Throwback Thursday

BonnieSituation

thomasj wrote: »

Yeah I remember it.

When I used to go to tallaght on the bus in the early 90s (I think) the dolphins barn buses went from Aston quay with the 78s, (not sure about 79) 51s and the 68s and 69s running from the back of Aston quay. Literally where Tesco express is now.

It was the ESB Offices and Shop on Fleet St until 2006 don't forget.

I worked in the shop from 2003-2005. Handiest number I ever had.

When the 78a switched to cityswift that moved out to Aston quay and it was not long later that we saw the major reschuffle, with the 50s 77s etc moving to Eden quay , the temple bar buses moving out to Aston quay and the introduction of the new 150 imp minibus running from there in temple bar.

Mad also to think that the other side of temple bar was the 46A terminus.

Where was this?

Csalem

BonnieSituation wrote: »

It was the ESB Offices and Shop on Fleet St until 2006 don't forget.

I worked in the shop from 2003-2005. Handiest number I ever had.



Where was this?

46A terminus for a while was on Fleet St between Westmoreland St and D'Olier St.

BonnieSituation

Csalem wrote: »

46A terminus for a while was on Fleet St between Westmoreland St and D'Olier St.

That I had known.

But when I read this earlier and made my post I had visions of it up at Parliament Street or something. Couldn't picture it at all.

n!ghtmancometh

46A went near enough from where stop 5192 currently is, if I remember correctly.

thomasj

My bad.

Meant to say fleet Street, not temple bar.

Csalem

Bit of an unusual Throwback this week. It is 2003 and RV 631 is seen on Abbey Street. Although it is in service, it is not operating a Dublin Bus service. Instead it is helping out with Bus Eireann. In the early 2000s Dublin Bus transferred a number of Olympians to Bus Eireann to help out and provide extra capacity. That is how RV 631 ended up on a 105 to Ratoath. The bus did return to Dublin Bus and stayed in service until 2012 when the final Olympians were withdrawn.
On the left can be construction works for the Luas Red Line. That exact location became the Abbey stop on the tram line. As a result of this the bus stop is no longer in existence and the 103 to Ratoath currently departs from Beresford Place. 22/06/2003

Throwback Thursday (128) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

Csalem

It is 35 years ago and the northern extreme of the Dublin City bus services. D 472 is seen departing Balbriggan heading south for Dublin (despite what the destination says) with a working on the 33. The 33 can trace its routes back to the bus services operated by the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). When the company was absorbed by CIE (and the UTA) in 1958, some of its bus routes fromDublin joined the city services. The 33 was one of them, and holds the distinction of being the furthest north those services go. Balbriggan is located near the county border with Meath.
D 472 was delivered new to Summerhill in 1973 and was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 1990. The 33 is still operated by Dublin Bus by the end of 2018 the 33A should be operated by Go-Ahead Ireland.
Finally, Balbriggan is also my hometown, and the 1983 was the year I was born. 26/06/1983

Throwback Thursday (129) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

Csalem

It's 2001 and RA 270 doesn't know if it's coming or going. It is seen parked on Abbey Street between duties but it is parked on the contra-flow bus lane. This was to allow buses to access Marlborough Street or O'Connell Street but RA 270 is facing in the opposite direction. This part of Abbey Street is no longer a bus lane but instead part of the tram route for the Luas Red Line.
The bus is well branded. The predominant one is for the "Malahide Road 27 Flyer". This was part of an initiative to relaunch City Swift corridors by branding certain routes. They also became "Super City Swift" as seen here. Around this time Dublin Bus also launched a "Quality Customer Service" campaign as seen with the rosetta on the front and the wording on the rear side window. A lot happening on the one bus. Not only is the bus lane gone, but so is the bus, CitySwift, the "Malahide Road 27 Flyer", and in a few years based on plans launched this week under Bus Connects, the 27 could also be gone. Abbey Street, 04/01/2001

