MacPherson Coaches and Scottish Citylink service 236

Thursday 18 July 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. E346 EVH, a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988, is seen here at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. The legal name and address of MacPhersons can be seen. (Ref: 144-30)

Thursday 18 July 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. E346 EVH, a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988, is seen here at loading at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. The coach had previously sported an earlier version of the Scottish Citylink livery but here it carries what was now the later revamped style although the windscreen lettering harks back to the earlier branding. Service 236 commenced on Monday 29 April 1991 operating from Cambridge to Aberdeen via Corby, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. Window bills show a number of the places served. Named ‘Daniel James’ which I believe was the name of the owners Grandson. (Ref: 144-28)

Thursday 18 July 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. E346 EVH, a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988, is seen here at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. Despite being an English based company the name MacPherson is very appropriate for a service running to Scotland. (Ref: 144-27)

Thursday 18 July 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. E346 EVH, a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988, is seen here at loading at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. The coach had previously sported an earlier version of the Scottish Citylink livery but here it carries what was now the later revamped style although the windscreen lettering harks back to the earlier branding. Service 236 commenced on Monday 29 April 1991 operating from Cambridge to Aberdeen via Corby, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. Window bills show a number of the places served. Named ‘Daniel James’ which I believe was the name of the owners Grandson. (Ref: 144-29)

Thursday 5 September 1991 (approx 0655) – A somewhat unbelievably peaceful scene at Drummer Street coach station, Cambridge! MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. D555 CJF, a Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Volvo B10M new in March 1987 is about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. Service 236 commenced on Monday 29 April 1991 operating from Cambridge to Aberdeen via Corby, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. There were no passengers boarding at Cambridge today. (Ref: 147-15)

Thursday 5 September 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. D555 CJF, a Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Volvo B10M new in March 1987, seen at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. Service 236 commenced on Monday 29 April 1991 operating from Cambridge to Aberdeen via Corby, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. Window bills show a number of the places served. Despite being an English based company the name MacPherson is very appropriate for a service running to Scotland. (Ref: 147-13)

Thursday 5 September 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. D555 CJF, a Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Volvo B10M new in March 1987, seen at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. Service 236 commenced on Monday 29 April 1991 operating from Cambridge to Aberdeen via Corby, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. Despite being an English based company the name MacPherson is very appropriate for a service running to Scotland. (Ref: 147-10)

Thursday 5 September 1991 (approx 0655) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe was a Scottish Citylink contractor for a few years. D555 CJF, a Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Volvo B10M new in March 1987, seen at Drummer Street coach station in Cambridge about to set forth on the 0700 service 236 to Aberdeen where it was due to arrive at 2105 – a distance of around 550 miles. Service 236 commenced on Monday 29 April 1991 operating from Cambridge to Aberdeen via Corby, the East Midlands, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Carlisle, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth and Dundee. There were no passengers boarding at Cambridge today. The driver, Wally Bramwell, would take the coach as far as Leicester and then hand over to a two man crew that would take the coach through the Aberdeen. Wally was the ‘night shift’. His duty actually began the previous evening when he took over the southbound service in Leicester at 1955 driving it to Cambridge (arriving at 2150). During the night Wally would have cleaned the coach, including an exterior wash at the Truck Stop near Huntingdon, so it was ready for today’s northbound service. Despite being an English based company the name MacPherson is very appropriate for a service running to Scotland. (Ref: 148-14)

Thursday 17 October 1991 (approx 0905) - MacPherson Coaches D555 CJF had just arrived at Leicester bus station when working the 0645 hrs Cambridge-Aberdeen Scottish Citylink service 236. The first driver of the day, Wally Bramwell, was just leaving the coach has he handed over to a two man crew (John and Ivan) that would take the coach through to Aberdeen where it was scheduled to arrive at 2105. Wally was the ‘night shift’. His duty actually began the previous evening when he took over the southbound service in Leicester at 1955 driving it to Cambridge (arriving at 2150). He then remained with the coach until departing Cambridge at 0645 driving it back to Leicester. (Ref 153-22)

Thursday 17 October 1991 (approx 0850) - On board MacPherson Coaches D555 CJF as it headed towards Leicester in the morning rush hour traffic when working the 0645 hrs Cambridge-Aberdeen Scottish Citylink service 236. Driver Wally Bramwell was at the wheel. At Leicester he would hand the coach over to two other drivers for the journey up to Aberdeen where it was scheduled to arrive at 2105. The lady on the right had boarded the coach at Corby at 0800 after making a visit to see her daughter and family. She was travelling to Glasgow from where she would take another coach to reach her home town of Ayr – not only travelling but also knitting all the way to Scotland. Corby was a steel making town created in the 1930s which drew many workers from the depressed west of Scotland and further expansion in the 1950s brought younger generations of Scots to the town which created a demand travel between the two regions. (Ref 153-20)

Thursday 17 October 1991 (approx 0905) - On board MacPherson Coaches D555 CJF at Leicester bus station which was working the 0645 hrs Cambridge-Aberdeen Scottish Citylink service 236. The first driver of the day handed over the coach to a two man crew that would take the coach through the Aberdeen where it was scheduled to arrive at 2105. One of the drivers (John) attends to his tachograph in readiness for the departure. In front is a Neoplan Skyliner double deck coach (2954 EL) working a National Express ‘Rapide’ service. (Ref 153-23)

