November 1999
Tantivy Blue Coach Tours have acquired a further Leyland Swift, F66 SMC new to Arrowfleet of
Bristol, now fleet number 62 and refurbished to a 41 seat coach. Interestingly its sister
F67 SMC is now Waverley Tours number 5.
It has been suggested that one of the coach operators is planning on buying some ex-UK council
Leyland Swift mobile libraries/welfare buses which have been advertised for sale cheaply, and
having them rebodied as coaches possibly by Leicester Carriage Builders or by Camo after chassis
refurbishment. Anybody know which operator, and which councils?
Vehicle News -
AY 305 a 1970 Bedford VAS/Duple Vista 25 previously J 26408 and originally BEA 480J
has been advertised for sale in Bus & Coach Preservation magazine. Last with Riduna
Buses on Alderney, this 29 seat coach previously operated with Tantivy on Jersey.
October 1999
We would like to be able to provide a page listing all known vehicles which have survived after
PSV use in Jersey. It is understood that some vehicles are non-PSV still in the island
including:
C.I. Carriage's ex-Pioneer, ex-UK Bristol LHS/Duple
Dominant is thought still to be extant in Jersey somewhere. Reports of a sighting and location
are eagerly awaited. The coach had suffered vandal damage when last seen in Grouville but
looked as if restoration would be a simple affair if bits from withdrawn Bedford/Dominants were
to be used.
JMT continue to operate the final Willowbrook-bodied Ford R1014 in the fleet, 14 (J 33617).
Although it has not been used on normal services for several years, it is seeing out its working
life being used twice a day on school services in term time, with a well-earned break in dry
storage over the summer. When new vehicles are next delivered to Jersey Bus, 14 will be retired
along with some of the older Dominants. This 24 year-old vehicle still appears to be in
impressive condition for its age.
Vehicle News -
Tantivy Blue Coach Tours are reportedly not now selling coaches 30 and 40 (J 44478, 42753) after
all. These had apparently been prepared for export with registrations and PSV plates cancelled.
Therefore they will have to be re-registered before they can be placed back in service with
TBCT. The process of disposing of older vehicles continues with 70/3/4/6 cannibalised for
spares and scrapped this year, with more surplus coaches yet to go.
Kultex Tours Bedford SB J 8659 was last seen in about 1996 in St Mary along with a sister
vehicle. The pair were parked up opposite the Butterfly Farm covered by a large tarpaulin.
According to a report in a more recent edition of Buses magazine this coach is now in the
UK re-registered on an F-suffix. It is not known what has happened to its twin.
JMT Leyland Tiger Cub 611 (J 26611) is understood to be preserved in England,
as are several ex-JMT Albions and Leyland double-deckers. J 1359 (see June 1999 News
below) has spent summer 1999 in the SVBM workshop and has now had some of its new panels
painted. In addition some ex-Jersey vehicles continue to be operated on Guernsey and Alderney.
If anybody can help by supplying information please send an e-mail to JBWS.
September 1999
Tantivy Blue Coach Bedford SBs 30 and 40 are withdrawn delicensed apparently awaiting disposal
to England. Seems a little odd - perhaps they are being sold while they are still worth
something as they are among the most recent Bedfords in the fleet. Coach 30 was the
lowest-numbered Duple-bodied Bedford in the TBC fleet and probably the newest Dominant in
Jersey. Any news on where these turn up please let us know.
Vehicle News -
Pioneer's earlier Bedford SB/Wadham Stringer recently emerged from their workshops having
been treated to a partial repaint, in white and blue, but still wearing fleenumber 7 on its
offside rear corner. It passed to de la Salle College who also have Pioneer's old number 8, the
Mercedes 609D. Pioneer's oldest operational coach is therefore the other Wadham Stringer-bodied
Bedford SB, number 6. The ex-Pioneer Bedford appears to have replaced the previous SB which is
J 3159 formerly of Holiday Tours; this is currently parked up down at La Collette suggesting
some sort of part-exchange deal has occurred. A former College Sherpa minibus is also used by
Pioneer for luggage transfer duties.
De la Salle were running a Bedford VAS/Dominant and an old SB/Bella Vega until a few years back;
anyone know the fate of these vehicles?