Throwback Thursday (130) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

Csalem

This week's Throwback Thursday is quite simple to describe - it is a KD, it's on St, Stephen's Green and it is in an all-over ad for "McKenna's Electric".
KD 236 was delivered to Donnybrook Garage around 1982, as part of a batch of 14 buses that started with KD 223. According to Wikipedia KD 236 entered preservation at the end of its career with Dublin Bus.
As far as I can tell McKenna's Electric was founded in 1990 and was out of business by 2000. St. Stephen's Green, 11/07/1991

Throwback Thursday (131) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

tabbey

Csalem wrote: »

As far as I can tell McKenna's Electric was founded in 1990 and was out of business by 2000. St. Stephen's Green, 11/07/1991

McKenna's Electrical was around well before 1990.

Power City was a competing firm run by another branch of the McKenna family. They settled their family split and united under the Power City label.

BonnieSituation

I love how the suspension on KDs left thm perenially tilted.

L1011

McKennas are still going seperately, as a trade supplier. Don't know if the family feud was solved or not but either they fixed it or the McKenna consumer stores faded away due to Powercity. Powercity was founded due to there being a disagreement

Csalem

Thanks for the info about McKenna's. They are not a brand I remember or a story I have heard before.

john boye

I vaguely remember them having a store around Deansgrange but I don't remember any others.

thomasj

Sorry for being off-topic but are there many preserved kds still around?

Csalem

Wikipedia lists a handful as being preserved but I do not know how accurate it is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAC_Ireland#Preserved_KDs

Csalem

A short trip back this week to 2014, where AX 647 is offering to #ShareACoke. Buses in Dublin used to have a quite a tradition of being wrapped for ad campaigns for Coca Cola but that died off in the late 1990s. 2014 was when the tradition was revived with this campaign. Coca Cola were branding bottles and cans of their product with people's names instead of their more familiar brand name. AX 647 in Donnybrook and AX 601 in Phibsboro received the all-over ads. In 2015 three buses received a more traditional red Coca Cola wrap,but sadly there has been nothing more since then. In 2018 AX 647 received a wrap for Dublin Pride.
Route 61 to Whitechurch commenced in 2011, replacing the 48A and parts of the 15B. Construction of the Rosie Hackett Bridge commenced in 2011 and was completed in 2014. It was built to facilitate the Luas Cross City tramline and trams started crossing over it in 2017.
AX 647, Rosie Hackett Bridge, 19/07/14

Throwback Thursday (132) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

liger

Csalem wrote: »

A short trip back this week to 2014, AX 647 in Donnybrook and AX 601 in Phibsboro received the all-over ads. r

I don't like the fact that the ad doesn't come round the front. All white until you see the blue and yellow in front. the pretty little things wraps floating around are the same, or worse, when you see the yellow top on them.

TallGlass

liger wrote: »

I don't like the fact that the ad doesn't come round the front. All white until you see the blue and yellow in front. the pretty little things wraps floating around are the same, or worse, when you see the yellow top on them.

I was thinking about this the other day. What is the point in this? Other operators seem to wrap the front, Air coach do it the Just Eat add wraps around the front I think it's Just Eat.

Could be done in a more visual way where you'd still know it's Dublin Bus as the operator.

Failing that if there was a serious serious issue, you'd have a reg plate anyway to report on, also a route number and time if displayed.

Tickityboo

TallGlass wrote: »

I was thinking about this the other day. What is the point in this? Other operators seem to wrap the front, Air coach do it the Just Eat add wraps around the front I think it's Just Eat.

Could be done in a more visual way where you'd still know it's Dublin Bus as the operator.

Failing that if there was a serious serious issue, you'd have a reg plate anyway to report on, also a route number and time if displayed.

Might have something to do with the visually impaired?

Cookie_Monster

TallGlass wrote: »

I was thinking about this the other day. What is the point in this? Other operators seem to wrap the front, Air coach do it the Just Eat add wraps around the front I think it's Just Eat.

