Happy New Year

The Focus Team Wish You A Happy & Prosperous New Year

Below is a selection of favourite pictures taken by Focus Contributors during 2014

 Cheltenham Running Day

 Focus covered the use by Shaftesbury & District of its Routemaster on service 80 during the summer – see www.focustransport2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/west-country-routemaster-operations.html .  However what wasn’t covered was the use of the owner’s RT on the same route a few weeks later as shown above.

  The 2ft Garden Railway at Statfold Barn

 Brush single car 631 on driver training in Blackpool

1940's Event at Locomotion Shildon

  An RML in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This operator has about 15 Routemasters which operate tours in Halifax and St. John. They have all had an exit/entrance door on the offside added to cope with right hand driving and the open platform is retained although roped off. Most wear this horrid pink livery.

  A dual trolley/motor vehicle in Boston. Outside the City the vehicle is motorised and prior to subway operation the booms are raised automatically to then enter the tunnels, very strange to see. Boston operates all modes of transport at what cost !

 Roger has done a significant amount of travelling this year and has sent us this picture of a 777 with the caption "All I can think of is how to fly half way around the world by dragon. This is Air NZ's (the airline of Middle Earth) 777 in Hobbit dragon Smaug livery working the amazing NZ1, Heathrow, Los Angeles, Auckland."

 My main holiday was spent in Madeira and the pictures above and below typify the transport scene on the island. Above are two typical buses that operate in and around the main town of  Funchal.
Longer distance services are carried out by coach bodied vehicles as seen below. The coaches operate on services that can take up to three hours, using mountain roads that are challenging both for the driver and the vehicles. They carry busy loads at all times of the day and are a lifeline for the many small villages en-route.

 How the heck do you pick two pictures from a selection sent by Tony Wilson? Above & below are the two that I eventually selected and fine specimens they are too.
92214 makes a fine sight as it trundles along the Great Central Railway at Quorn in September and below we see  London Transport T 792 at Redbourn in June.

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