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Oxford Bus Museum 30 July 2017 part three.

Posted: 19:17 Sunday 30th July 2017
by TimBrown
Here are a few more of the vehicles at the Oxford Bus Museum Festival and Rally.
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 125.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 133.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 136.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 145.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 154.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 121.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 127.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 128.jpg
30 July 2017 Oxford Bus Museum, Hanborough 129.jpg

Re: Oxford Bus Museum 30 July 2017 part three.

Posted: 20:08 Sunday 30th July 2017
by JustinTyme
Thanks Tim,

Excellent photographs of an excellent selection of vehicles.

I've been to the Oxford Bus Museum a few times, but not yet to a running day. One day ...

Re: Oxford Bus Museum 30 July 2017 part three.

Posted: 19:38 Monday 31st July 2017
by MattW
Still love the VR, reminds me of riding the narrow Cornish lanes on a Western National open-top!

That Invictaway coach is up my street too, oh for those pre-speed limiter days!

Re: Oxford Bus Museum 30 July 2017 part three.

Posted: 14:16 Tuesday 1st August 2017
by TimBrown
MattW wrote:
19:38 Monday 31st July 2017
That Invictaway coach is up my street too, oh for those pre-speed limiter days!
Is that the 50 MPH limiters on stage carriage buses or the 60 MPH limiters for buses and coaches over 12 metres long on the motorway? Incidentally on checking the UK GOV website I see that PVCs are allowed 60 MPH on dual carriageways and (new to me) it states that buses, coaches and minibuses not more than 12 metres are allowed 70 MPH on motorways - I wonder why!

I am well into my 8th decade and can remember HGV's being restricted to 20 MPH in the 1950s and buses and coaches only being allowed 30 MPH. This didn't stop buses from roaring along at up to 50 MPH when running late and I seem to remember BMMO C1's and C3/C4's fitted with overdrive managing close on 60 MPH on the right roads when doing long day tours.

Went on a day tour to Bournemouth long ago with the driver of C4 4250 doing his best to make up time after a delay in Malvern when there was an overbooking situation. In fact, wherever possible, this coach was on the governors (cha! cha! cha!) in overdrive with some remarkable high speed cornering on the winding Cheltenham to Swindon road (no motorways then) and the strong armed driver got us to our destination in a little over 4 hours including a break. This without power steering and probably the worst brakes on any coach at the time weighing in at over 8 tons unladen.

The legendary CM5 was a genuinely fast coach weighing in at about 6.5 tons unladen, had a good power to weight ratio, with quick acceleration and a phenomenal top speed of 80+ MPH which was the norm even on our local X43/X44 Worcester Birmingham express. They even had fantastic braking power with discs all round. The burble from a straight through exhaust combined with turbocharger whistle and loud roar at high revs made these sound very exciting to any young bus enthusiast - just a pity none were preserved for the young of today to marvel at!

Much later on I was a driver on the X43/X44 route with Leyland Leopards which didn't like the uphill sections going to Birmingham, but some of the early 45x 'P' reg series Plaxton Elite bodied coaches would easily go off the end of the tachograph on the mainly downhill return journey when overtaking cars in the second or third lane (yes we were allowed in that one back then) so you had to keep one eye on the speedo and rear view mirror!

At the other end of the scale some of the Leyland Nationals wouldn't show any more than 43/44 MPH on the tacho making them 'pedal to the metal' machines in an effort to keep time when working peak period 144 to Birmingham; Foregate Street and Barbourne was horrendous for hold-ups then just as it is today, so you were always way down for time at Fernhill Heath!.

Re: Oxford Bus Museum 30 July 2017 part three.

Posted: 21:03 Tuesday 1st August 2017
by MattW
Great memories as always mate 8-)

I remember going to Cornwall on holiday as a kid, my dad was a good driver but definetly stuck to 70 and there were always coaches bombing past in the outside lane. Usually National Express!