Getting our hands dirty 20/06/15

Now it is a well known fact that your blogmaster is somewhat allergic to manual labour (hence why I now work in an office), but for Saturday 20 June I set aside my allergy of such tasks to prepare 1321 for her forthcoming visit to the 10th Peak Park Bus and Rail event at Peak Rail (Rowsley) the following day. The working party - consisting of Gary, Michael Evans and myself - assembled early on in the 2 Sams Cafe at Hill Top near Eastwood for a suitably large fry-up and copious amounts of coffee before venturing to the farm to begin work.

Our first task was to set about moving all unnecessary items out of 1321 (most of it being the crap we had cleaned out of 2599 for MOT!) So while Gary set to work doing some odd jobs on 2599, Michael and I shunted 1321 round the back of the barn, and your blogmaster set to work doing some gardening - yes, you heard, gardening! The path to our storage container had become somewhat overgrown with nettles in recent weeks, so your blogmaster set to with rudimentary equipment such as wood and bus handrails beating a path through the nettles and crushing these down so we had a walkway wide enough to move all of the stuff out of 1321 and into the container. This task in itself took around 1 1/2hrs, and Michael and I were tired out once we'd finished!

After a rest and a drink, Michael and I jumped in 1321 and we set off in the direction of Shell at Awsworth to top up the tank, before visiting Ripley to fetch cleaning supplies for our next task. It was also as good an excuse as any to let Michael have a play, seeing as the last Tiger he had driven was a training bus when he had started out at Arriva some years ago! Upon our return, we set to giving the exterior a deep clean, before turning our attention to sweeping and mopping the interior to get rid of some of the muck and grime that had accumulated inside from being used as a temporary store (something we do not make a habit of).

Having started out around 10am, the time was getting on for around 6pm, and it had been a long day. But nevertheless it had been rewarding, and 1321 was now ready for the rally field and the day ahead...

Buses, beer and banter: June 2015

It still didn't seem real...2599 had finally been given the clean bill of health and MOT that we had been working towards for 18 months as a group, and with news filtering through from Paul that it now had the correct tax and insurance and was fully road legal, it was just a matter of finding the right time to blow off a few cobwebs.

And that we did. When I finished a slow 8hr shift at the office on Saturday 6 June I was only expecting to meet up with Calum, Matt and Geoff for a few quiet drinks and go home - I never for one moment anticipated meeting Paul and going for a mini-pub crawl with 2599 around Derby and the surrounding area! We were also joined at one stage by Chris Gaskin, and we had a good laugh and a few beers (in most cases).

(C) Calum Maclennan/Calumbus

The next day Paul, Calum and your blogmaster met up at the farm, and decided to take 2599 for a short spin around the Ashfield area. As we were heading this way, I thought it an ideal opportunity to treat my transport-mad 3yr old Godson George and his parents to a ride on a proper bus, and also made arrangements for my good friend David Toon to take the bus for a drive around the local area. Now David used to drive Bristol RE's in their twilight years when he first started out in his driving career at Trent Buses at their Alfreton Depot, and certainly looked most at home behind the wheel of 2599. After dropping everyone off at their respective homes, we headed back to HQ ourselves reflecting on the day's events.

Our thoughts on all this? All in all, 2599 never missed a beat, although we still had work to do to solve our charging problem on the alternator which was still giving us cause for concern. But that is for another chapter...

(C) Calum Maclennan/Calumbus

Judgement day...2599's moment in the spotlight 03/06/15

Well, its been 18 months in the making, but we had arrived...a lot of hard work, money spent and sleepless nights, but Wednesday 3 June marked the day that 2599 was to be submitted for her first MOT in over nine years. A big moment...

The day was shrouded in sadness for your blogmaster, whom had to attend a family funeral in the morning for an Auntie on my dad's side whom had passed around the same time as our friend Tony Challons, but with proceedings over I was able to attend for this proud moment. Paul, Gary and I spent some time de-cluttering the interior (amazing how much crap builds up in the space of a year), and around midday we set off in the direction of Yardleys test centre at Sutton Junction with one burning question in the back of our minds - would 2599 pass its MOT?

