The Three Counties Bus And Commercial Vehicle Museum

Bernie, to his friends, started his career serving his country with the Royal Air Force. He flew Fighter Aircraft and ironically at this time he had not passed his driving test so his wife had to chauffeur him around.

On leaving the Service he went into the commercial sector. Approximately 15 different types of aircraft were shown in his Log Books - from Jet Fighter, Turbo-Prop to Jumbo Jet - some achievement! He was also a keen aviation historian where his knowledge of the movement of Civil Aircraft was amazing. He could tell you who operated the aircraft and when, and its final demise.

Bernie's love of anything transport related was an inspiration to us all. His well maintained Morris Minor, was a credit to him and even though he called us the "Greasy Diesel Bus Boys", we let him off.

When 3CBCVM was formed, Bernie was our first choice as Treasurer. We were wrongly informed that he hailed from the north of Hadrian's Wall (very careful with money) but to our astonishment he came from the North West of England; despite this he certainly served us well.

Not only was Bernie an officer, but also a true gentleman. He will be sadly missed by all his friends and colleagues. Our thoughts and condolences go to his wife, son, daughter and family.

Phil Chapman

As many of you will know, our Treasurer Bernie McParlin passed away on 25 July 2004. Phil Chapman has kindly provided an obituary of Bernie which is included in this newsletter. To add my own thoughts, we owe a debt of gratitude to Bernie for cheerfully keeping the books when he freely admitted he had no particular interest in buses - indeed, until we dragged him out on one or two social trips I don't think he had been on a bus for years. His first love, of course, was flying - he flew the first generation of fighter jets "before they wrote the manuals", and he took great delight in pointing out what he saw as mollycoddling current RAF trainee pilots. His other mechanical love was his 'Moggie'. Bernie never held back what he was thinking, or how he was feeling. Therefore you knew that any enquiry as to the welfare of you or your loved ones was not simply a matter of conversation. Our thoughts go to his widow, Sylvia, his children Robert and Penny and his grandchildren.

Bernie leaves a big gap. For the moment I will act as Treasurer, but clearly we will need to find a new one at the AGM, so if you have a head for figures please let me know ? or feel free to give me a call on 01234 211031 if you would like to know more.

I seem to be multi-tasking at the moment because I am also standing in as newsletter editor. John Hammond has now said that he does not wish to continue with the newsletter. I'm sure we all wish him well with his career with Stagecoach in Warwickshire and we thank him for his efforts with the newsletter. On top of his job as a bus driver and father of baby George, Nick Doolan has had a big commitment with his brass band, which got through to the national finals at Harrogate on 11/12 September. Congratulations on getting thus far ? and commiserations that the quality of your playing did not appear to be reflected in the score. So to give Nick time to rehearse I've put this edition together.

Talking of babies, I'm pleased to be able to tell you that my one year old has travelled on an open top DMS around Whipsnade Wild Animal Park and in between trying to climb out and trying to throw his mother's handbag to the lions he thoroughly enjoyed it. He also seems to like trains. His mother despairs.

I look forward to seeing you at our winter meetings, both in Chalgrave Memorial Hall and on the Bristol LH! Please look at the listing of our forthcoming events, and come along to swell the throng.

Matt Gamble

Over the past two years, a new problem has arisen for a number of owners of preserved diesel vehicles. A 'bug' has manifested itself within diesel tanks of vehicles which have stood idle for long periods of time in cold and damp conditions. Previously this was only known in the marine industry where it thrived in cold, watery conditions. It is believed that this infection has spread into road vehicles partly due to the increased use of Ultra Low Sulphur diesel products, which do not offer the same protection as 'black' diesel and which can 'go off' after the vehicle has been standing for sometimes only a couple of months. The bug is in essence a timebomb waiting to go off, and only careful preventative measures can stop the possibility of it occurring.

