View allAll Photos Tagged ThrowBack
This week we are going back eleven years to 2012, and to RV 584 at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre. On this day, October 13th, an enthusiast trip was organised by Dublin Bus to mark the end of the Volvo Olympian buses (as well as the end of the high-floor buses). RV 584 and RV 586 visited a number of locations around the city, following certain bus routes. Both buses had been delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1999 and within a week of the trip, both had been withdrawn. Both were sold on to other Irish operators. The actual last Olympian to run in passenger service was RV 560 on the 19th December 2012.
In the background is AV 405 on route 40. This had been the terminus of the 40 since 2011, when the route had been merged with the 78 and 78A. It was cut back again in 2022 when route G2 started under Bus Connects. In 2023 this stop was remodelled to become just an intermediate stop as a new bus interchange opened at the front of the shopping centre. AV 405 was withdrawn around the start of 2019, and sold on to another Irish operator. In just over a decade, everything in this scene has changed. Even the bus livery is on the way out.
13/10/2012
Something we have not had in Throwback Thursday before, a training bus. Not only that, but a bus that did not spend most of its passenger service career in Dublin. D 481 was delivered new to CIE in 1973 and went into service in Galway, in the west of Ireland. There it remained until 1987 when it came up to Dublin to join the training school in Phibsborough, getting a repaint too into this red and white livery. Time was spent in Conyngham Road and Donnybrook before the bus was finally withdrawn in 1992 and sold for scrap.
In 2020 Dublin Bus has approximately 2,500 drivers for a fleet of approximately 1000 buses. It has a small fleet of about 20 buses dedicated to its driving school where new drivers are trained on the buses and older drivers are periodically tested. The current fleet is made up of ALX 400s.
In the background it is worth noting the shop renovation taking place which was for a Burger King restaurant. The first branch opened in Grafton Street around 1981 but this was the first one to open on the main street of the capital. O'Connell Street 29/01/1988
It's 1988 and KD 74 is seen in the north County Dublin town of Skerries. It is operating route 33 to Babriggan, the most northerly place on the Dublin Bus network, and where Dublin Bus remeets Bus Eireann. The 33 can trace its roots back to the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) and the bus services it operated in conjunction with its railway operations. When the company was absorbed into CIE (and the UTA in Northern Ireland) in 1958 the bus routes became part of the Dublin city network. The route still operates today, and is supplemented by the 33A which operates between Swords and Skerries/Balbriggan. This latter route is due to be operated by Go-Ahead while the 33 stays with Dublin Bus. In the past Skerries used to have short workings between its railway station and the main street, which was not a very long journey.
KD 74 entered service around 1981/82 and has gained a Dublin Millennium logo in the rear downstairs window, to mark a thousand years of Dublin city in 1988. It is in the Dublin Bus livery which was about a year old at this point, although the bus stop is still CIE. 21/02/1988
It is 2013 and AV 333 is seen on the 13 to Harristown. And to continue with the 3 theme, AV 333 was delivered new to Dublin Bus on 2003. This bus spent most of its career operating out of Harristown Garage, although in 2013 it moved to Summerhill. It was withdrawn in 2017 after spending some time in Broadstone Garage. This is a bus that has gotten around a bit.
Route 13 connects Harristown with Grange Castle This was one of the cross-city routes corrected by Network Direct in the early-2010s. Traditionally the 13 was the route that connected the City Centre with Ballymun. Clondalkin was connected by the 51 family of routes. When the merger happened the 13 won out and became the number of thew new route. The 51 only lives on now in the 51D and 51X.
The bus is seen passing the Luas Red Line on James Street. It is seen at the point where the tram line turns off to descend Steeven's Lane to Heuston Station.In the background the Luas line passes through St. James Hospital, the site where the new National Children's Hospital is being built. As a result of that, the 13 may become a much busier route in future, if it survives Bus Connects. 27/02/2013
This week it is a short hop back to 2012, when things were changing on Dublin Bus. On this day I went out to photograph as many RVs as possible in operation as their days were numbered. The new GT class had started to arrive, and indeed I saw GT 3 in Donnybrook Garage that day. These were the first new buses bought since 2009. The RVs would last for just another four months.
