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September 2020 - News
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Set for release tomorrow is this Kowloon Motor Bus Wrights Gemini 2 bodied Volvo B9TL with all-over advertising for Hang Heung Cake Shop. It features AVBWU733 (VE2508) on route 1A to Sau Mau Ping (Central) (Box 171 - KMB2020082)

     
Work is currently being carried out on the Tiny Index page and as a result the availability and appearance of this page may be inconsistent.
29th September 2020

 
Photograph © Network Shuttle
   
Announced by Model 1 today are three MAN 'facelift' A95 in the livery of HZM Bus, as detailed above.
28th September 2020

   
   
Released today, and apparently sold out already, is this Tiny 1/110 scale 12.8 metre ADL 'facelift' Enviro500 in Coca Cola 'Bears' all-over advertising livery. It is on route 101 to Kennedy Town and carries a fictitious registration of CR11016 (COKE022).
26th September 2020

   
   
This Tiny 1/110 scale 'Show Limited' SG Bus liveried Volvo B8L is set for release in Singapore tomorrow (ATCSG64010).
25th September 2020

   
   
As reported yesterday, the two New Lantao Bus ADL 'facelift' Enviro400s have been released today.  AD01 (BM 3218) is on route 3M to Mui Wo Ferry Pier (63371) and AD02 (VR 1903) is on route B4 with a destination of Airport (63372).  A full set of photographs for each has now been added.

According to my records, these are the 93rd and 94th releases of 2020.

   
   
Model 1 has announced eight 1/120 scale models, as detailed above, which are set for release in the final quarter of 2020.  They are:-

1. S33301 - New World First Bus Volvo B8L fleet no. 5231 (WN4213) on route 682 to Ma On Shan

2. S33302 - New World First Bus Volvo B8L fleet no. 5233 (WU5736) on route 720 to Central

3. S33303 - Citybus Volvo B8L fleet no.8802 (WP5565) on route 22M to Cruise Terminal

4. S33304 - Citybus Volvo B8L fleet no. 8807 (WP1057)on route 118 to Cheung Sha Wan (W)

5. S33621 - Citybus ADL Enviro400 fleet no. 7038 (RE2199) on route 973 to Stanley 

6. S33622 - Citybus ADL Enviro400 fleet no. 7055 (RY8397) on route 41A to Wah Fu

7. S33633 - New World First Bus ADL 'facelift' Enviro400 fleet no. 3800 (UM6755) on route 15 to The Peak

8. S33634 - New World First Bus ADL 'facelift' Enviro400 fleet no. 3807 (UN2063) on route 9 to Cape D'Aguilar and Shek O
24th September 2020

   
I am reliably informed that the two New Lantao Bus liveried ADL 'facelift' Enviro400s from Model 1 are set for release tomorrow (63371) and (63372).
23rd September 2020

   
Click on image for larger photograph
Click on image for larger photograph
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A full set of photographs for the three Model 1 China Motor Bus Volvo Olympians, released yesterday, have been received and these have been uploaded tonight - just click on an image.
19th September 2020

   
Released today are the three Model 1 China Motor Bus 11-metre Volvo Olympians, namely VA39 (GV7288) on route 102 with a destination of Shau Kei Wan (63520) VA40 (GP8588) on route 691 to Hang Hau (63521) and VA50 (GW8272) in a plain white livery on route 106 to Wong Tai Sin (63522).  New pages have tonight been added.
   
18th September 2020

   
Click on image for larger photograph
© Dennis Leung
   
What might have been!!
 
My thanks to Dennis Leung for allowing me to use his 'photoshopped' image of a China Motor Bus ADL 'facelift' Enviro500. The image is 'clickable'.

   
© Franziska Dirk Richter and Oriental Model Buses

On the day Franziska Dirk Richter posted the above photograph (left) of this Checkmate Jinling JLY6121S tri-axle double-decker (90121) in Facebook, I received this Checkmate Guangzhou Bus GZK6100AD-T single-decker (90137).  Both were released over 21 years ago!! The relevant pages have been updated with additional information, but if anyone can provide further details, please let me know.  


   
Photographs © 80M Bus Model Shop

A full set of photographs has recently been received from 80M Bus Model Shop for each of the four Kowloon Motor Bus Volvo Super Olympians - two sets have tonight been added and the remaining two will be added as soon as time allows - just click on an image.

   
BRITISH MODEL BUSES
WEBSITE BACK ON LINE

 
Gareth has tonight issued the following update:-

"After just over a month, my web hosting company have finally resolved the issues that arose following transfer of the website to their new servers. I apologise for the lack of service over the last month, but this was totally beyond my control. I spent several hours on the phone to their help desk over a number of phone calls, before finally getting the final issue resolved earlier today. I have hosted with the same company since the website launched in 2001 and the longest I have previously been off line is just a couple of days. Please bear with me whilst I try and catch up with the news over the next couple of days."

  17th September 2020

   

Set for release in the next few days is this Tiny 1/110 scale Kowloon Motor Bus Duple Metsec bodied Dennis Dragon featuring 3N6 (DA7099) on route 111 with a destination of Central Macau Ferry (Box 191/KMB2020046).
15th September 2020

   
 
My thanks to New Bus Viewfinder for allowing me to share the above photographs of a second Kowloon Motor Bus Wrights Streetdeck, which has just arrived in Hong Kong.

   
Click on image for larger photograph
Click on image for larger photograph
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Click on image for larger photograph

The above Kowloon Motor Bus Alexander bodied Volvo Super Olympians were released in Hong Kong today:-  
 
Champagne liveried 3ASV273 (KJ1797) on route 270A to Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) (KMB2020023)
Champagne liveried 3ASV61 (JH4285) on route 111 to Central (Macau Ferry) (KMB2020024)
Pearlescent green 3ASV297 (KJ6128) on route 6C to Mei Foo (KMB2020025)
Pearlescent green 3ASV297 (KJ6128) on route 31B to Shek Lei (KMB2020026)
 
All are limited to 750 pieces.


Ensuring the site displays in an acceptable format across the various platforms available these days is becoming far more challenging - 50% of views yesterday were on mobile phones!

A niggle I have had for a while when using a mobile device is the reduced size text beneath photographs, so I have today attempted to address this in this News page and at the same time simplified the wording. Hopefully this change has no negative effects for visitors - if it does, please let me know.
13th September 2020

   
I am grateful to Bill Wong for providing me with this update on the Alexander Dennis 'facelift' Enviro500s operating in the Greater Vancouver area

Click on image for larger photograph Click on image for larger photograph
© Bill Wong
   
Vancouver Translink (operated by Coast Mountain Bus Company) rolled out their 4th and 5th double decker route this summer - the 4th double decker route 311 (Bridgeport Station - Scottsdale) operates weekday peak hour only, however the double decker was noted just running the afternoon peak hour service.
   
Click on image for larger photograph Click on image for larger photograph
© Bill Wong    
 
The 5th double decker route 351 (Bridgeport Station - White Rock Centre) rolled out on 7 September 2020, this route originally continued to Crescent Beach, as noted by the above photograph of the test bus running in 2018, however, with a restriction in the Crescent Beach area for double-deck operation, the route was shortened to White Rock Centre.  All the images are 'clickable'.
12th September 2020

   
For visitors to the British Model Buses website who do not use Facebook, please note the following statement issued by Gareth yesterday :- 
 
BRITISH MODEL BUSES WEBSITE
INTERRUPTION TO SERVICE
   
"I would like to apologise for the lack of updates on the British Model Buses website over recent weeks. In mid August, my web hosting company transferred the website to their new servers. Unfortunately they did not set my account up properly and as a result I am temporarily unable to publish items to the website. I have been in contact with the Hosting company several times and have made little progress. The latest explanation I have been given, is that the billing department have not advised the techie people which package I am on, so they have not been able to complete the set up. The help desk assistant I spoke to at 3:00pm this afternoon, told me she would email me or phone me to update me in a couple of hours, I am not surprised that I have still not heard from her. I am doing my best to get things sorted but this may be a slow process. In the meantime I will continue to publish items of news on this Facebook page and the website is still available for browsing. Apologies once again.

As an aside, I have just tried to publish to my Eddie Stobart Models website and that appears to have also been transferred to their new servers and I cannot upload to that either!"


As soon as Gareth advises that normal service has been resumed, I will of course advise further.
11th September 2020

 

Model 1 has announced three new China Motor Bus 11-metre Volvo Olympians, namely VA39 (GV7288) on route 102 with a destination of Shau Kei Wan (63520) VA40 (GP8588) on route 691 to Hang Hau (63521) and VA50 (GW8272) in a plain white livery on route 106 to Wong Tai Sin (63522).
10th September 2020

 
The story of the new laptop.

Having experienced problems for some time with my old laptop, including an extremely slow start-up and slow running, I had been looking around for a suitable replacement for a while.

A decision was finally made and a further visit to my local well-known electrical retailer for a final check entailed a 25-minute wait to enter the shop. Once found, I was told  they had no stock and they wouldn't be able to order one or obtain stock from another store - but they pointed me in the direction of the next nearest store, some 6 miles away. The trip was made, and after a 45 minute wait in a queue to enter the store, I finally was allowed entry, only to wait a further 15 minutes for a salesperson to become available. The purchase was eventually made!

