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| Count | Photo | Details | Added  |
| 1,401 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson First reported in May 2021, at least four of these Mercedes Sprinter minibuses are in use from the Rainham Garage of Stagecoach London. Several bus companies have taken additional minibuses for crew ferry use over the past year or so, most likely because carrying capacity has been reduced by COVID-related social distancing requirements. These Sprinters have 15-seat bodywork and are the largest minibuses so far seen. All are in white livery and unmarked apart from various labels, including for Enterprise flex-e-rent. At least a couple also have Stagecoach names and logos applied in a nearside window. FJ18UPR was seen departing from Atlanta Boulevard (close to Romford Station) on 17th July 2021. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,402 |  |
By Ray Monk Seen in the front building at Arriva's Barking (Dagenham) Garage on 17th July 2021 were a couple of silver crew ferry cars, recognisable by having fleetnumbers on large labels in the windscreens. On the right is lettered Vauxhall Corsa 216, which seems to have been based here since new in 2014. The unmarked Vauxhall Insignia estate car on the left is a more recent addition, its licensing data suggesting acquisition in June 2021. The use of estate cars as crew ferries, especially relatively upmarket models such as the Vauxhall Insignia, is unusual for Arriva London. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,403 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson In use as an engineer's van at Arriva London's Norwood Garage from at least early July 2021, FD17KKH is an unmarked Vauxhall Combo van with a roof beacon towards the rear. It was seen in the garage yard on 5th July with Vauxhall Corsa crew ferry car WM66ADZ in the foreground. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,404 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson Andrew visited Go-Ahead's Plough Lane Garage on 25th July 2021 and found this Ford Fiesta van parked with one of the commercial department's E-class buses. Although unlettered, the livery and registration series of the van make me certain that this a Go-Ahead vehicle. The only puzzle is how come nobody else has seen it since it was new over 5 years ago. Perhaps it originally worked for one of the other Go-Ahead companies around the country. As has been seen, some of these do have red service vehicles, even when their buses carry other liveries. On the other hand, it could have been a second-hand acquisition that just happened to have a similar registration to existing Go-Ahead vehicles. This latter theory is supported by the fact that the vehicle had a new V5C (logbook) issued at the end of 2019, suggesting a change of ownership. Plough Lane only has a couple of service vehicles but one of them has the very similar registration of EU16KXR. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,405 |  |
By Peter Terry I have had many requests for more photos of black Abellio Ford Fiestas (!), so here is their LV60MVD at the Plough in Beddington on 27th July 2021. This car has been based at Beddington Cross garage since it was acquired in about 2017, and is allocated fleetnumber 6772 although this does not appear to be carried. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,406 |  |
By Derek Everson Go Ahead London's Volvo FM tow truck is no stranger to LTSV, but this is the first photo to show it in its current guise. New as VLT46 in 2004, it surrendered this mark in 2017 and became LN04CHL. About a year later it was re-registered again to AF04TOW, this relating to the AF code of its home garage of Putney. It was photographed outside the garage on 20th July 2021 with a WHV class bus on tow. Since last being shown, the livery of the lorry has been amended. The grey skirt, which previously ran the whole length of the bodywork, is now confined to a short section of upsweep at the rear, while the thin stripe at mid-height has been changed from blue to yellow. The panel above the sun visor has changed from red to white and, although not visible in this view due to reflections, it carries the London General logo. Previously the three logos of London General, Go-Ahead and London Central were displayed here. The Volvo FM12 badging below the windscreen has been removed, with the Volvo name now appearing on the corner panels and on the mirror covers. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,407 |  |
By Ray Monk This Renault lorry in the livery of B R Saunders has been based at Acton Works for the last couple of years, its front being shown on LTSV in June. This rear view, taken on 10th July 2021, shows more clearly the flatbed configuration and twin axles, the rearmost being of the lifting type. Note that there are stabilisers behind the rear axle in addition to folding ones beside the crane at the front. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,408 |  |
By Ray Monk The stock of demountable bodies has been reduced in recent years, with 8 believed to remain in stock for use with the 4 lorries capable of carrying them. DB14 is unique in being a box body with a crew compartment in the front section. When seen in the lorry yard at Acton Works on 10th July 2021 it looked to have been recently repainted in all white. Another change is the addition of two external lights at the top front corners. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,409 |  |
By Les Savine A fine view of LBSL IRU 9085VW parked on Coombe Road in New Malden during an emergency services incident on 23rd June 2021. The yellow object at the rear is a 'Safe-T bar' bumper, which doubles as a footstep. When the vans were first delivered to the dealership in Bedfont, these bumpers were black, as can be seen here. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,410 |  |
By Peter Terry At least 8 Incident Response Unit vans are allocated to Morden to cover south London. 9075VW is one of these and can often be found at West Croydon Bus Station or nearby, as seen here on 6th July 2021. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,411 |  |
By Derek Everson Seen passing the Marble Arch Mound on 13th July 2021 was London Buses Volkswagen Crafter van 9063VW. 45 of these vans were delivered in 2020 for use as Incident Response Units. 9063VW was one of the first, arriving in February, while the final 19 were caught up in COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and did not enter service until the autumn. The Marble Arch Mound is an 82 foot tall artificial hill that was built as a temporary tourist attraction, offering views over Hyde Park. It opened at the end of July but then was quickly closed again while improvements were made in response to early visitor feedback. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,412 |  |
By London Spotter This interesting van was found parked near Monument Station on 24th July 2021. Numbered 8993F it is a long-wheelbase high-roof Ford Transit Mk8 van, with a yellow band and 'Rapid Response Vehicle' lettering added to the standard LUL livery. Delivered in late 2020, this van has been noted parked inside Griffith House on several occasions, suggesting that it is based there, perhaps as the pumps and drainage emergency vehicle. This role was last fulfilled by Ford Transit van 7818F, which carried an identical livery but which was withdrawn in spring 2019 and was not ULEZ-compliant. Could it be that 8993F was ordered as a replacement but was delayed? It is notable that other vehicles numbered in the 89xx range were delivered from spring 2019 onwards. Comparing the livery on this van with the similar scheme applied to 8684F, it will be noted that the yellow stripe has been applied parallel to the skirt, rather than at a slight angle. 8993F also has a red stripe applied above the skirt, but it lacks the red bonnet found on 8684F. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,413 |  |
By Ray Monk The Lifts and Escalators section at Frank Pick House in Acton gained a large number of new vehicles in 2019, most being from the Ford Transit family. Most of the vehicles are not actually kept there, although they all do seem to visit from time to time. It also appears that there is now more interchange of vehicles between there and the L&E operation at Griffith House in Marylebone. For example, the Renault Kangoo visible in the background of this photo taken at Frank Pick House on 10th July 2021 is 8365R, previously a Griffith House regular. The main subject is 8754F, one of the large batch of Ford Transit Custom crew vans. Most of the vehicles at this location can be seen from passing District and Piccadilly line trains, the tracks for which are visible on the left. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,414 |  |
By Ivor Norman Another Renault Kangoo Maxi van now, with 8683R basking in the sunshine in Harlow on 28th July 2021. This is one of the rarer examples of the type, with only a handful of sightings since it was delivered in September 2018. None of these helped determine the van's allocation, which is hence shown as 'unknown'. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,415 |  |
By Ray Monk Parked outside the offices at Acton Works on 31st July 2021 were examples of the two main types of small van used in the central fleet at present. To the fore is Renault Kangoo Maxi van 8663R in Trams white/blue/green, while LUL-liveried Volkswagen Caddy Maxi crew van 8903VW is parked behind (with Mercedes Axor mobile office WX08KUY beyond). Both of the vans have roof-racks, with the Renault van also having a light-bar. Most Trams service vehicles have these, no doubt because they sometimes have to be parked on roads. It is interesting to note that most Caddy Maxi vans have been specified as crew vans (i.e. with the additional side windows), while most Renault Kangoo Maxis have been plain vans. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,416 |  |
By Ivor Norman Toyota Yaris car 8575T was new in September 2017 and, for a couple of years at least, could routinely be found parked in the front car park at Acton Works. Observations suggest that it was transferred to Stratford Market Depot in mid-2019, and Ivor found it parked at the Homebase store in Harlow on 25th June 2021. There are about 40 Yaris cars in the central fleet at present, though it has to be said that a lot of them are proving very elusive. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,417 |  |
By Ray Monk Most of the vehicles in the DSM yard at Acton Works on 10th July 2021 were Mk8 Ford Transits, including van 8503F. New in September 2017 this vehicle is notable for carrying incorrect fleetnumber 8530F on both sides. Rather annoyingly, the real 8530F is also a mid-height Transit, though it can be recognised by being a crew van and long wheelbase. The real 8530F seems to be a Northern Line vehicle, having been based variously at Edgware and Morden. The allocation of 8503F is less clear, although sightings at Lambeth North and Regents Park suggest that it is assigned to the Bakerloo Line. As such, it is most likely based at the small London Road depot near to Elephant and Castle. Visible on the right is Ford Transit Courier crew van 8105F from a batch new in late 2015 and initially based at Lillie Bridge. Two of the batch (8105F and 8106F) appear to have had a stay of execution, being transferred to other roles, perhaps due to the disruption to fleet renewal caused by the COVID-19 situation. 8105F's presence at Acton may indicate that its time is now up. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,418 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson We are currently showing over 30 vehicles as being allocated to Edgware Track Depot, including a run of 18 consecutively numbered vehicles 8380VW to 8397R. Edgware vehicles are a bit hard to photograph, as the location is not accessible and the vehicles only come out at night. Some examples were found at places such as Camden Town on night trips, while quite a few have turned up on visits to Acton Works. This example was found on the opposite side of London on 19th June 2021, Renault Kangoo maxi van 8394R being parked up in Blackfen near Sidcup. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,419 |  |
