| |
|
Wishing you a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year
|
| |
|
I
am indebted to the following individuals, companies and
organisations (in no particular order) for
their support throughout
the year which has enabled the site to continue to
provide the
level and quality of news and photographs of both models
and real buses alike - a big THANK YOU to you all.
|
| |
|
|
|
| Bobby Liu |
Eric Lee |
Dennis Law |
Kowloon
Motor Bus |
| Network
Shuttle |
Philip
Chan |
John Ng |
Chris
Stone |
| 80M Bus
Model Shop |
Anthony
Shiu |
Alex Cheng |
Grant Ng
Kwok Kuen |
| Jotus.com |
Tramric
Product & Design |
OverGround
Publishing |
BusMe
& T.680 Creation |
| Hong Kong
University |
312 Model |
Bus Fan
World |
Yiu Mingo |
| JRTeam |
Hin Volvo |
Anthony
Lui |
Stuart
Dobie |
| Donald
MacRae |
Stephen
Cho |
Cute Bus
File |
Mark Chua |
| Depot
Model |
Andy
Higgins |
S3N92 |
Keith Wood |
| C.K. Chow |
Joseph Tse |
Tim Moore |
Vincent
Chong |
| Kelvin
Pang |
Ho Fai |
MSD Bus |
Hong Choi |
| Yuen
Chong Wai |
Garry Luck |
Buses
Model Co |
Samson Ng |
| Alexandro
Lim |
NR5800 |
Eric Chan |
3cubian.com |
| John
Bennett |
Across |
Dream Bus
Model |
Albion
Kwok |
| Garry Chow |
Bus
Superb Modi |
Peter
Harrison |
Henry Tin |
| hongbusho |
9042volvo |
Paul
Hawkins |
Dave
Rogers |
| John Tam |
Neo Cheung |
Dominic
Kung |
Julian
Ferendino |
| Ho Chi Kit |
1001 |
Dream Bus
Model |
Simon Yiu |
| Ivor
Norman |
Paul
McNamara |
Stephen
Martin |
Keith L
McGillivray |
| Donald
Stirling |
Russ Bus
Pics |
Kevin Kei |
Alistair
Liddle |
| Harry
Cameron |
Kevin Lam |
Fai Chan |
TS Leung |
| Jacky
Cheung |
Ernest Ho |
Wallace
Shek Siu Ki |
|
| |
|
|
|
If I have missed your
name, please accept my sincere apologies and do please e-mail
me
in order that I may correct my mistake. Last, but certainly
not
least, I would like to thank my wife for putting up with my
obsession for the last 14 years!!
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Vincent Chong
Kowloon
Motor Bus ADL
Enviro400 no ATSE28 was Hong Kong's newest bus when photographed
yesterday, having been registered on 27th December.
30th December 2012
|
|
| |
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Hong Choi
As reported yesterday,
Kowloon Motor Bus has
also decorated Wrights Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL AVBWU16 with 'Year of
the Snake' decals and my thanks to Hong Choi for allowing me to use his
photograph.
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Philip
Chan
I am reliably informed that a
model of Alexander ALX500 bodied Dennis Trident no. 2103 in Cityflyer
is set for release shortly. It is believed to be on route A22 to the
Airport.
With the above news, I am
maybe tempting
fate by publishing the
following table before the end of the year!
A quick glance confirms
the number of models issued this year is similar to the two previous
years. KMB model releases again dominated with releases
from Buses Model increasing significantly with the
demise of KMB's non air-con
Volvo Olympians.
| Operator |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Manufacturer |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Big
Bus |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
52
Bus |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| China
Motor Bus |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
80M
Bus Model Shop |
8 |
7 |
14 |
12 |
| Citybus |
3 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|
Best
Choose |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Kowloon
Motor Bus |
15 |
26
|
37 |
32 |
|
Buses
Model |
2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
| Long
Win |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
Cars
Workshop |
6 |
14 |
21 |
14 |
| MTR |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
Creative
Master |
5 |
7 |
1 |
0 |
| New
World First Bus |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Drumwell |
9 |
6 |
4 |
10 |
| Chinese
operators |
2 |
9
|
0 |
0 |
|
Venus
Collectibles |
1 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
| Japanese
operators |
3 |
1
|
0 |
0 |
|
BusMe/T.680 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Others |
2 |
1
|
1 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
35 |
43
|
47 |
45 |
|
|
35 |
43 |
47 |
45 |
Kowloon Motor Bus issued
a press release yesterday via
their website detailing the new Alexander Dennis Enviro500, 370 of
which have been ordered.
