19/07/2009
Caerphilly No.3 arrives at depot!
Last weekend Caerphilly No.3, LNY 903, arrived at the depot to await continued restoration. This fine Leyland Titan PD2 arrived on tow from Durham last Sunday afternoon and is currently stored at the depot along with sister Caerphilly Titan GNY432C.
03/07/2009
Apologies for the lack of updates in recent weeks, however, the majority of the work on the depot was completed just in time for the rally on the 14th of June. Combined with the open day, this rally was an overwhelming success with a record number of vehicles - around 50 - attending the show. All trips out from the rally were packed out, including the shuttle bus from the rally site carrying people eager for a tour of the depot.
At the beginning of the day a procession of Western Welsh, or Western Welsh themed vehicles made it's way to the depot carrying councillors from the Vale of Glamorgan council. The depot was officially opened with a fitting ticket roll being cut as shown on the front page. In addition to record numbers of vehicles, record numbers of visitors attended both the depot open day and the rally site - no doubt in part due to the excellent advertising provided by the VoG council. Here's looking forward to next year's rally!
The next CTPG event will now be Bus and Coach Wales 2009 to be held at Merthyr Tydfil college on the 6th September 2009 - a Sunday!
29/05/2009
The renovation of the depot is now very close to completion, in preparation for the open day in conjunction with the Barry rally in just over two weeks!
Depot resident 964 DTJ has left to return to it's home in the valleys, with another vehicle owned by the same people expected to take it's place. The Caerphilly PD3, GNY532C, has taken the Jones' cub place over the pits - which is now once again in fine health - for it's rebuild to continue.
In the painting department, most of the walls have now received a fine coat of cream and black paint - the only exception now being the upper walls surrounding the pits. In addition to that, a crimson band that once adorned the walls is another feature that's currently being 'restored'. The rather worn looking fuel tanks outside the depot have also received a fresh coat of paint - and look far better for it.
A new surprise resident is expected at some point over the weekend.
03/05/2009
Painting has now almost been completed at the depot, with the final touches in places being applied. The pits have received a hefty makeover, with the floor now being painted and looking very smart. The exterior tanks that were once used to dispense fuel have also received a coat of paint, and a red 'band' that once adorned the interior walls is being re-applied.
Former Cardiff Corporation '434', ABO434B a Guy Arab V that resides in the depot performed a trip for a retiring Cardiff Bus employee this week, and is seen in Wood Street outside the Cardiff Bus offices. Many thanks to Barrie Gilbert for allowing us to use this photograph.
05/04/2009
The depot is shaping up rather rapidly with painting (at long last) nearing completion. There has been two new arrivals, one in the form of an ex-Islwyn Borough Transport Leyland Tiger C42GKG with East Lancs bodywork - and a very, very fine Plaxton bodied Bedford NNY517L.
16/03/2009
A rather fine looking vehicle made the depot it's home on Saturday - N143PTG - Cardiff Bus '143'. 143 is Cardiff Bus' very last metrorider, and quite possibly their very last high floor vehicle delivered new to them. It has recently been repainted into original 'Clipper' livery by Glyn Bowen with thanks to 60-60 coaches of Merthyr Tydfil. It's pictured below, rather standing out in the lineup of 'historic' buses.
Painting, as always, is continuing steadily.
11/03/2009
Computer problems have once again prevented frequent updates, but it should be back on track now. In the last month painting has begun nearing completion, with most of the opposite side of the depot now completed - with preparation for painting the pit area starting.
Another new arrival came in mid February in the form of ex-Rhondda Regent V 495 - KNY495D, this superb vehicle is pictured below. There are several vehicles outstanding that should be arriving in the next few months, VHB678S - the open top Bristol VR (still with it's Leyland 501!) and 868 NHT, the Welsh Dragon Bristol LoDekka. There are also several potential significant vehicles that may have a place at the depot in the near future, so stay tuned!
01/02/2009
As always, the painting is going on thick and fast - with half of the depot almost complete. The office has now been finished, along with the toilets and corridors. Restoration on UTG313G has also progressed, with the exposed body frame being painted along with a window frame reinstalled. On Saturday, an impromptu visitor came in the form of PDW 484, Newport Transport's preserved Leyland Titan - unique with it's Longwell Green bodywork.
