independent
transport videos welcome
you to this, our 15th edition DVD programme featuring the Merseyside
Transport Trust's (MTT) annual September Buses Running Day. Again we return to the city of Liverpool
after the successful event there in 2023.
The city centre bus stops for the event were located in James Street
adjacent to the Monument of Queen Victoria.
Other departure and arrival points used are the familiar Penny Lane
(Smithdown Place), Aigburth Vale and this year, Walton. Also new for 2024 was the use of the
Riverside Coach Park situated on Riverside Drive, close to the former site of
the International Garden Festival held in 1984. Here some of the visiting buses
were displayed including some preserved former Ribble buses once so familiar in
Liverpool.
As usual our cameras were on
hand to record the day’s events for you to enjoy, this time including the
contemporary buses of Stagecoach and Arriva to add further
interest to compare and see how bus design has changed over the years. In James
Street we capture the action of the modern buses and the preserved MTT and
guest vehicles as they take up their services before we take a ride on A267
(VKB 900), a former Liverpool Corporation AEC Regent V with MCW bodywork
built in 1957 in use on route 1A to Riverside Drive. Here we change to 165 (F456 BKF), a 1989
Leyland Olympian with a Northern Counties body in the smart yellow and blue
livery of Fareway of Liverpool. We travel on route 1 back to James Street and
change to L227 (SKB 224), the 1956 Leyland Titan PD2/20 with bodywork built by
Crossley and Liverpool Corporation. On
this bus we travel on route 3 to Aigburth Vale and then onto Penny Lane. Unlike previous years, the weather this time
was continuous heavy rain for the entire day that did make filming quite a
challenge! We film the action at this
‘famous’ interchange before boarding 651 (AAP 651T), a Bristol VRT/SL3/6LXB
with ECW bodywork in the livery of Southdown/Brighton & Hove. This bus, a long way from its original home
territory had operated with the Oxford Bus Company, Fishwicks of Leyland and latterly
with Alpine Travel of Llandudno. We
travel on it to James Street on route 71.
At James Street we change to 900 (B900 WRN), the unique Leyland Tiger
with Duple Dominant bodywork operating in its former operator’s Ribble
livery. We travel on route 1 to
Riverside Drive via the Albert Dock. We
return on Merseyside PTE-liveried Leyland National 2, 6036 (UEM 36V) on route
100 to James Street. Our final ride on
this very wet day is on board Leyland Atlantean/Alexander 1236 (BKC 236K) for a
journey on route 3 to Carisbrooke Road at Walton and back to James Street to
film the final departures thus ending an enjoyable, if wet, day reliving the
memories of buses in Liverpool.
We
complete our programme with a short photo gallery of the day and some archive
cine film of an event held at Merseyside PTE’s huge depot at Edge Lane in Liverpool.