Dart J317XVX was featured in Bus & Coach Preservation magazine's October 2014 edition. This came about through somebody else at my storage location already setting up an article for their vehicle with the magazine.
Initially though, the feature was going to be about Volvo D302PEV but upon finding out that P337ROO's repaint was imminent and spotting 317 in the shed, Nick Larkin (who'd come to do a photo shoot and interview) decided to switch the plan and hold back on the Volvo so that a full Harris feature could be done with two vehicles.
The Dart was duly posed in several locations in North Essex though the weather was unhelpful - bright sunlight made it difficult to get any decent shots of the cream coloured Dart. Its not often us Brits moan about too much sun! Although the bus was the subject of all the attention, I certainly feel I know what models go through now as they pose in various ways trying to satisfy their photographers needs!
With 337 now ready, the photoshoot and interview for 302 & 337 was completed a couple of days ago - somewhat rushed as Nick had been let down by another vehicle and had space to fill in the November 2014 issue. We posed the vehicles in a North Essex village which is normally as a quiet as a church mouse......and just as we started it became the busiest area in the UK.
Eventually though we got the shots Nick wanted and having seen a rough outline of the article, I look forward to the magazine hitting the shelves.
Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Monday, 1 September 2014
Going dotty
After being let down by three different graphics companies, I finally found one willing to take on the challenge of doing the dots for 337. Viscount International of Woodford, East London, came highly recommended by several other preservationists and they weren't wrong - theses guy's really are the bee's knee's.
It took several weeks to finally arrive at a design I was happy with (I was never truly happy with version carried by 335 and vowed to better replicate the Harris Bus fade on 337) - as you can see from the sneaky peak images below, I reckon we've nailed it this time.
It took several weeks to finally arrive at a design I was happy with (I was never truly happy with version carried by 335 and vowed to better replicate the Harris Bus fade on 337) - as you can see from the sneaky peak images below, I reckon we've nailed it this time.
Thursday, 24 July 2014
Still busy!!
Updates for this post include 302 making Buses magazine, Colne Valley Railway and 337's repaint.......
302 in Buses
So yeah, after 335 made it into Buses magazine last year.........and me pondering whether 302 would achieve the same feat when it was finished..........I'm pleased to see that it did indeed make it into Buses magazine (August issue) on the strength of its visit to North Weald rally!
I'll have to come with something for next year now!!!
Colne Valley Railway Rally
Oh dear.
The first one I did in 2012 was relatively successful given the remote location; last year was so so with just 16 vehicles. In 2014 the event attracted just 10 vehicles.
It coincided with the much larger Alton rally, which although in Hampshire, certainly attracted many of the local vehicles that would have otherwise come to Colne Valley. As is becoming the theme with me, owners have got to support events or they won't happen in the future - no events = no point preserving buses!
Now I'm as guilty as others I suppose, because I was actually booked into Alton with 302. I have had a long term issue with 302's front suspension (piston leak) and I've been advised not do long journey's till its fixed. As I wasn't able to fix it in time, I decided to take advantage of Colne Valley's proximity to my storage location and take two vehicles.
As you'll see below, although 337 is now repainted (just awaiting vinyls), but I want to hold off on her relaunch onto the preservation scene (planned to be showbus in September). There's nothing to stop 302 doing a local trip and 317 is available with no planned events for the rest of the year (acting as spare to the others) so I decided to take those two - and with them being parked next to each other I blinded them both for route 383 reflecting the period where they ran in competition with each other.
337 repaint complete
As mentioned above, 337's repaint is now complete - just the vinyls to go:
302 in Buses
So yeah, after 335 made it into Buses magazine last year.........and me pondering whether 302 would achieve the same feat when it was finished..........I'm pleased to see that it did indeed make it into Buses magazine (August issue) on the strength of its visit to North Weald rally!
I'll have to come with something for next year now!!!
Colne Valley Railway Rally
Oh dear.
The first one I did in 2012 was relatively successful given the remote location; last year was so so with just 16 vehicles. In 2014 the event attracted just 10 vehicles.