However, on that day another interesting thing was happening. Three months earlier route 44 from Enniskerry to the City Centre had been extended north to Larkhill, replacing route 3. Usually it was operated by double-deckers, but on this day one of the midi-buses operated the 13:30 departure from Larkhill to Enniskerry. Thanks to a tip-off I was able to travel on WV 50 from Ranelagh to Dundrum, where it is seen as it continues on its journey south. This bus survived in service until 2016. The route now is usually operated by GT or SG class double deckers. WVs are still common in Dundrum as they operate the 44B, but are due to be replaced soon. 31/08/2012
This week we are returning to 2000 and the era of demonstrators. 99 D 76023 was a Volvo / Plaxton President, and was one of number of low-floor buses trialled by Dublin Bus. 1999 had seen the last step-entrance buses delivered to Dublin Bus in the form of the Volvo Olympians. An example of this bus can be seen in the background. By this point accessibility had become a much more important issue, and all future bus orders for Dublin Bus would be low-floor, Ultimately it was decided to go with Alexander bodied buses on Volvo chassis, starting with the AV class in late 2000. However in 2005 some tri-axle Enviro 500s were delivered from Alexander Dennis, and the bodies of these buses borrowed some stylings from the Plaxton President. For many years they operated from Dun Laoghaire the 46A, and other routes.
This bus went on to a long career in the UK, joining Sullivan's once its career as a demonstrator was over. It remained with Sullivan's up until at least 2017, with the registration X15 JOP.
Currently in 2020 Dublin Bus have some hybrid buses on trial, with CO2 emissions becoming the issue of the day, like accessibility was twenty years ago. 20/02/2000
The last time I remember seeing an SD60M on the Shoreline Sub was in 2007 when four of them powered a ballast train, so, yes, you could consider this appearance of a three-windowed SD60M on the point of a Sheboygan hopper train a bit of an anomaly in 2014.
A trip back to 1983 this week and revisit to route 44A. At the time routes 44 and 44B served respectively Enniskerry and Glencullen on the southside of Dublin but the 44A was a bit of an outlier. It served Clontarf and Dollymount on the northside. The route received this number through a desire to fill in the gaps in the already existing route number library, even though the 44A never interacted with its southside cousins. The route lasted until 1996 when it was merged with route 30 and became City Imp route 130. D 614 is seen on Mount Prospect Avenue with a 44A to Mount Prospect Avenue. 05/07/1983
With just twenty-days to Christmas in 1988 (and 2019) D 756 is getting in the festive spirit on Westmoreland Street. Launched just two days previously, the bus was used on a special shuttle service between the city centre and Dublin Zoo. The interior was also decorated with Christmas lights hanging from the roof both upstairs and downstairs. Passengers paid a special fare which also included a visit to Santa at the zoo. The shuttle service ran for just under three weeks before finishing on December 21st.
D 756 was delivered new to Dublin in 1975 and was withdrawn in 1993. It had a colourful career, literally, as to prior to being repainted into the "Dublin Zoo Santa Bus" livery it was in an all-over ad for Philips Philishave. Early in 1989 it was repainted into an all-over ad looking for blood donors.
It is interesting to note the bus in the background emerging from Fleet Street onto Westmoreland Street. This part of Fleet Street used to be home to a number of routes and was two-way. Now in 2019 it is one of the more busier parts of Temple Bar and although traffic can still access the street, they can only do so one-way, from Westmoreland Street. No bus routes serve here anymore.
Finally D 756 is parked outside what was one of the landmarks of Dublin - Bewley's Cafe. Their first presence on the street was in 1896 but the company contracted in the early-2000s and this branch closed down. It then became a Starbucks and is currently a TGI Friday's. There has been a lot of change in the last thirty-one years. 05/12/1988
RA 177 is seen on Eden Quay, twenty-years ago in 1997. The bus is on route 84 which operated from the City Centre to Kilcoole and Newcastle in County Wicklow. This was one of the more longer routes operated by Dublin Bus, and what added even more to the journey was that it reached the Stillorgan Road in Donnybrook via Ballsbridge. In 2010 as part of Network Direct the City Centre terminus was moved to the UCD campus in Belfield, before it was moved further south again in 2012 to Blackrock. A City Centre connection is maintained through the day with route 84X which has limited stops, and thus a faster journey time. It also doesn't go via Ballsbridge.
