Merseybus initial fleetlist October 1986

[Gillmoss 0324]

RE: Merseybus initial fleetlist October 1986

(02/08/2020 14:01)teenagewasteland Wrote:  Thanks for the additional information. I will update my fleetlist accordingly.

Can anyone dispel or confirm a long-heard rumour that a couple of East Lancs VRs 2103/17/36, based at Garston, actually ran in revenue-earning service for Merseybus? What is true is that some VRs ran up to the last bus on 25/10/86, but may have been mistakenly sent out for a few days after dereg until someone realised the error and they were quickly withdrawn?

I wonder if these were the one's Fareway acquired as it's 101-10 in early '87? Always interesting that most of the N-reg EL/VR's apart from the Fareway one's and a odd few that went to the likes of Maun Chestfield and later our own Blue Triangle just vanished when dereg happened so were most of these scrapped? I suppose it was to stop rivals maybe getting hold of them but considering older and similar aged Atlantean's lasted in the fleet almost a decade longer they'd have still had some life in them? In fact Fareway had them until '94/95 after MTL haf taken them over too.

It's not impossible a few may have ran briefly for Merseybus from Garston after D-Day especially if they had vehicle shortages and changes with the ex-PTE garage's and allocations in South Liverpool with PAR closed, VR's and Metropolitan's withdrawn and maybe standardising requiremenrs there on Alexander Atlantean's brought in from other garage's etc.

Speaking of Metropolitan's cI remember passing Gillmoss in the Summer of' 86 and loads of the MCW/Scania Metropolitan's were parked up withdrawn at the rear of the yard. I know Kingston-upon-Hull got some RKA-N's but like the VR's you didn't really see many others on the secondhand market and they'd near enough vanished by the late '80's too.

All good stuff in this thread!