It coincided with the much larger Alton rally, which although in Hampshire, certainly attracted many of the local vehicles that would have otherwise come to Colne Valley. As is becoming the theme with me, owners have got to support events or they won't happen in the future - no events = no point preserving buses!
Now I'm as guilty as others I suppose, because I was actually booked into Alton with 302. I have had a long term issue with 302's front suspension (piston leak) and I've been advised not do long journey's till its fixed. As I wasn't able to fix it in time, I decided to take advantage of Colne Valley's proximity to my storage location and take two vehicles.
As you'll see below, although 337 is now repainted (just awaiting vinyls), but I want to hold off on her relaunch onto the preservation scene (planned to be showbus in September). There's nothing to stop 302 doing a local trip and 317 is available with no planned events for the rest of the year (acting as spare to the others) so I decided to take those two - and with them being parked next to each other I blinded them both for route 383 reflecting the period where they ran in competition with each other.
337 repaint complete
As mentioned above, 337's repaint is now complete - just the vinyls to go:
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Busy Busy Busy!!
Well its all happening this month!
We've had two rallies - North Weald and the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine show - both of which were quite dire with only around 30 buses at each. 337's repaint has started and 317 has been in a photo shoot for an article in Bus & Coach Preservation magazine.
So yeah, sadly North Weald continues to suffer a poor reputation, and wasn't helped by certain persons at TfL taking advantage of the fact to stage a rival event in central London. Whilst I appreciate the apathy towards this event, I would plead with fellow preservationists to give North Weald a go in 2015; things are changing for the better. Or perhaps look at it this way: if less vehicles attend rallies, there'll be less and less rallies.........before you know it there won't be any point preserving a bus as there'll be nowhere to take it.
I did the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine show last year at Newbury, and you may remember from this blog that I was less than impressed and vowed not to bother again. What was that I said about supporting events?!! Well they moved it near to St Albans this year and so myself and a few fellow preservationists thought the move was a sensible one - close to an area full of preserved buses, it'll be a surefire winner right?
Nah. As I mentioned above, the event saw about 30 buses; what a shame given that it was organised by the national magazine that covers bus preservation. As I've said twice already, bus preservationists have got to support these events otherwise they will disappear off the rally calender and there'll nothing left to take buses to.
On a more positive note, Bus & Coach Preservation magazine approached our group and invited us to do some articles with them - for my part they were interested in Volvo D302PEV which I'd taken along.
Well they came to our storage facility a couple of days ago, and clocking the Dart they expressed an interest in doing an article on that too. Having spent a bit more time discussing my vehicles, and with the news that DAF 337 is about to be repainted, it was decided to drop the Volvo for now and just do the Dart instead. Volvo 302 and DAF 337 will be done together at a later date as part of a large article about Harris Bus. What with DAF 335 appearing in a Buses magazine article last year, I have to admit I quite proud to see all my buses getting their 15 minutes of fame!
We posed the Dart in several locations around a village in North Essex and so I'm now looking to seeing the finished article whenever it appears in the magazine.
Finally I've mentioned that DAF 337 is about to be repainted.......well it is currently fully sanded down and is just awaiting some of my free time to get the paint on. I'm intending to have the paint completed by the end of the month and the stickers done by mid August.........
We've had two rallies - North Weald and the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine show - both of which were quite dire with only around 30 buses at each. 337's repaint has started and 317 has been in a photo shoot for an article in Bus & Coach Preservation magazine.
So yeah, sadly North Weald continues to suffer a poor reputation, and wasn't helped by certain persons at TfL taking advantage of the fact to stage a rival event in central London. Whilst I appreciate the apathy towards this event, I would plead with fellow preservationists to give North Weald a go in 2015; things are changing for the better. Or perhaps look at it this way: if less vehicles attend rallies, there'll be less and less rallies.........before you know it there won't be any point preserving a bus as there'll be nowhere to take it.
I did the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine show last year at Newbury, and you may remember from this blog that I was less than impressed and vowed not to bother again. What was that I said about supporting events?!! Well they moved it near to St Albans this year and so myself and a few fellow preservationists thought the move was a sensible one - close to an area full of preserved buses, it'll be a surefire winner right?
