THE M & D AND EAST KENT BUS CLUB
Surrey Wanderer 8th September
2001
report first appeared in
Club newssheet 591 Oct ‘01
The transport for
the day was an N-registered Bova owned by Poynter's of Wye. Our first stop was Guildford where some
of our members' ladies disembarked to enjoy a day's shopping! After a brief stop to view the local
buses, we had intended to visit the local Arriva depot but unfortunately Arriva
had already sold the site for redevelopment and demolition was already in
progress.
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Our coach NIL 4762 at Guildford's bus station |
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A White Rose Dart, K589 MGT shortly after arrival at Guildford Bus Station |
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M388 KVR from well known Guildford independent, Safeguard |
The
next stop was the Transbus (formerly Dennis) factory, which has been prominent
locally since the early 20th century when the Dennis family moved from the West
Country to build bicycles and later lawn-mowers. The modern factory now produces approximately 1800 bus and
fire engine chassis annually.
Hosted by two production line managers, we enjoyed a brief history of
the company followed by a guided tour of the premises. Bus production currently comprises
chassis for Dart SLF single-deckers and Trident 2 and 3-axle double-deckers,
the latter destined for Hong Kong.
Everyone was impressed with the clean and efficient way of working and
the enthusiasm of the staff.
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A pair of East Lancs bodied Tridents bound for Spain parked at the Transbus Dennis works |
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Some of the chassis awaiting delivery to bodybuilders parked in the works yard |
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One of the prototype Transbus Enviro 300s seen during our visit |
We
then moved on to the local depot of Countryliner. Here principal interest lay in the presence of three Bristol
VRTs, two ex-Maidstone & District and one of previous East Kent ownership.
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One of the Bristol VRs at Countryliner's depot |
Heathrow Airport bus interchange was our next stop, where various local services and single-deck vehicles on local airport/hotel shuttles (displaying many different liveries) call adjacent to the express coach station. Another major attraction was the public viewing enclosure on the top of the Queen's Building, where the many aircraft movements observed during our short stay emphasised just how busy Heathrow is. Also available to explore was the interchange for the Heathrow Express rail link from Paddington mainline station. We were also able to stop near the end of the runway at Hatton Cross bus/ rail interchange where various single-deck vehicles of several different companies were seen. This showed just how much the route tendering system has affected the bus scene from just a few years ago. This location provided photographic opportunities immediately under the flight path of aircraft landing at Heathrow.
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One of Cambridge Coaches Jetlink liveried coaches at Heathrow central coach station |
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A London United Plaxton Pointer bodied Dart at Hatton Cross |
Our
final visit of the day was to the bus station at Staines. Here services are operated by such
companies as Tellings Golden Miller and First Beeline with the only
double-deckers observed belonging to White Rose Travel, carrying one of the
more attractive red London livery alternatives.
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White Rose was one of the operators seen serving Staines, including this Metrobus |
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Another operator at Staines was Tellings Golden Miller seen here with Mercedes-Benz N70 TGM |
This
was the last of the tours for the 2001 season. I am sure that I am joined by all the 'regulars' in
expressing thanks to David Cobb for another excellent round of trips.