The bus is in an All-Over Ad for Nitelink. This was the name given to the late night services operated by Dublin Bus, and which started in the mid-1990s. In the early 2000s the service was radically increased before being heavily scaled back. In 2017 there is an 84N but it only goes to Greystones.
RA 177 was delivered in 1994 and was the second of the RA Class which followed the RH Class. The bus had a longer life than most of the other members of the class as it became a part of the Dublin Bus driving school. It was finally withdrawn in 2015, at the age of 21. Eden Quay, 18/11/1997
It is 1994 and KD 235 is seen on Lower Gardiner Street in Dublin 1. It is at the 42 terminus in the city center with a departure to Seamount in Malahide. The bus is in an all-over ad for Heineken. It used to be quite common in the 1990s for all-over ads on buses to be for alcohol companies, but in more recent times this has become much less common.
The 42 is the main bus route to Malahide, travelling along the Malahide Road. The bus here is showing Balgriffin as the via point but nowadays that has dropped down the scale of importance with the housing area of Seabury taking over. Also the 42 now has Portmarnock as destination. Coincidentally, the main route to Portmarnock is the 32 but it has Malahide as a destination. This situation with the 32 and 42 is brought about by the large amount of local traffic between Portmarnock and Malahide.
Finally, today in 2017, no buses stop along this part of Lower Gardiner Street even though over the years it has been a terminus for both Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann. 29/10/1994
It is 1988 and a certain bus route only has five months to go. D 476 is seen on Burgh Quay. It is displaying route 54 to Cherryfield Drive, via Connolly Station. This route was a cross-city route that connected Donnycarney/Killester on the northside with Harold's Cross and Walkinstown on the southside. The route was operated out of Summerhill Garage, and ran in conjunction with the 54A. The latter route was cut back from the northside in 1988 and in November 1988 the 54 was cut back from the northside. While the 54A continues on today, the remaining 54 did not make it out of the 1990s. The 54A is also now operated by Donnybrook Garage.
D 476 had a similar fate as it was delivered new to Summerhill in 1972 and withdrawn in 1990. The bus is gone, the route is gone but McDonald's is still with us. 08/06/1988
It is 1998 and D 635 is going on tour. Dublin Bus started the open-tour in 1988. The original tour fleet was made up of Leyland Atlanteans which were approaching the end of their service life. This pattern has continued to this day. The Atlanteans were later joined by Vanhools like D635 here and then these started to be replaced by Olympians from around 2000 on. Next came the ALX 400s in the form of the AV and AX classes and most recently the Enviro 400 EVs. Currently in 2019 the Dublin Bus tour fleet is entirely composed of low-floor, accessible buses.
The tour has always been a commercial operation by Dublin Bus and in 2017 it rebranded the city tour as DoDublin, with an all-over green livery. When it started in 1988 it was the only hop-on, hop-off tour in Dublin, but in 2019 there is stiff competition from The Big Bus Company and City Sightseeing, along with a number of niche tours.
D 635 had a varied career. It was delivered new to Dublin in 1975 and operated out of Clontarf and Summerhill garages. Around 1998 it joined the tour fleet. Normally that would be the end of a bus's career but by 2002 it had been converted for tree-lopper duties. In this role it toured the network, cutting down branches that could cause damage to buses. It finally retired from Dublin Bus in 2003, and passed into private hands.
St. Stephen's Green 15/10/1998
This week we are going back twelve years to 2013, and to GT 125 on Hawkins Street dressed for route 68.
The DUTC started operating the route in 1934. The 68 runs from the city centre to Newcastle (in west Dublin), going via Clondalkin. In 2006 it was extended slightly further to the Greenogue Business Park at the southern end of Newcastle. In 2011 it was slightly modified under Network Direct to go via Bulfin Road as a partial replacement for route 19.
GT 125 was new to Dublin Bus in 2013. In 2018 it migrated to Go-Ahead Ireland and became 11907.
Beside the bus is the former Department of Health, which was located in Hawkins House. It was demolished in 2021, and the site is being redeveloped.
12/12/2013
The first Thursday in 2016 I started doing a Throwback Thursday looking back on some long lost bus scenes in Dublin. Today we have photograph number 52, the last one of 2016. The year started in Bray and so it seems appropriate to end in Bray. This time we are going back thirty years to 1986. KD 270 is seen on the 84A. This was a short 84 that only ran between Bray and Greystones. The bus is seen in Bray as it approaches the end of its journey. The 84A disappeared for a while, being replaced by the 184, but it has reappeared in recent times and now operates between Bray and St. Vincent's Hospital. Bray 29/12/1986
And with that the 2016 Throwback Thursday has come to an end, but it will continue in 2017. Happy New Year!
Sherry with her boyfriend (was not me) on vacation...No bra and long legs...I am sure that boyfriend had a lot of fun playing with her!
This week for Throwback Thursday we have a slightly unusual bus in a slightly unusual location for it. AX 632 is seen parked at Skerries station in the company of RH 52. RH 52 was the Uniform Bus used by Dublin Bus to deliver uniforms to garages and it even had a changing area on board where staff members could try on their clothes. It was not a bus seen very often out and about and especially not in Skerries. This bus has been replaced by a newer AV Class bus. Skerries 25/08/2008
KD 353 is seen on Eden Quay in 1989. The bus is on route 7A to Sallynoggin via Dun Laoghaire. This route was later extended to Mackintosh Park before being abolished in 2011. It then returned in 2016 under unusual circumstances. Up to then the 7 ran four times an hour with one of them going to Cherrywood, and the other three to Loughlinstown Park. In 2016 it was changed with two to Brides Glen and two to Loughlinstown Park. However the traditional route 7 to the latter destination became the 7A, and the extended route became the 7. All very confusing.
KD 353 entered service in 1983 and finished its public service around 1999/2000. It is still with us in 2018, being preserved at the National Transport Museum in Howth, but is not in this all-over ad for Coca Cola but the old two-tone green livery of Dublin Bus.
Eden Quay still has a bus lane at this location but going in the opposite direction, providing access to the Rosie Hackett Bridge which opened in 2014. 06/01/1989
Just travelling back a mere six years for this weeks update but even so there has been a lot of change in that time. RV 531 loads up on College Street with a 77 to Jobstown. A handy piece of A4 paper in the front windscreen shows it goes "via Airton Road". In August 2011 RV 531 was withdrawn from service. It was one of the last buses deivered with rollerblind destinations (RV 540 being the last). Route 77 was merged with the 27 in September 2011 becoming one long cross-city route from Clare Hall to Jobstown, and adopted the 27 route number. Finally this part of College Street is currently being converted into a tram line for Luas Cross City and will become a tram stop next year. 26/02/2010
For the second week of our thrawl through the archives we go back to 1997. W 3 is seen at the Omni Park terminus of route 300. These wheelchair accessible buses started on the City Centre route 222 before transferring to the 300 which connected north-city communities in Dublin with the Omni Shopping Centre in Santry. These were the first class of low-floor buses in Dublin Bus. 11/01/97
Another trip back thirty-five years this week, except to the northside of the River Liffey and to D 369 on O'Connell Street. The bus is operating a service on route 3 from Sandymount to Larkhill. Route 3 can trace its origins back to the original Dublin tram network, but the bus route started in 1940. The route was pretty consistent over the decades, although some were extended to UCD Belfield around 1990. The route was abolished in 2012 under Network Direct, when it was mostly replaced by new route 1. This new route had its northern terminus in Santry, with the 44 extended north to terminate in Larkhill.
D 369 was delivered new to Dublin in 1970 and was withdrawn in 1986.
This bus is parked outside the BHS (British Home Stores) shop on O"Connell Street. This opened here in the 1980s but closed in 1992. BHS reopened again in the Jervis Shopping Centre in 1996 but only lasted until 1998. The store on O'Connell Street is now home to Penneys.
27/11/1985
This week we are going back thirty-six years to 1988 and to KC 118 at Bus Aras. The bus is operating one of the express services to Dublin Airport.
When this photo was taken the service to Dublin Airport was already decades old. It started with CIE and over the years had double-deckers, single-deckers and coaches on it. In 1982 KC 116 to 119 were delivered new to CIE to operate the service. In February 1988 they received this all-over ad / livery for Aer Lingus. Then in 1990 the buses lost their centre doors to increase their capacity and allow more luggage space on board. However, in 1994 they moved from the Airport Express service to route 230 and regained their centre doors. 1994 was the year Dublin Bus received new AD Class buses and rebranded the service as Airlink. Airlink suspended operations in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and then announced in 2021 the cessation of operations.
