Progress report: six months on (only two months late!!) 09/09/14

Sitting here now on Wednesday 10 September 2014 and looking back, I would love to know where the time has gone! What started out as a rumour amongst coach drivers and some lighthearted banter over exotic food and excessive alcohol (for most), has been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, right up to this point where we have an Ulsterbus RE - a significant one at that - that is making great progress towards being submitted for an MOT sometime in the non-too-distant future.

The day before this post, with our project leader on his annual holidays from the day job at National Express, Calum being as rebellious as ever and working his birthday at Skills, and your blogmaster Dan having a free day before starting a late shift serving the good people of Derbyshire with cigarettes and alcohol, we arranged to meet in Nottingham and discuss progress and the future of the group. After taking a few photographs of developments on the modern Nottingham bus scene, we retired to Tuckers cafe, an excellent little greasy spoon situated just up from the council house and Old Market Square, where talks began over several gallons of coffee and suitably large fry-ups.

We began proceedings by discussing progress so far. From a members viewpoint, we have done extremely well, with 124 followers on the group's facebook page at the time of writing (and growing fast!). We also have our other loyal followers who keep upto date with progress through this very blog, which Paul has described as "expertly written by Mr Daniel Stone. Big thanks for your efforts so far Dan". This blog might not be fancy, or be upto the standards expected of the best English teachers these days, but it is a personal, lighthearted, laid back insight into the developments of 2599, and Paul's comments do mean a lot to me. Now I've taken my bow as requested, I'll shut up and get back on topic!

What have we done? 
A question I frequently asked myself in the early stages of the project!! But looking back now, I wouldn't have had it any other way! Since driving 2599 back from Mike Nash's treasure trove of dealer stock vehicles and preservation projects, progress has been as follows:

• A set of brand new tyres has been fitted, replacing the life-expired ones

• The exhaust manifold has been welded back together, and refitted along with new silencer pipes

• New rear emergency door handle fitted and latch has been cleared and lubricated and now works from the outside as well as the inside

• Cross member under cab floor has been partly repaired from draglink arm to off side wheel arch with new bolt fittings and anti rust chassis paint applied. As a result, the throttle pedal is now far more responsive than before!

So that's what's been done, but what's left to do for MOT?
There is still plenty of work to complete before 2599 is ready to be sent off to an MOT test centre for the first time in several years. Upto press, we still have to work on the following:

• Support beams and an area to secure the batteries and strengthen the top of the battery box/inspection hatch

• Rear brakes to be relined with brand new lining, and then tested.

• New horn to be fitted and rewired if necessary

• Rehinge all external panels including fuel flap to make it flush with the body of the bus

• Replace front fog lights and conduct any electrical work necessary with this task

• Carry out a full pre-MOT inspection

The goals and ambitions of the Ulsterbus 2599 Group
The group has several ambitions for 2599 and her long-term restoration and rallying. Firstly, we would like to oversee the work that is still left to complete, with the aim of having her in for MOT before next year's rally season begins. After attending this year's excellent Alton Bus and Beer weekend back in July, we have all said our goal is to have 2599 ready to make her debut at this event next year. An even more ambitious goal we would love to achieve is to take 2599 back to her native homeland of Northern Ireland for the Irish Transport Heritage rally at Cultra (Co. Down) in 2016!

So quite an ambitious list you can see before you, but with continuing support, any donations people may wish to make to the project (either useful parts or financial contributions through the group's PayPal account), these dreams will soon become a reality.

And a thank you...
There are far too many people to thank individually, but some key people include:

• Mike Nash, from whom 2599 was initally purchased
• Our engineering team, Tim Moss, Gary Crosby, Nik from Silverdale and Gary's friend Robin
• Robert Nogues, Ben Simpson and the lads of the Ards Bus Preservation Group for their continuing support, advice and assistance with finding parts
• The owners of the site where 2599 resides, whom are most accommodating
• Silverdale Coaches for allowing us to use their facilities at the beginning of the project
• Tiger European Coaches for the temporary storage of 2599 in the early days of the project
• Tony Challons for his assistance with finding key parts for the restoration process
• Lee Roddis and Carl Ireland for their assistance with sourcing the brake anchor pins that were giving us so much headache at one stage

And finally, a massive shout-out to all of our members and supporters of the Ulsterbus 2599 Group who have supported us, and continue to support us, with their positive comments, assistance and well wishes in our bid to get Ulsterbus 2599, the penultimate Bristol RE built, back on the road. We couldn't do it without any of you!