Nah. As I mentioned above, the event saw about 30 buses; what a shame given that it was organised by the national magazine that covers bus preservation. As I've said twice already, bus preservationists have got to support these events otherwise they will disappear off the rally calender and there'll nothing left to take buses to.
On a more positive note, Bus & Coach Preservation magazine approached our group and invited us to do some articles with them - for my part they were interested in Volvo D302PEV which I'd taken along.
Well they came to our storage facility a couple of days ago, and clocking the Dart they expressed an interest in doing an article on that too. Having spent a bit more time discussing my vehicles, and with the news that DAF 337 is about to be repainted, it was decided to drop the Volvo for now and just do the Dart instead. Volvo 302 and DAF 337 will be done together at a later date as part of a large article about Harris Bus. What with DAF 335 appearing in a Buses magazine article last year, I have to admit I quite proud to see all my buses getting their 15 minutes of fame!
We posed the Dart in several locations around a village in North Essex and so I'm now looking to seeing the finished article whenever it appears in the magazine.
Finally I've mentioned that DAF 337 is about to be repainted.......well it is currently fully sanded down and is just awaiting some of my free time to get the paint on. I'm intending to have the paint completed by the end of the month and the stickers done by mid August.........
Sunday, 1 June 2014
Clacton Rally
Today was the Clacton bus rally, held as ever in the car park at the Factory Outlet shopping centre.
The plan was to take DAF P337ROO but upon preparing her to go I noticed that the air wasn't unloading as it should when it reaches maximum pressure - and after dumping some air via the footbrake it was also failing to build air. Now I've been here before with sister 335, and I'm 99% certain the air dryer pack is at fault - I await professional advice but it did mean 337's attendance at the rally was canceled.
302 it was then!
Volvo D302PEV is booked to attend the next 4 events (North weald, Bus Coach Preservation magazine show, Alton and Showbus), mainly cos its just been repainted and I want to show it off at the bigger events, so I certainly wasn't planning to take her to Clacton as well, but hey ho.
The day itself went well with good weather and plenty of socialising with other preservationists. I went with other owners from Yeldham Transport Museum and so we arrived and departed in convoy - something that always generates a few funny looks from other road users and people on foot, but is none the less quite fun to be a part of. Not only that but it does provide instant help if there should be any mechanical issues.......as you'll see in a minute.......
As always, 302 was put forward for service and did one return trip to the town centre (via the railway station). We came close to wishing 337 had made it but got everyone on with two seats to spare! I had Heart playing on the radio just as Harris Bus used to do when they operated it in service; I don't think the music on offer was to everyone's taste but I'm quite certain it was the only vehicle in service to offer such entertainment!
Being as I was part of a group, we shared the service work by driving each others vehicles, so I didn't actually drive on 302's trip (I drove part trips on D261FUL and KPJ264W) - doing this gave each of us the opportunity to be passengers on our own vehicles, which is something we rarely get do as only PCV licenced drivers can drive buses in passenger service with more than 8 passengers on board.
It's safe to say we've learned a lesson today and we'll all now make sure we're carrying spares and tools - and if we're traveling as a group in convoy we should be well enough equipped to deal with pretty much anything that's thrown at us!!
The plan was to take DAF P337ROO but upon preparing her to go I noticed that the air wasn't unloading as it should when it reaches maximum pressure - and after dumping some air via the footbrake it was also failing to build air. Now I've been here before with sister 335, and I'm 99% certain the air dryer pack is at fault - I await professional advice but it did mean 337's attendance at the rally was canceled.
302 it was then!
Volvo D302PEV is booked to attend the next 4 events (North weald, Bus Coach Preservation magazine show, Alton and Showbus), mainly cos its just been repainted and I want to show it off at the bigger events, so I certainly wasn't planning to take her to Clacton as well, but hey ho.
