To celebrate the redesign of this blog (along with most of my other sites) I thought it would be nice to post this lovely photo by Terry Partridge as it shows a classic Leyland Leopard / Plaxton combination in one of the better liveries carried by Western National.
As ever - feel free to visit Terrys blog and Flickr sites for more like this.
As for the new blog design well there may still be a few rough edges to iron out but I think I have covered most issues as I have left this site until I was happy that the other sites were working properly. As well as being a fresher, cleaner design, it also features tabs along the top to most of my other sites which is something I have been meaning to do for a while.
I hadn't noticed the new blog design, I was too busy looking at that picture of that "retro" style Leyland.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about certain coaches Stagecoach use...I wonder if you could help?
I would like to know about those articulated Volvo B10M coaches with Plaxton or Jonckheere bodywork. Did Stagecoach simply get two of those coaches, chop one in half and remove the engine and add a door and then attach it to the back of the other coach? It's just I haven't seen any artic coaches of that type until Megabus was launched.
Excellent upgrade Graham. Hopefully my Leopard / Plaxton will soon have her MOT and be on the road again.
ReplyDeleteThe Volvo B10M Plaxton articulateds numbered 10 in all but there were also 8 with Van Hool and 8 with Jonckhere bodies.
Stagecoach brought a pair down from Fife Scottish to use on the X38 where their extra capacity would be welcomed. A new bay had to be constructed in the Lower part of Exeter bus station to accomodate them. This is the bay they Megabus uses today.
Numbered 851/2 registered P563/4 MSX they were only partially successful. The X38 operates with 51 seat Plaxton B10M's with Tridents helping.
I suppose it's difficult to steer a artic coach, especially on motorways when people don't expet the extra length! Speaking of which..why then get 15 metre coaches that are only usable in some areas so they have to use the tri-axle olympians still?
ReplyDeletetgpprojects, good luck with your leopard.
An interesting vehicle as it was originally built with a Plaxton Panorama Elite III body. It was parked up at the Bournemouth coach station when it was destroyed by fire in 1976 - the chassis was subsequently rebodied with the Plaxton Supreme body shown in the picture.
ReplyDelete