It was the London Bus Museum's event yesterday, more famously known as "Cobham" and is held at the world famous Brooklands site in Surrey.
The entrance to the site was poorly signed and as such I got told off for the second year running for appearing at the wrong entrance...........please please please if the organisers see this can they take note that clearly signing the route in for visiting buses would be useful and appreciated by those of us not familiar with the Brooklands site!
The rally itself wasn't as good as previous years - the number of visiting buses were notably less that recent years - it is a shame but even I am considering giving it a miss next year.
In other news 337 was put in for her MOT today and I'm pleased to say she sailed through with no advisories. Thankfully the whole thing was completely uneventful and we didn't suffer any of the shenanigans that occurred at 335's MOT last year. Talking of 335, it's likely the MOT will be allowed to lapse as I'm considering replacing it with something else that'll hopefully compliment my current fleet and prove to be more reliable.........more news when I have it!!.......
Monday, 14 April 2014
Saturday, 5 April 2014
South East Bus Festival
Today was the first event of the 2014 season, the South East Bus Festival; a bus rally added on to the Heritage Transport show.
The event is held at The Kent Showground in Detling, near Maidstone and this year attracted around 125 buses and coaches - up from 95 last year.
I had originally planned to take the newest acquisition, 337, but due to issues with the DVLA I wasn't able to tax it in time so I took 302 instead.
Having offered to run in service, I was asked to operate two trips on the offsite shuttle bus linking with Arriva services towards Maidstone - the Kent Showground is on the A249 dual carriageway and so the shuttle service provides a safer option than crossing the road on foot.
On both runs we had around 9 passengers each way on each trip - here's an image of 302 waiting in the layby on the A249 for the Arriva bus to show up:
The event is held at The Kent Showground in Detling, near Maidstone and this year attracted around 125 buses and coaches - up from 95 last year.
I had originally planned to take the newest acquisition, 337, but due to issues with the DVLA I wasn't able to tax it in time so I took 302 instead.
Having offered to run in service, I was asked to operate two trips on the offsite shuttle bus linking with Arriva services towards Maidstone - the Kent Showground is on the A249 dual carriageway and so the shuttle service provides a safer option than crossing the road on foot.
On both runs we had around 9 passengers each way on each trip - here's an image of 302 waiting in the layby on the A249 for the Arriva bus to show up:
Thursday, 20 March 2014
P337ROO
The day has finally arrived and P337ROO was collected from TM Travel in Sheffield and driven back to her new home in Essex.
Having stopped periodically on the journey to make sure everything was ok, we were having a good run down the M1 motorway........then it was onto the A14 and at the first roundabout I saw a massive amount of white smoke or steam at the back as I stopped..........
Turned out to be coolant but the header tank was still full and so I can only assume it was a combination of being overfilled at the start of the journey and the long run at constant top speed. From this point on I never went above 50mph (top speed being 56mph) and this seemed to resolve the issue.
That is until we hit the A505 and stopped for a routine check..........I discovered a split water hose and a fairly steady stream of coolant running out onto the road. It took about 10 litres of water to refill the system. As the leak was minor, I elected to carry on (we were only about 20 minutes from "home").....
Several stops and refills later we successfully made it with the leak being only marginally worse than when originally discovered. Thankfully the guilty hose should be a relatively easy fix.
So there we are, my fourth bus is now safely tucked up in her new home in North Essex.
Having stopped periodically on the journey to make sure everything was ok, we were having a good run down the M1 motorway........then it was onto the A14 and at the first roundabout I saw a massive amount of white smoke or steam at the back as I stopped..........
Turned out to be coolant but the header tank was still full and so I can only assume it was a combination of being overfilled at the start of the journey and the long run at constant top speed. From this point on I never went above 50mph (top speed being 56mph) and this seemed to resolve the issue.
That is until we hit the A505 and stopped for a routine check..........I discovered a split water hose and a fairly steady stream of coolant running out onto the road. It took about 10 litres of water to refill the system. As the leak was minor, I elected to carry on (we were only about 20 minutes from "home").....
Several stops and refills later we successfully made it with the leak being only marginally worse than when originally discovered. Thankfully the guilty hose should be a relatively easy fix.
So there we are, my fourth bus is now safely tucked up in her new home in North Essex.
Monday, 17 February 2014
302's MOT
Volvo D302PEV was put in for her MOT today and I'm pleased to say she sailed through with no advisories issued.
I did wonder if I'd ever get her back together in time (ie, the MOT was due to be completed by 28th February) but of course it all came good in the end.
Next up for 302 is a repaint back into Harris Bus's original Cream and Blue scheme though I'm not too sure when that will happen as I'm currently still saving money to meet the full asking price for 337 and I'm mindful about taking a vehicle off the road during the rally season as I caught myself out last year by starting on 302's bodywork during the middle of last season.
With 335 off the road and the old faithful 317 having no issues, the current priority now is the purchase of 337.
I did wonder if I'd ever get her back together in time (ie, the MOT was due to be completed by 28th February) but of course it all came good in the end.
Next up for 302 is a repaint back into Harris Bus's original Cream and Blue scheme though I'm not too sure when that will happen as I'm currently still saving money to meet the full asking price for 337 and I'm mindful about taking a vehicle off the road during the rally season as I caught myself out last year by starting on 302's bodywork during the middle of last season.
With 335 off the road and the old faithful 317 having no issues, the current priority now is the purchase of 337.
Saturday, 1 February 2014
Into 2014....
Two things to update on.....