By Ray Monk This is 'Zippy', otherwise known as 8285F. This Ford Transit medium-wheelbase mid-height crew van has been found parked in the DSM yard at Acton Works on almost every recent visit. It has a fold-over Hazchem plate on the front bumper, which is normally folded closed (the reverse being blue). On this occasion the plate was open but carried no labels. Parked alongside on 26th June 2021 was 9016F, identical except for it being a '2020 facelift' model. The subtle changes around the front grille can be seen, most notably the lack of body colour between the grille and bumper. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,420 |  |
By Ray Monk Ray has commented that, on his recent visits to Acton Works, far fewer vehicles than 'normal' have been seen. This seems to reflect both a decrease in the amount of fleet renewal taking place, and also perhaps a reduction in the amount of non-essential maintenance work being undertaken. Parked near the CDS offices on 26th June 2021 was Ford Transit crew van 8284F, notable for carrying a 'Thank you NHS' roundel on the rear. Although presumably an officially sanctioned decoration, it has not been seen on any other vehicle. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,421 |  |
By Ray Monk 7755F was almost unique in the central fleet in being acquired second-hand. It was taken over from EDF Powerlink when the LUL Power Supply contract was brought back in-house in 2013, and was based (along with a fleet of new vans) at Station Road in Tufnell Park. The van is believed to have had some sort of specialised equipment fitted, accounting for its retention. 7755F was duly replaced by new Ford Transit 8859F in late-2019 and it was then moved to Acton Works and de-lettered. It was by then one of the oldest Transits in the fleet and, being non-ULEZ compliant, it was unlikely to see further use. However, it lingered at the works until mid-2021, being photographed there on 10th July. On another visit later the same month, 7755F was not seen and had presumably been disposed of. Note the emergency-style lights on the front grille. |
05/08/2021 |
| 1,422 |  |
By Phil Hambling Leyland National LN13 makes its fifth appearance on LTSV with this photo taken at Garston Garage in February 1989. Taken out of passenger service in 1983, it was re-purposed the following year as a mobile waiting room for coach passengers at Scratchwood Services on the M1. It carried a white livery with two variations of National Holidays lettering, the small version shown here later being replaced by larger titles. It was further repainted in about 1990, to cream with Shearings National lettering (for the same role), and then again to all-over yellow in 1992, when it was sold to Luton and District for use as a driver training bus. According to the Ian's Bus Stop website, it was then sold to London and Country in 1995, assigned fleetnumber A30 and intended for conversion for a youth project. However, this was aborted and it went for scrap later that year. As a curious aside, another company also used a former LN bus as a waiting room at Scratchwood. LN8 had an interesting history and seems to have never actually worked for LCBS. Delivered directly to Nottingham City Transport it was on hire from LCBS for evaluation. Its green livery was adapted with a cream waist band and orange roof. Returned to LCBS in 1973, it was stored for a month then passed to Hants and Dorset in a swap that saw three Nationals exchanged for 3 former King Alfred Metro-Scania single deckers. Initially used in plain NBC green, it was repainted to H&D's standard NBC red with a white waist stripe in about 1975. In 1982 it passed to Alder Valley in another exchange, this time of dual-door Nationals for single-door ones. Alder Valley did not put the bus in service but converted it into a mobile information and publicity bus (ironic, given the similar fate of sister LN7. Indeed the two vehicles appeared together at ShowBus in 1984, as seen here). The livery was white/red/black in the current coach style, changed to 'deregulation' green/yellow in about 1989. In 1992 the bus was sold to holiday firm Club Cantabrica and repainted into their blue and red livery. Used as a waiting room and booking office at Scratchwood Services, it stayed for a few years before being sold into preservation in 1998. It appeared at a few rallies in Cantabrica blue but was then repainted (again) into SuperBus yellow/blue. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,423 |  |
By Phil Hambling Of the five LCBS Leyland National buses converted into service vehicles, the best known is LN7. Rebuilt as a mobile shop and information vehicle in 1979, it appeared at many bus rallies and shows over the next few years. The oasthouses in the background give a clue to the location of this photo, it being a bus rally at Paddock Wood in Kent in August 1986. Note that the rear skirt panel has been raised and it looks like the back offside wheel was in the process of being changed. LN7 was sold in late-1989, most likely for scrap. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,424 |  |
By Phil Hambling KPA101K was one of the very first Leyland National buses built, only a couple getting K-suffix registrations. It was delivered to London Country Bus Services as their LN1 in 1972, though it carried a yellow livery rather than the standard green. This was soon adapted with blue trim for use on SuperBus routes in Stevenage. In 1981 (some sources give 1978) it was converted into a mobile engineering training vehicle, and given the green and yellow livery shown here. Its use appears to have been limited and it was dumped at Crawley when photographed in December 1987. It is believed to have been sold for scrap not long afterwards. Alongside is another of the early LN buses, LN7, as shown in the |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,425 |  |
By Phil Hambling London Transport built up a large fleet of Daimler/Leyland Fleetline buses during the 1970s, a total of 2646 being taken into stock. Most had relatively short lives in the capital and were outlived by the buses they were intended to replace. Perhaps surprisingly, very few Fleetlines became service vehicles, although a large number were used as driver training vehicles. Of the three conversions known, DMS2559 became a mobile survey control centre in 1983. It was apparently repainted (at Loughton Garage), though details of its livery, and indeed its use, are not known. It was reported as sold in 1992 and seems to have eventually passed to a youth community group in Essex. It was photographed in Rochford in June 2001 in a hand-painted livery typical of such vehicles. Last licensed in 2002, it was not listed in the LOTS SUP44A publication of 2008, suggesting that it had by then been scrapped. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,426 |  |
By Phil Hambling 43 long Routemasters were built as coaches for use on Green Line services in 1965, these being classified as RCLs. All passed to London Country Bus Services upon its formation in 1970, along with the shorter RMC coaches and a batch of RML buses. Following delivery of newer single-deck coaches, the RCLs and RMCs were demoted to bus work then withdrawn from service in the late 1970s. Faced with serviceable vehicle shortages, London Transport decided to buy back most of LCBS's Routemasters and the RCLs were initially used as driver trainers before being modified for use on bus route 149 from 1980. The exception was RCL2221, which was converted into a mobile cinema and exhibition vehicle. It was repainted into Shillibeer green/cream/red livery to take part in events in 1979 to mark 150 years of public bus services in London, then reverted to standard red. The bus saw occasional use through the 1980s and 1990s and was found parked at South Street in Romford in December 2000, when it appears to be advertising pollution awareness. Note the Dial-a-Ride Mercedes minibus parked behind. RCL2221 was eventually sold into preservation in 2008. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,427 |  |
By Phil Hambling AEC Swift bus SMD91 was rebuilt in 1978 into a mobile classroom, being officially renumbered as STB91 (not carried) and repainted with a white roof and an angled white stripe on each side. The vehicle was referred to as a video-bus, presumably having equipment inside to show training videos. Could it be that the V shape of the side stripes was related to this? Another change was that the original plain front panel was changed for one with a ventilation slot. It would appear that this came from an early DMS bus, these also having the narrow-spaced headlamps. It is not known how much actual use STB91 saw, and it was parked up at various garages for much of the time. It was to remain in stock until the early 1990s, and was then sold into preservation. When seen at North Weald in June 1996, it still retained its unusual livery. The AEC winged badge on the front and the late-1980s London Buses roundels on the front and sides are additions since preservation, while the bus was at the time fitted with a former Red Arrow Merlin blind. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,428 |  |
By Phil Hambling London Country Bus Services used an all-over yellow livery for its recovery vehicles, this perhaps being a National Bus Company standard. Seen in anonymous condition at Epsom Downs in June 1989, RTP209J was an AEC Matador that had been acquired in 1980 when it was already nine years old. It was assigned fleetnumber M3 and, when LCBS was split-up in 1986, it passed to London Country South West. The latter company was soon renamed to London and Country, and this name was later carried by M3, by then officially renumbered to A3. The eventual date of disposal is not known but is assumed to be in the early 1990s, and the vehicles appears to still survive somewhere, albeit now SORN (off the road). |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,429 |  |
By Derek Everson This is a rather special photograph, due to the fleetnumbers that were allocated to the two vehicles shown. When London Country Bus Services (LCBS) was created from the country area of London Transport in 1970, it inherited a small quantity of service vehicles from LT. Most retained their existing fleetnumbers in the range 1148F to 1413F, though a trio of Austin vans had their numbers reduced by 1000. For new deliveries and acquisitions, a new number series was started at 1B, initially only for smaller vans. Larger vehicles were numbered from 578F upwards, the reason being that a batch of Ford D550 lorries had been ordered by LT as 1578F-1580F. These were delivered after the split and became LCBS 578F-581F. Successive numbers were used until the arrival of 586F in 1974, after which it was decided that lorries would be numbered in the main series (the first being 19F of 1976) while recovery vehicles would get M-prefixed numbers (eg M1). There were therefore just nine vehicles numbered in the 5xx series and this photo shows two of them. Taken at Staines Garage on 2nd May 1981, the vehicle on the left is well-known. Low-height bus RLH44 was converted into a uniform issue unit in 1971 and numbered 581J. It served until 1982 (when it was replaced by former Leyland National bus LNB57) and was sold for preservation in 1983. Interestingly it has since been kept in semi-converted state, rather than being returned to pure bus layout. On the right is Ford D0910 stores lorry 585F, delivered new in 1973 and kept until 1982. It is believed to have originally had a grey livery but was in standard National Bus Company green by the time of this photo. Note that there was no attempt to match fleetnumbers to registration numbers, and the more suitable number 584F had already been used on a similar lorry new the year before. Although designated as a stores lorry, LCBS often used such vehicles for driving training duties, as evidenced by the labelling on the front. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,430 |  |
