For this week's Snap on Sunday, a photo of something I've been itching to have a ride aboard for years! Ever since the final Valenta engined Class 43s at FGW were withdrawn I've been wanting to get my fix of them again. Unfortunately no Class 43s are currently fitted with the original Paxman Valenta, but thankfully, East Midlands Trains decided to refit their HSTs with VP185s, rather than the infamous MTU which all other TOCs opted to go for. The distinctive scream as we headed out of Leeds was fantastic, and the noise from the departure from Chesterfield was certainly godlike, and hence a video has been posted below of the departure! The MTU is just so soulless when compared to the whale of a VP185, if only more TOCs had gone down the same route (pardon the pun!)! The photo shows 43054 and 43046 on a stock move out of Derby's Etches Park Depot preparing to work a service back down to London St Pancras. I'll certainly be back for more.
At this time of the week I like to indulge in the best photo taken usually during the previous week, whether that be because of its significance, or simply because the quality of photography is above the rest. This week, a photo from my new home at Storthes Hall, with my new stalwart batch of vehicles. T661 VWU is one of a fair amount of Volvo Olympians based in Huddersfield, that regularly appear on the 398 service. Far superior to the torturous Vario I used to travel on daily when back in Cornwall!
Hello and welcome to the 'all new' Public Transport of the Huddersfield Area. To those of you who don't know me, I'm Laurence Mayhew, writer of PTOTPA (Public Transport of the Plymouth Area), having previously lived in Cornwall until, well, now, with a move upto Huddersfield, and hence PTOTHA has been created. I've written public transport related blogs for over 5 years now, with the original incarnation, PTOTPA, now reaching 150 unique views per day. Unfortunately as you may have gathered, with the move to Huddersfield I am no longer currently able to update this blog, and therefore, I needed something new to concentrate my energy on.
A little bit about me then, I have just finished A-Levels at Devonport High School for Boys in Plymouth, after studying Economics, Geography, Physics, English Literature and General Studies. The grades were sufficient, and I have now progressed onto University, namely the University of Huddersfield, and am just beginning to embark on a 4 year course studying Transport and Logistics Management, with the aim of eventually going into the bus industry at management level.
So - what can you expect from PTOTHA. Well, I will continue to use the same sort of style as I have been using with PTOTPA, although of course being new to the area, it will take me time to adjust to the local bus scene, because at the moment, changes or rare occurrences will completely pass me by, because I don't yet know what is the norm! As well as hopefully being able to update you on the local scene in the future, I am a bit of an anorak when it comes to anything of some vauge rarity of vintage, so there should be plenty of posting about dying types of vehicles within the industry soon. Indeed, to kick off with, this Saturday I will be attending 'The Linburg Liason', a group meet organised by the Leyland Olympian Running Days website. This enables enthusiasts to get the chance to ride on buses usually relegated to school routes, and hence as you will have guessed with the group name, this focuses on Leyland Olympians, but when possible also includes Bristol VRs, and Volvo Olympians of significance. Other than that I also hope to attend various rallies, and will continue to post the ever popular, 'Snap on Sunday' feature, currently in use on PTOTPA.
So, that's it for now, but be sure to check back soon for more updates!
