Tuesday 30 August 2011

The end for GIL?

At Camborne this week things didn't look to good for Van Hool bodied Volvo, GIL 2967, previously thought to have been Sherings E634UNE. I say thought, because this coach, and another very similar Van Hool bodied B10M have both carried GIL 2967, and have ever since had confused identities to as to which one is actually which! 20044 certainly seems to be a Sheringsish spec, but the other GIL 2967 was also new to Sherings. But then we get even more confused, because the registration the 'other' GIL 2967 carries now, isn't its original registration. It got caught in a mix up when Parks of Hamilton bought some of Sherings' B10Ms, of which we can presume they were both part of the same batch, but then got separated, presumably at that point! Ironic therefore that they both ended up with the same registration, after being apart since 1991.

But anyway, this is getting far too confusing! The point of the post is to show that GIL seems to have been in an incident! Possibly a rear end shunt from a car, or maybe some driver error, but it doesn't look too good. Maybe we can hope that panels have been stripped off so that she can be repaired, and not that the panels have had to be removed because they were damaged. I sorely hope we don't lose her from the FDC coaching fleet though. As is seen below in her happier times, she's worked hard over the years, and yet escaped me on a constant basis! I really would like a ride on her before she finally does bite the dust. The Van Hool bodywork keeps her looking relatively modern despite her real age, as with any Van Hool bodied vehicle. She is now the oldest of the coach fleet now that XFF 283 has been withdrawn. When I say XFF 283, I don't mean the Volvo B6! I mean D505 GHY, a Van Hool bodied B10M new to Badgerline! When D505 (XFF) was withdrawn, the registration was kept, and now it bolted onto one of the Tavylinx Volvo B6s, YJ51 RHY!



Now, who else is totally confused! Bloomin' private registations!!

4 comments:

G said...

Hi Laurence,
You're right, it's E634 UNE but it's had the GIL 2967 plate since 1994 when it was with Parks. It then went to Philps of Dunfermline and North Devon Red Bus before reaching Western National in 1999 when the Red Bus fleet was merged in. Not sure why you think there were two? Don't forget it was brown for a long time.
BTW, are you coming to Torquay on Sunday?
Graeme.

Laurence Mayhew said...

Thanks for the info Graeme! Well from what I've been reading, E937XSB (as it's now known) also seems to have carried GIL 2967.XSB had GIL in 1991, but then passed to Rainworth Travel where it gained E937 XSB. The confusing thing, is what was XSB's original registration. E937 XSB certainly wasn't registered in 1987/8. I've just found a photo that states that her original reg was E626UNE, which seems to make some sense, which would make it fairly plausible that the two buses have been mixed up in their original identities.

And yes I certainly will be attending this year! The family holiday has fallen on this weekend for the past 2 years, but luckily not this weekend this year, so am certainly taking the opportunity to go! I'll publicise it on the blog at some point this week. Look forward to seeing you there.

G said...

Ah, ok, I thought you meant FD&C had switched the plate between two of theirs. Yes, I see what you mean. E937 XSB was E626 UNE and did carry the GIL plate with Parks for six months, before 20044 did. Back in the 80s and 90s, there was a period when DVLA wouldn't revert to the original registration and would only issue a new one, so there's quite a lot of vehicles out there on non-original plates like E937 XSB. Luckily these days that nonsense has stopped but it still means that E937 XSB reappears when the coach comes off another private plate (as has just happened) rather than going back to E626 UNE.
Yes, come and say hello at Torquay, are you making your own way or coming with an entrant?

Laurence Mayhew said...

Ah I see! God, could they have made it any more confusing! Glad that they have stopped this then, else A182 MNE would have had to have had a changed identity after she had the FSK registration with Roselyn.

Right ho, will do! At the moment, probably will be coming up by train yes. First train from Plym arrives at quarter to 10, so its spot on. See you on Sunday!