The Three Counties Bus And Commercial Vehicle Museum

It is with sadness we have to record the death of Three Counties Chairman Dave Johnson on 15th July 2002. His death came after a two year battle with cancer, through which time he had shown remarkable courage and bravery even in the depths of his illness. Dave was of course well known in the bus preservation world by having completed the full restoration of RT 3496 virtually single-handedly - he was also well known to many preservationists as a likeable and much respected enthusiast. Apart from buses, Dave was also well known in the world of scale railway modelling, having been one of the early pioneers to take modelling 'out of the train set' and into a new scale dimension. Dave's name was also synonymous with organ music - he owned an early Hammond model and only last Christmas he recorded a charity CD in aid of the Royal Marsden Hospital, where he was being treated for his illness. Dave spent many years working in the supplies department of Conolly Homes, a local building firm in Luton, Bedfordshire - it was a tribute to his loyalty that he carried on working through his illness, only fully retiring in April 2002.

Over 150 people attended Dave's funeral at Luton Crematorium on 25th July 2002 - there was a procession of preserved buses into the crematorium - with Dave's pride and joy RT 3496 at the head. The buses arrived slowly with their blinds turned to black and black ribbons tied to the front of each vehicle. Throughout his illness Dave kept a brave face, and his good humour and wit even in the most difficult situations will be missed by all who knew him. A collection in memory of Dave is being made in aid of The Professor Cunningham Cancer Research Foundation - anyone wishing to donate is invited to e-mail nick.doolan@btopenworld.com.

A full obituary is in preparation and will be posted here in due course - it will also be published in widely circulated enthusiast magazines.

ND

Unfortunately, at the end of June, we have had to say good-bye to another fine long running independent operator in Bedfordshire. This time, it was Buffalo Travel, based in Flitwick. They were purchased by the ever-expanding Dunn-Line group, who incidentally took another long term independent from us at the beginning of the year 2000, Seamarks of Luton, who had been operational since 1937. Buffalo had not been trading as long as that, a mere 25 years compared to Seamarks 63 years.

Buffalo was originally based in Luton, with its registered office in the Downs Road area of the town and the vehicles kept in a yard on the Bury Park Road (the vehicles could be clearly seen from passing trains which ran on the line directly to the rear of the yard). In 1979, Mr Cecil moved the operations to Flitwick and made use of a unit at the Maulden Road Industrial Estate, with the registered office at Kings Road in Flitwick. These premises included the company's own travel agency business. This agency lasted until the year 2000 until it was closed and sold off (it now accommodates a dentistry practice) The office of the bus and coach operations moved wholly onto the industrial estate years previous to the closure of the agency.

Buffalo was actually two going concerns - 'Grouptravs', the actual company name which was used from the outset in mid 1974. A second concern was later created - 'Bornyard' , commencing around 1983, by the company's proprietor, Mr Tim Cecil, which was presumably only for financial benefits. The vehicles all ran under the one trading name of 'Buffalo' regardless of which 'company' they were assigned to.

Buffalo's first vehicle to be purchased was a 1968 Bedford VAM with Duple bodywork, which arrived from a Sheffield based firm in May of 1974. The work undertaken by this vehicle and subsequent entries to the fleet is quite remarkable. They were employed to run services to India and Nepal (hence 'Buffalo'), the advertising of which could be seen emblazoned on several of their coaches throughout the mid to late seventies. The firm purchased the first new vehicle in April of 1978. Again, another Bedford, this time a VAS type with Plaxton bodywork. This remained in the fleet for exactly ten years until being sold to Smiths of Corby Glen. In fact the first dozen vehicles purchased were either Bedfords or Fords with either Duple or Plaxton bodies, until an AEC Reliance (Plaxton body) was purchased second hand in May of 1980.

