take DAF P337ROO instead which was accepted. Both buses completed a number of trips - possibly 5 each but we lost count! I gather the DAF carried healthy loads on all trips - I had the Olympian and this proved particularly popular with full loads on trips operated, though the last journey was a tad lighter owing to an open topper coming out to play.

Here's the Olympian on the shuttle service at the bus museum and both vehicles on display at the rally (yes, the parking was that tight unfourtunately).

Filming

As a follow up to the Londoner Live event at West Ham garage, I was asked if it would be possible to film some bits & pieces with DAF P337ROO to be used as part of the DVD covering the event.

I was happy to oblige, and here's a sneaky shot of the action unfolding......

West Mersea & 105

In a bit of a last minute arrangement with an adjacent local preservation group, I got myself involved in helping to provide the free bus service associated with the Mersea Island Lions Transport Show.

Initially I took Dennis Dart J317XVX but it became apparent that not only was a double decker required, the other group (who were in overall charge of the free bus service operation) had also planned on me taking a double decker. Luckily the new storage location isn't too far away so a swap of vehicles with DAF P337ROO soon had the issue resolved.

In the image above P337ROO can be seen at West Mersa, MICA centre, along with a supporting open topper.

105?

Ah! My fleet has a new addition!

Former GHA coaches Leyland Olympian 1810VT........better known as H105GEV, new to County Bus & Coach Co LTD at Grays garage.

I had been watching this vehicle along with two sisters for around three years. GHA went into administration in July and the administrators decided to sell off some of the owned vehicles via an auction; I was thus lucky enough to put in a winning bid.

Here she is having just arrived at her new home back in Essex:

Basildon & West Ham

Playing catch up again!....

Sunday 26th June 2016 was the date of my own first ever bus rally, held at Barleylands Farm Park near Basildon.

Unfourtunately mother nature did its utmost to try and destroy the event with so much rainfall in the weeks prior to the big day that the rally field was rendered unusable. Although not ideal, I did at least have a smaller hardstanding area available as back up plan and this was utilised in order to save the rally from cancelation.

Despite having to resort to using smaller area, and thus being forced to alienate the sales stalls, feedback was so positive that I've decided to have another go in 2017.

Moving on to West Ham........the bus garage rather than the football team....

The Londoner Live show took place at West Ham bus garage on Saturday 23rd July. The basic concept was to assemble buses of various types, old & new, in order to show how London's buses have changed over the years. Initially I was invited to take my Dart J317XVX to represent the use of the type for the 90's fashion of running improved frequencies with smaller vehicles.......and of course the involvement of non red bus companies through the tendering process.

Following further discussion with the event organiser, it was also agreed that DAF P337ROO would be added to the line up representing Harris Buses doomed time in tendered London. Granted 337 isn't in the same condition as new (ie, no centre exit doors, electronic destination blind and Thurrock link branding) but the event organiser agreed that the base Green & Blue Harris Bus livery was enough justification for inclusion.

Here's 317 & 337 on display at West Ham bus garage:

Clacton 2016

I often say that Canvey is my favourite rally but actually, I think its Clacton.....

I arrived at the Factory Outlet rally site at about 10am...........and the next time I paid real close attention to the time, it was just about 5pm! I only just managed to photograph all the buses and just about had time to chat to fellow preserved owners that I know (plus a bit of last minute pinning people down ahead of my own rally at Basildon). I have no idea where the day went!

Well I do a little bit - I offered myself and DAF P337ROO for service and we were allocated a duty with four trips spread evenly throughout the day - 2 trips on the town centre 114 service, a 119 journey via Weeley & Thorpe le Soken and then another trip on the 114.

Things didn't quite go to plan in more ways than one though. Firstly there was a diversion on the 114 route due to a road closure; I was a little concerned as I don't know Clacton all that well - I even warned my passengers that we may get lost - but I needn't have worried as the diversionary route was quite simple and was actually well signposted as it was a planned closure/diversion.

Then on route 119 there was road works at Thorpe le Soken which cost about 6 minutes in queueing time.......of course there wasn't a workman in sight. I normally stick to the 114 route as that's all I know but I thought I'd be bold this year and go for the 119 as it looked simple enough when I looked at a map.........as it turned out its quite a fast route (ie, some of the roads have high speed limits) so it gave an oppourtunity to stretch 337's legs and show off her 56mph capability.

I had expected the final 114 trip to be a routine affair as I'd already done the diversionary route twice but the bus service controller asked me to switch to the 112 Seafront Circular to cover a gap.........errrrmmmm.......I didn't have a clue where this route ran but luckily a former Harris Bus driver that know's Clacton well was on board, so I offered him the oppourtunity to have a drive and thus I now know where the 112 goes. I think I'm gonna enjoy next year even more now that I know a few routes!

Here's 337 at Clacton's Pier Avenue on the first 114 journey - the electronic blind was displaying the Factory Outlet destination but my camera failed to pick it up:

W437CWX & rally season update

The engineers have refitted Olympian W437CWX's fuel pump, injection pipes, fuel filters and other parts that were missing...plus brand new batteries.......and initially had no joy in getting her to run & tickover.

As I had a spare fuel fuel pump that was tried and we ended up with the same result. Suspecting an electrical issue a second engine ECU was tried and that appears to have resolved the issue. The engine is now running and sounds really good. On the negative side of things she has two fuel leaks, and an exhaust leak.

And the bad news dosen't stop there......

As she was being moved into the workshop to be lifted up for a chassis inspection there was a massive bang under the front. Turns out the road spring (like a leaf spring) has snapped.

In addition to the snapped spring, she's leaking fuel from a pipe that runs from the main fuel tank to the secondary fuel tank. Both front brakes are "metal to metal" and thus need replacing; same for the rear brakes. One of the rear brake chambers is shot and one of the rear levelling valves has also snapped.

The chassis itself requires welding in a number of places and then whole thing needs to be cleaned and undersealed.

And thats just the chassis and mechanics! Once all that is sorted I'll move on to the body; all of the windows will need to come out - on both decks! So as you can see, it'll be some time before she gets back on the road.

Turning to the 2016 rally season.....

Given my finacial commitments with regard to the Olympian, my own bus rally in June (**shameless plug** www.basildonbusrally.com), increased storage costs and life in general, I have decided to severely cull my rally attendances for this season only. Each rally attendance requires a fair amount of diesel as buses generally do very little mileage to the gallon and I can't manage the longer distance events as things currently stand.

So for the rest of the season I will only do the Essex events (Clacton, Basildon and Canvey).

South East Bus Festival

It was the first event of the 2016 rally season a few days ago - the South East Bus Festival at the Kent county showground in Detling, near Maidstone.

This was the third attempt at getting DAF P337ROO there (2014 missed due to problems getting her taxed and 2015 missed due to power steering failure en route at Chelmsford).

I'm pleased to say we made it this time.

We were booked to operate the on site circular service from 10.20 to 11.50 which we duly completed without fuss. In fact it turned out we were one of only two double deckers on the service at those times and so we were kept dead opposite the other decker in order to keep the flow of passengers steady amongst the other single deckers in operation.



We then parked up on display for the remainder of the day, where 337 attracted many complimentary remarks about how good she looked and generated some discussions about Harris Bus in general with interested visitors. There was many talking points surrounding the advert she currently carries for my new bus rally: