Bus depot layout

[Mk1dreamer]

I wasn't sure if I should post it here or the bus thread but was wondering if anyone has a bus depot layout or had one etc

 

[Blade Fisher]

I wasn't sure if I should post it here or the bus thread but was wondering if anyone has a bus depot layout or had one etc

Now when you mean bus depot do you mean where heavy maintenance is carried out or do you mean a bus station, what?

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Maintenance preferred but I like to see all layouts honestly

 

[Blade Fisher]

Maintenance preferred but I like to see all layouts honestly

Well I have no bus depot layout but I can describe one to you that I worked out of.

In a roughly square site there were offices occupying the south west quarter. The north west quarter was an apron and parking area. The north east corner was the massive workshop accessed from the apron. Below that was the main under cover parking area that extended northwards by say 25ft. Within that on the northern wall was the bus wash. Thus the 25ft allowed vehicles to drive in and through the bus wash and turn to the right after washing. If one or two buses were queing for the bus wash the space was there for other buses to come in and park up. They would be parked up from the southern wall starting in the bottom left hand corner. When one row was filled the next started. The fuel pumps were by the entrance doors. There was an exit from the parking area 'shed' to the bottom right.

This was the set up at Nelson Road, Newport IW. HQ of Southern Vectis.


if you look it up on a detailed map you can scale the dimensions. A bus was 8ft 6" wide, obviously small gaps allowed each side to 'brush past'. Trust this helps.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Well I have no bus depot layout but I can describe one to you that I worked out of.

In a roughly square site there were offices occupying the south west quarter. The north west quarter was an apron and parking area. The north east corner was the massive workshop accessed

Thank you for the information yeah I want to have the bus depot detailed and the train line in a background role

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Bristol VRTs and Leyland Atlantean are my favorite buses

 

[Blade Fisher]

Thank you for the information yeah I want to have the bus depot detailed and the train line in a background role

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Bristol VRTs and Leyland Atlantean are my favorite buses

Yep in those days 1980/81 we had everything from FLFs, VRTs, REs, LHs. Also remember the time period you are modelling in. You wouldnt mix up the GNR with the new LNER similarly think about it. To model a depot the fleet would have been either all Leyland types or Bristol types not a mixture of both.

Being ex Tilling the Vectis was a Bristol bus operating company and pretty good at that.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Yep in those days 1980/81 we had everything from FLFs, VRTs, REs, LHs. Also remember the time period you are modelling in. You wouldnt mix up the GNR with the new LNER similarly think about it. To model a depot the fleet would have been either all Leyland types or Bristol types not a mixture of both.

Being ex Tilling the Vectis was a Bristol bus operating company and pretty good at that.

Eastern National was our main one

 

[Blade Fisher]

Eastern National was our main one

So that's the same as the Vectis. Green buses if modelling pre 1986

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Oh ok and Hedingham but they are hard to get

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On ebay you can find Eastern National easily

 

[Big Jumby 74]

I wasn't sure if I should post it here or the bus thread but was wondering if anyone has a bus depot layout or had one etc

Not sure if this is any good. It's a rough sketch I made one day when visiting my local (as was) garage, LTE's Shepherds Bush. This was dated early 1978. Parked bus positions marked as per the day in question, and the five (vertical) oblongs bottom centre are the pits. This area could be closed off by floor to ceiling folding doors, as per my scribbles! Ignore the reference to 94497 to the left - that's a BR CCT van noted elsewhere and scribbled down quickly where ever there was space in my book!

As an aside, on the occasion of this doodle, RT3062, the last Saunders bodied roof box RT was present in the garage, together with twelve standard RT's, although DM's predominated by then.

Edited: As an afterthought, have added a few notes (in red) to the sketch. The empty bay I have no idea as to its purpose now, perhaps external cleaning, as in a bus wash machine? Sure someone else may remember/know! Also a view looking in to the garage with RT4234 the main subject.