It is unclear when the long haul trips to India ceased, but Buffalo of course had it's finger in the private hire 'pie' from an early stage as well as operation of seasonal tours and excursions organised by themselves. Also a daily commuter service from various points in Bedfordshire, to the heart of London was also in operation. Then around 1983 came some contract work, presumably for schools which required the use of a double decker, resulting in the arrival of ex London Transport DMS 1706 (THM 706M - Daimler Fleetline/MCW) in January of 1983. Following a month later were three ex Whippets of Fenstanton (originally Glasgow) Leyland Atlanteans, all with Alexander bodywork.

In addition to private hire duties and school contracts, Buffalo operated some public services under contract to the local authorities, mainly Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire throughout the mid eighties onwards mainly using numerous coaches and double deck vehicles purchased second hand. In 1988, a sizable tender was received from Hertfordshire County Council resulting in Buffalo placing an order for six brand new service buses (four Volvos and two Leyland Swifts) to undertake the task.

As Buffalo moved into the Nineties, minibuses and various single deck service buses were steadily purchased for use on 'Sunday service' contracts that were gained, notably in Luton and Milton Keynes. One service particular of note, not a Sunday service however, is the X66, which ran from Luton to Milton Keynes. It started off with three journeys each way per day. However, it was soon to build up in the early to mid nineties, culminating in six journeys each way, per day, Monday to Saturday. This was a great money-spinner for Buffalo, and was one of their few commercial services. It was well used by commuters and shoppers alike. Inevitably, one of the major operators in the area set its sights on the route and began competing on the service, which was quite fierce at times. The competition by Stagecoach United Counties also affected route X63/X65 (Dunstable-Bedford). This continued right up until Mr. Cecil decided to sell his public service routes and single deck/minibuses to 'The Shires' in May 1995. The two large operators then struck a deal as to who was to run the two services.

The deal with The Shires took away all public services operated by Buffalo, but they continued to operate school's duties, therefore, double deck vehicles and coaches were not included in the deal. A contract was signed to the effect that, for five years, Buffalo could not operate a public service. The money pocketed from the deal enabled Buffalo to upgrade their fleet quite considerably, purchasing several double-deck coaches and at least half a dozen single deck coaches to carry out their excursions and private hire duties over the coming years.

By 2000, the 'contract' had expired and Buffalo began picking up limited numbers of contracts, mainly for Sunday service work. The school contracts were still in operation and were covered mainly by ex-London "DMS's". Early 2001 saw the withdrawal of the last of its type in the fleet, ending operation of at least a dozen over a period of nearly 20 years. Leyland Fleetlines from various sources, and latterly, three MCW Metrobuses slowly replaced the DMS type. One of the Metrobuses came from London and two were West Midlands examples.

Finally, after a few months of speculation, Buffalo sold out to the Dunn-Line group at the end of June 2002. Mr Cecil was 'tired of battling with the authorities', presumably regarding vehicle maintenance, and was himself near retirement anyway.

I'm sure readers will agree that the Buffalos that have 'roamed' around the area over the last twenty-eight years, with the total fleet turnover in excess of 140 vehicles, have been a great source of 'entertainment', with an amazing array of interesting (and somewhat bizarre at times!) vehicles, will be sorely missed by the enthusiast and the travelling member of the public alike!

David Wilkins.

Elsewhere you will find an article about Buffalo Travel, which was recently taken over by Dunn Line. I am a tiny part of Buffalo's history, as I drove part-time for them in 1995 until the sale of bus operations to Arriva that May, again in 1995/6 - and again a little in 2000/2001. I can't be too personal about my reminiscences, as many of the characters are still in the bus industry, but I thought I would share with you a few of the aspects of driving for Buffalo.

I started on Bedford Park and Ride service M (for Melbourne Street). This was a 3-vehicle midibus operation, running on a 6 minute headway on Saturdays only from 0800 to around 1800. We had Mercedes 811D's and little Iveco's - the older ones of which were decidedly rough. My first day was one of the worst days of my life. It coincided with the January sales, and so traffic was heavy. Being a new driver I was slow, nervous, and untrained in the art of driving positively but safely through congested traffic. Pretty well everything that could go wrong did go wrong, including stalling my Iveco and being unable to re-start until the driver behind came along and showed me how.

