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LOL, Tony, I saw YR13POJ yesterday as well, with that CBSO windscreen sticker - but at the Bagot Arms, Tyburn!!  It must have been on its way down to the M6 junction @ Castle Vale.   It was right behind Yardley Travel's T72WWV on route 28, another novelty!

71A appears to have reverted to d/deckers - 4260 noted yesterday, I think, and others on the service today.

Not the only WessexConnect livery around on the 119 at the moment - I've seen 899 (V899DNB) twice recently on that route.

Cheers, thanks!

Can any Arriva expert tell me if these two, seen in the Ibstock area, are Stevensons or Leicester vehicles?  It's sort of borderline but I suspect Leicester ..... :)

Many thanks!

I saw, in the twilight last Saturday, on the A5 somewhere around Dordon, what I recorded at the time as WX12FKO - which I now think after googling was WX12EKO, a MAN CitySmart demonstrator - it was black and white with a sort of wavy brown livery ...... 

Now I think it was displaying route 75, which could have been Wood End - Atherstone, which would fit the location, and would make it on loan to De Courcey?

Can anyone confirm it's De Courcey, please?

I'll be interested to see what happens regarding the 167/168. 

The 168 was extended to serve Pype Hayes estate when there was a huge outcry over the termination of the old NXWM 68A/C route.  I don't know about the loadings at the Erdington end but it always seems pretty popular leaving Sutton town centre with weekday shoppers, as it does run round several housing estates that otherwise don't have services.  I think the 167 is perhaps less well used.

'I still have not found the place called sorry not in service'

I miss the old BCT "Service Extra". 

You knew precisely where that was - it was the home depot, at the speed of light, not picking up any passengers en route unless they were mad enough to vault onto the back of the bus in transit whilst the conducter wasn't looking ....  ;D

Look like being Bordesley's allocation when the current changes have taken place. Cannot be many garages anywhere in the country where the entire allocation is one vehicle type all consequetively numbered

When BY opened, wasn't the allocation MB's 1660 - 1702 consecutively, all ex Hockley?

There's a farm complex north of Lichfield which has a mobile home park for itinerent workers and runs two Dennis/Alexander s/ds in an all-over green livery. 

Used to be my local garage as a kid, but unfortunately that's well before 1986 ....  :)

The outbound no.3 stop in those days was opposite the Duke of York pub between Albert Rd and Harborne Park Road, and the northbound no.11 stop was in Harborne Park Road, rather than in front of the baths.

Harborne depot's main entrance was in Lonsdale Road (with a smaller exit into Serpentine Road). Buses were often parked on the forecourt outside the Lonsdale Rd entrance, which would be more or less visible from the baths, might you be remembering that?  The depot (and the pub) were still open when I moved away from Brum in the early 80's, so I don't know what actually happened when the depot closed.  Perhaps someone else might have better knowledge ....

The planned extension of (presumably just some) services from Wolves to Telford and Shrewsbury from 2016 (?) is interesting. I wonder if they will be brand-new Bi-mode units, loco-hauled Pendolino drags like the N Wales line, or even HSTs cascaded from the Great Western route ....... now that would be fun!  8)

1)  More evening services on NXWM after 18:30, especially Saturdays, these do seem to me to be getting less and less frequent in NE Birmingham.

2)  Resumption of the Wolverhampton - Walsall direct train link, even if it's just a Class 153 again.

And if you want a "fun" item - reopen all the closed depots still in existance .... Lea Hall, Selly Oak, Coventry Road, Cleveland Road for starters.  Are there any others?  Does Washwood Heath still exist?

303 on the 71A today.

The 874, which is a morning schools bus service to Bishops Walsh, Walmley, seems to have changed to single-deck operation of late; historically it's always been a dd.  I think the bus runs light into Sutton Coldfield after dropping off the kids and then works one of the 9** cluster (possibly the 907?) but don't quote me on that!

1834 and 1837 noted this week.