By Phil Eames via James Mair Interest in service vehicles probably reached its nadir in the 1980s and 1990s, with only a handful of individuals still photographing and tracking them. Fortunately, service vehicles do often appear as peripheral content in other photographs, such as this view of the covered forecourt of Norwood Garage taken by Phil Eames in about January 1994. On the left is Ford Escort van 4055F, new in May 1991. The livery of this van is slightly puzzling. As seen in Colin's photo taken the month it was delivered, the van had fleetnumbers and a large London Buses roundel on the offside at least. However, another photo from July 1992 showed it having a completely unmarked nearside. Phil's photo shows the offside and rear, both of which have roundels. The fleetname of South London has also been added, along with that well-known South London landmark of Tower Bridge! Other points to note are that the L-class Olympian on the right carries the registration number from Routemaster RM1330, while the nearest RML has via points for route 2 applied along the cantrail panels. The route 2 has been associated with Norwood garage seemingly forever, and it still covers the core section between Norwood and central London. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,431 |  |
By Phil Hambling Regular visitors will recognise the ivy-covered building in the background as being the London Transport offices at Manor House, near the south-east corner of Finsbury Park. Parked outside in October 1988 was Ford Escort 3-door saloon car 3665F, which had entered service a couple of months earlier. Marked only with fleetnumbers, it was officially allocated here for its entire 3 year career with LT. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,432 |  |
By Phil Hambling The Ford Escort van was probably the most numerous single type of service vehicle in the 1980s. At the time of this photo (July 1986), there were 104 in the fleet, just over a fifth of the total. 3309F was fairly typical, having red livery and white lettering (apart from the gold London Transport titles). Assigned to the general purpose 'Group 3', it was found at Baker Street station, a location which always seemed to have a few such vans present. The only official allocation information for this van is from a list dated January 1986, which had it based at Shepherds Bush bus garage. 3309F was leased from Hertz and was returned to them in 1988, after exactly three years. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,433 |  |
By Steve Smith via Ian Dyckhoff Another articulated lorry being used on the regular Acton to Neasden shuttle (and parked in the same place as 2251B inside Neasden Depot) was Ford Cargo 2444F. London Transport bought a total of 28 Ford Cargo lorries between 1982 and 1988. As with the earlier Thames Traders and D-series lorries, the Cargo lorries were to various configurations, including 4 as articulated tractor units. Delivered in grey livery in July 1986, 2444F lasted until 1995 and is believed to have been repainted in the post-1990 white/blue livery. The Cargo artics were eventually replaced by Mercedes-Benz 1520 units between 1993 and 1995, that model also being small enough to get around the confines of depots such as Neasden. The trailer fortunately has its fleetnumber on the offside, showing it to be Crane Fruehauf CT33 from a batch bought in 1984. Compared to the preceding York trailers, these were also single-axle but had metal dropside doors (instead of wood) and lacked the bolsters at the coupling end. The 1984 trailers were also repainted blue and they outlasted several generations of tractor units. Although CT33 was withdrawn in 2000, several others remained in use into the 2010s, and at least one (CT36) is still in stock at present (July 2021). |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,434 |  |
By Steve Smith via Ian Dyckhoff By the 1980s the regular Acton to Neasden parts shuttle was being performed using articulated lorries. Due to the tight turning spaces within Neasden depot, only short trailers were suitable for use and this may account for why LT had so many single-axle trailers. Ford D-series tractor units would have been common on such work but the undated photo here shows an oddity. 2251B was a Bedford TK tractor unit new in April 1980. London Transport only bought 4 examples of the TK model. First was a 3-axle flatbed lorry acquired second-hand in 1974, followed by a (new) 2-axle tanker in late 1979. Arriving with 2251B was dropside lorry 2252B. The TK model was about to be replaced by the new TL, and LT did go on to buy a number of that type. There are two notable points about 2251B and 2252B. Firstly, they both had cabs that were in a slightly darker shade of grey than the Ford Cargo Grey normally applied. Secondly, they had out-of sequence registrations when most vehicles bought at the time had matching ones. Ironically, the more suitable fleetnumbers of 2300B and 2301B were later used for a pair of Bedford TL artics. The trailer is most likely one of the six York ones bought in 1971 (YT22 to YT27) although unfortunately the number cannot be read. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,435 |  |
By Derek Everson Ford introduced the A-series van in 1973 to plug a gap between the largest Transits and the smallest D-series lorries. Although remaining in production for 10 years, it was never a huge seller, and London Transport took just 8 examples alongside hundreds of the other two types. Of the 8, half were standard vans in grey livery, while the remainder were used as railway breakdown vehicles and carried red. 2062F was the first to arrive, having been initially hired as a demonstrator in mid-1977. This explains its non-matching registration - most other services vehicles at this time being given registration numbers that related to their fleetnumbers. It was joined towards the end of 1977 by three similar vans. On 29th April 1981 2062F was caught entering Hounslow Bus Station/Garage. Note the large sliding cab doors and the rather high ground clearance. Another oddity is the application of London Transport lettering either side of a roundel in the top of the windscreen. Three of the four grey vans were withdrawn in 1983/1985, while 2086F famously gained a stay of execution by being rebuilt as a mobile communications vehicle and repainted red. In this form it remained in the fleet until 1991. The four railway breakdown tenders were withdrawn in 1987/1988, seemingly without direct replacements. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,436 |  |
By Derek Everson Ford's D-series replaced the Thames Trader as the standard lorry for London Transport use from 1966 until the late-1970s. LT's D-series lorries came in all shapes and sizes, some of the largest being D1000 10-ton open lorries. These came with either dropside doors or fixed sides, the latter being shown in this view of 1783F at Chiswick Works on 10th July 1974. The largest D-series lorries often had a chrome strip across the front panel (between the side indicator lights), while the bodywork was usually mounted higher up (relative to the cab) than on smaller variants. 1783F had been bought in August 1972 and was destined to last a little over 8 years. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,437 |  |
By Steve Smith via Ian Dyckhoff The last Ford Thames Trader photo for today is rather special. This is a scan of a slide that was found discarded at Neasden Depot by Steve Smith. Taken in late 1963 or early 1964, it shows railway emergency vehicles at the old breakdown garage at the north end of the depot, with the power station visible in the background. The date was determined by the fact that Trader 1281F has red 'LT URGENT' lettering on its illuminated front panel. This was soon changed to the familiar black and white version once it was realised that it was illegal for vehicles to have a red light facing forwards. There is also the fact that 111J (the cream/red lorry alongside) was withdrawn in March 1964. The latter vehicle was a purpose-built AEC Regent new in 1935, of which colour photos are very rare. The third vehicle is one of the three Bedford KZ vans that carried cream/red livery, though unfortunately it is not possible to tell which. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,438 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection Somewhat surprisingly, I only have photos of two of the four Thames Trader tree loppers inherited by LCBS from LT in 1970, even though they remained in use until 1979. The date, location and photographer of this view of 1242F are not known. 1242F was based variously at Garston and St Albans garages, covering the north-west quadrant of the country area. A Leyland National bus in Green Line livery is visible on the left, while the bus destination blinds on the right include one that appears to show 'Durrants Farm Est'. This location was either at Croxley Green or at Berkhamsted, so that does not really help identify the garage. I had always assumed that bus wheels and lorry wheels were all generally the same size. However, the wheels on this Thames Trader are noticeably smaller than the loose wheels nearby. The latter are presumably off a bus of some sort. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,439 |  |
By Derek Everson London Transport's tree lopper lorries had a sliding door in the nearside for crew access, and large rear doors for unloading cuttings. Because these vehicles often had to park on narrow country lanes and roads with overhanging trees, the back doors were painted with yellow/black chevrons to provide warning to other motorists. 1241F was photographed at Grays Garage on 12th June 1977, although it was officially allocated to Northfleet. Alongside is a coach that never carried passengers for LCBS. T1 was one of 4 AEC Reliances bought second-hand in 1974 to train drivers in the use of manual gearboxes. The four Thames Trader tree loppers used by LCBS were withdrawn in 1979, following the delivery of two new Ford D-series lorries. These initially carried the bodywork removed from two of the Traders, though they were given new bodies in 1984. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,440 |  |
By Derek Everson Until the 1980s the work of trimming trees along bus routes (to prevent damage to passing buses) was undertaken by the bus companies. Initially former buses were used, either built as or converted to open-top. These were later replaced by purpose-built lorries. In the case of London Transport, five vehicles were deemed to be necessary, one for the central area and one for each quadrant of the country area. Five Thames Trader lorries were bought in late 1962, replacing a batch of former STL buses. The four allocated to the country area passed to London Country Bus Services on the first day of 1970, retaining their fleetnumbers and grey livery but gaining amended fleetnames (rather ironically, the one lorry that remained with LT was later repainted green). Interestingly, tree lopping was only performed for parts of the year, and most of the vehicles spent a couple of months each year (generally in the autumn) parked up and delicensed. Thames Trader 1241F spent most of its life at Northfleet Garage in Kent. In summer 1965 it spent a couple of months allocated to 'Acton (Gardening Section)', while under LCBS control it also had spells at Dunton Green, Swanley and Crawley, though these appear to have been while it was non-operational. On 12th June 1977, Derek found 1241F parked at Grays Garage. Although north of the River Thames, this area was probably covered by the Northfleet lorry since it was closer than the north-east sector one at Hertford. Note that later Thames Trader lorries had the 'Trader' badging between the headlamps instead of together with 'Thames' below the grille snout. On the left is an RCL Routemaster bus, while on the right is T1, one of 4 Harrington-bodied AEC Reliance coaches built in 1961 and acquired second-hand from Maidstone and District in 1974 for use as manual gearbox driver trainers. A better view of T1 is in the next photo. |
12/07/2021 |
