The trip overseas

Our last trip out for 2013 was our usual trip to the Isle of Wight Bus Museum in Newport on the island. The trip to the island is very different to any other bus rally as a ferry trip is needed to get to the island.

This year may have been the last rally at their site in Newport as they hope to move to Ryde to a former bus depot which will gave them more opportunities than their present site in Newport. The morning of Sunday 20^th started at our yard (‘Mini Portswood’) where 289 – E289 HRV and 402 – KOW 910F were started and got ready for the trip, and it was just after 8:45am the bus left the yard and headed into town and picked up a few members and friends en route. Arriving at the ferry port at around 9:30am there was time for those who needed to get a ticket to get one and then it was time to be loaded onto the ferry. The ship for our crossing to the island was the Red Falcon. The crossing takes an hour so there was enough time for a coffee and time to relax. As one of our members works for Red Funnel, we were treated to a visit to the bridge, where the captain talked about how the ship moves and different aspects of crossing the Solent.

 

(289 at Yarmouth Bus Station)

 

Arriving on the island just after 11am we made our way to the bus rally in Newport. The quayside was full of buses, and some were on display, while others were operating service to various parts of the island. 402 was on display and 289 was used in service to Yarmouth. 289 itself has not returned from having a new engine fitted and there are still a few jobs left to do but for the time being 289 is fine to use. One job that is hoped to be carried out over the winter is to fix the electronic number destination blind that it has, and a general tidy up will also be carried out. The trip home started at 2:30pm when we left the rally site and headed for the ferry home. A good day was had by all and next year the trip to the island may be to the new museum at Ryde and we wish all involved in the move good luck.

 

(289 & 402 arrive home seen coming of Red Eagle)