29th December 2012
|
|
|
Kowloon Motor
Bus have applied a similar 'Year of the Snake' livery to Wrights Gemini
2 bodied Volvo B9TL AVBWU16. A new page has been added to the  pages for these 'Year of the Snake' buses.
New photographs
of KMB's latest Enviro400s to enter service together with the
latest Enviro500s of MTR Bus have also been added to
the pages.
28th December 2012
|
|
| |
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Philip
Chan
2013 is the Year of the
Snake
and Kowloon Motor Bus have once again
decorated Enviro500
ATE236, seen today operating on route 2A.
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Bobby Liu
New Lantao Bus has now
registered 3 new Youngman single deckers, namely YM15 (RV739), YM16
(RV835) and YM17 (RV1931).
27th December 2012
|
|
| |
May I take this opportunity to wish you all
a Merry Christmas
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Photographs courtesy and
copyright of Jacky Cheung
Citybus
continue to take delivery of their Enviro500's with 8306 (top)
being the latest to be registered (19th Dec) and seen earlier today
operating
route 102, which appears to be the mandatory route for all new vehicles
of this
type. 8310 (bottom) has still to be registered and was also
seen today undergoing testing.
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Bobby Liu
On the subject of new
buses,
noted in Tung Chung today was this unregistered New Lantao Bus
Youngman, believed to be one of a batch of five set to replace the
company's five former Citybus MAN NL262 (MN10-14).
The first glimpse of the
cover
of forthcoming 'Hong Kong Transport Yearbook 2012' from JRTeam. Further
details will follow in due course.
Several pages in
the Citybus and MTR Bus sections of the section of the site have just
been updated.
22nd
December 2012 |
|
| |
 |
Photograph
courtesy and copyright of
Jotus.com
New pages have tonight been added for the two public light buses
recently released by Cars Workshop. 91401
features AU8380 with a destination of Tai
Yuen whilst 91402
features BB2238 on route to Lam Tin. Neither carry limited
edition certificates.
19th
December 2012
|
|
| |
MTR Bus registered three
new
11.3m Enviro500s last Friday, namely 830, 831 and 832. The
rear
ends of 830 and 832 were captured on 29th November with a rather
forlorn MCW Metrobus in the background.
|
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Keith Wood
When posting the
photographs of
the iPod liveried Hong Kong tram and buses yesterday, I wasn't aware
how widespread this advertising was. Thanks to Keith Wood for providing
a couple of photographs showing a couple of London Buses carrying the
same decals. Keith reports around seventy London buses are so decorated
and also believes the campaign is being run in North America
as
well.
18th
December 2012
|
|
| |
New
photographs of the new KMB Enviro400s have tonight been added to the section of the site.
Recently
rebuilt tram no. 58 looks very bland in its all green livery
whilst
similarly rebuilt tram no. 108 looks so much brighter carrying
advertising for the iPod
|
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Philip
Chan
iPod
advertising is not restricted to tram no 108!
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Chris Martin
My
thanks to Chris Martin for sending me the above photograph of his three
Bus Factory resin 9.5m
Olympian models,
which he received today and which have already had the supplied KMB
fleetnames applied.
A nd finally, it is reported
that the first Cityflyer Enviro500 has arrived in Hong Kong - watch
this space.................
17th
December 2012
|
|
| |
The two Cars Workshop
Nissan Public Light
Buses were released on
Thursday 13th December. 91401 features AU8380 with a destination of Tai
Yuen whilst 91402 features BB2238 on route to Lam Tin.
Quantities
are not known and new pages will be added shortly.
Above is the
new "Hong Kong's Ferry" A4 folder which is due to
be launched shortly by Tramric. The folder features the
beautiful artwork of the traditional ferries of Victoria
Harbour. With its trendy appearance, it is aimed not just at
transport lovers but also the general public. The list price
of the "Hong Kong Ferry A4 Folder"is HK$20 each.