 

[Ken H]

1) Some West Yorkshire Road Car bus station plans here from 1958 timetable https://timetableworld.com/ttw-viewer.php?token=3a151e33-6c57-45a5-a607-bac4f1c7f9e9 (Link goes to page of images of West Yorkshire bus station plans)

2) This goes to a map of the area. you can see the bus station in plan. So you can check the dimensional accuracy of the plans in 1) above. Link goes to Scottish Library map image.

3) This may help with scale, especially vertical. You can still see where the DIRO platforms have been removed and the surface patched to make a car park. The buildings on the left were part of the bus station, but the higher one behind the grey wall in the car park is a 1960's build - I remember them building it. You can see where the surface was patched when the DIRO platforms and canopy was removed after it closed. You can get an idea of vertical scale by counting bricks to get heights of the elevations. Google Maps Street View (Link goes to Street view showing where the bus stands were.)

4) This is still there so go to Leeds to have a look.

Loads of pics with West Yorkshire bus stations on Facebook, Incl. Vicar Lane Leeds Be careful. the Art Deco building wanst opened till just before WW2

I dont know what date you want to reproduce. Remember the section of Vicar Lane outside wudl have had quite a few Leeds City Transport buses passing. It became one way running North-South in 1964. Before 1967 some blue Samuel Ledgard services used Vicar Ln Bus Stn, and East Yorkshire buses operated joint services to York, Bridlington and Hull, and United Automobiles ran joint services to Whitby and Ripon - just to add interest.

 

[GusB]

In my (yet to be implemented) layout plans I intend to have a small bus depot. I'm undecided as to whether I model it as an outstation for a larger company, or have it as a small independent. It'll consist of a garage big enough to house a few vehicles, a fuelling point and a bit of adjacent land for parking. I'm tempted to have a couple of "scrappers" rusting away in the weeds at the back, too.

Yep in those days 1980/81 we had everything from FLFs, VRTs, REs, LHs. Also remember the time period you are modelling in. You wouldnt mix up the GNR with the new LNER similarly think about it. To model a depot the fleet would have been either all Leyland types or Bristol types not a mixture of both.

Surely the fleet composition will be dependent on the company that you choose to depict. In the time period you've mentioned, my local depot had Leylands, Fords, Albions and a couple of Bristol FLFs. It wasn't unusual to see vehicles from a neighbouring company; there was one jointly operated route, for example, and occasionally there'd be something unusual covering for a failed bus.

 

[Ken H]

In my (yet to be implemented) layout plans I intend to have a small bus depot. I'm undecided as to whether I model it as an outstation for a larger company, or have it as a small independent. It'll consist of a garage big enough to house a few vehicles, a fuelling point and a bit of adjacent land for parking. I'm tempted to have a couple of "scrappers" rusting away in the weeds at the back, too.


Surely the fleet composition will be dependent on the company that you choose to depict. In the time period you've mentioned, my local depot had Leylands, Fords, Albions and a couple of Bristol FLFs. It wasn't unusual to see vehicles from a neighbouring company; there was one jointly operated route, for example, and occasionally there'd be something unusual covering for a failed bus.

why a depot and not a bus station? A bus stn allows a range of operators, which to me could be fun.
But remember some garages doubled as bus stations in the daytime, as Wetherby did.
Sorry the examples are Yorkshire but there are photos on Facebook.

Daft idea. There was Wellington St coach station in Leeds that was full of vehicles from all over the UK. Buses and coaches. Over the road there was Leeds Central Rail Stn.

 

[GusB]

why a depot and not a bus station? A bus stn allows a range of operators, which to me could be fun.
But remember some garages doubled as bus stations in the daytime, as Wetherby did.
Sorry the examples are Yorkshire but there are photos on Facebook.

The layout will be set in a rural location, so a bus station wouldn't really be appropriate. My initial thought was to model an outstation of one of the Scottish Bus Group companies with a couple of Y-types and perhaps a Duple Dominant coach. The other idea I had was to make it a local independent with a couple of older coaches for contract work and a tidier vehicle for private hire, maybe with a couple of taxis too. The depot building will have seen better days and have a ramshackle feel to it. Think old tyres and oil drums!