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By Julian Bowden-Green collection Nine of London Transport's Ford Thames Trader lorries were fitted out as towing vehicles, to rescue broken down buses. The first three were bought in 1962 and replaced pre-war AEC Regal conversions. Two more followed in 1963, then a final 4 in 1965, these mainly replacing AEC Regent conversions from the 1950s. The Traders remained in use until 1977, when they were supplanted by Ford D-series lorries that were noticeably shorter due to a change in the regulations regarding towed train lengths. 1239F, from the first trio of Traders, would have been one of the busiest, since it was based at the very central Victoria Garage. As such it was probably called on to attend breakdowns of any bus in the area, since the home garage would likely be rather distant. Towing vehicles still carried trade plates at this time and 1239F was assigned 975GH from new (this plate transferring from Regal 444W), then 973GH and finally 635LA. Withdrawn in July 1976 it was stored at Chiswick Works until sold in January 1977. This undated photo was taken at Chiswick during this time. Parked near to 1239F are one of the AEC Matador breakdown tenders and what looks like an AEC Mercury in grey. Note the 7 suffix to the fleetnumber on 1239F, this denoting the vehicle's 7-ton carrying capacity, even though it was largely irrelevant in this role. |
12/07/2021 |
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By David Clinker London Transport bought 136 Ford Thames Trader lorries between late-1959 and early-1965, the type then being replaced by the new D-series. The Traders came in a variety of configurations including box vans, tippers and artic tractors, but perhaps the most numerous were open/dropside lorries. Typical of these was 1229F, a dropside lorry new in October 1961 and fitted with a half-length tilt cover. Although not visible here, this lorry was one of only a handful of LT Traders to be equipped with a tail-lift. Note that the vehicle tonnage is shown by a figure 5 after the fleetnumber and in a slightly smaller font. 1229F lasted just over ten years with LT, being based at Chiswick and Parsons Green. It was photographed on 22nd August 1962 parked at Shepherds Bush. |
12/07/2021 |
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By Malcolm Conway collection Before the 1960s, articulated lorries were quite rare in the London Transport fleet. The only examples were a couple of specialised low-loaders and of course the 10 Bedford mobile canteens. From late-1959, London Transport started buying artic tractors and trailers for more general-purpose duties, most of the early prime movers being Ford Thames Traders. 1223F was from a batch of six delivered in late 1961. It was photographed in July 1962 paired with YT19, one of three slightly unusual trailers delivered at about the same time. While most trailers were dropside opens or low-loader flatbeds, YT17-YT19 had fixed sides and full length tilt covers, making them effectively vans. The trio were apparently used for the movement of bus tyres, and official documents state that they were acquired to replace AEC Regal lorries including 445W and 451W. The YT19 fleetnumber is visible painted on the full-height headboard, while the number on the tractor unit includes the PM suffix, this standing for Prime Mover. Non-articulated Ford lorries from this era had their tonnage as the suffix. The covered trailers, and the Ford Thames tractor units, were withdrawn in the early 1970s. |
12/07/2021 |
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By David Pearson via Ian Dyckhoff Neasden Depot is one of the largest on the London Underground and is unique in handling trains of both 'tube' and 'surface' stock. Indeed both sizes can be seen in the background of this excellent photo taken on 4th November 1961. Despite its size, relatively few road service vehicles were officially allocated to Neasden, the main exceptions being the railway breakdown tenders. However, vehicles based at Chiswick Works could often be seen visiting, including a regular duty to move train wheels and parts between Acton Works and Neasden. This ran 2 or 3 return trips each weekday, and later used articulated lorries (as will be shown in some other photos being published today). This view shows what it presumably an earlier vehicle used on the duty; AEC Regent dropside bolster lorry 741J, rebuilt from double-deck bus STL42 in 1949. Allocated to the railway department at Hainault for a few months, it then moved to Chiswick Works and spent the rest of its career as a Group-3 'general purpose' vehicle. Withdrawn in late 1962, following the delivery of new Ford Thames Trader lorries, it was sold in 1963. Note that a slightly earlier photo taken at what looks to be almost the exact same place can be found here. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,445 |  |
By David Pearson via Ian Dyckhoff A large number of AEC Regal single-deck buses and coaches of the T class were rebuilt as service vehicles in 1939/1940. 16 saw relatively minor modification for use as ambulances, most of which reverted to bus use after the war. The remainder were more drastic conversions, including a new, full-width cab. Among these were three vehicles given box bodies for use as Permanent Way Department breakdown tenders. 441W to 443W were converted in August 1940 from 10-year old Green Line coaches. They lacked the illuminated front signs normally carried by emergency vehicles, this presumably being down to wartime expediency. Non-standard metal signs with 'LT Urgent' lettering were later fitted to at least 441W and 443W, while the latter appears to be the only one to have gained a large front-facing light. An interesting aspect of this trio is the liveries they carried. According to LT's own vehicle record cards, all three entered service in green but were soon repainted to khaki. Again this was no doubt due to the ongoing war but it is curious that these seem to be the only service vehicles so repainted. At the end of the war, the liveries were changed again. 441W and 442W reverted to green while 443W became red. 442W followed suit in 1948 and 441W in 1952. The vehicles were primarily based at Lillie Bridge, with 443W being outstationed to Baker Street for many years. It was photographed parked on the raised roadway in front of the station on 12th March 1961. Note the cabside lettering refers to Lillie Bridge, while a jacket has been tied to the front radiator, perhaps for frost protection. The three vans were withdrawn in early 1963 following the arrival of the purpose-built Leyland Titan tenders. |
12/07/2021 |
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By David Pearson via Ian Dyckhoff Some brilliant vintage shots by David Pearson have been made available, this first view showing the Neasden Depot breakdown shed on 4th November 1961. Parked inside were two breakdown tenders based on AEC Regent chassis. On the right is well-known (and now preserved) AEC Regent 832J, converted from bus STL162 in 1950. On the left is 111J, which also looks like a converted bus but which was actually bought new in 1935. Both vehicles carry the standard cream/red livery and both coincidentally served LT for 28 years. 111J was withdrawn in 1964 following the arrival of the Leyland Titan and Ford Thames Trader tenders, while 832J lasted until 1978 when it was replaced by Ford D-series vehicles. The illuminated headboard on 111J is standard but slightly curious in that it looks as though it was meant to contain a large LT roundel. However, the outline shape only has the bottom half of the circle. |
12/07/2021 |
| 1,447 |  |
By Keith Ward Three London Highways Alliance liveried vehicles were present at Morden Station on 22nd March 2021, including a pair of Toyota Yaris cars (NJ67WKL and NJ67WKM) and a Vauxhall Combo van VK69FWX. Yaris NJ67WKL (out of frame to the left) had small 'Buses' labels with Roundels in the windows but the other two vehicles carried only LHA lettering. Having said that, it will be noted that the phone number and web address shown are those for TfL. It could also be mentioned that another van seen at this location a couple of years ago had only TfL lettering! For the time being, these vehicles are not being added to the database. |
21/06/2021 |
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By Ray Monk Keeping track of the bus company service vehicle fleets has been rather tricky for the past year or so. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the normal rolling replacement of vehicles with new deliveries, and has also seen an increased need for crew ferry vehicles due to social distancing measures, this often being met by the use of hires. Compounding the issue is that correspondents have not been able to get out so much to observe the changes. As a result, very few 70 and 21 registered bus company vehicles have been added to the database so far. Arriva London's Dartford garage seems to have had a lot of extra vehicles, perhaps because one of our chief reporters sees them a lot. They already had three 70-registered vehicles, including two which seem likely to be 'permanent' additions (DN70XED and GK70CPF). A further arrival is KM70VWK, a Peugeot 3008 car in unmarked blue, as seen at Bexleyheath Bus Stand on 9th June 2021. This has not (yet) been added to the database. |
21/06/2021 |
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By Derek Everson Also seen at Edgware Bus Garage(s) on 25th May 2021, Renault Master van MF20RZK is another of the 12 delivered to RATP in mid-2020. I showed a photo that included this van in March, and at the time I believed that it was in unmarked red. Derek's photo clearly shows that this is not the case, though it is in fact different to most of the other vans. MF20RZK has fleetnumber R70039 on the front and 'Incident Support' lettering on the sides. The other vans show 'Engineering Support' and also differ in having roof-mounted light-bars and rear chevrons. Engineering Support R70031 is visible in the distance, while a pair of LBSL IRUs are edging in from the sides, 9078VW on the left and 9086VW on the right. |
21/06/2021 |
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By Derek Everson RATP's Renault Master van MF20RYT carries fleetnumber R70031 and has been allocated to Edgware Garage, where it was photographed on 25th May 2021. Allocation details for a few of the 12 vans are still required. |
21/06/2021 |
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By Ray Monk Another hired-in VW Transporter minibus, this time in use with Arriva London from Dartford garage. GL69TTV was photographed at the bus stand in Bexleyheath on 9th June 2021. In this instance I agree with the DVLA's colour description of 'Grey'. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,452 |  |
By Les Savine The Abellio engineering support fleet has been transformed over the past few years, with the delivery of several new (or nearly new) vans, particularly for use from the inner London garages. 6902 is a Citroen Dispatch van based at Battersea and photographed at the Putney Bridge bus stand on 3rd June 2021. The bus in the background had probably been working on route 414 rather than 344, since the latter serves neither Putney Bridge nor Maida Hill. Note the NS (Dutch Railways) logo beside the fleetname on both the bus and the van. It is interesting how much of the privatised UK transport industry has ended up being controlled by state-owned rail operators from other European countries. Imagine if things had gone differently and BR now ran buses in France and Germany! |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,453 |  |
By Malcolm Conway Several TfL bus operators have taken additional minibuses for crew ferry use over the past year, most likely due to social distancing measures reducing the practical capacity of vehicles. Most vehicles have been unmarked, though I have just been advised that some Mercedes Sprinter minibuses are in use at Rainham with large Stagecoach labels. Volkswagen Transporter minibuses have been a popular choice, and Go-Ahead London has taken at least seven, even though they previously standardised on Mercedes Vito vehicles. All seven minibuses have GL68xxx registrations, and four of them are at Northumberland Park garage. Their GL68LHO was seen on 27th April 2021 having driven the relatively short distance to Tottenham Hale Bus Station. I have listed this vehicle as being grey, though the DVLA records it as beige. Can you have metallic beige?! |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,454 |  |