Tramric will also
participate in the "10th
Hong Kong
Mega Showcase" which is being held at the Hong Kong
Convention and Exhibition Centre between 23rd-26th December. I am
advised that all their transport souvenirs will have
special prices!
The
homepage of the excellent Across
website has been revised and now includes a 'Past' section which
details those buses that have recently been withdrawn, two of which are
detailed below.
MTR 409 was one of the
last four Northern Counties bodied Volvo
B10Ms to be withdrawn last Friday (14th) - it is seen here
last month at Yuen Long. The new ADL Enviro400s now
operate route K65 to Lau Fau Shan.
Withdrawn
yesterday was KMB's Dennis Dart AA39, seen here at Tsim Sha
Tsui earlier this month whilst on route 208.
16th
December 2012
|
|
| |
My thanks to Keith
McGillivray for
allowing me to use his photographs of the new Cityflyer Enviro500 in
Edinburgh. Further photographs can be found on Keith's Flickr site -
just follow this link.
13th
December 2012
|
|
|
One of the new-style Enviro500s in
Cityflyer livery made a surprise appearance in Edinburgh today,
apparently being evaluated by Lothian Buses. Photographs of the event
have been added to Donald Stirlings Smugmug site - just follow this link.
My thanks to Donald for allowing me to use the above photographs.
11th
December 2012
|
|
| |
Still catching up with the model releases in my absence, the eleven
resin Bus Factory 9.5 metre Leyland Olympians released on 24th
November are as follows:-
New pages will be added
as soon as time allows, however, if you are able to confirm
quantities for any of these versions, please e-mail
me.
|
Photograph courtesy and
copyright of Bobby Liu
My thanks to Bobby Liu
for sending me the above photograph of KMB Enviro400 ATSE18, which was
registered on Friday. It is believed that starting from tomorrow, 3
Enviro400s will be deployed on route 276 to replace Enviro200s.
|
Photograph of courtesy and
copyright of Cars Workshop
Thanks also to Keith Wood for pointing out that two public
light buses are featured on the Cars Workshop website. No
details are known other than they are 1/76 scale.
Two bus
related books were purchased during my visit, the first being BSI
Hobbies comprehensive Fleet Directory
of Hong Kong Buses 2012-2013.
The second, which I
wasn't aware of previously, is entitled Hot
Dog By Bye Bus and is published by JRTeam.
It features a diary of the events leading up to the final day of Hot
Dog operation and includes some superb photographs.
Both books retail for HK$168 and I hope to add new pages for
both in the near future.
9th December 2012
|
|
| |
New pages have
tonight been added for the two KMB Scania N113 models released
recently (DW11203
and DW11204).
7th December 2012
|
|
| |
A new page has
tonight been added for the MTR liveried Enviro500 (39418),
released in Hong Kong today.
6th December 2012
|
|
|
I returned from
Hong Kong earlier
today and tonight's update is aimed at giving a brief update
on
the
releases during my absence, plus a few of my many photos!
Released on 24th November
was
this KMB Scania N113, fleet no. AS6 (GW652). Produced by Drumwell
(DW11203) it is on route 98A to Hang Hau (North) and is limited to
1,400 pieces.
Released a week later, on
1st
December, was a further version of the KMB Scania (DW11204). This
version features fleet no. AS8 (GW1346) on route 110 to Shau Kei Wan
and again is limited to 1,400 pieces.
Set for release tomorrow is this
MTR liveried ADL Enviro500. Produced by 80M (39418), it features fleet
no. 801 (NE5930) on route 506 to Siu Lun and is limited to 1,250 pieces.
On the resin front, eleven
versions of a two-axle Leyland Olympian in KMB livery were
released on 24th November by Bus Factory, details of which will appear
shortly.
Believed to
be set for
release shortly is the above tram, No. 168, carrying Rimowa
advertising., and below is the real livery spotted on tram No. 30
the old....
and the new..... new KMB Enviro400s awaiting
registration.
Citybus ADL Enviro500 no. 9294 was a
day old when captured at Shau Kei Wan.
MTR 11.3m Enviro500 no. 828 in the mist
at Tin Shui Wai
5th December 2012
|
