Sunday 20th June 2010
GM Metrobus 5120 (SND120X) made a second appearance at the Weymouth rally this year with the added attraction of being used on service later in the afternoon an a nice non hilly route around Weymouth due to the fact that Metrobuses are known for being slow hill climbers. However, as events transpired, that was all set to change as Mark explains.........
We were in the queue for the Portland bus which promptly filled up and departed leaving a great number of people behind. "sorry, we don't have a duplicate bus" was the comment from the dispatcher. So I talked it over with Stuart and we agreed that, despite the known poor hill climbing abilities of Metrobuses, we'd use 5120 as a duplicate to Portland!!
We departed with a full load of 73 passengers and made our way along the roads towards the causeway. As we reached the bottom of Portland my heart was pounding......will she make it up the hill or will I disappoint 73 people.
I should have more faith in 5120, she is performing beautifully these days! Rounding the hairpin at the bottom of the climb, she ascended the hill at a steady 12mph, not the 1-2 mph I was dreading, and made the summit with ease. Stuart was driving and was almo
st as impressed as I was!
This photo was taken into the sunlight but shows 5120 alongside First's oldest (and only) surviving Bristol VR in the bus layby at Portland Lighthouse - just as proof that we got there!
So, once again...WHO SAYS METROBUSES CAN'T CLIMB HILLS!!!
Many of the passengers enjoyed the ride..."I never thought I'd ride up to Portland in a metrobus - a stunning trip" was mentioned several times.
For the rest of the day 5120 was on easier duties around Littlemoor estate.
Saturday 12th June 2010 1466 goes wandering and returns home again.
The SWPG were planning on taking Daves former GM Buses Scania to the Totally Transport event in Blackpool on 13th July along with Ians former Southern Vectis coach on its rally debut.
On the saturday before, Mark and Dave took 1466 out of her storage in Keighley and drove her over to Bolton to be ready for the next day.
Saturday turned out to be a great leisurly drive over the Pennines and a few photo shots in Saddleworth and Stalybridge.
We were invited to attend the Stagecoach Manchester depot in Ashton as there was a photoshoot going on with another Keighley resident - an ex SHMD Daimler (76 VTU76) which has recently been fully restored. As 1466 also ran on the former SHMD routes it filled in the gap between 76 and a modern Stagecoach Enviro!
Following the stop off in Ashton, we drove down towards Manchester and stopped off at Hyde Road. We asked for permission to bring 1466 back inside the depot again - seeing as this was her depot for almost all of her working life in Manchester (except for a short while out at Glossop alongside another group vehicle, 5120!) Happily, permission was granted so a few shots inside the shed were taken aswell as a few outside in the huge yard at the rear of the depot.
Yet again, we now have pics of SWPG vehicles returning home!
GM Buses 1466 (H466GVM) with SHMD 76 (VTU76) and Stagecoach 1466 returns back home to Hyde Road depot. Seen here in the yard
Manchester 19090 (MX56FUM) to celebrate the changing face of SHMD at the rear of the depot
routes over the last 50 years.
Following this, we drove 1466 back through Manchester city centre - getting some strange looks as it was a familiar looking bus but in a completely unfamiliar colour and headed out to Bolton where 1466 was spending the night along with Ians coach at First's Bolton depot
Saturday 26th June 2010
Yet another group vehicle has been repainted! Following visiting RBW back in February, Ian Berry sent his former Southern Vectis Leyland Tiger 310 TJI8780 (WDL310Y) off for repaint in May. Not many people were told about this as it was intended to be a suprise as at the time there were no other vehicles preserved in the former "National Holidays" livery although a former Southdown Duple bodied Tiger has since been restored into the same livery.
The picture here was taken by Ian just after he took delivery from Reliance. The first rally attendance was Totally Transport in Blackpool.
Ian intends to take his coach down to the Isle of Wight transport musuems running day on 17th October to continue in the theme of SWPG vehicles "Returning home".
Friday 4th June 2010
5120 is published in Bus & Coach Preservation!!
Whilst providing a free bus service at the Bristol Harbourside rally on16th May, B&CP photographer Nigel Appleford got
on and asked if it was OK to get a few pics for the magazine? Mark was only too pleased to agree to this.
At Filton Church, several photos were taken by many of the passengers. This one (left) is one of mine showing the driver Greame Selway - a good friend of ours in the Devon & Dorset Group.
The July 2010 edition of Bus & Coach Preservation has 5120 as the fronticepiece with a very good write up of the bus as well as another on the next page.
As a bonus, Nigels version of this pic was also included inthe rally roundup section of Augusts edition too. Can't have enough publicity or pics of an excellent bus can you?
Monday 29th March 2010
5120 returns home again!!
Following its suprising appearance at the Manchester Spring Transport Festival on the previous sunday, Mark decided to take his former GM Metrobus over her former stomping grounds again in the Tameside area.
As back in November, the now closed depot at York St, Glossop was visited as well as managing to get her inside her home after Glossop, the huge Hyde Road depot in Manchester.
5120 sits outside her former depot at Glossop again. She was allocated 5120 rests at the back of Hyde Rd depot again after at least 10 years
to Glossop between 1989 and 1995. This is probably the last time she will away. She was transferred away from here to Stockport in 2000. She
will return here before the garage is demolished. certainly turned a few heads in the maintenance area!
Friday 26th March 2010
Good news!! 5120 has been repaired and is now back on the road.
Following the appeal by Mark to help get a new angle drive for his metrobus, a plan came together. The bus had been recovered to JRW Commercials in Nailsea to await repair.
A good friend of Marks namely STEVE STOTT of STOTTS BUS COMPANY, Oldham was able to supply Mark with a replacement angle drive and UJ at a much better deal then what was on offer from the Barnsley scrapyards!
This was briught down to John at JRW who was able to fix the bus and get it back on the road.
So, exactly two weeks after the accident, 5120 rolled back into the storage yard and was able to make the trip up to Manchester for the Spring Transport Festival to show off her new colours.
Friday 12th March 2010 Disaster!! or
When the Box on a Metrobox goes BANG!!
Well the pic says it all really!! A bad day in Marks life......
I was intending on taking 5120 in its new colours up to Birmingham on 14th March to take part in the "Farewell to the Metrobus" event at Aston Manor.
On the friday before, I popped out for an hour to get some fuel put in. I was just a mile away from the yard and turned onto the main road between Yate and Bristol, straightened up for the road and "BANG" followed by a grating noise and complete loss of power.....
I managed to get to the side of the road and switched off. There was a nice pool of oil gathering on the road and when I opened the bonnet I was greated by this nasty scene!
The casing surrounding the angle drive on the transmission was cracked in two!
After frantically ringing round with a mobile with very low battery life ( I was only going out for an hour so it was OK!!) I managed to arrange somewhere to be recovered to. Then I rang the breakdown recovery service at 12:30.
I was informed that they would be out to me in around 75 minutes, and shortly after that - my mobile phone died...
After two hours I walked to a nearby house to telephone the breakdown service to find out what was happening. A second firm had been called out as the original had declined the job. So, at 16:15, Walls recovery turned up, bearing in mind that the garage I was being towed to closed at 17:00 and we were 20 miles away!
I phoned them and they stated that they would wait for me and to contact them as we set off.
The driver of the truck had to get back to Newport so a second truck was called out whilst we hooked 5120 to the first one. The plan was to switch drivers and set off.....
Well, after eventually working out how we were going to lift the bus and fasten it on, we then had to remove the half shaft to allow the bus to be towed. Both recovery drivers had never seen a Metrobus before, nor the rear hub and were unsure on how to remove it. They admitted defeat and called out a service van! Thank god I took out Breakdown Recovery as this would have cost a small nay, large fortune!!
so, at 18:30, only 7 hours after the breakdown and 6 since I called for help, we were on our way across Bristol.
The guys at the garage had gone home and the Estate main gates locked automatically at 18:30 so they said to phone them at home and they would come out and let us in.
After a 20 mile tow aross Bristol we Finally arrived in Nailsea at around 19:45. We were let in and put the bus in the yard to await inspection on monday morning to determine what had happened and exactly which part I need to source to get 5120 back on the road. Hopefully TWM in Birmingham will have spare gearbox parts or can direct me to which scrapyard there metrobuses have been sent to.
Basically, HELP! I need to get the bus fixed ASAP as I wish to attend the Spring Transport Festival in Manchester on 28th March - though somehow I doubt it will be done in time....
To make things worse, on the way home from Nailsea in my car, my radiator sprang a leak and I had to call out the RAC. Two breakdowns in one day - not my day really. I finally got home just before midnight after leaving at 10:30 "for about an hour"!!
Saturday 27th February 2010
A suprise to many people was the emergence from Reliance Bus Works of Marks former GM Buses metrobus (5120 SND120X) fully repainted back into 1990's style GM Buses livery! The cat was let out of the bag a few days earlier when pics of the
new repaint were posted on Flickr by Martyn at RBW.....
Anyway, on the morning of the 27th, several SWPG members and friends descended on Stoke on Trent station where two group vehicles were present to take us all to RBW.
Gareth Hughes was first with his ex Maynes Leyland Leopard, number 65, which was the last ever Leopard chassis bought new by Maynes. As can be seen by the picture (left) work has started on the body panels.
The second vehcle was Ian Berrys former Southern Vectis Leyland Tiger 310 WDL310Y although it currently carries TJI8780. It was still in the livery of its former owner Edward Thomas of Ewell.
Both coaches were brought along so Martyn could look at them with a view to body repairs and repaints as both owners were impressed wit
h the paintjob on 5120.
On arrival at Reliance, the Metrobus was purring away in the corner looking even better than the pics on Flickr! Several photographs were taken of the various buses in the works by the travelling party as well as several views of 5120 with various displays for the benefit of some of the guys. The obligatory brews were supped and Gareth and Ian consulted Martyn on their vehicles.
So, after an hour or so, we set off back down south via the nearest fuel station to fill up!
Gareth's Leopard went back north but Ian followed us down to Wolverhampton in his Tiger.
After saying farewell to Ian and the northern party of members & friends in Wolverhampton, we headed on a long a familiar route for the SWPG down towards Bristol via Kidderminster, Worcester and Gloucester. The only change this time was a slight diversion via Stourbridge town centre as this used to be a metrobus haven earlier in WMT/TWM times - but alas no more since their huge cull in numbers.
Not only that but when was the last time a GM Metrobus was seen in Stourbridge?
Several hours later we finally got back to Bristol to park up 5120 back in her home and went off to the pub for a meal and a pint to end off a great day.
Tuesday 6th February 2010
Another vehicle is welcomed into the SWPG fold!
Following the purchase of a former GM Buses Scania (1466 H466GVM) by a good friend of Marks, Dave Birchall, it was decided that this bus would also join the SWPG fleet.
Following its purchase in December 2009 from its former owners - Deckerbus of Whittlesea, work has already commenced on its restoration back to its GM Buses condition. The blanked over panel at the front has already been replaced to allow the destination display to be seen again - luckily the equipment was left in place and just panelled over!
This pic here shows 1466 with its new front in Heaton Park, Manchester.
Sunday 17th January 2010
A sad day for the SWPG as the first vehicle in the group was sold on to new owners.
The costs of running two buses was proving too much for Mark so he made the heart wrenching decision to sell on his ex Fishwicks National 2 (GCK428W) in order to concentrate his efforts on restoring his former GM Buses Metrobus back into its former glory.
The good news is that GCK428W is returning home as she has been bought by members of the Lancastrian Transport Trust. She will end up going through their workshops and get the full "Busworks" treatment and will hopefully end up looking like new. Mark for one is looking forward to seeing her on the rally circuit back in the North West when this is completed.
Saturday 7th November 2009
5120 returns home! Former GMT metrobus 5120, SND120X, made the trip up to the SELNEC 40 event held over 31/10 & 1/11 at Manchester's Museum of Transport and Eastlands stadium. This was the first time she has been in Manchester for nearly 9 years and joined over 30 former GMT/GMB vehicles.
Following the event, Mark Amis took her around her old operating area to recreate some old routes and to get some pictures in interesting locations. The best one was a picture of 5120 outside her old depot in Glossop where she was allocated for the majority of its service life with GMT/GMB.
A link to these pics can be found HERE
Tuesday 23rd June 2009
Newly acquired metrobus, SND120X made its first appearance at a bus rally in p
reservation when it made the trip south to Weymouth for the annual running day organised by the Devon & Dorset Group. An early start was made from Bristol in order to be in Weymouth for 10am. The joys of owning a full height 14'6" bus was again made apparent when we were approaching Yeovil as ther were signs for a low bridge plated at 14'3" despite the truckers atlas saying it was 14'9". We didn't take the chance and diverted via Somerton!