By Derek Everson This Vauxhall Corsa car of Arriva London (or ARRV!) appears to be at its third garage. First seen working from Dartford when new in spring 2016, it soon moved across the river to Grays. It has now moved again to Palmers Green in north London, resulting in it regularly appearing at Edgware Bus Station, as seen here on 25th May 2021. Visible inside is a sign on the offside rear seat, presumably deterring passengers from using this, for the benefit of COVID-19 related social distancing. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,455 |  |
By Derek Everson Caught leaving Westbourne Park Garage (in the shade of the A40 Westway) on 1st June 2021, SP15XOW is a Ford Transit Custom van operated by Tower Transit. There is a small company logo on the bonnet (and one towards the back of the offside) but the nearside is unmarked. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,456 |  |
By London Spotter The Arriva bus companies in the Home Counties received a number of Peugeot Expert minibuses from late-2017, these being transferred from Arriva's hospital patient transport operations when only a few years old. YF13XUR became fleetnumber 9750 at Luton, though the number does not seem to be carried. It still retains much of its original lettering, resulting in it having new Arriva logos on the bonnet and side windows, and old Arriva logos on the front doors. Photographed at Luton Station on 12th June 2021, the unmarked VW Golf car behind was also being used as a crew ferry. The car was probably on hire but, given that it could actually belong to a member of staff, it has not been added to the database. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,457 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson An interesting vehicle seen during a 'flypast' of the lorry yard at Acton Works on 5th June 2021 was this Renault C380 3-axle flatbed lorry in the brown and red livery of B R Saunders of Walton-on-Thames. The lorry had a large folding crane behind the cab and (although obscured by the chromed mirrors in this view) had TfL/LUL labels applied to the doors. The registration is of course a 'select' one, and disguises the fact that this lorry was new in 2015. Other service vehicles visible include dustcart WO66HHS on the left, demountable body DB10 and Scania tipper MV69KVM behind, one of the MAN dropside lorries on the right and VW Crafter box van 8833VW and more dustcarts behind that. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,458 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson Andrew Lidinson had a peer into Lillie Bridge depot on 5th June 2021 and found a couple of previously unreported vehicles. Both were Ford Transit dropside trucks and shown here is LL20DVK, as seen from the Cromwell Road bridge. The other dropside identified was LL20DVN, and both had been first licensed in August 2020. Since the start of the COVID pandemic we have not received any of the occasional fleetlist updates from Acton Works, and visits by correspondents have naturally been limited. Thus, even though vehicle deliveries were most likely somewhat reduced, there are probably quite a few vehicles that have not yet been reported. Fleetnumbers for these two Transit dropsides are not known, though I would bet they will be either 9044F/9045F or in the 9048F-9050F range. I noticed two other things about this photograph. Firstly, the newish sign on the building in the background points to the EJM Academy. EJM probably refers to 'Every Journey Matters', this being the slogan that appears under the TfL fleetname on virtually all current central fleet service vehicles. I don't know what you might learn at the EJM Academy though! Secondly, and also a change since the last time I was here, several orange-armed pneumatic manipulators have been installed in the area outside the end of Ashfield House. I have no idea what these are for. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,459 |  |
By Ray Monk This van seen at Acton Works on 12th June 2021 turned out to be more interesting than at first sight. Numbered 9136F, this Ford Transit Custom was first licensed on 11th May 2021, though curiously it was issued with a new V5C (logbook) on 18th June, almost a week after this photo was taken. More significantly, this is the first known example of the hybrid Transit Custom for the central fleet. These vehicles have a small (one litre) petrol engine in series with an electric motor. Charging is achieved through a socket behind a flap below the nearside headlamp, and the open flap is indeed visible close to the traffic cone, with a cable seeming to run into the adjoining building. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,460 |  |
By Keith Ward The sole Mitsubishi Outlander electric car in TfL white/blue livery is 9104MIT, delivered in early 2020 and based (at least until recently) at Southwark, Chancel Street. On 22nd March 2021 it was found parked at Morden Station. Note that the low-profile light-bar is mounted on a metal rail. The vehicle in the background (with the yellow stripe) is a London Highways Alliance van, which features later on in today's batch of photos. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,461 |  |
By Derek Everson More IRUs and 9093VW was caught arriving at Turnpike Lane Bus Station on 25th May 2021. Rather unusually it was entering from the east along Carlingford Road, whereas most traffic into the Bus Station (certainly all buses) comes from the Green Lanes direction (behind the photographer). Note that a Portacabin structure has been placed over a couple of the parking spaces, perhaps to provide more office space and social distancing. Parked in the background are 9092VW and 9058VW. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,462 |  |
By Keith Ward One of our 'inside' correspondents sent some nice photos taken at Morden Station at sunset on 22nd March 2021. This first view shows a line-up of five Incident Response Unit vans, with 9062VW nearest the camera. The other examples are (left to right) 9068VW, 9085VW, 9071VW and 9099VW. IRUs from Morden cover a large part of South and South West London, as indicated by the boards behind each parking space. The two visible are for Croydon/Sutton and Kingston/Richmond. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,463 |  |
By Paul Nicholls Another Ford Transit Mk8 crew van in LUL livery now, but a long-wheelbase example and seen a bit further away. 9052F was (with 9053F) one of a pair first licensed and delivered in late 2019. Curiously they then had their licensing dates changed to a December/January cycle, for reasons that are not clear. The vans do appear to have only entered service in January 2020 and both work out of Lillie Bridge. 9052F was found parked in Hastings on 22nd May 2021. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,464 |  |
By Ray Monk Fleetnumbers 8912 to 8923 are on a batch of Ford Transit crew vans that have been delivered over a protracted period. The first four arrived in July 2019, then there was one in November, four in January 2020 and two in February. Number 8917 has not yet been reported but may well also be in service, while numbers 8924 to 8929 are also still vacant as far as we know. Most of the vans are allocated to Acton Works, though 8921F was reported to be based at Rayners Lane Station for a while in 2020. This particular van was photographed at Acton Works on 12th June 2021, showing some nearside damage. I also noted that the design of the hinges for the rear doors on Ford Transit vans has been slightly changed at some point in the past few years. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,465 |  |
By Derek Everson Caught heading along Bastable Avenue in Barking on 15th June 2021 was TfL Toyota Yaris car 8836T. This is one of seven Yaris cars delivered in April 2019, numbered 8836T to 8842T and given LUL white/blue/livery. They were then changed to TfL white/blue before leaving Acton Works. Interestingly, only one other car from the batch has been reported since, 8842T having been seen a couple of times at locations that might suggest it was actually working for LUL (Tower Hill and South Kensington stations, both at night). A further batch of seven Yarises in TfL livery was delivered in May 2019 (8893T to 8899T) and has been equally elusive. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,466 |  |
By Ray Monk Renault Kangoo Maxi van 8827R was found in the car park at Acton Works on 22nd May 2021. This van is numerically the last member of a batch of 17 Maxis delivered in spring 2019, many of which are allocated to the Lifts and Escalators bases at Griffith House and Frank Pick House. 8827R does not seem to be one of these and has only been reported at Acton. |
21/06/2021 |
| 1,467 |  |
By Phil Hambling Another private car in a shocking colour scheme features here but the main subject is a Ford Escort in good old fashioned LT red. 3302F was one of the three-door estate variants that were still quite common, though 5-door layouts were soon to become the norm. Leased in November 1984, this car was allocated to the Development Director (Buses) and lasted for almost exactly 4 years. Note that the F in the fleetnumber is smaller than the numerical digits. What I find special about this photo is that it was taken at Clapham Bus Garage (in May 1986), though you would not know that by looking. Clapham had an interesting history, having started out as a horse tram depot in 1888. Expanded for electric trams in 1903 and adapted for use by motor buses in 1950, it was closed as surplus to requirements in 1958. A couple of years later it became the Museum of British Transport, with various preserved buses, trams and railway stock (including the famous Mallard steam loco). However, Clapham was hardly on the tourist trail and the venue was not a huge success, closing in 1973. The garage then reverted to London Transport and was used to store withdrawn buses. Operational buses returned in 1981 when the garage was reactivated to take over the work of Norwood Garage whilst it was being rebuilt. This lasted until 1984 when Norwood was completed but Clapham remained open to allow Streatham Garage to be rebuilt. It eventually closed for good in 1987 and some years later was demolished to make way for a supermarket. I lived in Clapham for most of my childhood and I regularly looked in through the garage entrances. I recall there always being lines of withdrawn DMS buses at the back and, if the Foreman was in a good mood, I was allowed to wander amongst these. There were also other oddities such as the last two LT Merlin buses, and a DMS chassis that was shortened for use in a technical college. The garage was also unusual for having entrances on three different roads, though the Clapham High Street one was never used by buses in my memory. The photograph here was most likely taken at the Triangle Place entrance. Sadly I never took any photographs at Clapham Garage, and there are very few on-line. If anyone can point me towards one, especially if it includes the rows of dead DMSs, I would be very happy. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,468 |  |
By Phil Hambling Time for another Inspector's car. 3276B was a petrol-engined Bedford Astra van leased from Wincanton in July 1984 as a replacement for Vauxhall Chevette estate 3067B. LOTS reported that it was initially allocated to West Ham Garage but had moved to Ash Grove within a few months. It was to remain there until withdrawn in early 1987, when it was replaced by revised-design Astra van 3471B. Phil photographed the van leaving London Bridge bus station on a rainy day in May 1986. Part of the station's distinctive brown 'plastic' cladding can be seen in the background. This area has seen extensive changes in recent years. The building on the right has been replaced by a new one, while the station has been totally renewed and the part seen here is now occupied by The Shard. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,469 |  |
