MidlandRed.net

This year I was once again invited to help deliver a shuttle service at Goodwood Revival. As always, this is operated wherever possible using vintage buses, with the occasional modern bus providing DDA compliance and an evening service.

Attached are a selection of the vehicles used. Some even have a Midland Red connection, with the B10 and Routemaster both carrying Midland Red (South) Limited legal lettering for Stagecoach Midlands.

Marvellous!
Good to see the Midland Red South Routemaster in use, and I am sure the B10M (which I had a ride on during an Omnibus Society visit in the Spring) would have performed well.

But what better to see than those Southdown open top Queen Marys!

JustinTyme wrote: ↑

11:24 Thursday 24th September 2026

Marvellous!
Good to see the Midland Red South Routemaster in use, and I am sure the B10M (which I had a ride on during an Omnibus Society visit in the Spring) would have performed well.

But what better to see than those Southdown open top Queen Marys!

Although the Routemaster was still carrying MRS legal lettering throughout the event, it arrived with the full vehicle file and will not return to Rugby. It will transfer to Stagecoach (South) Limited once the paperwork is processed. It looks in great condition inside and out, but needs a bit of mechanical work before it's next outing. I drove it on Friday afternoon/evening and was warned by the previous driver that it was "a bit slow". It seemed OK at first in the busy traffic from Chichester to the event, but running empty the other way on clear roads it soon became apparent that fourth gear did not want to join the party. With it stuck in third the top speed was only 22mph! I still continued to the end of my shift, because 20mph was perfectly sufficient 90% of the time on that route, and just how often do you get the chance to drive a Routemaster on a registered service with conductor and fare paying passengers these days? It was fun! The bus was demoted to campsite duty after that. That is a free shuttle paid for by the organisers and runs down some very narrow lanes, where 20mph is being over ambitious!

The B10 had electrical problems during heavy rain last year, and ended up missing the last day, but it was running perfectly this year in the sun. I didn't get a chance to drive it. Being one of the more modern buses used, it's a firm favourite with younger drivers and managers that are a bit intimidated by the real vintage stuff.

On Sunday afternoon and evening I was given Queen Mary 409DCD. I did take it for a run around the block before going out in service, because although I passed my test in a crash-box bus, that was 30+ years ago! I need not have worried because it all came back quickly enough. My conductor that evening was also the person giving me a lift back to my hotel, so with no finish time restrictions we even voted to run an extra round trip, just for the hell of it!

Monday morning was the the issue of getting Cheltenham's VR back home. 100+ miles, but that ran perfectly too.

Adam, you are a lucky bus enthusiast! Always thought the Southdown Queen Mary Leyland PD3/4 were rather special, the excellent external livery and the level of detail and quality of the Northern Counties bodies made them stand out from many other makers products, I particularly liked the cream window rubber mountings and the green inserts in the beading that held panelling in place on the inside, plus the closed top deckers had coach type glazed ceiling roof 'lights' which made the interior very light and airy in the daytime. I suppose too, they operated in many of the Hampshire and Sussex coastal resorts which added to the glamour and mystique for a young and impressionable bus enthusiast visitor used to the drab brown and fawn interiors of 1950's Midland Red buses.

Nice one mate, excellent pictures too. Sounds like fun!