KC 118 was finally withdrawn by Dublin Bus in the late-1990s.
Aer Lingus was flew its first flight in 1936. It was floated on the stock exchange by the Irish government in 2006 and was finally taken over by IAG in 2015.
21/02/1988
Going back 29 years this week and to D 376 on O'Connell Street. It is on the 10 from the Phoenix Park to UCD Belfield. This was one of the more famous and popular routes in Dublin, and has featured here before, but was removed from the network in 2010. D 376 entered service in 1970, so was already 18 years old when this photograph was taken. However it survived through the 1990s as it joined the Tour fleet and was repainted into the navy blue/cream livery. It certainly was not looking the best when this photograph was taken in 1988. Finally this bus stop outside the Savoy cinema is not used by Dublin Bus anymore and one is more likely to see private tour buses here now. 08/06/1988
It is 2007 and AX 470 is stuck on Grafton Street while operating a service to Whitechurch on route 15C. There have been a number of routes to bear the designation 15C over the decades in Dublin. The longest lived version ran from 1980 to around 1993, and connected the City Centre with Willington. It was not a very frequent route and was replaced in time in Willington by the 54A and the 150. The next version of the 15C was the one seen here in the photo. Running from the City Centre to Whitechurch, it started in 1999, as a replacement to the 47 group of routes, and lasted until 30th September 2007 when it was replaced by the 15B. The final version of the 15C is an "unofficial official" route that has appeared in more recent times. The current route 15 has been a cross city route since 2011, running from Clongriffin to Ballycullen Road. To highlight routes running short to just the City Centre, 15C is often used on the displays.
AX 470 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2006, and based in Ringsend Garage. It was withdrawn from there in 2019 and moved to Paul S. Winson in Loughborough (UK).
This part of Grafton Street became of the Luas Green Line in 2018, with trams using in both directions, along with some bus routes, but not the 15. During the building of the tramline, the 15 group of routes (along with other routes) were diverted along Camden Street instead of Kildare Street.
Finally, the Gardai in the picture are trying to figure out what to do with a tourist's rental car which had broken down at this awkward spot, causing the traffic jam AX 470 is leading. 05/09/2007
24Z is one of the hottest trains on the railroad and usually rates two or three of Norfolk Southern's finest widecabs... On this day, however, an ex-Conrail spartan cab SD70 is leading the way through CP 379 in downtown Kendallville.
It's 1997 and RA 274 is seen parked on Marlborough Street. The bus is on route 32B. This operated between the City Centre and Baldoyle/Portmarnock going via Abbey Park. In 2012 the route was removed from the network through Network Direct and Abbey Park lost its bus service. Passengers had to use an extended 29A to Baldoyle instead.
The bus had been delivered in 1996 and is in CitySwift livery. The 32B however was not one of Clontarf's CitySwift routes. The bus was withdrawn around 2007 and went on to continue its career in the UK. It was still active until at least 2016.
This location on Marlborough Street is now a tram stop on Luas Cross City. 05/04/1997
It is a trip back twenty years to 1997 this week and RA 279 on Hawkins Street. It is about to depart for Rockbrook with a trip on the 47A. This was one of the older routes in Dublin, and ran in conjunction with the 47 and 47B, serving places like Rockbrook, Tibradden and Grange Road. The routes were removed from the network in September 1999.
The 47 returned in 2008 but instead served Belarmine and Sandyford. Rockbrook was served initially by the 161 from Nutgrove, though now from Dundrum, and the occasional 61 from the City Centre.
Although the bus is in City Swift livery it was not a City Swift route, with these buses usually found on the 46A.
This is bus stop is still in use on Hawkins Street, but not by the 47. The route does pass it on the way from Poolbeg Street to Townsend Street, as does the 61 from Eden Quay. The road on the left is now tram tracks. 12/10/1997
This week we are going back fifteen years to 2009 and to EV 6 on Custom House Quay with a service on route 33D to Donabate and Portrane.
