Recent content by ClawzOneThirty

Following on from my previous post, I can confirm that it was definitely Varios 522, 568, and 575 that suffered in the Liskeard depot fire, 522 & 575 were completely burned out whilst 568 managed to escape with front-end fire damage, I don't know whether they were all scrapped together or if 568...

Thank god for that, let's hope it stays that way! For those interested, 455 (S455ATV) is up for sale on eBay as JIG 4503, looks to be in pretty good nick for its age! I was meaning to ask, does anyone here know which three Varios suffered in the Liskeard depot fire? I have them listed as 522...

That'll explain why he's back up in the ranks! Let's hope he's changed his ways since last time!

Very interesting, one wonders how he even managed to score that position in compass bus, especially after the disqualification! I do remember being quite shocked at that move, iirc they even sold all their vintage buses to ensign (all of which bar JWV 259W [RIP] survive to this day...

Ah, that'll be why they regularly transferred buses to & from Black Velvet Travel! That is correct, he was disqualified, no idea how he managed to get into Compass Bus if he is indeed working for them. After the takeover of Bishop & Smith, I frequently saw vehicles being passed between Velvet &...

One can only wonder.. Oh speaking of Bishop & Smith, something I never understood is why they sent the odd bus or two up country every now and then for service routes, surely it would have made more sense to keep all the vehicles within Cornwall?

Six and a half years after they closed too! Never knew that liquidation was such a lengthy and complicated process, as the saying goes, you learn something new every day!

I swear the Western Power distribution depot in Bodmin houses two cherry-picker Mercs with the Vario chassis. I've seen them go in and out more than once, but yeah I definitely relate with you there, it brings back many memories indeed.. And oh god that awful Velvet fleet, not sure if anybody...

I can't begin to imagine what the stress was like when the network was at its maximum peak, and you're not wrong, it's a shame indeed, if only things had gone better for them, maybe the dream of half-hourly/regular buses would still be alive.. still miss that with a passion..

You're not wrong about Bishop and Smith, they destroyed the company, and you are definitely right about the money laundering thing, as if you look at the government website, you can see loads of companies that they shut down in the same period of time between each other, very very dodgy stuff!

They more than likely would have been, yes.

Very well said!! I wouldn't be able to handle any decisions as tough as that, being an enthusiast myself! You should see some of the cruel people on Facebook making all sorts of allegations, it's not nice at all :( I will admit, Western Greyhound did have bad days, including buses that broke...

You really hit the nail on the head! Mark made sure that not one staff member or passenger was left behind when he ran Western Greyhound before the fires happened, and you're not wrong there, I don't know why people disliked him for recognising the enthusiasts, passengers, and staff's requests...

It only went downhill after the fires at Summercourt and Liskeard, and even more so when the company got sold on, you were right in saying that it was a great role model of how to run a bus company back in the good times before the fires etc, especially during 2008-10, as that is when the...

That is correct, I remember multiple times where drivers had to use radios when a connecting bus was late etc as many services required driver swaps at connecting points/stations 1620868628 Didn't manage to get the lot out as there's not enough room at the moment, but I got a few interesting...