By Phil Hambling 3150L was a Freight Rover Sherpa van new in late 1983 and featuring the revised design with square headlamps (see 3150L's first appearance on LTSV way back in 2004 for a side-by-side comparison with the earlier design). London Transport bought or leased 73 Sherpas between the late-1970s and mid-1980s, followed by just one example of the Leyland-DAF version in 1992. The type was perhaps unique in coming in a couple of sizes where the width as well as the length was changed. As a result, 300 and 400 series Sherpas appeared to retain the same proportions as the original 200 series. Most of LT's Sherpas were 200 series, and many of them were used by the Cleaning Services department. 3150L was assigned to the general-purpose 'Group 3' fleet and was based at Chiswick Works. When seen visiting Enfield Garage in the snow of February 1987, it had had its London Transport fleetname removed but retained the 'Distribution Services Manager' lettering. It was withdrawn a year later. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,470 |  |
By Derek Everson For a while the Bedford CF model was popular with London Transport as an alternative to the similarly-sized Ford Transit. A total of 91 were bought or leased between 1977 and 1987, the vast majority of which were short-wheelbase vans. There were five dropside trucks (of which at least three were long-wheelbase), but there appears to have only ever been one long-wheelbase van. This was 2261B, new in August 1980 and caught leaving the rear entrance of Chiswick Works on 8th October 1981. As with the Transit, the long-wheelbase Bedford CF van was quite curvaceous, with an almost domed roof profile and more prominent rear wheelarches. The van had a hinged cargo door in the nearside and most likely had twin hinged doors in the rear. As can be seen, 2261B was allocated to the Permanent Way Engineer and was based at Acton and Ruislip at times until it withdrawn in 1984, replaced by leased LWB Transit 3199F. Note the car (presumably privately owned) following behind. Was it just mis-management and trade unions that wrecked the UK motor industry or did the naff colour options play a part?! |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,471 |  |
By Derek Everson Moving into the 1980s you may be surprised (or not) that there is quite a lot I can say about this seemingly innocuous photo! The subject is 2122F, a Ford Transit minibus in unmarked grey livery, parked at Heathrow Central station on 22nd May 1981. Point 1 - This minibus had two goes at being a service vehicle. New in June 1978 as a replacement for 1600F, it was based at Chiswick Works until it was sold in February 1983. However, about a year later it was leased back from Hertz for another few months' use. There were in fact 12 vehicles that came back into stock, most of which were assigned as a cover/reserve fleet. When I saw this photo I thought that the lack of lettering suggested it was taken during the vehicle's second tenure but this was not the case. Perhaps it was unmarked from new. Point 2 - It is a Mk2 Transit. I had always listed this (and LT's other S-suffixed Transits) as being Mk1s. I had not seen any photos and I only knew that the R-suffix Transits were Mk1s while the T-suffix ones were Mk2s. Based on the fact that LCBS's six S-suffix Transits were Mk1s, I assumed that LT's were too. Looking at the chassis numbers it would appear that S-suffixed 2110F and 2121F were also in fact Mk2s. Point 3 - The passenger compartment door is hinged. This has been raised on LTSV a couple of times recently. On Mk1 and Mk2 Transits, when a cargo/passenger compartment side door was fitted, it was always hinged from the front, and had a higher sill than the front doors. Also (where fitted) it would obviously preclude the fitting of sliding front doors, which were otherwise common on LT Transits. With the advent of the Mk3 Transit in the mid-1980s, the sliding cab door option was discontinued, while cargo doors became sliding as standard, and this has remained the situation with all subsequent models. Point 4 - LT took fewer Transits than I thought. When digging into the details given above I was surprised to see that London Transport only took 3 Ford Transits with S-suffix registrations (1977/1978) and all were minibuses. 16 vans had come with R-suffix plates but this was an anomaly and the normal intake seems to have been fewer than a dozen Transits each year. In fact there were only four Transits added across registration years T, V and W (1978-1981). This is explained by the generally smaller overall fleet size at the time, the fact that the medium van requirements were also met by the Bedford CF and Leyland Sherpa models, and there was greater use of smaller vans (such as Ford Escorts). Point 5 - Seeing this photo has triggered another side project. Again whilst digging into the details, I noticed that Ray had added a note about a photo of similar 2121F on the internet. However, when I went to look, the photo had been removed (or moved). This made me realise that the availability of photographs on other websites now does not guarantee their availability in the future. Because of this I decided to start saving copies of photos found online, not (generally!) for re-use here but for reference purposes. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,472 |  |
By Steve Smith via Ian Dyckhoff Back to Holborn in October 1978 and this photo shows the group of service vehicles parked nearest to the station in the aftermath of the derailment of an engineer's train. To the fore is a gleaming 1986F, a Ford D0710 new in late 1976. Initially allocated to Ealing Common, it spent a few months delicensed in 1977 (for reasons unknown) and transferred to Neasden in 1978. Six similar Ford D lorries followed in 1978-1980 to replace the Leyland Titans in the emergency role. These six had a revised design of crew cab, while the final four had an updated front grille design. Compared to the Titans and Traders, the large warning sign on the front was still a feature but no longer internally illuminated. Most of the Fords remained in service until replaced by Mercedes demountables in 1990. Behind 1986F is Leyland Titan 1279LD also from Neasden, while behind that is Ford Thames Trader 1282F (meaning that all three red Traders were in attendance). 1282F had by this time been converted into a Communications Vehicle, as evidenced by the additional white lettering on the bodysides. Unless there was something else tucked in behind 1282F, the last service vehicle in this photo is Morris Marina estate 1997M, this car being allocated to the Breakdown Foreman at (can you guess?) Neasden. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,473 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green 1909F was another of the Ford Escort radio control cars delivered in 1975 in the orange/tangerine/tomato-soup version of red livery. The bodywork does appear slightly lighter in tone than the BL-class bus in the background. This photo was taken at Hyde Park on 10th April 1977, presumably at some event or other, judging by the crowds and indeed the presence of a BL! Unfortunately, none of the official LT documents from the time show an allocation for 1909F and it was withdrawn in August 1977 after just over two years' service. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,474 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green Consecutive to the lorry in the previous photo both in terms of fleetnumber and registration number, 1726F was also a Ford D550 but to the much more common dropside lorry format. When seen at Chiswick Works on 28th July 1977 it clearly had a green bolster and cab roof, as did the similar lorry alongside (the one behind is a bit harder to call). Most Ford D-series lorries with green cab roofs also seem to have grey painted grilles, which suggests to me that they had had mid-life repaints. Note that 1726F had a tarpaulin over part of the load space. Dropside lorries with tilt covers usually had cleats along the bodysides, to which the cover could be tied. In the absence of these, the cover on 1726F has been tied to the body support beams, and also to the bolster. One unusual aspect to 1726F is that it was officially allocated to Aldenham Works for most of its life. Despite the size of that facility, it only had a couple of service vehicles allocated. 1726F was docked at Chiswick Works, and was probably also a regular visitor carrying parts to and from Aldenham. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,475 |  |
By Derek Everson 1725F was a Ford D550 box truck new in January 1972. The bodywork is very similar to that on 1515F, with vertical seams and a shallow arch to the roof. However, the body may be slightly shorter in height and is certainly shorter in length due to the cab of the lorry being longer. This type of cab, with a second row of seats and pair of doors, is normally referred to as a crew cab, and it can still be seen on many service vehicles today. Looking more closely at this photo I realised that the crew compartment does not actually have a door in the offside. There is a recess for a door handle, and traces of the door outline can be made out, but there is no door handle, no grab handle, no hinges and no footstep underneath. These features can be seen on 1986F which did have an offside door. Perhaps the construction made use of a standard door pressing but welded it in place if access was not required. Strangely, earlier 1514F and 1517F had a similar cab to 1725F but did not have the redundant door handle recess. 1725F was based at Parsons Green and lasted until 1983. It was photographed at Golders Green Station on 29th July 1975. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,476 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection (Mark Chapman) 1718F was one of probably only 5 London Transport Ford Transit vans to feature this distinctive style of bodywork. Known as 'parcels' vans, only the bonnet from the standard van was retained. A new, more upright windscreen was fitted and the cab had through access into the cargo space. As such, it was more or less a cross between 'laundry' van 1542F and the FS-class of minibuses. Five parcels vans were delivered in 1971 and lasted until near the end of the decade. 1717F was allocated to the ticket machine works at Effra Road, the others all at Chiswick Works. This photo of 1718F is dated 1st July 1977 and was marked as being taken in Richmond, though I believe it was actually at Hounslow. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,477 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green In the 1960s and early 1970s many cars and light vans for London Transport carried grey livery, with red becoming the standard from mid-1972. Illustrating this is Ford Escort estate car 1701F, numerically the last grey car. Delivered in February 1972, 1701F served the Works and Building Manager at Parsons Green until autumn 1978. Note the roof bars and the lack of lettering on the doors. The location of this undated photo is not known but it could be inside Parsons Green. On the other hand, the background looks a bit too untidy... |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,478 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection (Phil Picken) London Transport bought a total of 13 Land Rovers in the 1960s and 1970s, although some of the later examples were in fact replacements for some of the earlier ones. Illustrating this is 1624LR, new in April 1971. It was assigned to the Civil Engineer (Permanent Way) and was officially allocated to Chalk Farm Station as a replacement for 1287LR from 1963. The configuration was very similar, both being long-wheelbase 'personnel carriers', with what looks like a canvas cover over the roof. Having just looked this up I now know that this was a 'safari roof', consisting of a second metal 'skin' to keep the interior cool while on safari! This seems to have been a standard feature on long-wheelbase station wagons (such as 1578LR). There are some differences between 1287LR and 1624LR. The former had lettering in the conventional format, while 1624LR has its fleetnumbers on the cab doors, above the department name, with London Transport relegated to the bottom line. The other difference is the livery. Although it is hard to be certain from these black and white photos, the bodywork on 1624LR looks distinctly lighter than that on 1287LR. Both were listed as being grey in the original SUP15 book but I suspect that 1624LR may have actually been cream. The same also applied to 1762LR. 1624LR was withdrawn in autumn 1976, having served for five years and with no obvious replacement. Land Rovers tend to last and 1624LR almost certainly still exists. It was last licensed in 2017 and is currently SORN (off the road). The photo was taken on 4th July 1973 at Lillie Bridge. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,479 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green No fewer than 138 London Transport service vehicles were given registrations in the AMLxxxH series in 1969/1970, though this number was inflated by the inclusion of 22 older lorries that had run on trade plates until the rules on their use were changed. The fifth AML/H registration to feature in today's batch of photos is AML767H, carried by Ford D800 tipper truck 1590F. As will be evident, there was no attempt made to match registration numbers to fleetnumbers, this practice only starting in 1973. The quantity of tipper trucks operated by LT was in decline at the time, perhaps as more civil engineering projects were being contracted out. 12 Ford Thames Trader tippers had been bought in 1961/1962, but just three Ford D-series tippers replaced them in the early 1970s, themselves replaced by a further three about nine years later. Most of the tippers were based at Parsons Green Works, and 1590F was photographed having just left there on 25th April 1977, with part of the buildings just visible before the railway bridge on the left. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,480 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection It seems slightly odd looking back but London Transport had quite a large catering section, with a food production centre in Croydon and a fleet of vehicles to take the goods out to the numerous staff canteens at bus garages, works and some stations. In the 1970s, most of these vehicles were Ford D-series lorries with box bodies and roller-shutter doors. They could be readily distinguished from more general-purpose box trucks because the bodywork was normally left in an unpainted metal finish. Showing both features when photographed in the CDS yard at Chiswick Works was 1584F, a D500 5-ton lorry new in May 1970. The appearance of these vehicles at Chiswick was slightly unusual as they were allocated to Croydon FPC and were normally docked (maintained) at the nearby Thornton Heath Bus Garage. However, official documents show that this example was transferred to Chiswick sometime between 1974 and 1978. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,481 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green The other early long-wheelbase Ford Transit was 1542F, which was a very different-looking machine. Julian photographed it at the ticket machine works in Effra Road (Brixton) on 15th April 1977. As can be seen, it had the bonnet and windscreen of the standard Mk1 Transit, but everything beyond that appears to be coach-built. There are additional quarterlight windows, sliding cab doors that are taller and flatter than those on the standard van, and a rather slab-sided body with hinged doors in the rear. It appears that the body is of the 'walk-through' type, whereby there is access into the load-space from the cab. It could be called a 'laundry' body, or it could be an early design of what became the 'parcels' body (as seen on 1718F). Interestingly, Effra Road was allocated a parcels Transit from 1971, and also had another long-wheelbase van from 1977 (2024F, whose configuration is not known). 1542F was withdrawn in 1978, seemingly replaced by Bedford CF van 2117B. Note that this photo was taken while the van was in a covered loading bay. If anyone has any photos that show the buildings at Effra Road I would be very interested to see them. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,482 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection Although this vehicle has been shown on LTSV before, it is rather interesting. London Transport started buying Ford Transit vans in 1966, but most of those taken until the 1980s were of the short-wheelbase variety. The first known long-wheelbase vans were a pair added in 1970, to two very different configurations. Both of these vans are being shown today. Numerically the first of the pair was 1541F, though it arrived in February 1970 a couple of days after 1542F. This was a fairly standard long-wheelbase Mk1 Transit van. It had sliding cab doors and hence no bodyside cargo doors, access instead being by the unusual fitting of a roller-shutter door in the rear of the van. This undated photo appears to have been taken at Chiswick Works and shows the rear arrangements. There are a couple of cube-like items on the back, just in-board of the light clusters. They look like enlarged door bump-stops but that can't be their actual purpose. Other points to note are the lack of London Transport lettering on the cab doors (just showing 'LIFTS & ESC ENGR') and the green roof. This was a feature of many lorries at the time, but was rare on vans, though it would have been hard to detect on short-wheelbase Transits with their flatter roof profile. 1541F was allocated to Griffith House and was withdrawn in 1977 having been replaced by similar 2018F. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,483 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green Bedford CALV 1532B was the ambulance allocated to Chiswick Works and it has made several appearances on LTSV already, both during its LT career and in subsequent preservation. This photo was taken at Chiswick and has been included more for the cars in the background. London Transport always had a large fleet of unmarked cars for use by staff. These were listed on their official documents (such as Variation Sheets and Miscellaneous Vehicle Registers), and hence we have a lot of details of their use and allocation. The only missing piece of the puzzle is the livery. Many were in red but it is known that others were in black, white and various colours. MGX925L visible here was a Ford Consul 2000 saloon new in March 1973 and allocated to the Broadway Pool for use by staff at LT's headquarters. Most such cars were only used for a year or two, and MGX925L was withdrawn in autumn 1975. The car alongside is not identifiable but is almost certainly also an LT vehicle. 45 examples of the Morris Marina saloon featured in the fleet between 1971 and 1983, though not all at the same time. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,484 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection Although always out-numbered by dropside/open lorries, London Transport did have a number of Ford D-series lorries bodied as box trucks. The first examples were general-purpose, 5-ton lorries based on the D550 model, and the very first was 1515F delivered in February 1969. Later examples were more specialised, including the railway breakdown trucks and the uniform issue units. The location of this undated photograph was given as Chiswick Works but I have my doubts. Behind 1515F on the left is a large crane, which to me looks like a rail-mounted one. That would suggest the photo was taken at Lillie Bridge. Any thoughts? Note also that the lorry has no department lettering under the LONDON TRANSPORT fleetname on the cab doors. 1515F was officially allocated to Parsons Green and remained in use until 1978 when it was replaced by Leyland Terrier 2124L. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,485 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green This photo shows one of the earliest Ford D-series lorries used by London Transport, and also the one with the oldest registration. Six dropside lorries had been delivered in spring 1966 but all ran on trade plates until 1970, when they were given new AML79xH registrations. Two more D-series followed in December 1966, one of which also ran on trade plates until 1970 (water tanker 1390F). The other was 1443F, the first of the D500 model (the earlier ones had been D300s) and the first to be registered from new, due to its allocation to the CDS Group 3 fleet. There was then a gap until more D-series lorries arrived with G-suffix registrations from late 1968 onwards. 1443F was officially allocated to Parsons Green Works but was 'docked' (i.e. maintained) at Stockwell Garage, where it was photographed, most likely in early 1977 (going by the advert for the film 'Silver Streak' on the DMS bus in the background). A slight oddity is that the F suffix to the fleetnumber has been applied using a smaller, super-script font. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,486 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection (J A Gascoine) London Transport used about 70 examples of the van version of the Ford Anglia car, although the Anglia name was not generally applied to these. Most of the vans were withdrawn by the early 1970s and photographs of the type are quite rare. This well-known example shows a curiosity, 1439F being one of three vans loaned to the recently-formed London Country Bus Services in spring 1971. Two of the vans were returned after a couple of months but 1439F appears to have stayed for just over a year. Officially allocated to Reigate Garage, the van was photographed at Stevenage Garage on 20th February 1971, just three days after the loan began. It had already gained a 'London Country, Training Dept.' label on the doors and L plates. Having been assigned to the Mains Engineer before the loan, it was destined not to see any more use after its return, and was sold in September 1972. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,487 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection 1416LD, the least ungainly of the Leyland Titan breakdown tenders, was initially allocated to the Signal Engineers at Lillie Bridge. It transferred to the bus support fleet in 1975 and photos from its earlier role are hence rare. Shown here is a view taken at Lillie Bridge on an unrecorded date. The 'LT URGENT' lettering on the headboard was in red (appearing as 'LTE URGENT' on some other Titans). This was soon changed to LONDON TRANSPORT in black on white above URGENT in white on black, as seen on Titan 1276LD. Parked behind the framework on the left is what appears to be a half-cab coach, while a Bedford CA minibus is parked behind 1416LD. Neither are believed to be LT-related. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,488 |  |
By Julian Bowden-Green collection (J A Gascoine) One of the rarest makes in the service vehicle fleet was Karrier. The Huddersfield-based company supplied 2 lorries and 7 tram breakdown tenders in the early 1930s. Taken over by the Rootes group as early as 1934, production was moved to the Luton factory of Commer, though the Karrier name remained in use. The early London Transport Karrier service vehicles had all gone by the end of 1952, but a couple more arrived in the 1960s. Two of the Bantam model were delivered in 1964, and finally there was a single Gamecock lorry in 1966. The Bantam and Gamecock models were intended primarily for municipal or special-purpose roles and featured smaller wheels than normal (13 inch on the Bantam and 16 inch on the Gamecock). Shown here is the sole Gamecock lorry 1404KG at Chiswick Works on 18th October 1973. The low floor height and tail-lift are apparent, both features suggesting that the lorry was used for items such as bus batteries. Bantam lorry 1303KB was officially listed as being a battery lorry, though it is not known if it also had a tail-lift. 1404KG was not withdrawn until early 1981, shortly after the delivery of low-floor Bedford TL battery lorry 2277B. The Karrier has a green cab roof to its otherwise grey livery. The final point to note is about the fleetnumber suffixes. The early Karrier lorries were given the suffix K, but the 1960s ones were either KB (for the Bantams) or KG (for the Gamecock). London Transport had initially assigned different suffix letters to different models (such as N, P and Q being for AEC Monarch, Matador and Mercury respectively), but it later became standard for the suffix just to indicate the make. KB and KG represent the only instance of the suffix letters being used to show both the make and the model. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,489 |  |