We met Nigel Yardley, and while he and Gary went away to perform the hard bit and do the actual MOT, Paul and I kept out of the way and supped coffee with nerves beginning to set in. Was all the hard work of so many people enough to get us that all important piece of paper? Or would we be going back to the drawing board? Well we were about to find out...Nigel and Gary emerged from the inspection pit under the bus, and Nigel uttered something to Gary before disappearing.

The scores on the doors? Gary turned to us and mouthed "she's passed", and I think everyone was somewhat shocked by the huge cheer that went up both from Paul and myself. 18 months of hard work had paid off, and we had finally got that all important piece of paper with 2599's first MOT pass in nearly a decade. We'd done it - and with no advisories too! Words could not (and still cannot) express what a proud moment it was to be stood in front of 2599 smiling for our first photos clutching that all important document. It had been a lot of effort, money, and some sleepless nights, but the effort had paid off, and I cannot thank everyone whom has contributed to the project - no matter how large or small - for their efforts in getting us to this point.

The rally field now beckons...

2599 lives 01/06/15

With May having been a mixed rollercoaster of emotions for all concerned, we pressed on into June. The first day of June saw Gary concluding the rebuilding of 2599's rear brakes, with the hub reassemblement finally being concluded with help from Jonathan Johansson. Wheels refitted, she was cranked into life and was actually moved from under the barn for the first time in nearly a year since arriving at the farm. A proud moment, and a tribute to the hard work on the mechanical side of many people including Tim, Nik, Gary, Jonathan and many more. Next step? MOT time...

Our moment in the limelight: May 2015

Amid the sadness we were experiencing as a group, there were other developments taking place to lift our spirits. Paul had been contacted by industry magazine Coach & Bus Week wishing to interview him about his role as a National Express driver for Silverdale and his unique approach to the job (something we have covered in previous posts on this blog).

Shrouded in secrecy from the rest of the enthusiast world, we gathered at the farm where 1321 was duly pulled out into the evening sun on the lane outside for a proper photoshoot one Tuesday evening, and with the photos duly emailed off later that night, I was surprised to receive a package drop through the letterbox on the Wednesday of the following week with the feature article on Paul and several of your blogmaster's photographs in print. As well as an excellent write-up about Paul and his increasingly famous approach to passenger comfort (including being able to greet people in over 25 different languages), we were delighted to get a mention as a group, including a brief write-up about the buses and a plug for this very blog!

When the group formed in December 2013, I never once imagined that we would be thrust into the limelight amongst some of the industry's leading lights, so it was a big honour for all concerned. 

Farewell Tony: a further tribute 21/05/15

Just one week before the date of this post we were saddened as a group to hear of the tragic death of our good friend Tony Challons, and arrangements to attend his funeral were hurriedly put in place.

Paul and I made 1321 available to the Challons family to provide transport for friends and family of Tony, and we duly took up our sombre duties at 0915hrs when we joined the funeral procession from the family home in Underwood to the Midland Railway at Butterley. It was here where Tony's coffin was duly loaded aboard British Rail 47401 (in which he had shares) for one final ride along the line to Ironville Junction and back to Swanwick Junction for a lovely service in the little chapel there, where fond memories were shared and tears were shed.

After the service, 1321 and a midicoach from E-Coaches were utilised to transfer family and friends from Swanwick Junction to Tony's final resting place, where he was laid to rest with the air reverberating to the sound of a class 47 two-tone horn - a fitting tribute. From here, 1321 was used to convey everyone to the numerous station yards of the Midland Railway before returning those who remained to Underwood Miners Welfare.

