All taken between January and May 2004

This is a collection of photos taken on the test run for the Birmingham - London Megabus route back in January 2004.

A group of friends recently took on a farm shed near Hetton to store preserved vehicles. This collection shows some of the vehicles that are stored there

SGR935V, new to Northern General in 1979 as fleetnumber 3435, passed into preservation on 7th June 2004. It is the last of the four remaining VRs new to Northern General to pass into preservation. It is now owned by the Northern General Preservation Group. This collection of photos show its journey home.

Photos of Go Ahead Olympians from 1997 onwards in a variety of liveries. Also included are photos of the Olympians bought new by OK Travel, which became part of the Go Ahead fleet when that operator was taken over

A selection of photos of Busways legendary Atlanteans, mainly from the mid 1990s

When new, these buses were allocated to various high profile routes in Birmingham. In my opinion, a very stylish design, although many are looking a bit care worn.

Although the 0405 chassis is popular on the continent, few of these vehicles operate in the UK. TWM is the largest operator of these, with over 200. A handful were bodied by UVG before that firm went bust, with Mercedes bodying the rest.

A tribute to the mk1 Metrobus, another recent loss from the streets of Birmingham. Somehow the Outer Circle isn't the same without them.

Garnetts of Tindale Crescent (Bishop Auckland) provided me with gainful employment for a few weeks during 2002, mainly on school runs. Their bus fleet is was made up of mainly Titans, plus a handful of Atlanteans and a Fleetline. Volvo B10Ms handle the front line coach work, with Tigers and Leopards for everything else.

These buses were new to the 50 route. Initially 21 were operated, with a 22nd being acquired from Travel Dundee. Arguably the most stylish buses in Birmingham, they are now used on the 22/23, 10 and 84 services.

These buses spent their entire time at TWM at Birmingham Central garage. By the time I started there in 2000, they were used mainly on the Bristol Road routes. They were all sold off towards the end of 2002 - a sad loss!

I worked for Scarlet Band, based in County Durham, as a part time driver between 2000 and 2002, during university holidays. This collection summarises their bus fleet during this period.

Roe bodied Leyland Atlantean AUP369W was new to Northern General in 1980. Numbered 3469, its initial allocation was Winlaton depot and was new in NBC style Yellow livery. After a brief stint at Washington depot around deregulation time, the bus then moved to Percy Main depot. During 1999, the bus passed to Ladyline Coaches of Congleton for use as a school bus. I bought a 50% share in the bus in June 2003.