New in August 2021, National Express: West Midlands' H1020 was part of a fresh batch of Wright StreetDeck Hydroliners for Walsall depot's route 51 linking Birmingham to their home town.

The buses are the first hydrogen powered buses for the company and are painted into this attractive two-tone grey livery based off the equally attractive Platinum brand. The interiors also been done to a similar standard bearing similar style seating with on-board screens just like the Enviro400 MMCs, some of which also work the limited stop Platinum X51.

The buses carry varying branding as H1020 carries the windmill branding on the sides and rear.

Route 51 has had an interesting history, in the late 90s the route was to have articulated Mercedes-Benz O405GNs but due to cost in moving the bus stops to accommodate the 18m long vehicles, the buses in the end were to go to Birmingham to work the 67 service.

In more recent years the 51 was worked by Dennis Tridents and Enviro400s before the StreetDeck hydroliners arrived.

The Wright StreetDeck Hydroliner is one of the newest members of the Wrightbus family whereas the name suggests, the bus is powered by hydrogen and is the first hydrogen powered bus I've drawn. The rear end is longer to accommodate the hydrogen tanks and the electricals, the window bay arrangement is also to a different layout as the diesel counterparts.

In January 2023 it was announced Corgi are to model the Wright StreetDeck Hydroliner after nine years of no Original Omnibus castings. The Electroliner has also been announced but preference in liveries have yet to be announced.

Hydrogen buses in the UK have been pretty scarce over the years with London having small batches starting with a small fleet of Mercedes-Benz Citaros in the mid-2000s as they were soon replaced by Wrightbus' first hydrogen buses which were Wright Pulsars in 2011.

Hydrogen powered buses are said to be even more efficient then battery-electric buses which are growing in numbers across the UK, one advantage over battery is that electric buses would need their batteries to be replaced in later life, might not sound like a big problem but trying to dispose of old batteries is actually bad in whatever way, like burning or simply dumping in landfill sites which is why its always recommended to recycle electronics in recycle centres. Hydrogen powered buses only emit water vapour and no fumes, they like electrics have not as many moving parts meaning added reliability and less chance in things going wrong. These buses in Walsall, London and Aberdeen haven't suffered any reliability issues to my knowledge although the only major issue was a structural issue which led to the Wright StreetDeck Hydroliners to be recalled for modifications for safety reasons.

Despite the flaws, the buses seem to be running nicely and it would be really nice to see such buses run in my home city of Leeds at some point. Maybe a fictional upload....?

So is hydrogen the future? They do seem more greener than electrics.

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This drawing was drawn in memory for Adam Evans who passed away 30/5/23.

New in May 2015, 6704 was part of a growing fleet of Enviro400 MMCs for National Express: West Midlands. Most were bought for the Platinum brand as National Express' Birmingham depot got the first batch of these very stylish buses.

6704 was initially branded for the 900 service whilst also carrying not so much prominent branding for the 957 aswell on the front and rear windows.

When about a year old, 6704 was de-branded only to be branded for the X12 (Birmingham to Solihull) route. Also the bus was renamed from Helena to Cleo Jade.

Again in 2022, 6704 was de-branded only to feature an all-red front end around the destination display and upper deck windows with branding boasting about extra legroom as the bus still remains in service in this guise to this day.

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This bus drawing was done in memory of Isobel Gall who passed away at the age of 29 on 31/12/2019 after a battle against mesothelioma a rare type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

After Isobel was given the diagnosis, National Express named her favourite bus after her, and that was 6725.

National Express also supported her preservation project which was 4126, an ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident.

Isobel also won Bus Driver of the Year 2018, beating 250 other drivers.

This dedicated drawing is of National Express West Midlands' 6725 which was new in 2015 for the Platinum service 997 and hasn't seen any change over the years apart from originally being named Isobel Daisy which it was named when it was new.

My work is all done using MS Paint with no other software being used as I have never used such for my work since the beginning.

For any general enquiries, like questions, requests etc, please send me an email as my email address is michaelwindle38@yahoo.co.uk.

For news, bus drawings and more, by all means follow me on Facebook right here > www.facebook.com/MetroRider30

I also have a DeviantArt page right here www.deviantart.com/mspainted-by-michael if you are part of that group.

