Branksome Chine
Not long left in this world
There was a time when i despised their very name, shape, sound and existence. However the more one travels, drives and rides in these I have developed a sort of curious fetish towards them, and was even thinking of preserving one, but my insanity did not last long ;-).
They did indeed serve a purpose (To annoy all bus enthusiats), and during the boom of the de-reg era in the early to mid nineties, the "Mini Skipper" as they were know in Poole, Bournemouth and Salisbury, were operating 12 hours a day every 5 minutes between Bournemouth & Poole, on all route variations and paid for themselves time and time again.
The early examples failed to exist years ago as rot set in, typical new build crap! However the later squarer types still survive today after 16 years front line service, albeit you can count the remainign survivors on 2 hands.
I would be intersted to know eveyone else's views on these and other type of Minibuses.
This shot was taken last december, whilst having a weekend away in the Wylye Valley (Salisbury), and depicts 2544 parked on Canal St in Salisbury, whilst working a local shopping service for Damory Coaches (part of the Go-South Coast Fleets).
Not long left in this world
There was a time when i despised their very name, shape, sound and existence. However the more one travels, drives and rides in these I have developed a sort of curious fetish towards them, and was even thinking of preserving one, but my insanity did not last long ;-).
They did indeed serve a purpose (To annoy all bus enthusiats), and during the boom of the de-reg era in the early to mid nineties, the "Mini Skipper" as they were know in Poole, Bournemouth and Salisbury, were operating 12 hours a day every 5 minutes between Bournemouth & Poole, on all route variations and paid for themselves time and time again.
The early examples failed to exist years ago as rot set in, typical new build crap! However the later squarer types still survive today after 16 years front line service, albeit you can count the remainign survivors on 2 hands.
I would be intersted to know eveyone else's views on these and other type of Minibuses.
This shot was taken last december, whilst having a weekend away in the Wylye Valley (Salisbury), and depicts 2544 parked on Canal St in Salisbury, whilst working a local shopping service for Damory Coaches (part of the Go-South Coast Fleets).