Forgive me now for being personal, but Tony was a very good friend of mine for many years, having known each other since I was very young. I was always honoured that he spoke highly of me, and as I said in a previous post there was never a dull moment whenever Tony was around. I will always laugh at how Tony used to come and do his shopping in the days when I worked at Farmfoods in Alfreton and after a Friday afternoon shop the back of my till would often conceal items of bus memorabilia or bus-related parts (much to the shock and often amusement of my colleagues at the time), and our brief chats while the lights were on red on Alfreton High Street as he drove the schoolkids home in an E-Coaches Optare Starrider as I propped up the door of the local off-licence in my brief time working there after Farmfoods. The times I bumped into you at strange hours on station platforms across Derbyshire awaiting rare railway workings, and as for those 'brief visits' to the family home in Underwood...well, I still crack a smile now how it was never 'brief', and copious amounts of coffee would be consumed as we talked all things transport, exchanged memories and had a good laugh - and it was rare to come away empty handed! Alas, I will no longer be able to enjoy these moments again in this life, but I shall forever cherish them, and rest assured I shall be reminding you of them when we meet again in the next!

To quote Paul, "RIP Tony, the lights are all green my friend"...

Pottering about in the Potteries 17/05/15

As it had been assumed that 1321's tax expired at the beginning of May, she had not moved since Mr Rogan had took her out for a shakedown just before our trip to Northern Ireland at the end of April, so imagine our excitement when we found out the tax actually expired at the beginning of June. With days to spare, we decided to book her in for a visit to the annual Potteries rally on sunday 17 May, to be held this year at Britannia Stadium at Stoke on Trent.

Despite the last minute nature of the planning for this event we took a rather healthy load of around a dozen enthusiastic souls, and after a whistle-stop tour of Nottinghamshire to pick everyone up we set off in the direction of Uttoxeter Services, where forward propulsion fluids for 1321 were taken on, and our band of travellers tanked up on copious amounts of coffee and other breakfast-type refreshments before setting off in the direction of Britannia Stadium. With 'King Calum' at the helm (complete with 'Burger King' crown), we arrived in style, and after booking in we were pleased to bump into our old friend Peter Turland of the Yardley Wood Bus Club. We felt it only appropriate that we allow him the chance to have a drive of 1321, and he duly proceeded to take her around the rally site and then park her up.

I took it upon myself to have a wander round photographing the wide array of exhibits (as did Calum), while Paul disappeared on a bus to Newcastle-under-Lyme where he ended up getting stuck, making it back just in time to drive 1321's first trip in service at this event after a desperate (and expensive) taxi leap back to Britannia!! Even better, we were running in convoy with Thomas Mitchell's Ulsterbus Leyland Tiger 1250, and the sight of two Ulsterbus Tigers running together was not something to be missed! Sadly the opportunity to photograph the pair together at Trentham Gardens was thrown out of the window after a breakdown in communication, with Paul ending up on one side of the gardens and Tom and myself on the other, requiring a rethink.

Returning to Britannia, I met up with Calum and our good friend Jon Dale for a second sweep of the site, before I vacated to have a ride to Stoke aboard ex-PMT Bristol VR 677, returning from there on ex-United Counties VR 952, and your blogmaster can safely report that neither bus disappointed (your blogmaster has something of a soft spot for VR's). On return to Britannia once again, your blogmaster had to commit the deadly sin of heavy exercise to run across with just enough time to sample newly-restored ex-PMT Leyland Olympian 757 for a second run to Stoke. My return was to be on our very own 1321, this time with Gary at the helm while Paul enjoyed some thrash aboard the Olympian I had just vacated. Back at Britannia and parked up once again, we decided it was a good time to rearrange the site to get pics of Ulsterbus Tigers 1250 and 1321 together, and they made an impressive sight dressed with matching blinds for the 120 Antrim-Belfast service. Thanks to Tom for finally allowing me the chance to sample 1250, she's a lovely motor and certainly different in her own way to our own 1321, and for going out of his way to get the pair lined up together for photos - both buses certainly turned heads!

We then contemnplated our return home, after posing 1321 under the impressive backdrop of the stadium for a few 'arty' photographs we made good progress, safe in the knowledge we had done it once again...our rally season was now well and truly underway.