Books

[j789]

Are there any books on West Midlands Travel/TWM post 1986? I have a really good book about the West Mids up to 1986 but I have not seen anything that is after then. Would be good to have a concise history of the last 26 years!!!

[Ash]

I have a West Midlands bus handbook for 2000 it has all the fleetlists and even the fleet allocations for each garage for travel west midlands/travel merry hill/ travel your bus had. The fleetlists do not include any tridents and the newest buses delivered then were the presidents.

[D10]

No sadly no book has been written yet. Would be interesting though particularly in my opinion if it included the subsidiary companies they once had such as YourBus, Metrowest etc and the old garages.

[j789]

Well the book I have covers all the formative years of WMPTE and its origin companies + Midland red routes in 1974 and has lots of info/pictures of the vehicles and garages in existence upto 1986. One of the best things in it is the tables at the back which show when each vehicle was withdrawn. This would be great for the modern era too if possible. I would think 26 years of history would provide more than enough content for such a book, and would make a very interesting read too.

[Bob]

i got that book, thought it was interesting that Ex Midland Red nationals, VR's , ex coventry fleetlines  and EOF-L/ NOB-M fleetlines were kept in service right through the last few weeks before WMPTE became WMT and then withdrawn, some on the day before. Didnt Walsall become entirely Metrobus overnight?

[j789]

I always thought it odd when reading it why the Bristol VRTs got withdrawn despite only being 11 or 12 years old, especially when older Nationals transferred to WMT.

[Gareth]

It wasnt just WMPTE that had mass vehicle withdrawals  and mass garage closures during 1986, I believe all PTE's suffered the same at deregulation. The book you are on about is excellent. I got mine from Ian Allan in the mid 90's. They usually go for quite high prices on ebay these days. and I agree it would be nice to have a similar book for the WMT and TWM periods.

With the Bristol VRT, I think it was because of the MCW bodies. They were designed for the Fleetline, and they didnt take too kindly to being forced onto the Bristol chassis, and many had premature body fatigue. It was nice that the Ailsa's survived in WMT ownership, as did some of the 45**46** series Fleetlines.

[Ash]

I know the 2000 edition of the West Mids handbook is not that long ago but its good looking back at the photos and seeing what buses still remain at the same garage today and theres not many at all only a handfull if lucky.

[j789]

Thanks for reply that explains the VRs. I always like the standard VR body and it would have been good to have seen some in the West Mids - I think Midland Red ran a few second hand ones in Redditch in the early nineties but apart from that I cant think of any others operated in this region.

[Gareth]

Possibly Midland Red South. I'm sure I recall seeing them on the X20 in Brum years ago.

[Bob]

I think mechanically the VRs were not supposed to be all that reliable. gearboxes sounded much more whiny than fleetlines almost deafening lol

[PM]

I havent got the book you're talking about-assuming the Capital transport one but I have got West Midlands Buses and Trolleybuses which is fantastic