Train GraphicClick on the map to explore geographics
 
I need help
FAQ
Emergency
About .
 Travel & transport from BBC stories as at 17:55 16 Oct 2026
 
- Ship attack reports near Hormuz reach record high as oil exports slow
Read about the forum [here].
Register [here] - it's free.
What do I gain from registering? [here]		 tomorrow - Flying Scotsman - Wiltshire
24/10/26 - Industrial Heritage
29/10/26 - Life of two halves, Oxford
25/11/26 - WWRUG / Nathan Sealey / Metros

On this day
16th Oct (1905)
Lacock Halt opened (link)
Train RunningCancelled
15:48 London Paddington to Swansea
16:33 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa
17:12 Bristol Temple Meads to Oxford
18:03 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
19:04 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads
19:06 London Paddington to Bedwyn
19:15 Bristol Temple Meads to Oxford
20:42 Bedwyn to London Paddington
21:03 Oxford to Bristol Temple Meads
21:10 Bristol Temple Meads to Oxford
Short Run
15:23 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central
16:03 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
16:23 Exmouth to Paignton
16:57 Exmouth to Paignton
18:20 Paignton to Exmouth
18:26 Exmouth to Paignton
20:02 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
Delayed
16:18 London Paddington to Carmarthen
16:30 London Paddington to Taunton
18:34 London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa
21:02 Cheltenham Spa to London Paddington
•
PollsThere are no open or recent polls
•
Abbreviation pageAcronymns and abbreviations
•
Stn ComparatorStation Comparator
•
Rail newsNews Now - live rail news feed
•
Train companiesSelect from:
GWR
SWR
XC
Chiltern
TfL
TfW
WMR
Southern
• Site Style 1 2 3 4
Next departures • Bristol Temple Meads • Bath Spa • Chippenham • Swindon • Didcot Parkway • Reading • London Paddington • Melksham
Exeter St Davids • Taunton • Westbury • Trowbridge • Bristol Parkway • Cardiff Central • Oxford • Cheltenham Spa • Testing!
October 16, 2026, 18:12:13 *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Forgotten your username or password? - get a reminder
Most recently liked subjects
[91] Jonathan Jones-Pratt, RIP
[64] Delay Repay bouncing around
[44] Server slow ...
[44] Devizes 52-year wait for train station could end
[41] 50th anniversary of the introduction of HST's on the route
[40] Ryanair - routes, schedules, incidents and issues (merged post...
 
News: the Great Western Coffee Shop ... keeping you up to date with travel around the South West
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar Login Register  
Great Western Coffee Shop > Sideshoots - associated subjects > Railway History and related topics > Vintage bus running day in Taunton, 2nd June 2024
Pages: [1]
« previous next »
  Print  
Author Topic: Vintage bus running day in Taunton, 2nd June 2024  (Read 4110 times)
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19655



View Profile
« on: June 02, 2024, 17:25:55 »
I find myself in Taunton for a few days for family reasons. I think this running day had been mentioned somewhere on the forum recently but I couldn't find the post/thread.

Had my sister not taken a route home from the hospital via the bus station today I'd have been none the wiser about all these vintage buses running on this glorious June day.

I got to meet Inspector Blake and Norman Pitkin.
[Image from here is not available to guests]

I've put together a YouTube video of my photos and short video clips. Enjoy!
« Last Edit: June 02, 2024, 17:37:35 by JayMac » Logged
Dalmeny Caterham Shiplake Tonbridge Theale Carlisle Petts Wood
PhilWakely
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2282



View Profile
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2024, 18:52:23 »
Quote from: JayMac on June 02, 2024, 17:25:55


Nice one JayMac! It looks like the Service 2A bus to Exeter is a little off route at Taunton Bus Station or takes a VERY long way round! Grin
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19655



View Profile
« Reply #2 on: June 02, 2024, 19:39:02 »
Quote from: PhilWakely on June 02, 2024, 18:52:23
Nice one JayMac! It looks like the Service 2A bus to Exeter is a little off route at Taunton Bus Station or takes a VERY long way round! Grin

The 24 for Stockport Bus Station was really lost! As were the numerous south coast towns' services. Tongue
Logged
Dalmeny Caterham Shiplake Tonbridge Theale Carlisle Petts Wood
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19655



View Profile
« Reply #3 on: June 02, 2024, 21:52:54 »
A few little factoids about the buses I photted today.