I am to post bus drawings more often on Twitter throughout 2021, and the link to my Twitter account can be found right here where I also post about the odd random thing aswell > twitter.com/MetroRider30

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This bus drawing was done in memory of Isobel Gall who passed away at the age of 29 on 31/12/2019 after a battle against mesothelioma a rare type of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

After Isobel was given the diagnosis, National Express named her favourite bus after her, and that was 6725.

National Express also supported her preservation project which was 4126, an ALX400 bodied Dennis Trident.

Isobel also won Bus Driver of the Year 2018, beating 250 other drivers.

This dedicated drawing is of National Express West Midlands' 4126 and was new in this blue/red/white livery. 4126 was originally branded for the 51 service but soon was seen on other routes as years went on. 4126 was later repainted into the previous standard red/white livery for National Express and later, 4126 entered preservation, not to be confused with 4125 which has regained this livery but is still in service and not in preservation.

In Autumn 2021, it was revealed that no.4126 is still in preservation still wearing the previous red/white National Express: West Midlands livery and is now owned by 'Bus Driver Jade' who's since named the bus Trixy as the bus attended what is most likely her first outing in preservation on 31/10/21 at Wythall Transport Museum for the Twilight Running Day.

The route 51 the bus drawing depicts is now worked by hydrogen powered Wright StreetDecks. They were new in 2021.

My work is all done using MS Paint with no other software being used as I have never used such for my work since the beginning.

For any general enquiries, like questions, requests etc, please send me an email as my email address is michaelwindle38@yahoo.co.uk.

For news, bus drawings and more, by all means follow me on Facebook right here > www.facebook.com/MetroRider30

I also have a DeviantArt page right here www.deviantart.com/mspainted-by-michael if you are part of that group.

I am to post bus drawings more often on Twitter throughout 2021, and the link to my Twitter account can be found right here where I also post about the odd random thing aswell > twitter.com/MetroRider30

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New to TWM (Travel West Midlands) in Spring 1997, 1436 was part of a fleet of Wright Liberators, 1436 was of course allocated to Coventry.

Along with all other Wright Liberators, 1436 was originally painted in the 'low floor' TWM red/blue/white livery.

The bus was later transferred a year after it was new as it was transferred to Yardley Wood depot whilst carrying branding for the 21/29 services.

1436 was transferred a few times in its time as the bus was eventually repainted into its last livery this red/white one in 2008 when around this time the livery was practically brand new.

1436's final home before being withdrawn was Walsall depot as the bus was transferred there in April 2012 as it lasted there for three years until the 3rd of October 2015 when on that day 1436 was part of a farewell running day with some of National Express' last remaining first generation of low floor buses including Mercedes-Benz O405Ns, Optare Spectras, and Volvo B6s. 1436 was seen on the 301 service. In 2017, 1436 was sadly sold for scrap.

The Wright Liberator was Wrightbus' and Volvo's first low floor bus. It was succeeded by the Wright Renown which was a low entry model as that also was the eventual replacement of the Wright Endurance. The product didn't see the success the step entry Endurance and low entry Renown received but TWM and a couple of First Group fleets bought most of these buses produced. Articulated versions of the Wright Liberator existed in the shape of Wright Fusion bodied Volvo B10LAs but they were all purchased by First Group. The final Wright Liberators were bought by Bus Éireann in Ireland in the year 1999.

In the UK the Volvo B10L wasn't the most successful module from Volvo as the same story persists, the B10L was Volvo's main low floor chassis during its time in Mainland Europe in particular Sweden with some gas powered (rigid and articulated) examples, some of which entered service with again TWM but with Alexander Ultra bodies. The Volvo B10L and B10BLE was later replaced with the vertical engined Volvo B7L.

**Unauthorised use with my work such as uploading without permission is prohibited. All work is for viewing pleasure and should not be for sale for any reason**

All drawings I do have been done using just MS Paint since the beginning as I very rarely use bits of work from other sources.

For news, bus drawings and more, by all means follow me on Facebook right here > www.facebook.com/MetroRider30

I also have a DeviantArt page right here www.deviantart.com/mspainted-by-michael if you are part of that group.

I am to post bus drawings more often on Twitter throughout 2021, and the link to my Twitter account can be found right here where I also post about the odd random thing aswell > twitter.com/MetroRider30

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