THE SCOTTISH VINTAGE BUS MUSEUM -
EDINBURGH VINTAGE BUS TRIP
In 2011, ex-Edinburgh Corporation Guy Arab JWS 594 (fleet number 314), was back on the road after an absence of more than ten years, after being treated to an overhaul which included new brake master cylinder seals, stripping down and refurbishing the brake servo unit, a new cab floor and repairs to the rear platform riser. Meanwhile, period adverts were recreated on the sides and rear which have certainly enhanced 3l4’s appearance. A co-owner remarked – “Should have done that 40 years ago”
The
owners decided they would take the bus to Edinburgh and put it through its
paces on an eclectic route of those run in its heyday, and put out the word
that everyone was welcome. An offer from the Edinburgh Group at Lathalmond, to bring one of their charges, Leyland Titan
PD2, OSF 777 (fleet number 777), was happily accepted.
The
buses left Lathalmond at 9:30 and after stops, to
pick up passengers in Dunfermline and Rosyth, headed over the Forth Bridge towards Edinburgh. We
then travelled via Barnton & Maybury,
and through South Gyle, Sighthill,
Wester Hailes & Colinton Village to Westgarth
Avenue, the Route 16 terminus.
|
777 seen
through the rear window of 314 as we cross
the Forth Bridge (Jim
Crichton) |
Edinburgh, Westgarth Avenue (Jim
Crichton) |
Leaving Westgarth Avenue, we headed through Firrhill,
Craiglockhart and Longstone
to Calder Road and the bus layby at Calder View for
more photographs to be taken.
|
JWS 594 leads
the way down Colinton Road in the rain (Jim Crichton) |
Another photo
opportunity on Calder Road (Jim Crichton) |
Doubling
back towards the city, we passed through, Stenhouse, Balgreen and Gorgie, fought our
way through Haymarket and the West End, before tackling George Street, York Place
and Picardy Place, eventually arriving in London Road, and a welcome comfort
break.
|
A welcome
break in London Road (Jim
Crichton) |
777 takes
over the lead from 314 (Jim Crichton) |
We left
London Road, with 777 taking over the lead, and headed down Easter Road and
alongside Leith Links to Seafield
Road, then on to Portobello.
|
314 follows 777 down Easter Road ….. (Jim
Crichton) |
….. and pulls
up behind at the Seafield Road East junction with
Portobello Rd (Jim Crichton) |
The last
stage of our outward journey took us along Portobello High Street and on to
Joppa, where we used the bus terminus and turning point for a break and photo
opportunity.
|
On arrival at
Joppa (Jim
Crichton) |
A nicely
posed photo with the River Forth In the
background (Jim Crichton) |
We
retraced our outward journey to Leith, then followed the river, through Newhaven, Granton and Silverknowes, to an
enjoyable carvery lunch in Lauriston
Farm Restaurant.
|
777 on
Portobello High Street. (Jim
Crichton) |
A nice bit of
reversing saw us safely parked up for lunch (Jim Crichton) |
Well-fed
and rarin’ to get going, we decided to head for Hillend, again following parts of various routes. The first
leg took us back through Silverknowes then up Pennywell Road, along Ferry Road and through Crewe Toll to Goldenacre. Inverleith Row took
us to Canonmills from whence we travelled up Brandon
and Dundas Streets, along queen Street, and past St
Andrew’s Square to Princes Street. A right turn into Princes Street and a left
into Waverly Bridge, saw us at a fortunately vacant
bus stop that suited our looked-for photo stop.
|
Waverly
Bridge (Jim
Crichton) |
314 makes a
faultless hill-start, ready to take the acute left-hand turn into North bank
Street (Jim Crichton) |
The final
leg saw us leaving Waverly Bridge and climbing the steep Market Street before
making the very sharp left-hand turn into North Bank Street, then into Bank
Street, George IV Bridge and Bristo Place, and along
to Tollcross. From Tollcross
it was more or less ‘follow the road’, through Bruntsfield,
Morningside and Fairmilehead and over the City Bypass
to Hillend.
|
Morningside
Road (I didn’t realise the bus window
was so scratched) (Jim
Crichton) |
Hillend (Jim
Crichton) |
Hillend was the end of the nostalgic
Edinburgh tour. After a short break, the travelers split into two groups. Those
that wished to have a straight run back to Lathalmond, boarded OFS 777,
whilst the remainder boarded JWS 594 for Westgarth
Avenue, to drop off those who had joined there. We then roughly retraced the
initial part of our journey and arrived back at Lathalmond
around half-four.
Thanks
to the owners and the drivers, we had a very enjoyable and unusual
vintage-bus-day.