| Today, i was going over to Belfast for two reasons, these being: 1, to Collect former Ulsterbus Leyland Tiger 'NXI4629' and take it to Cork & 2, To go to the Cultra Bus Rally (seperate gallery).
I flew out from Edinburgh just after 6am by Easyjet, and was surprised that the aircraft was an Airbus A319 as i was expecting a Boeing 737 - Ah well, another new type of Aircraft to add to my flight log. Upon arrival at Belfast International Airport, there i was believing a was going to have a 'Firstbus' free weekend - i was wrong.!!!! Operating on the car park shuttles was one of the Wright bodied Volvo B7RLE's belonging to First Northern Ireland - Yes, First Northern Ireland.!!!!!! Who let them loose over there.?? I hung around the airport for a bit photographing some buses and looking very suspicious as usual, but no-one even challenged me asking what i was doing. I then caught the Service 300 into Belfast City Centre where i then walked from Great Victoria Street to Belfast Central where i met Michael Grimes. We met up with Pat Moss, Ulsterbus General Manager whom collected us tand took us to Milewater Road where 'Tiger' NXI4629' was stored. While Michael was doing the paperwork, i was left to my own devices and able to photograph many of the other buses here - i guess a depot is not a depot without a 'Garage Cat' wandering around somewhere.!!! Once everything was in Order, myself & Michael headed off to the ITT's 2008 Bus Rally at Bangor (Cultra) with NXI4629, photo's of which are in a seperate gallery. As NXI4629 was going to Cork, we could only stay here until 2pm, were we headed off on the long journey. At Dublin, a stop was made to eject Michael off the bus as he was going to catch the train to Cork, and i then carried on from Dublin to Cork on my own, arriving in Cork about 21:30 that evening - a whopping 7hrs 30min drive with a Gardner engined Tiger with a top speed of 42mph. |
DB004627: RKZ4760 '66993' (Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban) - Oper: First Northern Ireland 1024x683 |
DB004628: RKZ4760 '66993' (Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban) - Oper: First Northern Ireland 1024x683 |
DB004629: RKZ4761 '66992' (Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban) - Oper: First Northern Ireland 1024x683 |
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DB004630: RKZ4761 '66992' (Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban) - Oper: First Northern Ireland 1024x683 |
DB004631: TCZ1792 '792' (Scania L94UB / Wright Solar) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004632: GEZ7822 '822' (Scania L94UB / Wright Solar) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
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DB004633: GEZ7822 '822' (Scania L94UB / Wright Solar) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004634: PEZ9335 '335' (Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004635: PEZ9335 '335' (Volvo B7RLE / Wright Eclipse Urban) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
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DB004636: PXI5528 '528' (Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3ARZA / Alexander 'Belfast' TE) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004637: LXI6608 '2608' (Leyland Tiger TRBLXB/2RP / Alexander 'Belfast' N) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004638: NXI4629 '2629' (Leyland Tiger TRBLXB/2RP / Alexander 'Belfast' N) - Oper: Kells Transport Museum 1024x683 |
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DB004639: NXI4629 '2629' (Leyland Tiger TRBLXB/2RP / Alexander 'Belfast' N) - Oper: Kells Transport Museum 1024x683 |
DB004640: NXI4629 '2629' (Leyland Tiger TRBLXB/2RP / Alexander 'Belfast' N) - Oper: Kells Transport Museum 1024x683 |
DB004641: GAZ5506 '506' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
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DB004642: ACZ6694 '694' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004643: GAZ5508 '508' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004644: BCZ1637 '1637' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
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DB004645: BCZ1632 '1632' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004646: GAZ5507 '507' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004647: GAZ5507 '507' (Volvo B10M-62 / Plaxton Excalibur) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
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DB004648: PXI5519 '519' (Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3ARZA / Alexander 'Belfast' TE) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004649: PXI5519 '519' (Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3ARZA / Alexander 'Belfast' TE) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004650: PXI5514 '514' (Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3ARZA / Alexander 'Belfast' TE) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
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DB004651: PXI5516 '516' (Leyland Tiger TRCTL11/3ARZA / Alexander 'Belfast' TE) - Oper: Ulsterbus 1024x683 |
DB004734: NXI4629 '2629' (Leyland Tiger TRBLXB/2RP / Alexander 'Belfast' N) - Oper: Kells Transport Museum 1024x683 |
DB004735: NXI4629 '2629' (Leyland Tiger TRBLXB/2RP / Alexander 'Belfast' N) - Oper: Kells Transport Museum 1024x683 |
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DB004736: Statue of Virgin Mary 683x1025 |