The bug is a living organism which occurs within diesel tanks - when a diesel tank is left standing half empty, the empty part will 'sweat' when there are significant fluctuations in temperature in a damp atmosphere. This water falls to the bottom of the diesel tank and creates a layer at the bottom of the tank - it is here between the diesel and the water that the bug occurs. The bug feeds off the diesel, and eventually turns it to a black jelly which is accompanied by a distinctive foul smell. Once the engine is started, the jelly gets dragged through the fuel system and blocks up the fuel lines, filters, lift pump, injectors and fuel / injector pumps. Once it has gone this far the only cure is to remove all the parts, steam clean them all and replace them before even attempting to start the engine again. The jelly that forms allows excess water to get into the whole fuel system, so if left untreated for long enough, rust will develop inside the components which would then all have to be replaced.

I'm sorry if I'm making it sound serious, but unfortunately there were enough engines affected by it this Spring for it to be treated as a real and serious threat to our cherished vehicles. As always, prevention is better than cure, and simple things such as ensuring that your fuel tank is brim full before laying the vehicle up is one of the best ways of alleviating the problem. Regular dosing of the fuel with a commercially available chemical will mean that the bug will not be able to develop in the first place and will ensure that your vehicle will remain clear. I have been worried by the fact that many people I have mentioned it to have never heard of it and do not know what to do about it if it did happen to them. It is claimed that at least one of the major oil companies in this country has the bug in its holding tanks - so you could literally be buying it at your local garage when you fill up!

I hope members will now be able to plan ahead for next Winter in order to prevent this nasty infection happening to any more rare machines. If anyone would like to know any more about the bug, and ways it can be treated you are welcome to call me on 01582 862613 - between 19.00 and 22.00 please.

Derek Ramsbottom

John Clarke has a number of workshop manuals, spare parts lists and service manuals available for reference for:

For full details please contact John Clarke on 01296 421000. John is keen to make these available but a small donation to '3 Counties' will be gratefully received.

We have been meeting on roughly one Sunday per month since the start of the year but with the light Summer evenings we have made real progress with GPD 313N. So why isn't she back on the road yet?

Well, as we've gone along we've found more to do, and we've decided to rectify items as they crop up. A number of electrical faults have been found to which Nigel Adams and Derek Ramsbottom have attended. This has included isolating the fault on one of two alternators and replacing the relay board. Mick Rolley just had the floor clean when I degreased the engine - and re-greased the floor. Dennis Alcock, Jim Knight, Bob Nicholson, Mick Rolley and I have all at various times been rubbing down in preparation for repainting. John Clarke has been attending to replacing rotten wooden and metal sections in the body, and repanelling where necessary, while Andy Lea has been cutting and fitting new beading and attending to sundry electrical repairs such as refurbishing a faulty wiper motor. Phil Chapman and Roy Warren have been working on replacing the timber sections inside the saloon adjacent to the emergency exit door which were found to be rotten. So's the door - if you know the whereabouts of a replacement emergency exit door we'd love to hear from you. Phil and Roy have also been working on other body repairs, finding the rot that John hasn't. Oh yes, and I've found reverse gear. Don't know if I'll find it again, though. Most of all, thanks to Vicky Skevington for tea and biscuits and to Malcolm Skevington for keeping us on the straight and narrow.

So there you have it. She's coming along nicely, but we have more to do, so if you are able to, come along to the working days at 50 Tebworth Road, Wingfield. We now have a deadline. In May, we were awarded £2,000 towards the LH's restoration by 'Awards for All'. This grant is for new window rubber gaskets, a set of the correct pattern seats, and the construction of suitable display cases. This money must either be spent or given back by the middle of May, 2005 - hence the deadline.

The plan is to complete rubbing down and work on the body, take the windows out, repaint her, put the windows back in, replace the odd section of lino, repair the exhaust so she barks rather less, replace the universal joints in the linkage to the gearbox so that you can engage gear, give her a service, replace some sections of fuel line, fit new seats (yet to be sourced), and find a joiner who can make the display cases. We have been unable to source the authentic grey window rubbers at a reasonable price so we will fit black instead.

