Autumn 2018 News
Happy Halloween week, everyone!
I hope you managed to collect some good spoils in your trick or treat adventures!
October has been and gone, with some really nice but unseasonal good weather making way for a cold bonfire night weekend-2018 seems to be rapidly running out of time!
The bus fleet has had a relatively quiet time of late, but we were all really chuffed on Sunday 13th September, when serious progress was made with the electrical bugs which have plagued Mercedes bus 202 for a long while, rendering the bus unable to run.
The Mercedes was finally able to rev, with the fault being traced back to the wiring behind the drivers cab, leaving more rewiring and patience to get this bus back in traffic.
202 is seen ticking over and revving with a little help from 441!.
Massive thanks go to all involved with the fault finding and repair work undertaken so far, particularly James at Davison Photo, who is not only an electrical genius, but also a very capable photographer with many very happy customers! Have a look at his website for more info www.davisonphoto.co.uk
Moving on, a very enjoyable afternoon was had by all who travelled on the 38 route during Saturday the 29th September, for the "Farewell CX Route 38" running day, organised jointly by myself and Craig at Connexionsbuses.
The event was designed to mark the final day of Connexionsbuses operation over the route, which from the following Sunday, became a Sunday only service, operated by First Leeds under Metro contract.
Heritage buses ran a special timetable, to form a half hourly frequency of service with the official service buses.
As the 38 route had changed several times over the years, it was decided our heritage buses would follow the route of the Leeds City Transport period, from Whitkirk to Wortley Ringways.
Black Prince operated the evening timetable over the route under a Metro contract during the 1990s/00s, so the preserved buses comprised a representative of 3 generations of route 38 rolling stock-I provided my LCT Atlantean and a Black Prince Mercedes, Craig representing the Metro PTE era with his Leyland Olympian Metrocoach.
The timetable was designed to provide a good layover period at Whitkirk each trip, for the passengers (and crews) to enjoy Fish and Chips at the superb Skyliner, traditional route terminus.
It was great to hear such positive comments about the day and a fitting way to celebrate a historical Leeds cross suburb connection.
Sunday the 13th October saw the Skipton running weekend, with several classic buses and coaches operating routes around Skipton.
Jack Berry and friends went along in my Leeds Atlantean, crewed by Gary Hardwick and Jack, the bus conveying several guests to the event, then parking on static display for the afternoon.
And Finally...
During November, we plan to progress repairs on TIL7902 a little further, with a view to making this bus ready for traffic in 2019, into December we shall prepare 441 for traffic on Christmas Day, for the X51 service.
I'll be back with some more news soon!
Take Care Folks!
Bye For Now
Bradley
