If there was a bus I'd love to go back and do again for today, it'd be this one. MVG (Mürztaler Verkehrs Gesellschaft)'s no.30 (III) first entered service 30 years to this day, which just so happens to be the day I was born.
The bus drawing is an updated one from the one I did back in 2018. This is actually depicting MVG's no.30's earlier days as I found out recently that it carried the DM logo. (DM is a shop in Austria).
No.30 (III) was part of a fleet of four Mercedes-Benz O405GTDs for the trolleybus and diesel lines and was the first one to enter service out of the four.
No.30 was originally a demonstrator back in 1987 (carrying its Rastatt reg plate RA-LE 529) as its demonstrating days came to an end when on 21/03/1990 (ironically my date of birth), the bus found full term use at MVG.
The bus retained its livery when new as it is actually EVAG of Essen's standard as this bus is the sole Mercedes-Benz O405GTD to wear it as the rest of EVAG's similar buses wore special liveries seen here... www.flickr.com/photos/73079833@N02/49116944872/in/photoli...
Interestingly, MVG took a huge liking to this bus' livery so they adapted it onto the rest of their fleet so don't be confused when you might think EVAG and MVG are related, they're not. The blue/white/yellow colours can still be seen to this day on MVG's current fleet which is mainly made up of Euro 6 engined Mercedes-Benz Citaro 2s. Sadly though, the white/blue/yellow colours which has been seen since the day I was born is sadly being phased out by a green/white incarnation of the 'Verbund Linie' livery with the green in a very similar shade to the 'Leeds City' livery. This green/cream livery will be seen in a large section on buses around the Styrian district with Regiobus being another company to see their buses wear that livery, this will cause confusion to those who aren't familiar with buses in the area!
MVG's no.30 originally carried branding for itself being a duobus, meaning its a trolleybus with a normal diesel engine for when its not under the wires.
Later, MVG purchased three more O405GTD Mercs one of which was new and two from the German city of Potsdam which were only two years old at the time of transfer.
No.30 was later wearing a few variations of the Interspar supermarket (or shopping mall) which is along the Grazer Strasse which no.30 passed regularly whilst ferrying passengers between the Austrian towns of Bruck a.d. Mur and Kapfenberg on routes 1, 2 and 3. The latter variation of the overall Interspar advert also advertised 14 other shops at the same shopping mall.
In 2002, the wires came down meaning a large number of the trolleybuses were made redundant so were transferred to other cities around Europe, but the Mercedes-Benz O405GTDs lived on for a few more years as their booms were removed as this meant they were running just like standard O405Gs.
In 2005, withdrawl of this type started as in March that year as no.30 was sadly the first of the type to be withdrawn with the rest to follow in 2007/2008 as the replacements were new 15m MAN Lion's City LLs and ex-Graz Mercedes-Benz Citaro Ls which have since left the company as passenger numbers fell and the buses' length was causing problems as the turning circle was pretty poor on the long rigids.
The whereabouts of this bus now remain unknown, although according to the Obusse in Kapfenberg & Bruck a.d. Mur book, no.30 was sold and a rumour from elsewhere states this bus was in Romania at one point, although no photos or any other proof state that this was infact true. If anyone knows where this bus is, could you please let me know as I am very curious about its whereabouts.
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**Black Prince logo was resized and rendered in MS Paint as I was sent a copy of the original logo by Stephen Whiteley**
New in 1989, F380 JTV was a demo for Scania as it was one of two Alexander RH bodied Scania N113 demonstrators.
After its demonstrating life, F380 JTV was then with Nottingham City Transport wearing its short lived green/cream and red wheels livery. During this time it is understood to have spent a bit of time with Travel West Midlands who expressed a keen interest in this type after the demise of MCW and sure enough they had a sizeable fleet of these Scanias with Alexander body.
The bus was also at Grey Green for a bit whilst still in the Nottingham City Transport livery as its stay was understood to have been fairly brief.
F380 JTV was numbered 380 for its stay at NCT as it was later repainted in the newer green/cream striped livery.
Later in the late 90s to early 00s, 380 whilst retaining its fleetnumber was then transferred to Black Prince Buses where it joined similar Alexander RH bodied Scania N113s from again Nottingham City Transport, Travel West Midlands and Selkent.
The bus wore two different liveries for its stay, including this red, yellow and maroon livery which was adored by many, but it also sported a special allover red Christmas livery.
It was at Black Prince until the very last day of the company on 31st July 2005 as it was on its last route, the 751.
Afterwards 380 was then transferred to Harrogate Coach Travel, and had a green and white livery applied for its stay with a small reminder of its time at Black Prince with the yellow destination display surrounds still in place.
The last photo of this bus was taken in 2015 as at Liddell of Auchinleck as it was being sourced for spares, but as from this moment its unknown where this bus is now as the bus was later preserved however the owners had to let her go so now the remains could well be scrapped by now.