But I got used to it. The main day shift men were relieved at around 1600 by men who did the last couple of hours and then took their vehicles dead to Milton Keynes to work evening services. They would bring a ferry vehicle. Sometimes this was an aged Datsun - the boss's mother's car, and sometimes a Plaxton Supreme Volvo B58. If I didn't mind making a fool of myself in front of my fellow drivers (and that depended on who they were), I would ask to drive the B58 (I always avoided driving the Datsun!). I can see now why Volvo wiped the floor with Leyland, for the difference in performance between a B58 and our dear old Leopard is considerable. But with our old semi-auto Leopard you can always find a gear. Finding the gear in the 20 year old 6-speed Volvo synchro box could be like stirring a pudding, and once I came to a complete stand on a roundabout while trying to find a gear - any gear! Even in neutral the lowest I could come across was 3rd, and so we slipped away ever so gently. I'll never forget Charlie's cry on another occasion of "Go on Matty, it's there somewhere!".

At least I could drive a manual - many Buffalo drivers were ex. London drivers, who had moved to Bedfordshire to be able to afford to buy a house, and who were trained on automatics only. Manual drivers were known as 'sticks', and automatic drivers 'non-sticks' or 'teflons'. With a mixture of automatic and manual buses, great care had to be taken in allocating the right bus to the right driver, particularly when a driver might drive 3 or more buses per shift.

After a bit, I was found work on Sundays too, on the early shift of the 182 Bedford - Hitchin. This brought larger vehicles - 9.6 metre Plaxton Pointer Darts, and one foray on a Plaxton Derwent Volvo B10. The Darts were slow, and I disliked them, for it was like driving a light switch - on, off with both brake and accelerator, with nothing in between. On my last day (the day before hand over to Arriva), I was given a Wadham Stringer bodied Leyland Swift, which was altogether more pleasant to drive and was faster than the Darts.

Highpoints were the gentleman and his mother who would get on the first bus of the day to Hitchin. They would sit at the front and you could hear the merry dance she led him. It's hard to keep a straight face when you've heard the response 'in a box in my bag' to the question 'where's my teeth' for the second time in 10 minutes. The other high point was going through Chicksands Airforce Base. The only place the bus was allowed to stop was either side of the checkpoint. The checkpoint guards would often salute you as they opened the gates for you. It was hard to resist saluting back. It also brought back memories of being a little tyke at school, travelling home on the top deck of a Bristol VR, and shouting 'rastas man' at the security guard (for which we were severely and quite properly rebuked by said guard - via the driver!).

Buffalo's bus operations transferred to Arriva's Dunstable garage in May 1995, and I elected not to go. At the time I was living in London, but stayed at my parents in Houghton Conquest at weekends. Houghton Conquest to Flitwick was a viable bike ride, but Dunstable was not!

But, later that year the call came again. Buffalo had regained the contract for service M, and was I interested? So I returned. There were many differences. No more relief at 1600 - we now worked through to the end of service at 1800. No more electronic AES Prodata ticket machines - for us now the joys of unjamming recalcitrant Setrights.

And the rolling stock had changed. We now had Perkins-engined Dodge 25 seaters, but in the main I managed to avoid these dreadful things. I should also add that I broke one by the simple expedient of switching the engine off (the noise on tickover was doing my head in!), for which I was roundly rebuked by the fitter who came out to it. So what else did we have? Iveco-engined DMS's, for one. I have to say that apart from all those dreadful interlocks these were a pleasure to drive, even if your main clue on when to change up was the intensity with which the windows were rattling! I also had a little Dennis coach. But the best day I had was with a 21 seat Toyota Optimo. Having got used to the gearbox it was a pleasure to drive, and I made full use of the radio by having on (variously) Just a Minute, Gregorian Chant music, pop and rock - the louder and more eccentric the better.

