Today we are celebrating the newest addition to our fleet. Somewhat smaller in capacity than our other rolling stock, it nevertheless drives very smoothly, is highly manoeuvrable and will fit into the tightest of gaps, as this picture shows...
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Can we look forward to seeing the Ray Stenning mock-ups for the vehicle's new livery application?!
Welcome to my blog! On these pages you will find a series of posts dating from 2010 to 2018, spanning a period of my career in which I ran my own bus company in Southampton (Velvet), then moved on to Wellglade Group to run TM Travel before moving into the Group Development Director role; then finally ending up at HCT Group - latterly as Commercial Director. These days I'm working for FirstBus as part of their franchise bidding team, and time and circumstances mean it's no longer possible to keep this blog up to date. But I'm happy to leave my musings in place for anyone interested to read. Earlier posts tend to concern themselves with the day to day minutiae of running a small bus company in Hampshire; in later posts I talk about wider industry issues. I hope you will find something of interest and, who knows, maybe in the future circumstances will allow me to get out the virtual pen and start writing again!
Ant - Controller, so laid back we're thinking of getting him a hammock instead of an office chair. Really.....?!?
Mikey - Customer Service Assistant (also the Demon Brat Teenager From Hell, except if you are a female over the age of 50, or work in Refresher's Cafe, in which case... "He's so sweeeeeeeeet")
Taz - driver, part-owner, ruler of the 603, has his own Facebook group set up by his devoted fans - still down-to-earth enough that he won't refuse a request for a signed photo or autograph!
Steve J - driver, we also let him work on the buses from time to time, ticket machine baseplates, stuff like that, has a mate for every occasion
Matt - driver
Paul T - driver, the Ernie to Malcolm's Eric! Brings sunshine to the lives of all the nice old folk on the A route - mostly by making them feel young!
Karl - driver
Paul C - driver, milky milky
Simon - driver
Steve H - nocturnal driver, permanently on the late shift, sightings in daylight generally attract national media attention
Pete - casual driver
Sharon - driver
Malcolm - driver, variously known as Eric Morecambe, Brian The Snail, Andy Capp and more...
Dan - cleaner, the Velvet Valet, he and Mikey devote their evenings to making our fleet look sparkling clean on the inside!
Helen - ruler of the admin, queen of the paperwork, nothing and nobody passes her by without having a "10/" reference number stamped on them....
Guest starring...
Martin - not so much a bus driver, more like an institution
Kev - Most prolific passenger and champion of the company, spends more time on our buses than most of our drivers do, we think he is secretly Becci's PA
Louise - did our admin until earlier this year, gone but not forgotten
Nickie - Steve's wife, not to be confused with...
Nicki - Taz's wife!
Tommy - Taz and Nicki's pet cat
Alison and Maria - two of our original team of drivers, now moved on to pastures new
KU52 RXV - Dennis Dart SLF/Plaxton Pointer (on hire from Dawsonrentals)
A989 XAF - Leyland Olympian/ECW on short-term hire from Thompson Tours of Bournemouth
N815 CKJ - 'Vanessa' - Ford Transit van
Gone but not forgotten - the buses
L445 FFR - 'Lulu' will be sorely missed, an Iveco 59.12 that was originally bought privately by Phil as a toy, then was transferred into the company for use on service 611, before being sold on to one of Steve's mates for conversion to a camper van
KU02 YUH - Dennis Dart SLF that was hired from Dawson Rentals to get service A going, but has now returned
KP51 UFL - as above
V384 SVV - The Crazy Frog - as above
W558 JVV - as above, but this one has enjoyed two spells with us, the second rather better than the first!
P482 MBY - Volvo Olympian borrowed from Ensign for a well. Gorgeous to drive, scruffy as hell!
PIL 7013 - a Leyland National, hired from Thompsons Tours to avert a vehicle shortage, quickly acquired a cult following
Gone but not forgotten - the people
Love and respect to all these people, and thanks for being part of our story! (Listed roughly in order of disappearance...)
2 comments:
Can we look forward to seeing the Ray Stenning mock-ups for the vehicle's new livery application?!
Well they both look better than half the "First" fleet...but I guess you were hoping someone would say that, weren't you?
Incidentally, I see from N & Ps that your Southampton-Eastleigh "B" is to be followed a week later by a Wilts and Dorset "B" - how bizarre...
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