Thursday 17 October 1991 - On board MacPherson Coaches D555 CJF as it headed north on the M1 Motorway (near junction 29?) in Derbyshire when working the 0645 hrs Cambridge-Aberdeen Scottish Citylink service 236. Unfortunately the rain has obscured the detail of the mileage sign and of the coach in front, Barton Transport 1641 (D641 WNU), which was working the 1000 hrs National Express service 353 from Nottingham to Blackpool. Our coach was not fitted with a destination blind box which certainly aids the forward vision for passengers. A window card displays the destination and key towns served en route – although what is seen here is that which will be displayed on the return southbound journey tomorrow. The route number is displayed over the driver’s interior mirror. (Ref 153-24)

Thursday 17 October 1991 (approx 1130) - MacPherson Coaches D555 CJF seen in the National Express coach station at Wellington Street, Leeds. The two drivers working the service today are in the picture, John nearest the camera and Ivan further away. Scottish Citylink and National Express (and their predecessors) had had a working agreement spanning 60 odd years but when this agreement was coming to an end in October 1989 National Express acquired the Anglo-Scottish coach operations of Stagecoach and created a Scottish subsidiary, Caledonian Express. Scottish Citylink created its own services to various English provincial towns and cities in competition with National Express/Caledonian Express. National Express was always the dominant carrier south of the border. Driver John, prone to making a little mischief, regularly fed ‘misinformation’ to the National Express inspector at Leeds telling him that the passenger figures were much higher on their service than they really were saying that one or two duplicate coaches had gone ahead omitting the call at Leeds leading the inspector to believe passengers figures were higher than they actually were! (Ref: 153-25)

Thursday 17 October 1991 (1211) - MacPherson Coaches D555 CJF, a Plaxton Paramount 3500 bodied Volvo B10M new in March 1987, seen in Bradford Interchange when working the 0645 Cambridge-Aberdeen Scottish Citylink service 236. The scheduled time at Bradford was 1150 although the arrival was 21 minutes late. The next portion of the journey was the non-stop 150 mile run via the M62, M61 and M6 motorways to Carlisle where it was due at 1425 where it would connect with the London-Carlisle-Stranraer-Belfast service 921 due there at 1440. (150 miles at 60mph would give the late running 236 an arrival time of about the same time providing no further hold ups were encountered). Prior to working service 236 MacPherson had operated on Scottish Citylink’s Kettering-Inverness service 237 which the 236 replaced south of Glasgow. North of Glasgow both these services slotted in to the higher frequency ‘domestic’ service network to the northern cities. (Ref: 154-00)

Saturday 19 October 1991 (approx 1650) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe E346 EVH seen in Bradford Interchange when working the 0755 Aberdeen-Cambridge Scottish Citylink service 236. The two drivers, Richard and Alan, had had a reasonably good run down from Scotland and had arrived in Bradford with some time to spare before continuing at 1705. Upon arrival in Leicester they would hand the coach over to Wally Bramwell who would take it through to Cambridge (due at 2200 although the actual arrival time was 2125). During the night Wally would clean the coach, including an exterior wash at the Truck Stop near Huntingdon, and then work the Cambridge-Leicester section of the northbound service the next morning. The coach is a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988. (Ref: 155-06)

Saturday 19 October 1991 (approx 1725) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe E346 EVH in the National Express coach station at Wellington Street, Leeds when working the 0755 Aberdeen-Cambridge Scottish Citylink service 236. The coach is a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988. Alongside is National Express liveried H399 YCP, a Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tiger operated by Stanley Gath of Dewsbury which was working the 1510 Hull-Manchester Airport service 362. (Ref: 155-12)

Saturday 19 October 1991 (approx 1725) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe E346 EVH in the National Express coach station at Wellington Street, Leeds when working the 0755 Aberdeen-Cambridge Scottish Citylink service 236. The coach is a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988. The other two coaches are Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tigers working for National Express. The throng of passengers across the photograph was queueing to board H399 YCP operated by Stanley Gath of Dewsbury which was working the 1510 Hull-Manchester Airport service 362. In the background, on the right, is United Counties 82 (C82 PRP) displaying ‘325 Newcastle’. (Ref: 155-08)

Saturday 19 October 1991 (approx 1725) – MacPherson Coaches of Donisthorpe E346 EVH surrounded by National Express coaches in Wellington Street coach station, Leeds when working the 0755 Aberdeen-Cambridge Scottish Citylink service 236. The coach is a Van Hool Acron bodied DAF SB3000 which had been new to Fishwicks of Leyland in February 1988. On the right is H399 YCP, a Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tiger operated by Stanley Gath of Dewsbury, which was working the 1510 Hull-Manchester Airport service 362. On the left is East Yorkshire Motor Services 26 (A106 FVN), another Plaxton Paramount bodied Leyland Tiger, working the 1415 Liverpool-Hull National Express service 362 and Western National 2229 (C975 GCV) working the 0645 Newquay—Newcastle-upon-Tyne National Express service 533 which was also a Leyland Tiger but with Duple 340 bodywork. (Ref: 155-09)