The day itself went well with good weather and plenty of socialising with other preservationists. I went with other owners from Yeldham Transport Museum and so we arrived and departed in convoy - something that always generates a few funny looks from other road users and people on foot, but is none the less quite fun to be a part of. Not only that but it does provide instant help if there should be any mechanical issues.......as you'll see in a minute.......
As always, 302 was put forward for service and did one return trip to the town centre (via the railway station). We came close to wishing 337 had made it but got everyone on with two seats to spare! I had Heart playing on the radio just as Harris Bus used to do when they operated it in service; I don't think the music on offer was to everyone's taste but I'm quite certain it was the only vehicle in service to offer such entertainment!
Being as I was part of a group, we shared the service work by driving each others vehicles, so I didn't actually drive on 302's trip (I drove part trips on D261FUL and KPJ264W) - doing this gave each of us the opportunity to be passengers on our own vehicles, which is something we rarely get do as only PCV licenced drivers can drive buses in passenger service with more than 8 passengers on board.
Here's 302 in Clacton town centre:
Now I mentioned mechanical issues earlier; thankfully it wasn't me but another owner in our group.....
We were positioning our vehicles to take a group photo when I noticed a rather large split in the side wall of a front tyre - the consensus was that cords were showing and it was therefore too dangerous to drive on. None of us were carrying spare wheels but thankfully a member of the rally organising group (our near neighbours at Colne Estuary Preservation Group) were able to lend us a spare wheel (a gesture which was very much appreciated). All we then had to do was jack the bus up..........but none of us had a jack......
Having exhausted all options at the nearby depots of Headingham and First (both have no engineers on Sundays!!) the owner with the dodgy tyre had to make use of the breakdown cover to get a specialist in to actually swap the wheels over. Whilst most of us preserved bus owners do have full breakdown cover, it is usage limited in much the same way as the AA or RAC is with your cars, so we'll always try to fix something first if we can and only make use of the breakdown cover as a last resort.
It's safe to say we've learned a lesson today and we'll all now make sure we're carrying spares and tools - and if we're traveling as a group in convoy we should be well enough equipped to deal with pretty much anything that's thrown at us!!
Monday, 26 May 2014
335 Accident
As mentioned in my last post, 335 was damaged in a slow speed collision at the place where she's stored - the incident occurred on Sunday 11th May and affected the nearside front corner & windscreen.
It was already off the road for 2014 pending a decision on its future - radiator still leaks plus the gearbox has a mind of its own and the diff whines. Having already sunk the best part of £4,000 into it trying to rectify one mechanical defect after another, I'd been pondering whether to carry on or use it for spares for 337 and then scrap it.
No decision had been made when the accident occurred - not my fault by the way.......335 was parked in her space at the time - so the person who did it has agreed to pay for it to be repaired.
There's some images of the damage on the website HERE.
Sunday, 18 May 2014
YTM Open Day
Today it was the Yeldham Transport Museum open day - all 4 of my vehicles were in attendance, with P337ROO operating in passenger service.
On the whole it was an enjoyable day with glorious sunshine all day long.
As stated above, 337 was made available for passenger service and thus operated two trips; one to Halstead and the other to Braintree rail station. She performed faultlessly throughout despite the high temperatures - I finally have a reliable double decker!
Mind you, the original and constantly unreliable double decker, sister 335, has been involved in an incident at its storage location and will now be off the road long term as a result - more on that in my next update.
Back to the subject at hand........below is a picture of 337 at Braintree station - the "blind" does work and was showing "Braintree rail station X1" but of course a combination of bright sunlight and LED's flickering mean the camera didn't pick that up:
On the whole it was an enjoyable day with glorious sunshine all day long.
As stated above, 337 was made available for passenger service and thus operated two trips; one to Halstead and the other to Braintree rail station. She performed faultlessly throughout despite the high temperatures - I finally have a reliable double decker!
Mind you, the original and constantly unreliable double decker, sister 335, has been involved in an incident at its storage location and will now be off the road long term as a result - more on that in my next update.
Back to the subject at hand........below is a picture of 337 at Braintree station - the "blind" does work and was showing "Braintree rail station X1" but of course a combination of bright sunlight and LED's flickering mean the camera didn't pick that up:
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