302
The offside bodywork is now complete and all windows are now refitted (I managed source one from PSV Glass to replace the broken one).
Excuse the tight angle; things are often parked tight when I want to take an image!
337
Yes, that's a new number..............and yes that means I have a new vehicle!!!!!!
337 refers to P337ROO - sister to my P335ROO. 337 is in much better shape mechanically and so providing she successfully drives back from Sheffield ok (won't be collecting her till late March), I will be using 337 as acquired during the 2014 rally season.
As is evident throughout this blog, I've had no end of mechanical grief with 335 and it still has issues today with air trapped in the water system, a leaking radiator and a gearbox with a mind of its own that refuses to even think about changing gear whilst cold. 335 is currently sorned and that will remain the case for the foreseeable future.
Here is an image of 337 taken a couple of days ago when I went to view her and agree her purchase:
302
The offside bodywork is now complete and all windows are now refitted (I managed source one from PSV Glass to replace the broken one).
Excuse the tight angle; things are often parked tight when I want to take an image!
337
Yes, that's a new number..............and yes that means I have a new vehicle!!!!!!
337 refers to P337ROO - sister to my P335ROO. 337 is in much better shape mechanically and so providing she successfully drives back from Sheffield ok (won't be collecting her till late March), I will be using 337 as acquired during the 2014 rally season.
As is evident throughout this blog, I've had no end of mechanical grief with 335 and it still has issues today with air trapped in the water system, a leaking radiator and a gearbox with a mind of its own that refuses to even think about changing gear whilst cold. 335 is currently sorned and that will remain the case for the foreseeable future.
Here is an image of 337 taken a couple of days ago when I went to view her and agree her purchase:
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Winter working....
The bus rally season may be over for 2013, but that doesn't mean buses are parked up and forgotten about for six months!!
Maintenance is of course ongoing all the time, particularly the routine maintenance that goes with owning any vehicle; especially a large commercial type vehicle. Winter is also the time for things like bodywork and painting (even though I did start on 302's body during the actual rally season!).
It is 302's turn for some attention; you'll note from my blog post in August that I'd started the bodywork on the offside, and that the condition of the framework was far worse than anticipated.....
Well having done small bits of work here and there as time permitted, I was finally ready to start the repaneling today. Having invested in some air tools and a compressor, I was actually able to complete the work in one day - somewhat different to the nearside which took a week and nearly crippled my hands as I'd done every rivet by hand (all panels are riveted on at six inch intervals on all sides).
Second panel going on; at this point I'm using a couple of special gadgets that hold the panel in place by using the same holes that the rivets use:
Offering up the third panel, again with the use clamps to hold it in position - this is the final check that all the cuts are correct prior to permanent riveting:
The big pain at this time of year is the shorter days (daylight) - by the time I had the last panel on and was ready to go home it was dark. Whilst we do have some lighting at Yeldham, its not good enough to use when working on vehicles.......so I ended up working under my spotlight:
Maintenance is of course ongoing all the time, particularly the routine maintenance that goes with owning any vehicle; especially a large commercial type vehicle. Winter is also the time for things like bodywork and painting (even though I did start on 302's body during the actual rally season!).
It is 302's turn for some attention; you'll note from my blog post in August that I'd started the bodywork on the offside, and that the condition of the framework was far worse than anticipated.....
Well having done small bits of work here and there as time permitted, I was finally ready to start the repaneling today. Having invested in some air tools and a compressor, I was actually able to complete the work in one day - somewhat different to the nearside which took a week and nearly crippled my hands as I'd done every rivet by hand (all panels are riveted on at six inch intervals on all sides).
Here is the first panel being offered up, with the use of clamps to hold it in place:
Each panel has polystyrene insulation between the inner and outer panels - I'm recycling the old stuff which although rust stained, is actually ok to re-use. I also run a bead of sealant around the edges before attaching the new outer panels:
Second panel going on; at this point I'm using a couple of special gadgets that hold the panel in place by using the same holes that the rivets use:
Offering up the third panel, again with the use clamps to hold it in position - this is the final check that all the cuts are correct prior to permanent riveting:
The big pain at this time of year is the shorter days (daylight) - by the time I had the last panel on and was ready to go home it was dark. Whilst we do have some lighting at Yeldham, its not good enough to use when working on vehicles.......so I ended up working under my spotlight:
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Canvey rally
The traditional end of season rally is Castle Point transport museum's Canvey Island rally, and it's the one I look forward to most as I can run in service on the shuttle service between the display site and the museum as many times as I like.
This year was so wet that the field where the display buses are usually parked was deemed out of bounds. Luckily numbers were down due to the weather and so thankfully is was possible to park everything on the hard standing car park area, all be it with some challenging imagination required photographers in order to get their prized shots.
I took 317 and we did indeed run in service. I lost count but I think we did six round trips. Due to the lack of visiting vehicles and thus those taking part in the shuttle service, pretty much every trip we did was a full load - in fact we twice had standing loads!!
This year was so wet that the field where the display buses are usually parked was deemed out of bounds. Luckily numbers were down due to the weather and so thankfully is was possible to park everything on the hard standing car park area, all be it with some challenging imagination required photographers in order to get their prized shots.
I took 317 and we did indeed run in service. I lost count but I think we did six round trips. Due to the lack of visiting vehicles and thus those taking part in the shuttle service, pretty much every trip we did was a full load - in fact we twice had standing loads!!
This image was added to the image sharing site flickr by 'parkandride2007', who retains copyright ownership of this image, and shows just how wet the day was!!:
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