Vintage bus is helping passengers with social distancing

Vintage bus is helping passengers with social distancing

Over the years I have been delighted to feature on this blog several incidences of classic machines - in this case vintage buses - being successfully pressed back into everyday use in varying capacities.  From a Christmas Day Routemaster service in Keighley, West Yorkshire, through tours of the Yorkshire Dales in an AEC Regent, to timetabled ex-London Transport AEC R/Ts serving towns on my local heritage railway's route, these numerous occurrences are proof that these vehicles are not just museum pieces and can still provide a useful service alongside more modern means of transport.

The service in this instance is a twice-daily run from Gateshead in Tyne & Wear to Chester-le-Street in County Durham, North Yorkshire, as part of a regular scheduled route operated by local bus company Go North East.  With the social distancing rules currently in place giving public transport operators major headaches (most bus companies at the moment being forced to run at barely 25% of their normal capacity) Go North East have hit on a wizard wheeze to try and maximise capacity and minimise passenger contact on its busy Number 21 route by wheeling out a 1960s Routemaster from its local heritage fleet in order to help take some of the pressure off the rest of its buses.

source - The Northern Echo

The result looks to be a wonderful trip back in time married to a [hopefully] safer method of public travel for the people of Tyneside, who I hope will be able to enjoy and appreciate this little bit of vintage effort to combat the social effects of Covid-19.  Whether Go North East will be able to continue with it in light of the direction things seem to be taking again remains to be seen - we can only hope that another lock-down can be averted and that demand for the service continues to be high enough to warrant the ongoing use of this splendid old Routemaster.  In any event it is great to see yet another vintage bus being brought back to its original role, especially to aid people in these particularly difficult times, and I am sure it will not be the last time such a story features on here.  In the meantime a jolly well done to Go North East and the North-East Bus Preservation Trust and here's wishing many more happy miles for their service 21 Routemaster.

Coal-fired steam motorbike built by technician is a Steampunk dream

source - Interesting Engineering

This Coal-Fired Steam Motorbike Built by Technician Is a Steampunk Dream

There hasn't been much in the way of Steampunk-themed articles featured on this blog of late (mind you I've only been back for three months) but this one about a beautiful home-built, steam-powered motorcycle more than makes up for it.

The creation of a steam engine enthusiast from Carlton in North Yorkshire, this fantastic machine is all the more remarkable for having been built from scratch over the course of four years - including the engine which was pieced together from various sources!  It's a testament to the skill and the vision of Mr Sanderson that the end result is such a professional example of Victorian engineering in a wonderful Steampunk design and he should be justly proud of his achievement.



It does look quite a brute of a machine, though, doesn't it - and I can't get over (and no doubt wouldn't be able to see over) the size of that chimney!  I imagine that it must interfere with forward visibility just a tad...  What it must be like to sit astride a high-pressurised boiler full of steam and hot water I wouldn't like to guess, either; I only know I would be a little nervous - although not above giving it a go I suppose.

source - Interesting Engineering

Still I can only express again my admiration for the thought and workmanship that has obviously gone into this incredible machine over such a long period of time.  The world is a fuller place for its existence and that of skilled enthusiasts like Mr Sanderson and it can rightly take its place alongside any of the one-off and custom-made Steampunk motorbikes that are out there and mentioned in the accompanying article.

Finally, to prove it's a real runner and not just a stationary engine (ha-ha, did you see what I did there...?), here to finish with is footage of the happy owner taking his fantastic steam-powered motorcycle for its first test drive:



Toot-toot!  Full steam ahead, sir!