Route 33D started operating between Portrane, Donabate and the city centre following the collapse of the Broadmeadow Viaduct in Malahide, in August 2009. When the railway line was shut, Dublin Bus had to increase services in north County Dublin to compensate for the loss of the train service. Route 33X to Skerries was ramped up and route 33D was introduced running via the Dublin Port Tunnel. When the railway line reopened in November 2009, the 33D maintained a service in each direction during the weekday peaks.
EV 6 was new to Dublin Bus in 2007. It was withdrawn in 2024.
16/10/2009
This week we are going back to 1985 to see D 253 on Abbey Street with the 34A. This route started in 1962, eight years after the 34, and connected the city centre with Finglas. Around a decade after this picture was taken the 34A and the 34 morphed into the City Imp route 134 and then in the 2000s that route merged with the 83. The number may be gone, but the legacy lives on, even though it has been altered over the years.
D 253 was delivered new to Dublin in 1969 and was withdrawn in October 1986.
Middle Abbey Street was a major bus terminus for decades. In the background can be seen another bus on the 37. At one point in the mid-1990s the 39 had departures every five minutes from here. But with the coming of the Luas in the early-2000s this part of Abbey Street lost all bus services.
28/11/1985
It is 1982 and C 100 is seen on Townsend Street with a 63. This route operated to Glenamuck (between Carrickmines and Kilternan) via Stillorgan and Foxrock. It was operated out of Donnybrook Garage and was a regular route for single-deck operation. In more recent times it was extended to Kilternan and double-deckers became more common on it. In 2010 the route was cut back from the city centre, and instead connected Dun Laoghaire with Kilternan,which it continues to do today.
The C Class was operated nationwide by CIE. Out of a total of 260 buses, about 80 worked in Dublin. They were replaced in the mid-1980s by the new KC Class built by Bombardier. C 100 was one of the final buses to be withdrawn. It entered service in Dundalk in 1965, before transferring to Donnybrook in 1971, where it remained for 13 years. 20/12/1982
In my opinion the original Ferrari Dino is one of the most beautiful cars ever made especially the Spyder version in yellow. It feels like I just finished this yesterday, but it's been over two years. Kind of funny how time flies and a wide eyed sophomore in high school is now finished with his first year of college and forever a changed man. So here's to honoring the past, eagerly awaiting the future, but appreciating today. Today is a gift, hence the word present.
Originally Taken: September 16, 2007
Location: Walt Disney World
Camera: Nikon D80
-----
Way back in 2007, I bought my first DSLR, my Nikon D80 that was only replaced this year because it had finally given up on me.
Back in 2007 I knew nothing about photography, I had bought this rather expensive camera and was using it as a point and shoot.
It actually took a few years for me to dive deeper into photography and take an interest in the technical side of things rather than just composition.
So when I bought my Nikon D80 I hadn't a clue and looking back on my photos from my trip to Walt Disney World in September of 2007 it's completely obvious just how clueless I was.
So in honour of the things I didn't know then, the things I know now, and the things I still haven't figured out; I'm posting one of my earliest (digital) attempts at something past a snapshot.
Wishing everyone a good day!
Click "L" for a larger view.
This week we are going back ten years to the last day of a relatively short-lived bus route. AV 177 is seen at the bus terminus within UCD Belfield with a service on route 70B from New Ongar Road.
The 70B started operating in December 2006 and was one of the few Xpresso routes not to use the X suffix (The 70X had started in 2001 from Dunboyne to UCD Belfield). The route ran from New Ongar Road through Ongar and Littlepace before joining the N3 for its run to the city. It started with one inbound trip in the morning and one outbound trip in the evening. The route lasted less than four years. It's official last day was 30th October 2010 when the Network Direct changes reached the Blanchardstown corridor on the 31st October. However, as this was a weekday-only bus route, and the 30th October was a Saturday, its actual last day was Friday 29th October. And AV 177 did the final inbound morning trip, as seen here.
AV 177 itself was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2000 and withdrawn in 2016. It was sold to the UK where it became a school bus in the Corby area.
The terminus at UCD Belfield has seen many bus routes over the years and used by thousands of people who worked and studied there. In 2012 the bus stops were relocated within the campus and this area was transformed into a lake. 29/10/2010