Kenneth Barclay's photo of Berry's yard at Fyvie sums it up quite well:

RBZ 8498

Explore kdbarclayG750's 36307 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Mk1dreamer]

I was going to model either Kelvedon Hedinghams debut or a Tollsbury Hedinghams with a Tollsbury Train Terminus (in my world the Tollsbury line never closed)

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Edited: As an afterthought, have added a few notes (in red) to the sketch. The empty bay I have no idea as to its purpose now, perhaps external cleaning, as in a bus wash machine? Sure someone else may remember/know!

I'm not familiar with that particular location but I'd bet that bay was the chassis steam cleaning area. Would have had either a ramp arrangement or a suitably drained pit area. Absolutely essential job before MOT testing as well as major component swaps ie engine and/or gearbox. A somewhat enclosed bay helped to keep the loosened detritus from being too exposed to the wind.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

I'm not familiar with that particular location but I'd bet that bay was the chassis steam cleaning area. Would have had either a ramp arrangement or a suitably drained pit area. Absolutely essential job before MOT testing as well as major component swaps ie engine and/or gearbox. A somewhat enclosed bay helped to keep the loosened detritus from being too exposed to the wind

I tend to agree with your thinking. Have a gander on googly earth today, and see what you think about the set up today - I've no idea about modern London bus types, or be they electric (or not) so can't comment. The main entrance exit has what appears to be elecy charging points in the centre, and the gloomy bay on the side, apart from parked (staff) cars, seems to have at least one possible fuel hose set up, and a very oily floor around same. No doubt much changed since the 70's either way?

 

[GusB]

I was going to model either Kelvedon Hedinghams debut or a Tollsbury Hedinghams with a Tollsbury Train Terminus (in my world the Tollsbury line never closed)

Ultimately, it's your model and you should do it as you see fit. If you are modelling a specific location within a specific time period, you're likely to come across "rivet counters" who will tell you that it isn't right.

If you want to build a model in the style of a particular location and aren't overly concerned about it being entirely prototypical, you can make up your own story. If you're modelling a fictional location post-1986, anything goes!

 

[Ken H]

dont forget the tow trucks, and the light vans that were at many depots. And the offices. and the bent buses round the back awaiting repair.

 

[GusB]

dont forget the tow trucks, and the light vans that were at many depots. And the offices. and the bent buses round the back awaiting repair.

Surely this all depends on the size of the depot that someone wishes to model. What works for you may not work for anyone else. Each to their own, eh?

 

[Ken H]

Surely this all depends on the size of the depot that someone wishes to model. What works for you may not work for anyone else. Each to their own, eh?

I just thought support vehicles added opportunities for modelling.

 

[Mk1dreamer]

Honestly I.miss seeing the old VRTs, Darts and Beavers in Eastern National and Hedinghams livery

 

[Sun Chariot]

I wasn't sure if I should post it here or the bus thread but was wondering if anyone has a bus depot layout or had one etc

If you haven't already discovered the many bus garages and depots (4mm scale card kits) from Kingsway, they are well worth a look. I've got several of their shops, bank, pubs, car garage and postal sorting office.

LT bus | Kingsway Models

London Transport bus garages and related items in 1/76 scale. All based on real buildings from past and present. Bus shelters of various kinds and bus stations. For use with OO scale model buses.

www.kingswaymodels.com

 

[Mk1dreamer]

If you haven't already discovered the many bus garages and depots (4mm scale card kits) from Kingsway, they are well worth a look. I've got several of their shops, bank, pubs, car garage and postal sorting office.

LT bus | Kingsway Models

London Transport bus garages and related items in 1/76 scale. All based on real buildings from past and present. Bus shelters of various kinds and bus stations. For use with OO scale model buses.

www.kingswaymodels.com

What would be the best Essex based option ? Preferably Colchester/Chelmsford area

 

[Sun Chariot]

What would be the best Essex based option ? Preferably Colchester/Chelmsford area

You'll see the kits in that link include the depots at Romford and at Hornchurch; the two closest to Chelmsford.