Trivia: Bus companies with the least standardised fleets

[rcro]

The thread on companies using just a single type of bus makes me wonder if it would be easier or harder to find a company that has never owned two identical vehicles at the same time. Herefordshire has had some interesting operations with many oddities over the years but even the likes of Martin Perry had two Ford/Bustlers at the same time (before buying 3 new Solos...).

So far, I’ve failed to think of any. The closest I can get is Yarrantons of Eardiston who had/have two UVG/Javelins and have recently got a second Citaro. They are all at least painted up differently! Is there anywhere less standardised?

 

[Strathclyder]

It's settled down quite a bit down now (long before the pandemic), but the McGill's of Greenock fleet had a explosion in terms of vehicle variety from 2009 onwards (thanks in large part to their Arriva Scotland West and McColl's of Balloch takeovers in 2012), at least for a operator that size. Even among groups of the same chassis (Dart SLF, B7RLE, B7L, B6), there were variencies in bodybuilder (in the case of the Dart SLF, B6 & B7L), length (Dart & B6 only) and original owner (in the case of 2nd-hand buys). And outwith the large tranches of standardized vehicles, there existed small numbers of certain vehicle types that never went beyond a handful of examples (for instance, only 2 Scania L94UBs, 3 Volvo B7Ls & 6 Enviro 300s were ever bought new or second-hand). And that's not even getting into the coach side of things: MAN A91/FAST Carrier, Bova Futura, Plaxton/Jonckheere/Salvador Caetano Levante-bodied Volvos (with a couple Scanias with the last body thrown in for good measure) have all featured over the last decade or so.

McGill's likely don't strictly fit within the parameters of the OP as they have/have had large blocks of standard vehicles, but thought I'd mention them regardless.

 

[GusB]

Historically, Highland Scottish was probably a good contender. While it did receive batches of new vehicles occasionally, much of the fleet was composed of cast-offs from other Scottish Bus Group companies and they often had newer vehicles transferred out to other subsidiaries.

Looking at a 1989 fleet book, I note they had the following:

Minibus

• Mercedes 609D
• Freight Rover Sherpa
• MCW Metrorider,
• Renault/Dodgy S56

Single Deck

• Leyland Leopard with Duple Dominant and Alexander Y-type bodies, the latter of which were either native or had originated with Fife, Midland, Northern and Western (and therefore they were all slightly different spec.)
• Leyland Tiger with Duple Dominant IV (ex-demonstrator which apparently went like the clappers), Duple Laser 2, Duple 340, Plaxton Paramount (Gardner engined, ex-Western). They had a batch with Alexander TE bodies
• which were moved on to other companies.
• Leyland Nationals had been received but had been moved on by this point.
• Volvo B10M with Van Hool Alizee (formerly Newton, Dingwall) and Astral bodywork.

Double Deck

• Daimler/Leyland Fleetline with ECW or Alexander bodies (native), plus a few which originated with Central, a couple of ex-London DMS, some ex-Fife and a handful of ex-Grampian examples with Leyland engines which came via Fife and Strathtay.
• Leyland Olympian - all new with Alexander RL bodies, but the newer ones had "coach" seats and the newer front panel.

As for liveries, there was a mixture of poppy red/grey, Ayres red/grey, Ayres red/ivory, blue/grey coach livery, grey coach livery, allover Ayres red on some coaches, Strathtay Blue/Orange and Scottish Citylink.


Another example would be some of the larger independent operators eg Rennie's of Dunfermline which would acquire second-hand vehicles from various sources, and the likes of A1 which often bought new but each individual member of the co-operative seemed free to choose their own path.

 

[Contains Nuts]

Since the takeover of Arriva Cannock, D&G Bus currently have the following:

Optare Solo
Optare Solo SR
Optare Versa
Optare Metrocity
ADL Enviro200
ADL Enviro200MMC
Dennis Dart
VDL SB180 / MCV Evolution
DAF SB120 / Wright Cadet
DAF SB200 / Wright Commander
Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse
Scania L94 / Wright Solar
Wright Streetlite DF
Wright Streetlite WF

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Historically, Highland Scottish was probably a good contender. While it did receive batches of new vehicles occasionally, much of the fleet was composed of cast-offs from other Scottish Bus Group companies and they often had newer vehicles transferred out to other subsidiaries.



Another example would be some of the larger independent operators eg Rennie's of Dunfermline which would acquire second-hand vehicles from various sources, and the likes of A1 which often bought new but each individual member of the co-operative seemed free to choose their own path.

That's good but I think Southern National (prior to First buying them) had perhaps a more interesting fleet and again for the same budgetary reasons

Minibus
Ford Transit - Robin Hood/Dormobile
Iveco Turbo Daily - Dormobile
Mercedes 709 - Alexander/Reebur
Mercedes 811 - Wright/Carlyle
Mercedes 814 - Alexander

Single deck
Leyland National Mk1 and Mk2
Leyland Leopard - Plaxton/Alexander Y type/Alexander T type
Dennis Dart - Wright Handybus/East Lancs Flyte/Plaxton Pointer
Bristol LH - ECW bus and Plaxton DP
Leyland Tiger - Plaxton Paramount/Wadham Stringer (ex MOD)/Alexander TE
Volvo B10M - Van Hool Alizee/Duple Caribbean/Ikarus/Duple Dominant*
Volvo B10M - very short version with Plaxton Paramount
Bedford YNT - Wadham Stringer*
Bedford YMT - Duple Dominant*
Dennis Javelin - Plaxton Paramount
* - Dorchester Coachways - part of Southern National and not a separate company

Double deck
Bristol VR/ECW
Leyland Olympian with ECW and Roe bodywork


As with A1, might be interesting to see a snapshot of Stevensons of Uttoxeter

 

[jammy36]

They've recently trimmed back and standardised the fleet a little, but until recently Bournemouth Transport had a very mixed fleet given the size of the operation. This inconsistency even seemingly extended to new purchases, with for example Streetlites, Versas and Enviro midibuses all purchased new.

 

[Robertj21a]

The original Barton would be a worthy contender.

 

[Flange Squeal]

This is the most recent record I have of Cresta Coaches of Hampshire, who have a rather varied fleet with only two of the same type - a pair of Optare Solos.

Bedford VAL70 / Plaxton Elite III - LOU 776L
DAF / Van Hool Alizee - KPV 810 (Y252 ODX)
Dennis Javelin / Caetano Algarve - H10 TJH (M783 VJO)
Dennis Javelin / Duple 320 - CRZ 4801 (G530 GSC)
Leyland Tiger / Plaxton Derwent - D982 JJD
Leyland Tiger / Van Hool Alizée - FSU 183 (H312 HPF)
Optare Alero - YJ57 YCW
Optare Solo M950 - DSZ 4860 (YJ07 EJK)
Optare Solo M950 - DSZ 4862 (YJ07 EJE)
VDL SB120 / Wright Cadet - BX04 BXM

 

[Statto]

National Express West Midlands feel like they've had every combo of low floor decker, they've had Presidents, ALX 400, Enviro 400, Wright Gemini & Gemini 2, Wright Streetdeck, Optare Omnicity & Optare Spectra.