Vintage bus link at Epping Ongar Railway will boost line

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Vintage bus link at Epping Ongar Railway will boost line 

A couple of years ago now I blogged about the then-recently restored Epping-Ongar Heritage Railway and its splendid idea to run a vintage bus service, for visitors and public alike, from the West Essex New Town of Harlow to the heritage line's current westernmost terminus at North Weald.

Now I'm delighted to see that they have started doing the same from the east, with another heritage bus service being run from the nearby London-Anglia main line station of Shenfield to all three of the major terminals on the heritage railway - Ongar, North Weald and Epping.  Once again the service is not only open to visitors to the railway but also to anyone wishing to travel on the route in vintage style!  On Sundays it even becomes the only regular bus service between Shenfield and Ongar!  It's wonderful to see these classic buses carrying passengers through the district they used to serve and further proof that they can still have a valuable role to play in the local area.

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This latest addition to the EOR's transport links is a very welcome one indeed and bodes fantastically well for the future of the line, which is still looking to finish extending the old track from its present ending point just west of Coopersale all the way back to the Epping terminus so it can once again truly be the Epping to Ongar Railway.  It will certainly open the line up to many more visitors from both London and East Anglia, as those as far away as Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester will now be able to travel by train directly to Shenfield and then begin their journey back in time on one of the AEC R/Ts.  It can only be a good thing for the railway and top marks to them for their continued hard work in putting on these extra services.

There's even less reason now for me not to make the trip to the EOR, since I can hop on a train and be at Shenfield in half an hour.  I see next month is their 1940s Weekend - a little plan is forming in my mind...(!)  All that's left now is for the EOR to take over and run their trains on the main line, so that we can enjoy historic locomotive travel right from the start.  With the way they've turned the Epping-Ongar line around in the last twenty years, I wouldn't put it beyond them!

Vintage bus rides take on a new twist

Vintage bus rides take on a new twist

Following on from the story I posted last year, in which the local (to me) Epping-Ongar Heritage Railway ran a timetabled service of vintage buses, here now is a similar set-up involving the Yorkshire Heritage Bus Company which according to the accompanying article have just recently started running tours of the Yorkshire Dales in their vintage double-decker buses. It's splendid to see a family-run company making such a good go of the classic bus hire business - not just with the usual fare (no pun intended!) of
wedding and private hire but also with this excellent idea of touring the beautiful Yorkshire countryside. 

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Just look at that stunning scenery as well and imagine how even better it must look from the top deck of a vintage bus!  Cruising the back lanes of Yorkshire in a 1959 AEC Regent, with such wonderfully-attired drivers and conductors(!) on hand, must be a glorious time-travelling experience.

Once again I've begun daydreaming about starting my own vintage bus company, except there aren't many picturesque views around my neck of the woods.  Not to mention - and more importantly - no PSV licence and no chance of buying a bus, ha!  Still, a chap can dream...

In the meantime, should I ever find myself in the pleasant environs of Halifax, West Yorkshire, I shall certainly avail myself of this company's lovely-looking tours.

Vintage London buses in timetabled Harlow service

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Vintage London buses in timetabled Harlow service

Hooray, hurrah; finally some proper vintage news!  Just when I was beginning to worry for this poor little blog too.  Everything seems to be about the Olympics at the moment (which is no bad thing and only right).  But what a splendid news story to kickstart an otherwise quiet summer.

You may remember a couple of months ago an article about the reopening of the Epping-Ongar heritage railway following several years of restoration.  As well as using diesel and electric locomotives - and more recently steam engines too - the Epping-Ongar Railway also runs vintage shuttle buses between the current westernmost terminus of Coopersale and the original terminus of Epping, at least until new track can be laid to allow trains to continue all the way.

Now, however, as well as providing this existing service the AEC Regent R/T's used by the EOR have also started running on an exciting new route for both local residents and visitors alike.  Service 396 (the original R/T service in Harlow up until the 1960s) will run thrice-weekly between Harlow bus station and North Weald.  Not just another shuttle bus, this route is supported by Harlow District Council which means it is a bona fide service - anyone can buy a standard ticket and travel on a vintage London Transport bus!  Even better, a special all-in-one ticket is also available allowing unlimited travel on the 396 (and 339 shuttle) plus the EOR's trains (which also stop at North Weald)!  A truly integrated vintage transport system if ever there was one!

St Andrew's Church, North Weald Bassett

North Weald itself is a lovely spot, the location of North Weald Airfield (made famous during the Second World War) & Museum amongst other things where there is a huge market and car boot fair held every Saturday as well as frequent air shows and classic car & bus rallies.  I haven't been for a while but with this latest development at the EOR I may just have to see about getting over there again.  Harlow can be quite pleasant too, I'm told, although I've never been there and being a New Town it has little history to it.

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Only just this weekend I was thinking how it would be a wizard wheeze to run a vintage bus route to subsidise local services and blow me down if somebody hasn't come along and done it!  Currently the 396 Harlow-North Weald is only planned to run for one month, 'til the 1st September, on a trial basis.  Let us hope it proves such a success that Harlow Council and the EOR make a regular service out of it.  In the meantime I'm off to look at decommissioned AECs again - anyone fancy chipping in?

Model of new Routemaster London bus unveiled

Model of new Routemaster London bus unveiled

A few months ago I blogged the news that the winning design for the new London Routemaster bus had been chosen and now I'm pleased to see that a full-size mock-up has been built prior to the vehicle's introduction in 2012. I think it looks even better in the metal (well, wood really for this model - although it wouldn't be a bad idea to feature some in the interior, eh what?) but then to be frank after those godawful bendy monstrosities anything's an improvement. Still, my high hopes for this 21st Century Routemaster have been given another boost from reading this story.

Say what you like about Mayor Boris Johnson's politics and persona, but I'm heartened to note that he can see the real benefits of combining nostalgia with modern technology, reusing and perhaps improving on tried-and-tested features and taking them into the 2010s and beyond. I look forward to two years from now when - barring delays - I will able to travel around London on these new buses. That's not something I could ever say about the previous Routemaster "replacements"!