Thursday 7 February 2019

Bus Collectors.

Yes these are the lads and lasses who live in suburbia and way out west.  They are quite normal in every way except for one thing:

They collect buses!

I do not mean those little and quite small model Disney and Lesney die cast models.  Oh no!

I am talking about great big enormous ex public transport buses.  

These enthusiasts collect them for nostalgia and childhood memories and no doubt to be a bit different.  A cut from the rest.  You can just imagine it.  Can't you?

"Well if Mr Jones the next door neighbour collects clocks.  Why can't I collect buses?"

"Hey wait a minute, I've had a brilliant idea.  I wonder if anybody knows where I can purchase a second hand Polaris missile submarine?  It would look lovely over there in the canal besides the sunken coal barge and the Moorhens!"


15 comments:

  1. There's an old London double decker in Venice parked at the roadside not far from the old Hotel des Baines once famous for being in Thomas Mann's novelette Death in Venice. The bus is now serving as a coffee and burger bar and the once fine hotel is closed. Possibly it'll be converted to posh apartments.
    There's a 45 minute documentary 'Shannon - the secret river in the heart of Ireland' on Austrian tele tonight! I might just watch it ;-)

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  2. Double Deckers have many uses Gwil. I saw/stood under the giant Feŕris wheel when I visited Vienna and Prater amusement park. I remember it from the Third Man film. Are there any secondhand submarines for sale in the Danube? Thanks.

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    1. They only found Chinese bicycles in the river last summer. A couple of years ago the town was suddenly flooded with Chinese bicycles you could ride if you had an app and a credit card. People dumped them on street corners and in parks and in the river as if they were supermarket trolleys - yes, everywhere. Now suddenly all those Chinese bicycles have vanished from sight as if by magic.

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    2. How odd. I use to see lots of supermarket trolleys and free newspapers dumped in the canals and rivers. Probably people used the trolleysfor free taxis after a night out. Katie Melua could write a new song: There are nine million bicycles in the Danube?

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  3. Forgot to say the Shannon documentary sounds good. It's the longest river in Ireland.

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    1. I'll let you know. It'll probably be in German spoken with an Irish accent.

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    2. There are quite a lot of Germans living in Ireland. I once went in an authentic Oirish pub in Boulogne and nobody apoke English. So I did large and small hand signals and got our two Guinnesses complete with a shamrock shape in the frothy head. Enjoy your documebtary Gwil.

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  4. I once had a double decker under my charge when living in Somerset. My job was to re-design and supervise the build of the interior into a play-bus for handicapped children for a local charity.
    They are marvellous vehicles and can be adapted for all manner of secondary uses.

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  5. What a wonderful project Heron. I have seen old double deckers made into mobile homes on television programmes like George Clarkes Amazing Spaces on Channel 4. We often take a ride on a double decker when we use the Park and Ride bus in Cork and we also sit upstairs. I love Park and Ride schemes. Thanks!

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  6. Quite a few people collect double decker buses, in fact all old buses. We used to subscribe to the coach and bus collectors magazine. Rallies and jaunts at weekends in the summer would be a major feature. I used to enjoy reading it. I remember there is a good collection at Beamish, in Co. Durham.

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  7. Hi Rachel. I think some of the televised adaptations of Catherine Cookson novels were filmed at Beamish. There's nothing wrong with collecting things. I once owned eight tractors. Now I have one: Ford 3000. I named her Anna Ford after the BBC newsreader. Imagine collecting submarine?

    Thanks!

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  8. There is a huge old American bus, possibly a school bus, near us (Tarbes, France), which still has its tyres on although they are partially cemented into the tarmac. However, the rear end of the bus is inserted into the wall of a restaurant. I think the rear is actually missing. Otherwise, the bus is authentic but never going anywhere again!

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  9. Thanks for telling us about the American bus Vera. Its good that they can be used again even they are no longer mobile. Ships have also been utilized and made into hotels, markets and museums etc. HMS Belfast, The Queen Mary and the Duke of Lancaster immediatel come to mind. I have seen old transit vans made into makeshift homes too. Thanks!

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  10. Well, I quite like buses but a collection would be terribly inconvenient. Actually, I liked the old well padded seats which had a certain cosiness to a journey, but modern bus furnishing is cold and unwelcoming. Hee hee, you can tell I don't go in for collecting them.

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  11. Thanks Valerie. I remember the anti vandal hard plastic seats at the back of the buses.

    I miss public transport. You would always meet characters and could have a chat with people who know and to complete strangers. Drunk or sober. Thanks.

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