August 1999
Jersey Bus vehicles continue to appear in overall advertisements. The Fords are now mainly in
fleet colours and the front-line Darts are being chosen for promotional liveries. This month
has seen Dart 22 appear in a mainly yellow scheme for Jersey Evening Post, 66 mainly white for
AA Appointments and 67 in an attractive dark blue with lighter blue skirt panels for Emeraude
Ferries (joining Ford 62). A black "Zero Violence" livery had adorned 22 for a year or
so, while the others previously wore fleet colours.
Web Site News -
Visitors are urged to have a browse through the
Showbus
Gallery, where a comprehensive selection of pictures of Channel Islands operators' vehicles
now resides.
In particular there is an interesting collection of recent Jersey Bus views, don't be misled by
the questionable accuracy of some of the captions though! (In particular the author seems a
little confused as to which direction is south: St Catherine, Rozel, are in fact in the north,
while St Brelade's Bay is not...)
Our own Photographs have been updated featuring electric
MetroRiders before entering service, Pioneer's coaches, Classic's Bedford OBs, Tantivy Blue
coaches operational and withdrawn... and the replica Lion double decker in there somewhere.
Vehicle News -
Pioneer's old Bedford SBs numbered 2 and 3 are now parked up at the old Holiday Tours depot at
Wheatlands, St Peter, where what looked like a former Imperial Coaches Bedford VAS/Dominant was
stored. This appeared in the Pioneer depot being stripped with no mechanicals around the same
time the SBs moved from La Collette. The Cannon Hilines are being put to good use with J 491
seeming particularly noisy in the exhaust department.
July 1999
Coach Operator News -
Classic Coaches do not appear to have been operating their vintage island tours this season, the
Bedford OBs were spotted parked up at the location where they are based in St Martin, and
judging by the ribbons etc on J 9151, are currently used on occasional private hires, weddings
and so on.
Bus Service News -
The electric MetroRiders finally entered service on 21/07/1999 after it was discovered that the
vehicles' batteries required replacement (at a cost reported to exceed the original purchase
price of the whole batch). They retain their original silver paintwork, with appropriate
signwriting promoting the service. Pictures HERE.
The intention is that the service is operated by a mixture of electric and diesel buses.
Two of the battery vehicles will be in service at any one time while the third recharges.
The service is subsidised by �65,000 of public funds for the trial period. Usage is initially
reportedly "disappointing" but improving gradually.
June 1999
Preserved News -
Ex-JMT 5 (J 1359), a 1958 Albion Victor/Reading FB35F is undergoing considerable renovation at
the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum. On
withdrawal it initially passed to the Jersey Motor Museum in St Peter but moved to the UK in the
1980s. Unlike some of the ex-Channel Island vehicles to be preserved in the UK, it presently
retains its original registration. Before work started, the bus was very rough-looking (and
sounding) but has been extensively repannelled and the interior is being beautifully restored.
By the looks of things it will not be long before it emerges from the workshop returned to its
former glory. Watch out for photographs here soon.
Web Site News -
Jersey Buses Web Site
proudly receives the coveted
Site of the Month award from the
UK Bus Site
for June 1999, with thanks to Wendy Conway. This is the first award the site has gained.
Bus Service News -
Route 88 "Hoppa Bus" - a new initiative starting 01/06/1999: a six-month trial town bus service.
Operates daily (not Sundays), first departure from the Weighbridge bus station at 09:30 and the
last at 16:50. Figure-of-eight route through St Helier with 40 stops, 10-min frequency and 20p
flat fare. Initially operated with JMT's MCW Metroriders while a batch of four electric Optare
MetroRiders previously used in a similar experiment in Oxford (L801-4 HJO) are prepared for
service.
May 1999
Vehicle News -
Tantivy Blue Coach Tours' Bedford SB/Duple Dominant 53 has had most of its seats stripped out
and has been used for a foreign aid mission to the Kosovo region of Yugoslavia.
Web Site News -
Jersey Buses Web Site
relaunched on new server, with new easy-to-remember URL:
http://drive.to/jerseybuses/ . New counter and guestbook adopted from 01/05/1999.