I chose the Bristol VRT SL/2 (BFJ 175L) for the opening pic in my video as it's the same vintage as me. Registered a couple of months after I was born in 1973. Bristol VRs were the buses of my childhood in and around Taunton. They replaced Bristol FLF Lodekkas in the early 1980s on Taunton's town services. The decline in bus use in the mid 1980s, coupled with deregulation, saw the VRs on town services replaced by the god-awful Ford Transit 'Shuttles'.

The Duple Vista bodied Bedford OB (JDV 754) is the same make and body as the coach featured in the (oft mentioned here) film, The Titfield Thunderbolt. JDV 754 lives just down the road from me in Henstridge, Somerset.

The double decker open top Leyland Atlantean, seen departing the bus station in my video, was being driven by the former MD of First West of England, James Freeman. I guess he was having a bit of a busman's holiday!
[Image from here is not available to guests]
« Last Edit: June 03, 2024, 12:54:17 by JayMac » Logged
Dalmeny Caterham Shiplake Tonbridge Theale Carlisle Petts Wood
johnneyw
Transport Scholar
Hero Member
******
Posts: 2774


From station to station, back to Bristol city....


View Profile
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2024, 21:56:01 »
Looking at the YouTube clips and photos I think there's some there that I recognise from some of the past September bus running days in Kingsbridge and there's also some there that I'm pretty certain that I've not seen before.
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19655



View Profile
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2024, 19:45:24 »
This just popped up on my Facebook timeline. Their all knowimg algorithms are a little scary. This picture was from a page that has nothing to do with buses or the running day in Taunton. Undecided

[Image from here is not available to guests]

No bus depot canteens these days so Blakey had to get his tea in Maccy D's!  Grin
« Last Edit: June 03, 2024, 20:03:34 by JayMac » Logged
Dalmeny Caterham Shiplake Tonbridge Theale Carlisle Petts Wood
bobm
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 10839



View Profile
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2024, 21:02:00 »
If ever there was a reason not to be on Facebook.

As someone once suggested to me “It is the quickest way to tell 500 strangers what you had for dinner.”
Logged
JayMac
Data Manager
Hero Member
******
Posts: 19655



View Profile
« Reply #7 on: June 03, 2024, 21:56:50 »
I had lamb & beef stew for my dinner this evening.
Logged
Dalmeny Caterham Shiplake Tonbridge Theale Carlisle Petts Wood
bobm
Administrator
Hero Member
*****
Posts: 10839



View Profile
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2024, 21:57:32 »
Hope you choke.  Grin
Logged
Do you have something you would like to add to this thread, or would you like to raise a new question at the Coffee Shop? Please [register] (it is free) if you have not done so before, or login (at the top of this page) if you already have an account - we would love to read what you have to say!

You can find out more about how this forum works [here] - that will link you to a copy of the forum agreement that you can read before you join, and tell you very much more about how we operate. We are an independent forum, provided and run by customers of Great Western Railway, for customers of Great Western Railway and we welcome railway professionals as members too, in either a personal or official capacity. Views expressed in posts are not necessarily the views of the operators of the forum.

As well as posting messages onto existing threads, and starting new subjects, members can communicate with each other through personal messages if they wish. And once members have made a certain number of posts, they will automatically be admitted to the "frequent posters club", where subjects not-for-public-domain are discussed; anything from the occasional rant to meetups we may be having ...

 
Pages: [1]
  Print  
« previous next »
 
Jump to:  

Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.2 | SMF © 2006-2007, Simple Machines LLC Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
This forum is provided by customers of Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western), and the views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that the content provided by one of our posters contravenes our posting rules via admin@railcustomer.info. Full legal statement (here).

Jump to top of page • Jump to Forum Home Page