By Steve Smith via Ian Dyckhoff In April I published a photo of emergency service vehicles attending an incident at Holborn Station in October 1978. Two more photos taken at the time have now been received. The first again shows Ford Thames Trader 1281F from Neasden (having recently transferred from Hainault) with Leyland Titan 1277LD behind. The third lorry is now known to be 1283F, also from Neasden. Further back are a Bedford HA van in light blue (2120B from Pelham Street), a Land-Rover (believed to be 1762LR from South Kensington) and Ford D0710 box truck 1986F. A couple of red cars are also visible but their identities are not known. The incident involved a flat wagon in an engineer's train which suffered a broken axle. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,490 |  |
By Derek Everson London Transport bought 16 examples of the 1950s AEC Mercury model (plus one second-hand in 1971) and also operated the very different 1930s and 1970s versions. Many of the 1950s lorries were specialised vehicles to support the trolleybus network, and most of these were withdrawn in the 1960s. Three open lorries remained until the late-1970s, perhaps as a result of their being fitted with tail-lifts. One of the three was 1072Q, seen at Chiswick Works on 12th August 1974 parked with newer Ford D1614 open lorry 1663F. A couple of points to note about the livery of the AEC. New with a green cab and unpainted metal bodywork, it had by this time been repainted grey. It also has the green cab roof, and in this view it does look to be the same shade as used on the bolster, this being fairly close to the old Chiswick green. The London Transport fleetname is in white lettering rather than the normal red. This was non-standard but does seem to have been applied to several vehicles. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,491 |  |
By Bob Greenway via Ian Dyckhoff AEC Regent Breakdown Tender 832J was photographed outside the Emergency Vehicle shed at Neasden Depot on 14th March 1970. At this point the vehicle had been a tender for almost 20 years, adding to the 15 years it spent bodied as bus STL162. When initially converted in 1950 it wore plain red and was allocated to Merton Bus Garage. Transferred to railway use in 1956 it was repainted to red/cream, though as seen here it later returned to red. Despite its age, it was destined to remain in use for another 7 years, and was eventually preserved (in which guise it reverted to its red/cream livery). Visible inside the shed behind is much newer Ford Thames Trader box truck 1282F. |
01/06/2021 |
| 1,492 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson The last photo today is one of our occasional forays into the scene beyond London. Photographed in Newport Bus Station on the Isle of Wight on 21st April 2021 was Iveco Daily truck EY57EJK of Southern Vectis. This is one of relatively few bus companies not to have seen a change of name in the deregulation and privatisation era, although it is now owned by the Go-Ahead group. Ironically its name derives from an earlier period of corporate ownership. Originally known as the Vectis Bus Company (Vectis being the Roman name for the Island), it was bought by the Southern Railway in 1929 and renamed to Southern Vectis. The Iveco Daily type is notable for being a fairly common sight in the UK but being very rare as a service vehicle in London. Apart from a couple in the central fleet and a few with Sovereign Recovery, the only known example was a single van with SM Travel of Harlow. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,493 |  |
By Ray Monk One more 'second appearance' for today, although it is actually a third helping. Sovereign Recovery's GN65NHJ is a DAF CF 2-axle truck with fleetnumber H128. Since it was last shown in 2019, the livery has been amended, with parts of the red chevrons on the front (across the grille and around the headlamps) removed. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,494 |  |
By Ray Monk The German make of BMW has not featured on LTSV before. There have been a couple of examples that we knew about, but these were all unmarked company cars used by management, which I have a policy of not listing. They do appear in photos sometimes, such as a Stagecoach example with a Routemaster registration, seen at Bow Garage in 2008. Ray noted a couple of unmarked white BMWs in use as crew ferries from Arriva's Dartford Garage in Autumn 2020. I chose to ignore these, as it seemed likely that they actually belonged to members of staff. However, on 19th May 2021 he noted a further pair of similar cars at Bexleyheath bus stand. The fact that they were almost consecutively registered (as YB21LNV and YB21LOA) suggested that they were in fact company vehicles, albeit most likely hired rather than leased or owned. It also appears that the two 20-registered white BMWs were returned at about the same time as the new cars arrived. Both the new cars were BMW 216D models to a 'Sport' specification, not the sort of vehicle you would expect to be taken for crew ferry work. YB21LNV was photographed leaving the stand, with part of YB21LOA visible parked on the left. The former is registered by the DVLA as being black, while the latter as grey, though both look to be the same in the photos seen. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,495 |  |
By Bob Milner Stagecoach London's Plumstead Garage now has a new engineering support van. Ford Transit Custom van MJ20UVH appears to have been new in autumn 2020, though it was not positively identified until Bob photographed it outside its home garage on 15th May 2021. Ironically Ray also submitted a photo taken at the same place on the following day. This van has replaced YE15EEU, which had been notable for arriving about a year before further vans were delivered for the group's other garages. As such, can we expect to see more new vans later this year? Another perhaps interesting point is that the new van is low-roof, whereas all the earlier examples were high-roof. Finally, note the revised Stagecoach 'beachball' logo on the van, compared to the earlier version on the bus on the right. It always amuses me when corporate organisations announce new branding which seems to only minutely differ from that used before. To be fair, the new Stagecoach logo was part of a wider scheme, with the livery on their buses outside London being rather radically changed. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,496 |  |
By Les Savine Having just talked about the fleetnumbering of Go-Ahead London's Mercedes Vito minibuses, a closer examination of this photo might provide an answer. I had assumed that the new fleetnumbers would be applied to the bodywork (as was the case with van EF19HFT, now ES11). However, Vito minibus RJ19HTA seen at Canning Town on 4th May 2021, has a number on a label in the rear side window. This shows FY03, which is presumably the 'local' number at its base of Silvertown. In the bottom right of this label is another number, which is too indistinct to read but which could be an FVxx number. No doubt all will become clear in due course. Note also that the apparently lighter shade of red on this minibus compared to the other photo is down to the differences in cameras used. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,497 |  |
By Simon Dixon Now it is Nissan van LO19MUE's turn for a second appearance on LTSV, though in this case there are a couple of reasons for the repeat. First seen in August 2019, it had lettering that suggested it was run by Abellio. However, it transpired that it was actually operated by a contractor, which explained the original 'Working in Partnership' lettering. It was photographed again on 29th April 2021 at the London Gateway Services (previously known as Scratchwood) on the M1, by which time its lettering had been amended. A large Buses roundel now features on the mid-panel, while the rear panel has a web address for RGI Bus and Coach Refurbishment, a company set up in Southam (Warwickshire) in 2016 and specialising in bus refurbishment and re-selling. Below this, the fleetname has been changed from Abellio to 'London Rail Replacement, Part of Abellio London Bus', together with an LRR logo, though the lettering on the rear appears to be as before. I have not heard of LRR before but, being part of Abellio, it is presumably not responsible for all railway replacement services in London. The livery around the front of the van had been modified, with yellow now applied to the previously red parts below the grille. However, I chose to use this rear view because it shows that the base colour of the van is actually white. This can also be seen in the gaps between the vinyl panels around the front wheelarches, while looking again at the earlier photo it appears as though the roof might also be white. Presumably most of the red parts are actually vinyls. One thing that remains unknown is where this van is based. Photos on the RGI website suggest that it does sometimes visit the Warwickshire base. Perhaps it only comes down to London at weekends (when most rail replacement services run), in which case do we need to add a new location for Southam?? |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,498 |  |
By Derek Everson Here is another vehicle that has already been shown on LTSV but which appears again to show a change. EF19HHG is a high-roof Ford Transit Custom van used by Go-Ahead London. New in 2019, it was initially used (together with similar EF19HFV) to support that year's Wimbledon Tennis bus services, during which it ran in plain red with just the yellow side stripe. After the tennis, EF19HFV went to Camberwell and gained company lettering (as seen that August), while EF19HHG went to Peckham. However, it was not until Derek photographed it on 11th May 2021 that we were able to confirm that this van had also gained lettering. Ironically it was photographed leaving Camberwell garage, where it would have passed close to its former partner. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,499 |  |
By Derek Everson The merry-go-round at Arriva's Dartford Garage continues, with yet more unmarked vehicles reported in use as crew ferries. It is likely that these are hired, and that the earlier examples have since moved on. After all, we are currently showing 30 vehicles allocated to Dartford, which is considerably more than they could really use! One of the recent additions is this black minibus, photographed in Bexleyheath on 11th May 2021. Although clearly a Mercedes Vito, it is actually badged as a V220d, this being the car-like branding used for the more luxurious versions. Note the tinted windows. |
26/05/2021 |
| 1,500 |  |
By Andrew Lidinson Photos of service vehicles belonging to coach companies in London (and beyond) are occasionally shown on LTSV, though the vehicles are not listed in the database. A nice example is this photo taken in Sydenham on 5th April 2021. Clarkes is one of the longer-established coach operators in London and has always had a sizeable fleet of quite modern coaches. They were bought out by the National Express group in December 2016 though they have so far retained the Clarkes name and livery. One result of the take-over is the appearance of Kingsferry coaches at the Clarkes base. This is another long-established company, running commuter services between Kent and London from the early 1980s, originally using exotic (at the time) Berkhof coaches. Kingsferry was based in Gillingham and took its name from the nearby bridge that provided the link to the Isle of Sheppey. The company was taken over by National Express in November 2007. Both operators use shades of green (and have the modern aversion to capital letters!), with a green Clarkes Mercedes Tourismo peeking in from the left, and a Chinese-built Yutong coach of Kingsferry in the background. What about the service vehicle though? GL18XEB is a Dacia Sandero Stepway car in a sort of metallic brown livery. The Stepway version of the Sandero is marketed as a 'Crossover' or 'semi-SUV'. In reality, it is the same as the normal Sandero (as seen with RATP MJ69ZKV) apart from having raised suspension, roof bars, black plastic panels along the skirt and wheelarches and a slightly revised front grille and bumper. |
26/05/2021 |
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