So as you can see, any help will be much appreciated. A couple of specific items :- I think that when new the bus would have had the seats found in National Bus Company Eastern Coach Works buses of the period ? red, black and white moquette with dark green vinyl trim. Can you confirm this? Do you know where we can find this pattern of bus seats, perhaps on a scrap series II Bristol VRT? If so, do let me know. So far I can find a source of scrap VR's which would yield suitable ECW bus seats with the later NBC brown and orange 'wasp' moquette. These would be OK as an approximation, but it would be nice to have the real thing.

Along with seats, and the emergency exit door, we need new fog lights and rear lamp units. If you can help with any these we'd love to hear from you.

So with your help, this cracking little bus will be making its mark out and about, making us better known, and displaying small items of local transport interest. Along with CR16 and GS32, BN45 will tell a major part of the story of the 'small, green London bus'. Please contact Matt if you would like to help on this fascinating project. Activities take place on one Sunday a month and every Wednesday evening. You may think this is a bit eccentric but we have artificial light - and the bus will move undercover for the repainting stage so we will be able to work even if the weather is inclement.

Around 30 3CBCVM members and friends from Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway attended the trip to Cadeby, Leicestershire. None of us knew quite what to expect, though we all knew the basics ? that we were visiting The Rectory, the home of the widow of Reverend Teddy Boston, who had indulged his interest in steam to run a) a steam roller and traction engine and b) to construct a narrow gauge railway in the Rectory garden.

What we got was a tremendous welcome from Audrey Boston and the volunteers. The morning's activities consisted of riding in open wagons behind 0-4-0 saddle tank 'Pixie', and viewing the extensive 'OO' gauge model railway which is worked under 'block and bell'. Mrs Boston provided an excellent lunch in the Church Hall, and then it was back to play with the diesels - and play was the operative word, with the unstated aim of starting and moving as many as possible.

All this is proof enough of English eccentricity. What topped that was the attitude of the volunteers, who allowed us to be in the 'thick of things' and who were friendly and accommodating in the extreme. The museum was also well worth a look ? how many people do you know who admit people to their wedding by means of an Edmondson ticket (the ticket, of course, permitted the lucky guest a ride on the railway, of which Reverend E.R. Boston was the self-styled General Manager).

The only dampener was that this will not last. The stained glass window and gravestone reminded us that Teddy Boston died in 1986, and that his widow and the volunteers have been running the show ever since. Now Audrey Boston has decided to sell up and move to Market Bosworth. The volunteers hope to keep the collection intact, but unless the Rectory is bought by someone sympathetic in the extreme the unique atmosphere at Cadeby will be no more.

Thanks must go to Audrey Boston and her volunteers for making us so welcome, and to Nick Doolan for organising the trip.

Matt Gamble

Over 30 buses and coaches attended this intimate and enjoyable event. The weather was kind to us and this year we took a bigger part in running the event than in previous years with helping to plan the event and marshalling buses on the day. A major change was that we ran the free bus service to a fixed timetable with our own vehicles ? and thanks to Howard Butler and Steve Loveridge, Stagecoach's FLF! This enabled visitors to plan what time they chose to travel and by what vehicle ? a bit of a departure from the free for all of previous years.

Pam Johnson judged the Dave Johnson 'Who's (sic) turn is it this year?' award. She decided that our friends from Chelveston Preservation Group should win it for their Eastern National Bristol MW. All in all, a successful event. Next year, the date will change, probably to early May - so look out for details. Again, our thanks to Quainton Railway Society and in particular Brian Ammann for organising a very pleasant event.

Matt Gamble

Now available, an 80 page book detailing the routes and vehicles of Birch Brothers Coaches between 1832 and 1969 - finally a comprehensive history of this well known Rushden based operator. It is packed with 120 photographs, old timetables, advertising material as well as a comprehensive text relating to the company, its history and operations.

It was due for release in September 2003, produced by the Rotary Club of Rushden. A number of members were able to purchase this book on the 3CBCVM trip to Rushden and Chelveston on September 7th, and from my brief flick through the book, it looks like a good read for anyone interested in Birch's, or coaching in the local area. Price is £6.95 plus £2 p&p if required.

Model Roads & Tramways
72 Church Road
Willington
BEDFORD
MK44 3PU

(Please mention 3CBCVM when ordering).