27/01/2009
Another new arrival at the weekend was a very fine vehicle indeed. EDV505D, a Royal Blue Bristol MW which operated for a period in Caerau, near Maesteg. Painting, as always, is making steady progress with the vehicle paint shop nearing completion along with the toilet area.
04/01/09
Apologies for the lack of updates but technical problems have prevented any from taking place. All of the CTPG's vehicles are now in the depot or at the new storage site, as shown in the lineup photograph below along with some member's vehicles. Painting is as always coming along nicely, with around half of the depot now fully painted - still plenty more to do!
Also shown is ex-cardiff 104, sister bus to 105 that resides in the depot - unfortunately after an accident with a tractor it lost half a windscreen - and whilst getting ready to depart to the storage site it lost the other half!
In late December 2008 on the Vale of Glamorgan's final Santa Special running day, preserved Cardiff Regent V 408 DBO operated trips for those people who had travelled on the railway's steam train and is seen outside of their main building at Barry Island.
29/11/08
Another large photo update today, the first photograph (with thanks to 6060 for allowing us to use it) detailing our Metrorider 143 next to ex-Cardiff 134. The owner of 60-60 come to the conclusion that 143 made his vehicles look "scruffy" in comparison - so commissioned a repaint, the first to be completed being 134.
Painting (as usual) is also coming along nicely, with the canteen being the first room to be completely finished.
Something that also requires painting is recent arrival JKG497F, ex-cardiff Park Royal bodied Daimler Fleetline, all this hard work sometimes requires a break - group member Stephen Smit is pictured taking one of his many food breaks in the nearly completed office area of the depot. A significant recent development was the demolition of the hut that greeted visitors upon entering the depot, although an important feature it detracted significantly from the space availiable to buses, and it's absence may increase the storage potential of the depot of another two buses.
26/11/08
Four new buses arrived on Saturday from the storage site, all were driven down without incident. They are:
Daimler Fleetline JKG497F
Bristol Lodekka TAX235
Bristol LHS LUH105P
Bristol LH OJD45R
Also, a future depot resident has just been repainted by group member Glyn Bowen with help from 60-60 Coaches of Merthyr Tydfil, the attached photo sees it parked in their yard alongside two other ex-cardiff Metroriders. It is expected that it will take up residence at the depot shortly.
Also attatched is a photo of the vehicle on the day it arrived from Cardiff Bus, prior to when it suffered fire damage in another location, which provides a stark contrast to the vehicle's condition presently and goes to show all of the hard work put in by Glyn.
15/11/08
One new arrival at the depot last weekend was in the form of a mighty fine vehicle, GHB148N - A Bristol RESL new to Cynon Valley though preserved in Red & White livery. Also in other news another mighty fine vehicle made a quick photo stop on Saturday afternoon, F238CNY a Leyland Lynx (formerly Cardiff '238') which has just entered preservation, painting is also coming along slowly but surely. Also shown is a white-van, on which a few members worked very hard in transporting heavy goods from the storage site to the depot.
2/11/08
Two more arrivals at the depot today, in the form of UTG313G the Pontypridd Regent V, and TUH13 - Western Welsh '13', an Albion Nimbus.
Shortly after arriving '13' was given a wash, and it certainly looks better for it after coming out of years of storage!
Painting in the depot is coming along nicely, with the canteen almost completed and the ladies' also completed - seen below is a keen worker applying the finishing touches to the wall in the canteen.
29/10/08
A new arrival to the depot today was in the form of ex-Cardiff AEC Regent V '408' - 408 DBO. Three new arrivals are expected on the weekend, and these are 20 AAX the Bristol Lodekka, TUH13 the Albion Nimbus and UTG313G the Pontypridd Regent V all of which are currently residing in Swansea at the time of writing.
22/10/08
A great deal of painting work has taken place since the last update, with a large amount still to be done.
One more Barry vehicle returned home on Sunday, in the form of TKG518J (pictured below shortly before leaving) - A Leyland Leopard converted to towbus use at the end of it's useful service life - this vehicle was allocated to Barry depot from new as WWOC 1158, renumbered in 1974 as U871 and then transferred to Cardiff depot in 1975.
A future depot resident, ex-Cardiff Bus Metrorider has been prepared for painting by Glyn Bowen and is expected to be returned to Cardiff 'Clipper' livery (as can be seen in the gallery) soon.
12/10/08
Much ado has gone on in recent weeks, painting is well underway with several people lending a hand to spruce up the depot - with the main work being scraping the walls of old western welsh paint. One of the depot's newest residents has undergone cleaning, as shown in the photographs below. Not only the interior of the depot has been spruced up.. but the outside as well - as displayed in the below photograph, the group chairperson proudly looks on at his work with his ladder-holder.
30/09/08
As of this weekend, much of the electrical work has been finished - as displayed in the photo below, we have lights!
There was another arrival over the weekend in the form of National Welsh 1 - C101HKG. The Ford Transit with 'Robin Hood' bodywork, dubbed the 'Bustler' was brought home from the CTPG storage site on Saturday afternoon. Our thanks to the Reynolds family who organised and paid for the bus to return home, without their help it would have remained exposed to the elements.
13/09/08
A great deal of work has been carried out since the last diary entry, perhaps most the important being the introduction of tea making facilities to the depot!
The glazing work has been finished, as also has the replacement of several sections of roofing in the depot. The pits and surrounding areas have been painted as to make them more visible, and therefore safer - with the inclusion of a green painted 'walkway'. Electrical work within the depot has also been finished - as has the plumbing of a most vital utility, the toilets!
01/09/08
Work on the depot is now progressing with great speed, with the electrical
work being the current priority. The interior walls are being prepared for painting, with
a great deal of progress already made - exterior painting is also nearing completion.
The bulk of the re-plumbing work has been done, with new toilets and sink facilities fitted -
when they are connected to the water it will come as a great 'relief' for all those in the depot!
Re-glazing has also been completed, with the below view showing just how much of
a difference a few windows can make.
Although a portion of the work is being done by paid contractors, the majority is done by volunteers - if you can spare some of your time and come down to help on weekends it would be much appreciated!
Depot resident ABO434B made a very special outing last month, to take Olympic Gold
medallist Nicole Cooke on a tour of the Vale to celebrate her performance in the Beijing
Olympics. The main focus of the tour was her home village of Wick, and seen below are
two photographs of the event.
From the official press release...
"A heritage group is set to breathe new
life into a prominent building in the centre of Barry.
Following the completion of a tenancy
agreement with the Vale of Glamorgan Council, the Cardiff Transport Preservation
Group (CTPG) has ambitious plans for the development of a
transport heritage project at the old Western Welsh bus depot in Broad Street.
CTPG is a registered charity, which was
founded in 1992 – the same year as the depot closed when the then National Welsh
Bus Company ceased trading – and has 100 members. It has played a leading
role in organising transport festivals in Barry over
the last few years.
Handing over the keys to the depot,
council leader Cllr Gordon Kemp said: "I know that the group has ambitious plans
for the building which has the potential to become an educational and tourist
asset.
"It is intended that the depot will be a building reflecting the heritage of Barry from an architectural and transport perspective, and the vehicles could well become familiar 'faces' right around the town."
The project will focus on buses and
commercial vehicles, and the depot has capacity for 30 vehicles.
CTPG chairman Mike Taylor said: "We are
very grateful to the council for its enthusiastic support of our museum plans.
This has always been our goal and we hope the depot will become a major
attraction in Barry over the next few years."
As well as undertaking restoration work,
the group intend to have displays of passenger transport vehicles, uniforms and
ticket machines past employees would have used and other memorabilia. Mike said:
"We offer a warm welcome to any former Western Welsh or National Welsh employees
who would like to pop down and tell us about their experiences."
Opened in 1939 by the Western Welsh
Omnibus Company, more recently National Welsh, the depot is the last of its type
in South Wales. During the 1950s,
Yesterday, the 31st July 2008 the lease to the Barry Bus Depot was signed by the CTPG
Chairman, Mike Taylor. After many years of work by the CTPG in negotiating with the Vale
of Glamorgan Council the keys will be handed over in an official ceremony on Thursday
7th August at 2:00PM outside the bus depot.
Interior work on the depot has begun in earnest by the Vale of Glamorgan Council,
the skylights have begun to be replaced by workers. The pigeon population that
inhabited the depot have now been evicted, much to their distaste. Their legacy
remains temporarily in the building along with the plant life that has slowly crept
through the building's walls. The lease on the depot is hoped to be signed by Mike Taylor,
the chairman of the CTPG in the near future and will be announced on this website when it
has taken place.
