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Photograph courtesy and copyright of Philip Chan

Once again my thanks to Philip Chan for allowing me to use his photographs of the Big Bus Co. Ankai sightseeing bus, further photos of which have been added to the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section.

28th February 2010

 
It has been a hectic week and time has not yet allowed me to add photos of the second Venus Collectibles Dennis Dragon (M3N01b). I have just received a copy of the Hong Kong Bus Review 2009 by Dominic Kung and a review of this book can be found by following the link. An excellent book and it is good to have another 'Yearbook' after a break of several years. 

In the meantime, I note that I have omitted to add any photos of the new Big Bus Co. Ankai double-decker - so if anyone has any of these that they are happy to share, please e-mail me.


 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of
80M Bus Model Shop

Photographs of the two Kowloon Motor Bus Leyland Olympians have tonight been added to the respective pages (92301 and 92302).


 

Several visitors have suggested a search facility be added - this is in fact already in place and can be found on the 'Home' page.

26th February 2010

 
Further photographs and a short review of the Venus Collectibles Guy Victory J/BUSAF (MBG01a) have tonight been added.

 
The two Cars Workshop Kowloon Motor Bus Leyland Olympians are due to be released on Sunday 28th February. New pages for both have now been added (92301 and 92302).
25th February 2010

 

My sincere thanks to Venus Collectibles for providing me with a sample of their forthcoming diecast Kowloon Motor Bus Guy Victory J with BUSAF bodywork, of which 999 are to be produced. Two versions are planned for release during March, both featuring fleet no. G3 (BJ9268). The first, MBG01a, is on route 112 to North Point and is limited to 250 pieces. The second (MBG01b) is on the same route but with a destination of So Uk. This too is limited to 250 pieces and both will retail for HK$349. A new page and further photographs have just been added.

24th February 2010

 

Venus Collectibles have kindly provided me with further details of their Kowloon Motor Bus Dennis Dragon 3N1 released last year. There are three versions of this model, and whilst the overall number of models is 999 pieces, each version is limited to 333. The first (M3N01a), as mentioned above, was released in January 2009 and featured the vehicle on route no. 42A to Cheung Hang. The second version (M3N01b) was released in October 2009 and this version is pictured above, displaying route no. 6C to Mei Foo. The third and final version is set for release later this year and will display route no. 112 to So Uk. Further photographs will be added shortly.


 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of Tim Chan

Following yesterdays publication of the new Kowloon Motor Bus Volvo B9TL/Wrights at Heysham Docks, I am advised by Tim Chan that there is at least one such vehicle already in Hong Kong, and he has kindly allowed me to use this photograph. A further selection have now been added to theClick here to visit the Xtra pages section, and Tim's Photobucket site is well worth a look - just follow a link.. 


 
Alistair Liddle has advised me that his Fotopic site received more than 9,000 hits today! 
23rd February 2010

 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of Alistair Liddle

My thanks to Alistair Liddle for allowing me to use a selection of his photographs of a new Kowloon Motor Bus Volvo B9TL with Wrights bodywork taken at Heysham Docks over the weekend. Further photographs and details have been added to the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section. Why not have a look at Alistair's excellent Fotopic site - just follow the link.


 

A big 'thank you' to all who took the time and trouble to take part in the recent site survey. 194 results were recorded and these have provided me with some useful information, your likes, dislikes and improvements you feel could be made. It was pleasing to note that 87% of participants rated the overall structure/layout of the site to be good or very good whilst 95% considered the site easy or very easy to navigate. 63% visit the site on a daily basis and 64% have been visiting for 5 years or more. Regarding screen sizes, 1024 x 768 is the most popular, with 60% viewing at this resolution, followed by 1280 x 1024 (10%) and 800 x 600 (10%). The remaining 20% viewed at various other sizes, some I have never come across - if you view this site using one of these, I apologise if some pages do not appear as I would like!

Lots of constructive comments have been received, with one major criticism being the number of broken links. I believe that all these have now been rectified - unless you know better! A great many of you particularly like the Click here to visit the Xtra pages pages although several would like better navigation through this part of the site. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Requests for a Chinese version I am afraid won't happen, nor will a major makeover - my skills in both these fields are rather limited. A few requests to include Australian models will also fail by the wayside, primarily as my interest lies mainly with Hong Kong buses, and I don't think Australia falls within the Orient! Detailed model reviews are both time consuming and as I don't purchase every model, would be rather hap-hazard. There are still a few other suggestions that I am considering.

Finally, whilst I graciously accept the compliments that many of you have offered, the success of the site is primarily down to all those of you, companies, organisations and individuals alike, who take the time and effort to send me news, information and quality photographs, which enables me, and a good few others around the world, to keep abreast of both the Hong Kong bus and model scene. 

Thank You 

 22nd February 2010

 
A new page has tonight been added to the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section featuring the recent farewell tour for two SBS Transit vehicle types, as reported in yesterdays News.
19th February 2010

 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of S3N92

Kowloon Motor Bus Alexander Dennis Enviro400 ATSE1 has now entered service and is operating cross harbour route 606. My thanks to S3N92, whose Fotopic site is well worth a look, and Dennis Law for this information and photos, more of which have now been added to the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section. 


 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of 
Edward Yeo

On 30 January 2010, more than 50 local bus enthusiasts gathered for a farewell tour on SBS Transit's Mercedes Benz O405 and Dennis Dart.  Further details and photographs will be added shortly.