The 87 links Morley to Halton Moor via White Rose Centre, Hunslet and Leeds city centre. The route mainly saw Scania double and single deckers with Alexander and East Lancs bodies with some Optare Prisma bodied Mercedes-Benz O405s.
Later the route was handed over to First when Black Prince had ceased trading, the route then saw Alexander Strider bodied Scania N113s and the route was later altered thus adding more minutes to the journey. The route was cancelled in 2016/17 with the 55 and the extension of the 12 to White Rose Centre being the replacements.
380 was recently preserved and was to be restored in the Black Prince livery, but word has it the bus has been sold for spares, presumably for another preservation project.
The Alexander RH body was a very popular choice for operators through the 80s and 90s, production ceased in the late 90s and was soon replaced by the ALX400 come 1999 which became Alexander's first low floor bus on the market. The Scania N113 with Alexander RH body was popular during its time with Travel West Midlands, Nottingham City Transport and Yorkshire Rider being keen customers among a few others. The Scania N113 was also available with East Lancs bodies and Northern Counties with East Lancs' bodies being very similar to Alexander's RH body.
The Scania N113 was also found as a single decker type but production ended and was replaced by the L113 which was available in double/single deck as latter versions were available in low floor configuration.
Just to let you know, unauthorised use of my photos and drawings is strictly prohibited. All my work is done using MS Paint, I don't copy and paste images off Google and use on my work unless stated otherwise.
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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 as a demonstrator in 1985, 901 was the sole Leyland Lynx for Ribble. It was one of the first Leyland Lynxes to be built. The bus was also the only Lynx to be purchased by any operator who was at the time under the National Bus Company.
This was infact the 5th Lynx to be built as a development vehicle which makes this vehicle relatively unique.
901 was later transferred to Stagecoach Cumberland whilst carrying new fleetnumber 255. It also was repainted into the Stagecoach stripe livery for its stay with the company. It was also seen with Stagecoach Hartlepool where it carried its next fleetnumber being 544 respective of its registration plate and for the more eagle eyed enthusiasts you might notice that the bus was repainted again with a slightly revised Stagecoach stripe livery with the lining being more broader and also wrapping round the front.
In June 2003, this bus was modelled by Corgi carrying this exact livery and destination but it carried grey wheels rather than black as I have been unable to find photos of this bus with grey wheels.
Because of how unique this bus was, it was going to be preserved, however sadly it is said to have been scrapped instead - "by mistake" as a huge blow to many who'd have loved to see this bus still going.
So this bus was a must to draw as this was a very interesting part of the very large Ribble fleet which should be recognised and also remembered.
Just to let you know, unauthorised use of my photos and drawings is strictly prohibited. All my work is done using MS Paint, I don't copy and paste images off Google and use on my work unless stated otherwise.
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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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A huge thank you to Jordan Adam for showing me some photos he took of K1 GRT including a very much needed cab shot of it.
New in 1992, K1 GRT was part of a fleet of Mercedes-Benz O405 single deckers, but this member of the fleet was going to be a one-off in more ways than one. The obvious difference is that it was the only artic of the fleet, also it was the only articulated bus Alexander had bodied, the only step-entry articulated Mercedes-Benz O405G for UK operations, and finally one of just two Alexander Cityrangers ever produced, the other was a rigid demonstrator which survived until 2006, that was K473 EDT.
The bus didn't spend all its life in Aberdeen, it was a used as a demonstrator for a few years for various Firstbus fleets when Grampian and Badgerline formed to make the big giant company. The bus was seen in Leicester, Northampton, Leeds, Huddersfield and perhaps a few other places. The bus wore a few liveries during its demonstrating life, as instead of the green it wears, it was red or blue instead, however by this time the original livery this bus wore was revised once under First Group ownership. Whilst here in Leeds K1 GRT was trialled on the guided busway up on Scott Hall Road with the regular Alexander Strider bodied Scania fleet as the bus gained guidewheels as this was one of only very few artics to have such, and the bus had received Superbus stickers on all sides. Despite being branded for the Superbus service, K1 GRT was also snapped on the route 2 from Roundhay to Corn Exchange. Only a handful of Wright Fusions were allocated to the Scott Hall Road runs but that fleet ended up on route 1 shortly after and no artics were ever to work on the route 2 again. Out of all the places K1 GRT demonstrated at, Leeds was the only city to have artics for a long period of time. Saying that as Leeds no longer has any artics, Aberdeen still has a few Wright Eclipse Fusions built in 2005, the rest of the fleet including some Wright Fusions from Glasgow have all being scrapped without one being saved for preservation, would be nice for W2 FAL to be saved, would make a good photo opportunity if alongside K1 GRT.