With the new laptop at home and raring to go, I downloaded the popular e-mail software that I was accustomed to, but could I get all the e-mail accounts I use to work - NO! The following day I uninstalled this program and reinstalled an older version that I had been using on the old laptop - no problem!

Then it was the downloading of the web authoring software which I use, which again was a couple of versions newer than I had been using - could I get on with it - NO! Another case of uninstalling and reinstalling the older version!

My photo editing software was the next challenge and having transferred the software from old to new laptop using a flashdrive, would it work - NO!  I found the original CD the software was on, but this new laptop had no CD/DVD writer/reader!  A cheap purchase on eBay saw an external CD/DVD writer arrive a few days later - would it work - NO!

I decided to return this as faulty and proceeded to order a branded one from a popular High Street catalogue store and this was collected a few days later, being out of stock at the time of ordering. Having got home, I plugged it in and hey presto, it was instantly recognised - now to insert the CD with the photo-editing software - could I find it - NO!  I had left in in the CD/DVD writer that I had returned to the eBay seller a few days earlier!

Further investigations revealed this software was no longer compatible with the latest version of Windows on my new laptop - this was established using an on-line forum hosted by a popular photo software company. I then received a private message from, it would appear at first glance, that company's Customer Care Department, offering me a download for a competitive price as I already had a previous version of the software. The exchange of e-mails went on for a little while and before parting with any money I asked how I could be sure I was actually dealing with someone from the company - all went quiet. Checking with the software company they confirmed this was a scam and after explaining my experience with the company, and confident I was actually dealing with someone from the company, a download was purchased and it works!

I am pleased to report that all is now well, and I am not looking forward to replacing this one!!
9th September 2020

 
 
Yet another Tiny 1/110 model, this time it is an unlicensed Citybus Enviro500. 8205 (RL3936) is on route E23 (Box L15 - ATC64821).
8th September 2020

   
Click on image for larger photograph
Click on image for larger photograph
Click on image for larger photograph
Click on image for larger photograph

No less than four 12-metre (note correction from earlier posting) Alexander bodied Volvo Super Olympians are set for release shortly:-  

Champagne liveried 3ASV273 (KJ1797) on route 270A to Tsim Sha Tsui East (Mody Road) (KMB2020023)
Champagne liveried 3ASV61 (JH4285) on route 111 to Central (Macau Ferry) (KMB2020024)
Pearlescent green 3ASV297 (KJ6128) on route 6C to Mei Foo (KMB2020025)
Pearlescent green 3ASV297 (KJ6128) on route 31B to Shek Lei (KMB2020026)

All are limited to 750 pieces.

   
My thanks to Ray Ng and Joe Kwong for advising the translation of the Tiny 'Old Master Q' liveried Enviro500 featured in yesterday's news, this being 'Galloping in the 21st Century'.
6th September 2020

 

P&T has announced it is to release two resin versions of unique China Motor Bus Leyland Titan TC1 (CD1213) - the first is on route 260 to Stanley (B00284-260) and the second on route 262 to Chung Hom Kok (B00284-262).

   

And some Tiny 1/110 news - just announced is this Seiyu all-over liveried Kowloon Motor Bus Leyland Victory Mk 2 G231 (CJ2550) on route 81K to San Tin Wai (KMB2020064).
 
© Jens-Peter Paschke
 
I am also grateful to Jens-Peter Paschke for sending me a photograph of this Old Master Q liveried KMB Enviro500 (KMB2020009) along with a close up of the destination, which I believe translates as "stepping into the 21st Century" - but I would be grateful for confirmation.
5th September 2020

 

Having received my Shek O Bus Terminus yesterday, I went about finding a model from my collection with Shek O as the destination, and New World First Bus Leyland Victory Mk 2 LV30 leapt out of the cabinet - and coincidentally, this bus carried out it's last duties on 31st August 2000. My thanks to Gakei.com for allowing me to share the above photograph of the actual bus.

 
A full set of photographs have now been added for each of the three three New World First Bus ADL 'facelift' lowheight Enviro400s released yesterday, just follow the links (63373, 63374 & 63375)
3rd September 2020

   
 
Set for release in Hong Kong tomorrow are the three New World First Bus ADL 'facelift' lowheight Enviro400s from Model 1, details of which are shown above (63373, 63374 & 63375)
2nd September 2020

Slowly but surely I am getting to grips with the new laptop (apologies for a few strange appearances to the site yesterday!) and I have now been able to upload a full set of photographs for the recently released 80M Bus Model tram (TT33684).
1st September 2020
Go to August 2020 News
September 2020 - News
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To find a specific month's News, click here
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This page last updated Tuesday, 29th September 2020
 
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