 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of JP

My thanks to JP who has sent me a couple of old pictures he came across whilst going through some old photographs taken when he was living in Hong Kong in the late 70s or early 80s, one of which is pictured above. Both have now been added to the China Motor Bus pages of the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section.


 
Following several comments made during the recent survey, the 'Sets' pages have now been removed and the various models included in 'sets' have now been included in the usual model manufacturer, operator and vehicle type listings. Some broken links may be encountered until this work is completed. 
18th February 2010

 

Now available in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Bus Review 2009 details of which were reported in the News for 29th January.


 
Photographs courtesy and copyright of 
Network Shuttle

Also released in Hong Kong are the two resin Kowloon Motor Bus Dennis Dragons from 312 Model. 3N190 (DK 8500) is on route 38 to Kwai Shing (East) whilst 3N174 (DK 5416) is on route 88P to Hin Keng. 

The Network Shuttle website gives details of a third version representing 3N168 (DK 4632) on route 27 Shun Tin - Mong Kong Circular which is expected to be released towards the end of February.


 
Further alterations to the site are currently being carried out in respect of those models featured in sets, and some of these pages may be unavailable.
15th February 2010


 
 
 
 


 
My thanks to Neo Cheung for providing the details of the forthcoming Long Win Enviro500. He also reports that the two Kowloon Motor Bus Leyland Olympians will feature AL44 (route A2) and AL50 (route 74X). 

 
The number of broken links has now been reduced to under 25!
11th February 2010

 
Photograph of the vehicle to be modelled
courtesy and copyright of Donald MacRae

The latest edition of 'KMB Today' is now available on-line and it confirms that a model of a Long Win Alexander Dennis Enviro500 is set for release in March.  It will feature fleet no. 8403 (NV 3983) on route E33 to Tuen Mun Town Centre. It will be limited to 1,800 pieces and will retail for HK$298.
10th February 2010

 
Click here to complete the survey

A further change to the site has seen the removal of the 'Toys' section. This has not been updated for some considerable time and does not provide a comprehensive listing of available toys. The webspace this section of the site occupies could be better utilised. Details of any interesting items will continue to be reported in the 'News' page. 


 
Photographs of the Citybus Enviro400 have now been added to the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section.
9th February 2010

 
Click here to complete the survey

Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to complete the recent survey. If you haven't yet had the chance to do so, just click on the above image - it won't take long! 

Whilst I am still studying the various comments, there have been a couple of very constructive ones. Several of you have highlighted a problem with broken links. This problem has gone unnoticed as I was using a customised 'error 404' page. As a result, broken links were not being picked up. I have now removed the customised 'error 404' page and over the last couple of days have used new software to identify these broken links, which currently stand at just over 130. The target to reduce this number daily! 

Another suggestion was to look for a shorter URL - www orientalmodelbuses.co.uk, whilst reflecting the nature of the site, it is rather a mouthful! Unfortunately, the most obvious, www.omb.co.uk, was not available nor were some other possibilities. I have today acquired www.ombuses.co.uk which will automatically re-direct to this site. and will run alongside www.orientalmodelbuses.co.uk


 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Grant Ng Kwok Kuen

My thanks to Grant Ng Kwok Kuen for sending me a selection of photographs of Citybus Enviro400 No. 7000 which has now entered service. Further photos will be added to the Click here to visit the Xtra pages section tomorrow. 

8th February 2010

 
New pages have just been added for the Citybus and New World First Bus 'Year of the Tiger' models (80898 and 80899). Please note the New World First Bus product code for its model is 20031 and not 20028 as reported yesterday.

 
The Cars Workshop website has the two Kowloon Motor Bus Leyland Olympians listed has 'coming soon'.

 
Click on image for larger photograph

Absolutely nothing to do with oriental buses, just one of a new batch of buses for my local operator Wilts and Dorset for use on the Bournemouth University contract. Unfortunately, the shadow of a large road sign got in the way! 

6th February 2010

 
Photographs courtesy and copyright of
80M Bus Model Shop

I can confirm the release in Hong Kong today of both the Citybus ( 80898/CM071) and New World First Bus (80899/20028) to 'Year of the Tiger' models. Both produced by 80M Bus Model Shop the CTB example features fleet no. 8106 on route 962 to Causeway Bay whilst the NWFB example features fleet no. 5501 on route 601 to Admiralty. Both are limited to 1,288 pieces and retail for HK$298. New pages and further photographs for each will be added shortly.

5th February 2010

 
In order to ensure this website continues to provide you with what you consider important, I would ask that you spend a minute or two in completing a simple survey, which can be found by following this link  -  thank you. (Link no longer available).
3rd February 2010

 
Citybus Alexander Dennis Enviro400 (fleet no. 7000) was registered yesterday as PC 6795.

The Citybus and New World First Bus 'Year of the Tiger' buses are set to be released in Hong Kong on Friday.

My thanks to Wei Shen for informing me of the news that SBS Transit has just introduced the first few units of their newest batch of 200 Scania K230UB Euro V into service. The latest batch of the Scania K230UBs are completely similar to its previous batch of Euro V Scania K230UBs, with the only difference being the registration number series. The 5000-series of registration numbers are now used, in contrast to the previous batches 8000-series (i.e. The first unit of the latest batch was registered SBS 5001R).

 2nd February 2010

 
Photograph courtesy and copyright of
Creative Master Northcord Ltd 

Creative Master Northcord Ltd have today issued a Press Release announcing the release of cnbus1016, a Volvo B7R with Sunwin SWB6120V-3 bodywork in the livery of Shanghai Pudong New Area Public Transport Co., Ltd.

1st February 2010
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