The ins and outs of bus snapping

[suzyscottdotcom]

In the responses to this post, carolinetoo said “your snaps appear to be inspired by the work of William Eggleston at the moment.” I’d never heard of the person till I saw the story on Wikipedia. Then, in a later comment, carolinetoo marvels at my work, and questions if I’d ever got any wrong. Loads of them… so I’ve put some of my favourite examples of bus photography into a post of their own.

Firstly, missing them, and the “out of the car chance shot” gives the opportunity to snap vehicles and places you would normally get to combine. This was supposed to be a Bristol VR (rear engined double decker from around 30 years ago) on the A27 Brighton By-Pass, I think (as being a Sunday) it was out on (or coming back from) a rail replacement service…


…taken just a few minutes earlier was one of these that worked out – Brighton & Hove 876, a Dennis Trident/Plaxton President low floor double decker, seen in Falmer Road, Rottingdean.


The Pilots That Crashed. Last year, local councillors persuaded Stagecoach that the poorly used council contracted twice a day Whippet 196 from Cambridge via Fen Ditton to Waterbeach wasn’t enough, and Stagecoach agreed to run Service 8 hourly, all day, for several months. Dennis Trident/Plaxton President 18057 (AE 53 TZJ) is seen here arriving back at Cambridge Drummer Street, after the loads had built up to one passenger. The 8 has been killed off, and the 196 very nearly followed – except the Saturday service is now gone, but the weekday service retained after review.


Stray Of The Day. There are various terms for “buses on the wrong routes” (hairy is a term around London), and buses that aren’t intended to be on the service that they are. Arriva Dennis Dart/Northern Counties 3399 (L119 YVK) is seen at Hertford Bus Station, blinded for Service 311. The 310/311 are normally worked by low-floor double deck Dennis Tridents.


The School Run. Lots of them around, but you need to be careful for obvious reasons. Here, Strathtay MCW Metrobus/Alexander 816 (IIB 6015) arrives at Blairgowrie Wellmeadow on Service 874 from A93/Blacklunnans Road End via Bridge of Cally. The route starts up in the glens at a backroad, where the bus meets a taxi, before picking up and dropping off all the way to Blairgowrie High School. Additionally, the service carries fare paying passengers in both directions, and this has allowed this particular route to swell from a 25 seater to a full size double decker – mostly from Ferguson Park.


The Drivers. Okay, I’ve had fingers, threats, duty boards over the faces, the lot. But now, since I’ve transitioned, a lot of drivers are more friendly, especially if in a skirt. Here, Rennie’s ex Lothian Dennis Javelin/Caetano 59112 (A19 RNY), on the last run to Rosyth Ferry Terminal before Superfast ceased (or was it the second last?) Anyway, after doing the standard record shot at Ferrytoll Park & Ride (one of my favourite places to stand taking pictures of the buses arriving in the evening peak), the X2 driver asked me to get his good side and posed, so I did...!


Crashes and Breakdowns. Okay, there is an unwritten rule that some people observe, which normally applies to not photographing buses with major accident damage. Sometimes it’s a condition of being allowed into depots etc. and it’s normally worth it. However, breakdowns on public property are another thing. When the former Travel London/Connex Bus Optare Excels, new to busy cross-London Service 211, arrived in Dundee, the driver’s have since been up in arms over their reliability> Travel Dundee management have now replaced all the ex-211 Excel’s with Solo’s (leaving the former U3 Excels, with air-con, for now). However, when they did operate, the reliability spoke for themselves. Seen here broken down at the Howff burial yard in Meadowside, Dundee (you couldn’t make this up, could you?) is a bus that broke down off the old 3/4/4A/4B. The bus is seen here being rescued by Newtyle Commercials tow truck. It was 204 (R402 HWU).


Special Services. Many special events will justify their own services. When Radio 1’s Big Weekend came to Dundee in May 2006, a special shuttle service 100/200 to/from Dundee City Centre operated for a one-off few days, with 50/50 split working between Strathtay and Travel Dundee. However, discussion on the Dundee Area Bus Forum suggested that (if) the event was sponsored by Miller, to outdo T In The Park (and putting your best Dundonian accent on) it could be called M In The Park. This was passed around to much amusement at Strathtay HQ, and it was even programmed into Strathtay’s destination displays… Here, what was Strathtay 712 (WLT 743 – a bus that was reregistered from ST 03 GDV when depot manager George Devine fancied the registration for his car) is seen at Discovery Point.


Routemasters. As 712 has a former RM plate, worth a mention. Everyone’s heard of a red London bus. Everytime the media want to think of a bus, this is the image that they come up with. I’m not a fan, I think they’ve done their time, and needed to be replaced. Their exact replacements may be variable, but there are still some RM/RML’s around. They aren’t all red, or green for that matter. First London repainted this bus back into Silver as SRM3 – the silver livery for the Silver Jubilee in 1977, after the bus had carried Golden Jubilee livery in 2002! The reasoning was to promote the silver Heathrow Express trains. Anyway, SRM3 (650 DYE) is seen at Cockspur Street. There is a story of a sadist who convinced LT (as was) to sell 666 DYE…


And Finally… Train’s don’t get a look in, but do they? Back in 2006, the Waterloo & City line trains came to the surface to go for refurbishment – you may have seen the time when they arrived back on telly as one of the cable channels had it on. Here, another one of the 93 stock passes Victoria Station, on route to Yorkshire.

Comments

PRICELESS

[carolinetoo.livejournal.com]

"M in the park", priceless! but do you have to be fra Dundee to get it?