Later on, K1 GRT was repainted into the Barbie 2 livery before it got withdrawn as this bus was also the only articulated bus to ever be seen in such livery. But a few years later, no.1 was restored back in her original livery and now owned by the Aberdeen & District Transport Preservation Trust but doesn't see much outings due to technical difficulties. However besides being mainly a static display as a result of the reliability issues, K1 GRT does however see some outings and has performed faultlessly whilst ferrying passengers on running days.
Grampian Regional Transport was a keen customer though of the Mercedes-Benz O405 as they were all bodied by Alexander, Wright and Optare. This was all before Badgerline and GRT merged to become the transport giant we all recognise to this day as First Group.
The Alexander Cityranger was an extremely rare type which sits on the Mercedes-Benz O405 chassis. The body was based on the Alexander PS however the boxy shape of the body is almost identical to the Strider which was released a year later with a fair few differences. So now this is the sole Alexander Cityranger in existance, but unbeknown to many is that SBS Transit in Singapore operated a batch of Alexander PS bodied Mercedes-Benz O405 rigids so these aren't as unique as you'd think but still very. Later, Wrightbus produced their very own Cityranger body for the Mercedes-Benz O405 as only rigids were produced. The body was roundabouts a standard Wright Classic body but like with Alexander's and Optare's offerings had a Mercedes-Benz O405 front end.
K1 GRT is also the only O405G artic to ever enter service in the UK, not including the LF versions which worked with TWM and Metro in Belfast. And further more this was Alexander's only articulated bus they've ever had to release, no other manufacturer has ever made an articulated bus which was made to be a one-off product.
The bus has many similarities to the FTR brand which again used tram-style artics which were to be branded as transport for the future just like K1 GRT although K1 GRT was not a tram like bus. Also K1 GRT had visual announcements on board just like the FTR service had, but the screens proved unreliable - just like the FTR's which often didn't work, appeared discoloured or just kept cutting out when going over imperfections in the road. K1 GRT was most likely the reason behind First's long term affair with buying new articulated buses for their larger fleets but technically it isn't the oldest artic within the First fleet, as First Mainline had older Leyland DABs on the Meadowhall runs, as like with K1 GRT, one of that fleet remains in preservation, artics in preservation are currently a bit of a rarity although with many being built from the early 2000s, a few more are getting preserved.
Interestingly First Group was very keen on buying unique types, such types were all of articulated variety including the Wright Fusion bodied Volvo B10LA in 1998/1999 and the tram-styled Wright StreetCar bodied Volvo B7LA in 2005-2007. No other company bought these buses although they did open the gateway for Wrightbus to market the Eclipse/Solar Fusions to other operators in the UK like Dublin Bus, Nottingham City Transport and Go-North East. Saying that though all but one batch of the Wright Eclipse Fusions produced were for First fleets, interestingly all but one Solar Fusion was not ordered for First Group. So I do believe Grampian Regional Transport did start a small craze with articulated buses in the UK, but it wasn't the oldest articulated bus to work with First Group, as in Sheffield until 2001, First South Yorkshire had a fleet of older Leyland DABs.
Aberdeen started buying their first batch of articulated buses in the shape of Wright Eclipse Fusions which were the first of their type and the first buses to ever be built with any Wright Eclipse body.
Finally this bus is probably the closest thing I've seen in many ways to my favourite bus MVG's no.30 which I have since uploaded for my own 30th birthday, both are articulated Mercedes-Benz O405 with some differences, both have 3 doors, both were technically demonstrators but kept their original liveries whilst doing demonstration work, both had guide wheels at some point during their demonstrating lives and both have the operator and fleet number incorporated into the registration plate. However when back here in Leeds, K1 GRT's side stickers for Superbus reminded me of Duobus 30's Interspar adverts.
Just to let you know, unauthorised use of my photos and drawings is strictly prohibited. All my work is done using MS Paint, I don't take images off Google and use on my work unless stated otherwise.
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, 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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During late 2015, EYMS bought a large selection of the demonstrator buses from Volvo and Alexander Dennis along with some dealer stock Wright bodied Volvo B9TLs, all for route X46.
No.795 is probably the best of the bunch for the route as it is quite unique with the tables on the upper deck. So because of the bus' 'snazzy features', the bus wears gold panels instead of EYMS' typical standard cream.
I rode this very bus while it was demonstrating with Transdev in Harrogate as I thought it was a great bus to ride in.
The branding was hard to draw as also the destination took some doing aswell trying to cram the lettering in so I resorted to etching the side and rear numbers myself as the X46 tags were 'tough as nails' too.
YY64 GWX is no stranger to my feed as I did the bus when it was still doing demonstration duties around the UK. The drawing can be seen here... www.flickr.com/photos/73079833@N02/16649677009/in/datepos...
For people who don't know, I do all my work using Microsoft Paint, drawing vehicles.
**Notice about copyright** It is an offence to steal any of my work, if you do steal, your uploads will be reported, your request if you have one pending will be cancelled and you will be blocked. And this also applies to stealing parts along with stealing whole vehicle drawings.
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