On arrival at Weymouth we were met with lots of interested photographers as the sight of a Metrobus in the south West is rare - especially an ex Manchester one. Mind you, Axe Valley Travel used to run one and still have some London examples.
The pic shows 5120 on arrival at Weymouth displaying a destination usually associated with Oldham based metrobuses.
Later in the day, another SWPG vehicle made an appearance at the rally in the shape of newly acquired Tiger (FRU675Y). Several SWPG members were in attendance and it was good to get together for a chat. One member brought along a Black Velvet ex Lothian Olympian on behalf of his employer - a great vehicle to see and ride on as it made an inpromptue trip to Portland Bill and back.
Saturday 13th June 2009
Today was a swap day for the SWPG. We made an early (6am) start from Bristol to take Bristol VR No 11 (AHU518V) up to Reliance Bus Works in order for it to be refitted with a centre door. on arrival at RBW we were greeted with the site of our latest fleet member, ex GMPTE Metrobus 5120, SND120X (SWPG Fleet No 12).
This bus was sold from Stagecoach ownership in 2001 travelling up to Scotland. It has spent the last few years in The South Cheshire area.
Our trip south was via Stafford & Cannock before a low bridge halted our progress towards Walsall. After reversing several hundred yards up the road to turn around (and a vow to get a truckers atlas showing bridge heights!) we set off towards Wolverhampton and the M6 to Central Birmingham. The reason for this was to get a pic of a Manchester metrobus going around Old Square - something not seen very often, if at all! The destination of 400 - AIRPORT added to the confusion of bystanders ( and NXWM staff!)
After Birmingham we headed south calling in at Wythall Museum to compare their WMPTE Metrobus with our GMPTE example. It was suprising to see so many differences.
South to Bristol was down the A435 via Evesham and Cheltenham and the A38 to Bristol.
AHU518V fuels up in Downend prior to heading to RBW to replace Former GMPTE 5120 heads through the WMPTE Metrobus heartland
its roller shutter with a new centre door as carried when new. of Old Square in Central Birmingham. It gained a few strange looks!
Wednesday 15th April 2009
It has been confirmed today that the SWPG will be providing two vehicles for all day service at the forthcoming Bristol Harbourside rally on 17th May. Bristol VR EWS739W and National 2 GCK428W will be providing an hourly service on former Bristol city service 19 from the rally site at Canons Marsh to Fishponds via Stapleton. Another privately owned ex Bristol Omnibus Bristol RE will provide a connecting service from Canons Marsh over the other half of the old service out to Ashton Vale due to a low brdge en route!
It is hoped that three other vehicles will be on display, Metrobus SND120X and Bristol VR AHU518V. The Metrobus may also be driven through Bristol city centre for a photo oppertunity during the morning. No passengers will be carried.
Thursday 9th April 2009
Following my (Mark Amis) appeal for help in repairing the power steering ram on the National 2, I was greatful to its original owner - Fishwicks of Leyland - who loaned me several tools in order to repair the bus.
GCK was back down at Premier today who managed to successfully repair the bus and re-presented her for an MOT. The good news was that she PASSED!!
Therefore GCK will now be able to attend the proposed rallies this year as planned - the first being the Bristol Harbourside Rally on May 17th.
Friday 20th March 2009
National 2 GCK428W has been down at Premier Bus & Coach this week for its 6 monthly inspection and MOT. The bad news is that she failed the MOT!!
The reason for the failure was that the power steering ram on the front nearside had 3/8ths of an inch of play. Sometimes this wouldn't be an issue with a preserved bus and an understanding inspector but as it was a newly qualified inspector he wouldn't let it go. Although it is annoying, I can see why it was failed. Apart from this, everything else was spot on.
The further bad news is that the tool required to adjust this part is a specialised one especially for the National/National 2 which they don't have down at Premier and apparently they are rare anyway.
Does anyone know of the whereabouts of one of these tools which I can borrow for a few weeks in order to get the repair done. I will gladly pay for its loan. Apparently it goes over the locking nut and has three prongs which fasten onto the part needing to be adjusted. If this cannot be done or arranged before the end of the month then I will have to have a new one fitted which I have been quoted around £600 to do as there aren't many places in the UK which are willing to do this work. If this happens then I will declare the bus SORN until I can afford to get the work carried out.
This will mean that GCK will miss the rally season this year - at least I will have my metrobus to take to rallies.
