runningday2004

418 & 595 in the Broadway

326 entering the Broadway

Wow, what a day! The sun shone occasionally, no frost in the morning and after dawn NO RAIN! All the promised visiting buses and coaches arrived safely; some coming from as far afield as Derby, Canterbury, Weston-Super-Mare and Bristol.

Considering the age of the vehicles in the FoKAB fleet, they operated their rosters all day with no breakdowns. Following its introduction at the 30^th Anniversary event, our 'Little Dennis' again worked a short tour using the old GWR railway alignment along Barfield Close. This was a great success as it allowed far more people to have a ride. For part of the day the University of Southampton's 1929 Dennis Toastrack joined in the fun.

The fine weather brought out both the enthusiasts and the families. After a slow start in the early morning when only KAMS routes operate, most services had very good loadings. It was reported that some of the bus services to Stockbridge ran full.

The Oscar Calloway service was doubled this year by using Valley Rambler's OB. Along with Mervyn's Coaches OB they both ran full all day from 0945 service.

Visiting Vehicles

All other services operated with rostered vehicle except when there were two relatively small problems with visiting buses. On Mike Smith's Bristol LL two exhaust clamp bolts worked loose. The quick fix however meant that one of his journeys to Cheriton needed a replacement vehicle. Luckily Steve Morris had brought along his ex Grey Cars AEC Reliance that filled the gap.

Later in the afternoon, the A&D Loline suffered a puncture. James Freeman had brought the Alder Valley National 127 and this was immediately despatched to collect the stranded passengers. The Grey Cars Reliance operated the Loline's next rostered service 14 journey to Alresford.

Unfortunately the Stagecoach KA-liveried Dart suffered a cracked cylinder head a few days before running day. Despite the best efforts of the staff at the Bar End Depot, it could not fixed before the day. Stagecoach in Hampshire kindly replaced it with SWT liveried Dart 32454, XSU 682 - carrying "On hire to King Alfred Motor Services" labels for part of the day.l

On the way home, Roger Burdett's BMMO S15 suffered a major breakdown at Whitchurch and had to be put on a low-lowder to get home. Thankfully Steve Graham came by and rescued the passengers and operated the feeder service back to Derby!

Static Display

One headache was the static display! Having had to move it twice, for various reasons, on Christmas Eve the display still did not have a site. Luckily, on approaching INTECH* on the Saturday, they readily welcomed the display onto their car park as they were closed on New Year's Day.

Over 20 buses and coaches old and new formed the display - we lost count by lunchtime, as they kept appearing unannounced. The buses operating the special service were overwhelmed with passengers so extra services were operated in the afternoon.

* INTECH is run by The Hampshire Technology Centre Trust Ltd., a registered educational charity, is an Interactive Technology Centre that presents science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a form that is attractive, interesting and easier to understand.

INTECH's unique award winning building is located on Morn Hill 2 miles from the centre of Winchester with spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. While unfortunately. Why not visit the INTECH exhibition on another day?

Final Thoughts

One must not lose sight, though, of what the day was about. That was reliving the transport scene of times gone by and operating a properly timetabled bus service for the Winchester district. Many locals use our buses for that purpose - including the Church Warden at Wonston when, for just for one day, the Service 10 again operates between Sutton Scotney and Winchester through his village.

FoKAB hopes that everyone enjoyed their day with us in Winchester. Thank you to those who bought a timetable etc. Your contributions also made it a financial success well as a great running day.

Will we do it again? Of course we will on Saturday, 1^st January 2005!

Next Stop Productions have produced a video and DVD of running day.
Details here.
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Thanks for your comments
(from both visitors and vehicle owners)

I had a very enjoyable day yesterday at Winchester. It appeared to be a bit quieter in the halls, you could actually move this year, but that was only because the weather was kind to you and everyone was outside enjoying the rally. Well done to you and your team.
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Abundant thanks for another wonderful day. The smoothness of operation surely belies the planning, organisation and dedication that underpin such a vast exercise in logistics.

Typically, everything I (from Southsea) and three friends (1 from Wells and 2 from Weybridge) undertook worked to perfection - Whitchurch and back (with POU494 and, later, SWO986), the static display (with AHC442 and KOW910F) and, finally, Eastleigh via Romsey (with JJT446N) and return to Winchester (with KRU224F - think I'm right, here - it was a rush).

The souvenir timetable is, in itself, a product of outstanding merit.

Well done to all concerned, at every level. Our combined thanks.
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Another great day! Much enjoyed by everyone. The OB ran full on every journey. The runs to Sutton Scotney and Stockbridge were about 80% full, say an average of 32 people per journey. Some feedback on the Stockbridge runs - a few passengers suggested that it would be "nice" to run back via Sutton Scotney - so perhaps these runs could be combined and become a circular.
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Had a great day as usual.
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As always, a brilliant 2004 New Year's day in Winchester, well organised, timetables kept and most reliable. The weather was also better than expected, even with some sunshine, whereas the London area from where I travelled was apparently dull, rainy and overcast!

The only slight criticism, or maybe described more appropriately as sadness, is the ever-increasing 'safety' paranoia, unfortunately an almost inevitable scenario in today's 'over-prescriptive' society, (which seems to try and legislate for infallibility ~ of course never actually achievable), even though it defies all common sense. Some conductors became clearly upset even when anyone as much as stood up before the vehicle came to a complete stop, although no real problems.

As always thanks for organising the Winchester New Year bus events, which are much appreciated.
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Thanks for all your efforts to create and achieve a successful Jan 1 event. It was no doubt appreciated by all the visitors and enthusiasts.
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Congratulations on another excellent running day - it was nice to have an almost warm day for a change.
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Thanks for a great event on 1st January. I have enjoyed attending for a number of years and this time it was good to be able to contribute with FFN. The old girl was very popular.

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For the first time this year I managed to get to your Jan 1st extravaganza. Was really impressed by the scale and popularity of the event - well done! You packed the town with people, and our Courtyard Cafe at the Guildhall did a roaring trade - not to mention the queue at the Blue Dolphin fish and chip place! My 2-year-old loved all the buses.

Anyway, please pass on my congrats to all the colleagues who were involved. It is great for locals, visitors and city centre businesses on an otherwise rather quiet day in the calendar.
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Just a quick e-mail to say thanks for another excellent day in Winchester. A good variety of vehicles catering for everyone including those that actually find VRs and Nationals interesting! I really enjoyed my drive of a National, it made all the right noises as it clattered through the confined spaces of Winchester, and was much more lively than I imagined it would be.
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Thank you for a really good running day yesterday. I have heard a lot about the 'Winchester Experience' for a long time but this was the first time that I had made the effort to go. It was worth it.
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Once again another great day enjoyed by the punters and us. We managed to do exactly 180 miles and the bus does 14 miles to the gallon. We look forward to seeing you again next year.
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I am just writing to congratulate you on a really super running day this year. I heartily agree with everyone that it was the best yet.

Once again you designed a running day that was faithful to the original while adding new elements that added to the success. INTECH as a location for the static display worked well - if putting them on the shuttle service, which will need to be strengthened next year

But best of all for me was to see the KA buses at work all over the city - just as if the intervening 30+ years had disappeared. So thank you very much: all that hard work in the months and weeks and days leading up to the event was amply rewarded by a huge success.

The King Alfred Buses Running Day is organised by
FRIENDS OF KING ALFRED BUSES
Preserving King Alfred Buses & Coaches and the memory of King Alfred Motor Services
Registered charity no. 1078631.

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