All events will be on Saturday, 19 June 1999, unless otherwise indicated.
The South East event (Eastern & Southern Branch) will be held on Sunday 20th June - to avoid a clash with the Royal Wedding in Windsor on the Saturday.
There are three main elements to the day which will stretch participants' interests beyond buses to other means of transport. The focal points are White Bus (a long standing, small independent operator running a local bus service between Ascot and Windsor); the Cockrow miniature railway; and the Cobham Bus Museum.
A White Bus vehicle will leave a west London Underground station at 10.15. First point of call will be the Ian Allan Cockrow railway; this miniature passenger carrying line has a variety of steam locomotives and operates under an extensive signalling system based on main line practice. The OS group will be given a private viewing and full briefing. The visit has been arranged through the good offices of the Society's President for 1999 - Stephen Morris, Editor of Buses magazine (who will be present).
Next in line will be the Cobham Bus Museum. Again the Society group will be given a conducted tour and there should be an opportunity to have a sample ride on one (or more)of the Museum collection of historic London buses.
Travelling on to Windsor, the bus will follow the full routing of the normal weekday 15.30 departure for Ascot. This takes scenic roads through Windsor Great Park, not normally open to the public. The White Bus premises at Winkfield will be visited, by arrangement with the proprietor, Doug Jeatt, prior to a further bus related visit and a return to the start point at around 1830.
The above summarises the plans at early April. Be prepared for some last minute changes and (pleasant) surprises!
The North East event (Northern Branch) is based on the Tyne & Wear area and to give participants time to make their way to Newcastle, will start at 1030. It is hosted by Peter Cardno (Branch Chairman) and Andrew Tyldsley (Commercial Manager, Go Ahead North East). At a convenient point a talk about the Omnibus Society will be given by Charles Marshall, a former President of the Society and former Managing Director of OK Motor Services.
Transport will largely be by modern vehicle and participants are recommended to bring their own packed lunch. We hope to visit depots of the three major operators in Newcastle and Sunderland as well as inspecting the busy scene at the newly opened Sunderland transport Interchange.
Vintage transport will be experienced at Beamish Museum where as well as having a tramride, we have been invited to go behind the scenes into the workshops - an area not accessible to the general public - where many interesting exhibits are displayed.
Stanley Bus Station will be visited on our way back to Newcastle, where we hope to arrive, after a day full of transport interest, at about 1700.
Note: This trip has had to be cancelled due to insufficient support.
The South West event will depart from Bristol at 0930 and make a stop to pick up participants starting from South Wales by rail. Transport for the day will be provided by Abus of Bristol in the form of one of their Optare Spectra low-floor double deckers , driven by one of our members who also happens to be a Regional Director for the CPT.
We proceed first to Cheltenham for a visit to the Stagecoach depot, where a spokesman will address us on their local operations. There may be time for a brief visit to the town centre and sight of the unique Road Train operating in the pedestrianised area before we continue to Gloucester Bus Station for a short refreshment stop.
During the afternoon we will tour the Forest of Dean, stops being made to see various operators and hopefully some preserved vehicles at scenic photocalls. There will then be a visit to the yard of a major dealer in secondhand buses, where a number of interesting vehicles may be inspected closer up than is normally possible.
Following a final call at Chepstow, the return to Bristol will be across the Severn Bridge or (time permitting) the Second Severn Crossing. Target finish time is 1830.
The Scottish Branch is marking the Big Buzz with a full day centred on Glasgow and hosted by noted transport authors Gavin Booth and Alan Millar. A tour, starting at 1000 and finishing around 1700 has been arranged around Glasgow and Renfrewshire, using one or more interesting vehicles. This will give those present an opportunity to learn something of the inside workings of the three major bus groups in the region - Stagecoach, Arriva and First Group - as we will be visting all three.
The tour includes a visit to Glasgow's Museum of Transport where our visitors will have the opportunity to meet Omnibus Society members and learn something of the society's activities and the Scottish Branch programme.
The Midland event is to be based at Lincoln, being hosted by Mr Paul Hill, MD of RoadCar, the principal and long-standing operator for the area. An interesting modern vehicle will provide free transport from Birmingham, starting at 0900 and will travel via Nottingham, where a stop will be made to see bus operations in that city.
A duplicate vehicle of local interest may be provided from the East Midlands if the response justifies it. Lincoln will provide the opportunity to see the old and the new - visit today's RoadCar operations and view yesteryear's buses at the premises of the Lincoln Vintage Vehicle Society. Other calls may be arranged en route - these are still in negotiation.
Picking up points will be Birmingham, Nottingham, Newark, Lincoln and perhaps Derby. During the day, those travelling on the full trip from start to finish will see a cross-section of the busy Saturday bus scene in the West and East Midlands and Lincoln. The day will end in Birmingham at 1900 - a good value day out for any transport enthusiast.
The Pennines event (organised by the North West and Yorkshire Branch) is now fully booked. It will be based on Leeds with two vehicles - one state of the art, one well-preserved - conveying parties to see around the premises of First Leeds, the guided bus network and the premises of Optare. Numbers visiting Optare are strictly limited, so sadly it may be that not all participants will be able to see this remarkable company, but we are grateful to them for extending their hospitality to us.
After a lunch break in central Leeds the party will regroup and travel to the premises of Keighley Bus Museum where we will be shown around both the depots required to house the expanded collection (having inherited a number of exhibits from Transperience). A special guided tour for the Omnibus Society will give us the opportunity to view their remarkable fleet of local vehicles and we shall return to Leeds on a vintage double decker.
All events are subject to change - nothing in the bus industry stands still for long - so these itineraries are an indication of our preparations to date. All events will start and finish from locations convenient for local transport connections - details of pick up points and detailed start times will be included in letters confirming bookings. The cost of each trip is £5.00 - there are no discounts but hopefully no extras either and copious free literature will be available. Food and drink are not provided but there will be an opportunity for a lunch break en route. There will be lots of photo opportunities so do bring a camera and plenty of film.
The Omnibus Society would like to thank the many operators, organisations and individuals who are supporting the Big Buzz.