A book written by a bus enthusiast
date
Nov 16, 2023
slug
busenthusiasten
status
Published
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转载
博客
summary
type
Post
ID
103
Today, I saw a book at the Anniesland library near my home. The title of the book is "Scottish Buses During Deregulation: Another View," and the author is Kenny Barclay.
This is not a text-based book, but more like a photo album. The book provides detailed information about various models of Scottish buses during this period, their routes, when they were introduced to Scottish bus companies, and so on, showing the author's meticulous work. The book has more than ninety pages, and with two buses per page, the author would need to collect information and photos of over 180 buses (the author claims that all the photos were taken by himself). Moreover, these buses all existed during a specific historical period, which means that the author must have been persistently collecting and organizing this information over many years to finally compile it into a book.
I have seen people who persistently maintain an interest in some specific items, from news, movies, TV shows, and my real life. The long history of railways and the coexistence of JR (Japan Rail) and private railways in Japan have led to a greater variety of train models and richer appearances. Therefore, the history of Japanese train enthusiasts is as long-standing as the history of railways themselves. Some movies I cannot remember well also feature such characters. I once had a roommate who was obsessed with various types of aircraft. When he was studying in Leeds, he used to go to Toulouse, France, to watch air shows and buy aircraft models. As for car enthusiasts, there are even more.
What attracted me to this book was not the many photos of old bus models, but a story the author told in the introduction. He described in detail the buses he used to take to high school, which were operated by a company that has closed down. Thus, for him, the photos he took might be like an ancient bronze-coloured anecdote, taking him back to a golden dream in a smoky bar on a certain afternoon. I put the text of the preface and its translation here.
On 26 October 1986, bus services were deregulated throughout the UK, with the exception of Northern Ireland and London. The years leading up to and following ‘D-Day’ were exciting times, with a fast pace of change to vehicles, liveries, routes and operators across the country. This book follows on from my earlier book, Scottish Buses During Deregulation, which was published in May 2017. In this book, I turn my attention to some of the smaller operators that could be found on the streets of Scotland around the deregulation period, many of which are sadly no longer with us. I also present a further selection of photographs of some of the interesting vehicles operated by the larger operators at this time. In Ayrshire three cooperative bus companies could be found: A1 Service, AA Buses and Clyde Coast. Although all three operators could trace their history back to around 1930, sadly none of the three companies now operate bus services. A1 service and Clyde Coast were acquired by Stagecoach in I99s, with only Dodd's of Troon, one half of AA Buses, surviving now as a coach company. Argyll Coaches of Wemyss Bay was one of a number of new operators to hit the streets following deregulation day. Bizarrely, many of these new operators purchased vehicles withdrawn from service by both Scottish Bus Group and former corporation bus companies, the very companies that were struggling to compete against the new operators. Graham's Bus Service of Paisley was another long-established operator that is sadly no longer with us, having ceased trading in 99o. This was a company I knew well as I often traveled on its vehicles during my high school days at Houston. They had many interesting vehicles in their fleet, including a number of Duple Dominant-bodied Leyland Leopards, which, like the rest of the fleet, were always immaculately turned out. Some companies like Stagecoach and Rapsons did, however, flourish with deregulation Stagecoach purchased many Scottish Bus Group companies and National Bus Company divisions in England and soon transferred many vehicles not previously seen on the Scottish streets north of the border. The strange sight of ECW-bodied Bristol VRT and Bristol LH vehicles wearing Stagecoach livery in many Scottish towns was typical of the changes to be seen during this period of time. Rapsons would grow to become one of the biggest independent Scottish operators with over 250 vehicles. The company was founded in I94s but really expanded following deregulation, both with coach operations and bus service work. The company was eventually sold to Stagecoach in 2008. Turning to the Scottish Bus Group companies, many older vehicles were quickly withdrawn and sold, with others being transferred between different operating divisions. A large number of vehicles also gained cherished registration numbers from former London Transport Routemaster vehicles, intended to disguise their age. These were removed from the large fleets of Routemasters that joined many of the Scottish Bus Group fleets. Interestingly, many of these cherished number plates are now carried on modern-day vehicles that can be found within the fleets of Stagecoach and First Group. The former corporation bus companies appeared to hold their heads above water a bit better than the Scottish Bus Group. with Strathclyde's Buses and Lothian Buses both ordering large fleets of new vehicles. This in turn permitted a large number of older vehicles to be withdrawn and sold on to both new and established operators. Rennies of Dunfermline was one operator in particular that acquired a large number of second-hand Alexander-bodied Leyland Atlanteans from Strathclyde's Buses. All of the photographs within this book are my own work, captured over many years with my trusty Canon AE1 camera. I have chosen what I hope is an interesting selection of photographs featuring some of the more fascinating and unusual vehicles that could be found in service or the streets of Scotland during this period of time. I hope you enjoy this small selection from my collection just as much as I have enjoyed compiling this book.