This too came to an end, but I kept on friendly terms with the Traffic Manager, Brian Lawrence. And so, when in the autumn of 2000, Arriva gave up the contract for the Sunday 223 Bedford-Luton, and 231 Luton-Dunstable via Caddington, I received the call. I mainly did a few half shifts, covering for others' unavailability as the need arose. It was a 2 vehicle operation, with Mercedes midibuses, and the 223 and 231 were interworked, so that you ran from Bedford to Luton, then to Dunstable, back to Luton and then to Bedford. A full shift repeated this pattern after a break.

Not a lot really stands out from this time - I kept time pretty well impeccably, although I dropped a little in the evening of my first day. It had started dry and fine, but the weather deteriorated, so that by the evening it was lashing down with rain and blowing a gale. The next day as I waited for my train to work, I contrasted ruefully the railway's inability to cope and my old Merc's Dunkirk spirit, ploughing through fallen branches in Harlington and puddles in Caddington so deep that the spray went over the top of the bus.

I will miss Buffalo. Buffalo never had the romanticism of some other operators, but it was generally a friendly place for me. It provided me with a grounding in bus operations but without the rules and regulations of larger concerns. As a result of the laissez-faire attitude (unless you broke a bus), it tended to attract characters.

Matt Gamble.

One of the coaches that made up the early fleet of Buffalo Travel was this Ford / Plaxton KJP 422J, seen here on private hire work in central London in the mid-1970's. The legend 'Europe - India - Nepal' can clearly be seen on the front of the coach.
© Nick Doolan Collection

One of the first non-Bedford / Ford coach purchased for the Buffalo fleet was this second-hand AEC Reliance BBU 658J, seen here at Epsom on Derby Day 1981.
© Nick Doolan Collection

One of the many oddities that Buffalo owned over the years was this Volvo B58 coach with an unidentified continental body, seen here at the Derby in the mid-1980's. The vehicle is carrying the registration 2583KP, one of a number of registrations that were regularly rotated among the Buffalo fleet. Plates such as 7178KP, 2997HL and LXI 2743 graced countless vehicles throughout Buffalo's history, with many living on into the Dunn-Line fleet. 7178KP and LXI 2743 are now both on ex-Birmingham Metrobuses, while 2583KP was last on a Volvo B10 / Caetano.
© Nick Doolan Collection

When Buffalo's commercial service empire was at its height in the late-1980's the company actually owned two of these unusual Lex Tillotson Maxeta bodied Bedford YMQS's, quite a mean feat as few were originally made. WNH 50W was an ex-United Counties vehicle, originally built for midibus work in Leighton Buzzard, while the other carried the Buffalo plate 7178 KP, and was originally registered LCY 302X. WNH 50W is seen at Woburn Showbus in 1992, however both vehicles had vanished without trace by 1994.
© Nick Doolan Collection

Representing the 1988 intake of new service saloons is F314 RMH, seen here on Sunday service in West Street, Dunstable in June 1994. All of these vehicles that were new to Buffalo passed to The Shires in 1995 along with Buffalo's commercial services - currently three of the Volvo / Plaxtons ( F151 - 153 KGS ) are still in service with Arriva the Shires, while the Leyland Swifts ( F154 / 155 KGS ) are currently with Arriva Cymru, and F314 RMH is with Northern Blue of Burnley. The Dennis Darts that Buffalo purchased in 1993 are also still in use by Arriva The Shires.
© Nick Doolan Collection

The Daimler Fleetline was the standard vehicle for the school contract work that Buffalo did for many years, the majority of which were ex-London vehicles. OUC 49R, seen here on the outskirts of Flitwick was one of the last in service, being finally withdrawn in 2000, and then continuing its useful life as a stone-throwing shield at the rear of Buffalo's Flitwick depot until the Dunn-Line takeover in June 2002. The closing fleet did still include two Fleetlines, however both were non-London vehicles - interestingly though both are still in use by Dunn-Line on school contract work.
© Alec Swain