Could be done in a more visual way where you'd still know it's Dublin Bus as the operator.

Failing that if there was a serious serious issue, you'd have a reg plate anyway to report on, also a route number and time if displayed.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=107583677&postcount=838
aircoach AoA with the front as normal now also

Csalem

July 1989 is much more grey than July 2018, but the former is probably a more typical Irish summer than the latter. D 822 does brighten things up a bit. It is seen passing the Bank of Ireland and Trinity College in College Green as it operates a 13 to Palmerston Park from Ballymun. The route commenced to Ballymun in the late 1970s and lasted until 2011. Under Network Direct the route was merged with the 51s and became a cross-city route from Ballymun to Grange Castle via Drumcondra, Inchicore and Clondalkin. The route now travels down Dame Street from College Green rather than Grafton Street as in this photo.
The bus is in an all-over ad for the The Irish Cancer Society. The bus is promoting their support services.
D 822 entered service in 1976 and was withdrawn in 1994 when it was sold for scrap. 27/07/1989

Throwback Thursday (133) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

Faith+1

^^^Just shows you how broke CIE / Dublin Bus were at the time. The bus was in service for 18 years and practically ran into the ground before being scrapped.

Losty Dublin

Faith+1 wrote: »

^^^Just shows you how broke CIE / Dublin Bus were at the time. The bus was in service for 18 years and practically ran into the ground before being scrapped.

If Dublin Bus weren't under pressure to have a 100% accessible fleet then there would likely still be some Olympians on the road.

n!ghtmancometh

Accessibility aside, they would be better than the awful SG's!

Stephen15

Losty Dublin wrote: »

If Dublin Bus weren't under pressure to have a 100% accessible fleet then there would likely still be some Olympians on the road.

Been to a few cities in Italy which still have Iveco Turbocity's on the road which haven't been produced since 1996

L1011

There were actually some prototype accessible DB Olympians - wheelchair lift installed in the middle doors. Those would be an extremely poor substitute for low floor if they had actually gone with that as an option.

While sticking with Alexander and the matching Volvo chassis does seem to have left them a bit later in getting low floor vehicles, was there a realistic alternative in terms of a trusted manufacturer with a RHD low floor chassis a few years earlier?

Stephen15

L1011 wrote: »

There were actually some prototype accessible DB Olympians - wheelchair lift installed in the middle doors. Those would be an extremely poor substitute for low floor if they had actually gone with that as an option.

While sticking with Alexander and the matching Volvo chassis does seem to have left them a bit later in getting low floor vehicles, was there a realistic alternative in terms of a trusted manufacturer with a RHD low floor chassis a few years earlier?

The first low floor bus DB got was the single decker VL class. I remember they used to have them on the 3 including a natural gas bus. They were then put on the 111 and the short lived 59a always an interesting looking bus with their green grabrails don't think they were reliable either.

AlekSmart

Faith+1 wrote: »

^^^Just shows you how broke CIE / Dublin Bus were at the time. The bus was in service for 18 years and practically ran into the ground before being scrapped.

Oddly enough,the age of the Bus does'nt actually work as an indication of the Operators health.

As an example from London,on December 9th 2005,the last Routemaster then in service,RM 54,had entered service in Sept 1959 :eek:

The social changes which brought with them,elements such as Low-Floor accessibility,meant that many vehicles have had to be retired for legal rather than operational reasons.

Also,older generation vehicles were designed from the outset to be Overhauled at set intervals during their service lives,so DF 822 could well have been a "Triggers Brush" of a vehicle in 1989.

Csalem

Stephen15 wrote: »

The first low floor bus DB got was the single decker VL class. I remember they used to have them on the 3 including a natural gas bus. They were then put on the 111 and the short lived 59a always an interesting looking bus with their green grabrails don't think they were reliable either.

The W Class from 1994 predate the VLs as lowfloor wheelchair accessible buses:
Scan W 3 by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr