Saturday 18 May 2002 Sorry for delay in typing this up!
A real *day* out today: from Dundee to Dunfermline, Rosyth, Ferrytoll, Edinburgh, Leith, Ferrytoll again, Inverkething, Dunfermline again, Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, Cupar, and then back to Dundee! 13.5 hours for a £10 Fife Rover ticket + 80p (Lothian 22) + 50p (Arriva 398). Not bad all in all... took loads of images, but here are 20 of the best! If you have seen some of these already on the Scottish Bus Photo and/or DundeeBus group(s), beware because I've posted here one or two that I did not post to the group! Click on the small image to view a larger one - some of them are v.large!

		Firstly, the new Rosyth ferry terminal, where Volvo B6 656 of Stagecoach in Fife, can be seen. Service 73 has been revised so that it now only operates between Inverkething, Ferrytoll & Rosyth, with 3 journeys extended to/from Crombie, and is intended to be worked by a PS type not a mini!. Dunfermline local D10 is now hourly, with 2 buses, and is extended to Inverkething, or Dalgety Bay/Fordell. The "D" for Dunfermline prefix seems a bit out-of-place now! In the background is the being-built terminal building for the new Superfast ferry to Zebrugge (see bus blind!) - the first ferry arrived 40 mins late!
		When we got to Ferrytoll Park & Ride, 301 of Cowdenbeath was ready for action. This bus (1 on Saturday, 2 on weekdays) is ready at Ferrytoll, with a driver on standby, incase of a breakdown, or incase of passenger loadings warranting a duplicate.
		You know, when a bus pulls into Ferrytoll showing St Andrews, some passengers think it means Edinburgh St Andrew Square........ no, honest, someone did! Anyway, while we waited for the 1123 55 into Edinburgh, 542 had crossed the bridge heading from Edinburgh, and called in at Ferrytoll en route to St Andrews.
			Saturday 18 May was the last day of First in Edinburgh working Services 22 and 11, duplicating the Lothian routes for most of the way (although, First were the "first" to bring the 11 to Ocean Terminal, when they introduced it late last year, before Lothian changed theirs!) Anyway, Lothian 156 and First 260 are both seen at Ocean Terminal.
		Lothian Olympian 802 is seen here working Service 35, another route extended at both ends recently! While the 35 of now is part 34/35 of old, and part 1/6 of old too, the service has ben sensibily extended at Sighthill to Riccarton Heriot Watt Uni - but not on Saturdays! - and at the other end to Ocean Terminal. It's seen here at the latter!
		Fife operate a number of routes serving other parts of Edinburgh, linking them to Ferrytoll Park & Ride. After all, not everyone wants to go straight down the main Queensferry Road! However, none of these run on Saturdays - with the exception of the X50 from Leith Victoria Quay via Crewe Toll, Craigleith and South Queensferry - which gets extended on Saturdays to serve the Ocean Terminal centre! A word to anyone from Edinburgh CC/Lothian bus stop people - there's no X50 up on this bus stop! (But there is on every other stop - commendably!)
		A seriously "odd" allocation was the use of Dennis Dart/Alexander 608 on Service 19, usually worked by the MAN lo-liner buses. As can be seen in the shot, a low step and kneeling facility is not enough for some!
		Dunfermline & West Fife Town Centre Management Ltd have built upon last years trial operation of a tourist bus service in Dunfermline. The route runs every 30 minutes, with a later start on Sundays and no service on Wednesdays. The route uses a "vintage" Ford Transit rebuild, and for the sum of £2 passengers can use the service all day. The bus is seen here at James Street.
		If Dunfermline have a coach spare, it is likely to be used on some of the longer-distance runs, or routes across the bridge to Edinburgh. On this day, an Interurban (in old livery) was on the 14/14A Stirling route, while another one - 540 - in new livery, can be seen here in Dunfermline Bus Station, about to work the 55 to Kelty from Edinburgh.
		Fife are about half-to-two thirds of the way through getting a batch of ten Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties from Stagecoach in London (Selkent). These vehicles worked the 53, and other Plumstead depot routes, before new contracts specified low floor vehicles! Anyway, the ten have been refurbished with new trim, and removal of the centre doors (which would not work in Fife thanks to the design of the bus stations!), and are pretty much better than new! 711 is seen in Dunfermline before going for a trip along the coast to Leven.
		Stagecoach in Glasgow are in the midst of replacing all the Volvo single deck B10M buses & coaches in the fleet - bar those for the X25 and one Citylink duty, plus two B6LE's for subdised routes, and replacing them with older Leyland Olympians. As you might expect, there is a twist: they are being painted blue. They will also be recieving MAGICBUS lettering - the name used by Stagecoach when setting up their first Glasgow operation. Now, Magicbus (v3) will use Leyland Olympians to provide a "cheap and cheerful" service on the 175, X19, plus a new service from next week 162 between Osborne Street and Baillieston - at this time, East Kilbride X1, X2 services will be withdrawn, partly replaced in the peaks by First X11, X12, and by changes to other routes the rest of the day.
		Blind settings on the X8-X9-X10 ex-Stagecoach/Dart Bus Pollok/Darnley/Carnwadric area express services, do not appear to be a strong point! This X8 was anonymus, the X10 in front said "Express Service", while the X9 behind had a shredded blind!
			Here's a shot of SS133, the first First in Glasgow Scania to recieve route branding for the "Orange Line" 12. Front and back images. Operators with one or two routes can often brand their buses with local route information, but First are now trying this (in Glasgow at least) for the first time - despite earlier promises of route-branding things like the 44 and 201/240/267 etc.etc.......
		SV409, the Plaxton Derwent-bodied Volvo B10M, is seen here at the back of St Enoch Centre, working Service 40. Making a change from the usual Wright-bodied single decks!
		Scania SS6 is one of a few in Barbie2 livery - although, as I noted a few weeks ago - these will eventually get painted into Barbie1 ! Don't you just love corporate edicts! I said EDICTS! Anyway, the bus is right behind another SS on the 75 - but several punters went for this one as it had more free space!
		Taken from the window of a Stagecoach Fife coach on the X27, is Dennis Dart SLF 616 and newly-repainted Mercedes 70 on the layover area of Dunfermline Bus Station.

Friday 17 May 2002
LOTHIAN BUSES & MAC TOURS (combined) FLEETLIST NOW AVAILBILE FOR DOWNLOAD! ALSO UPDATED FIFE, STRATHTAY/MEFFAN, TRAVEL DUNDEE FLEETLISTS - ALL FROM THE "Fleetlists" PAGE!

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Site by Andrew Gronneberg/ScotBus/The Mod 1997 - 2002. Serving the Scottish bus enthusiast (online) community since July 1998.