This 1975 Volvo was the oldest vehicle still operating in Buffalo's closing fleet - it is seen here in Milton Keynes in the summer of 1993. The service fleet at the time of takeover included a Volvo B10, this B58 and two Mercedes minibuses, some of the last vehicles to be purchased by the company. Two Dodge minibuses also operated until late last year, but were out of service by the time of the takeover. To many people's amazement WXI was taken into the Dunn-Line fleet and is still operating now, making it one of the oldest vehicles in the Dunn-Line group.
© Nick Doolan Collection

LR9 - Another St Albans Vehicle Preserved!

Cast your mind back twenty years or so; the radio was playing the sounds of Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Culture Club and the red buses disappeared from St Albans. For many years, the red vehicles of London Transport had served the City on the 84 route from the Barnet direction, but the County Council awarded the contract for the route to London Country, whose green buses took over the route in April 1982. St Albans Garage received eleven brand new Leyland Olympians with Leyland TL11 engines and Roe bodywork to serve the 84, along with other double deck duties around the City. Classified as "LR", they also displaced a small number of Leyland Atlanteans from local school contracts.

In my quest to save a representative selection of St Albans vehicles, I have recently acquired LR 9, TPD 109X, which was allocated new to SA. I had been wanting one of these for some time and in late July this vehicle became available following fleet reductions by Arriva in the High Wycombe area. Thanks to Stuart at West Kent Coach Sales, a suitable deal was done and LR 9 was driven home from Buckinghamshire, with the obligatory lap of the How Wood area to allow me to drive past my old house!

Although in reasonable condition, another point in favour of having this vehicle was the fact that I had ridden in it in service.

Eddie Knorn.

Full details of the SA COLLECTION

587 - United Counties Leyland National II

I'm pleased to report that member Rob Knight of Flitwick has acquired ex United Counties Leyland National II - SVV 587W from Traction Group fleet, Andrews-Sheffield Omnibus of Holbrook in Sheffield. This vehicle has a number of personal memories for Rob as his late father was a driver at Hitchin Garage and drove SVV 587W on a regular basis when this bus was based at Hitchin during its early life with United Counties.

587 was delivered new in late 1980 as one of five Mk2 Nationals registered SVV 58xW. 587 & 588 were both delivered new to Hitchin depot were they worked on the 90 group of services that linked Luton with Hitchin, Stotfold and Baldock. It served at Hitchin until 1984 when the bus was moved to Bedford depot, escaping the split of United Counties on January 1st 1986.

The bus remained at Bedford depot until the end of its UCOC service life that came very early in September 1993. Upon withdrawal the bus was sold to Lister PSV of Bolton along with sister buses, 582-585, all of which soon found a home with independent Sheffield Omnibus. This company was later merged with fellow independent operator Andrews of Sheffield when both were acquired by the Yorkshire Traction group.

587 carried many liveries during its UCOC service life starting with all over NBC green and later, the additional white band was added to this livery.

Between July 1984 and October 1985 it was repainted in a red and white advert for Ekins estate agents of Bedford. It was repainted very early on in 1985 in the deregulation green, but like my own National, 525 it never received the correct application of the livery with the stripes. In December 1989 the bus was repainted into Stagecoach corporate livery, a livery it remained in until it was sold.

Rob acquired the bus in June 2002 after I received a message from a friend of mine who I had alerted to contract me with news on the remaining UCOC Nationals in service, he told me 582/3/5/7 had all been withdrawn and would be making the short trip to Barnsley's breakers yards unless an interested party contacted Yorkshire Traction. With some assistance from Eddie Knorn, Rob was able to secure the bus for preservation.

Rob intends to restore the vehicle back to its original guise as an NBC liveried vehicle based at Hitchin garage, although at present it retains full Andrews livery.

John Hammond / Rob Knight.