Generally speaking, on many of my Portuguese jaunts, I used Guarda as an overnight staging point. Quite unjustly I thought, the guide books gave this city a hard time, some even suggesting avoiding it... I really liked it, and found it friendly and interesting. Principally, the City was built atop a large hill, which caused both roads and rail line to climb severely to serve the place. The relatively modern bus station enjoyed some commanding views, and in this scene we're looking towards the railway in the valley where the tracks diverge, the northern spur to the Spanish border only a few miles distant.
Parked on the layover park is one of Amandio Paraiso's mid engined UTIC AECs. Despite it's less than pristine image, it still has a full compliment of AEC nut rings on the front wheels, and hub embellishers at the rear.
Tags: Buses Coaches Single Decker AEC UTIC Mid engined April Amandio Paraiso Guarda Bus Station Northern Portugal Portuguese Buses Portugal
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To be honest, I can't quite remember where I took this picture, but on balance I'd plump for Guarda. I recall this coach being parked in some square in the centre of a residential area, rather than on the more usual bus station lay over park.
The re-cycled AEC running units had been treated to one of the very last body styles, if not the last, produced by the famous Portuguese firm, UTIC. The end result is splendidly attractive in my opinion.
Tags: Buses Coaches Single Decker AEC Reliance Integral UTIC AH 760 Re-body Amandio Paraiso Guarda Northern Portugal Portuguese Buses Portugal
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It seemed that the villagers were used to the centre of town being used as impromptu bus parking, as this less common high floor rear engined AEC UTIC demonstrates...
Tags: Buses Coaches Single deck High Floor Rear Engine AEC AH 760 UTIC Integral Juncais Northern Portugal Portuguese Buses Amandio Paraiso Independent Bus Operators
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The general feel of the place can be gleaned from this shot depicting some of the more operable fleet members, all UTIC AECs. The garage is the building on the left, though I can't recall whether it was physically possible to place a bus inside. Sadly operators like this are a disappearing breed throughout Europe, though I feel grateful that I had the chance to record this one.
Tags: Buses Coaches Single Decker Small operator Private Bus Independent operator UTIC AEC Integral Reliance Amandio Paraiso Juncais Portugal Portuguese Buses
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Just off the main highway between the northern Portuguese Cities of Guarda and Viseu was the small village of Juncais. It hosted one of the most interesting if down at heel looking bus companies which I'd had the pleasure of stumbling across. Amandio Pariaso e Filhos principally operated between the two aforementioned places predominantly with a fleet of elderly AECs. Their headquarters were alongside the old road through the village, with much maintenance and repair work carried out at the roadside surrounding their small garage. A few yards further up the road on the opposite side, they had a small area of the hillside given over to withdrawn buses which were an invaluable source of spares. Our very own Mr 'semmytrailer' is seen here negotiating for the purchase of some AEC memorabilia!
Tags: Buses Coaches Single Decker Scrap buses Withdrawn Buses Portuguese Buses Amandio Paraiso Juncais Northern Portugal Guarda Viseu semmytrailer scrapyard spares AEC UTIC
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