Northfleet bus garage, Southend Pier Railway and Castle Point Transport Museum

“Thames Estuary Transport Adventure”

Join us for an amazing day and what we believe will a memorable one; but this is your chance to be the judge of that!

Date: Wednesday 7th June
Tour Starts: Ebbsfleet Station 1000

St Pancras 0934
Stratford 0939
Ebbsfleet 0952 

We will be making one of the first public tours of the London Bus Company, through the good offices of Wes Tierney, Managing Director of London Bus Works Ltd. On our journey from the station, we will be making a brief visit to the former London Transport Country Garage at Northfleet.

On arrival at the London Bus Company, Wesley and the ‘Team’ will provide a conducted tour of the depot. There you will be able to see many vehicles that have been kept behind closed doors for many years, including Roger Wright's superb re-build of his AEC BEA vehicle.

This is a real behind the scenes visit and there will be short rides on some of the more interesting vehicles. Most importantly there will be an AV presentation by Wesley, of how he sees the company’s future development. Tea and coffee will be provided with light snacks.

We leave Northfleet by heritage vehicles at 1300 for the Canvey Bus Museum, built in 1934 for Canvey and District Motors, and closed by Eastern National in 1978. Here you will see one of the largest collections of Eastern National and Southend Corporation buses, plus many other vehicles; they even have a superb model railway. This special visit has been arranged through the good offices of Marion Pattern, ‘Keeper of the Keys’. There will also be rides around the block; tea and coffee and a snack will be provided.

We then meet our third transport operator of the day in the form of ‘Ross Newman and First Ensign’ who are providing their Ayat O/T for a re-creation of the 68 O/T route to Shoeburyness Bus Terminus. We then make our way back to Southend going under the pier (there is a list of the 50 DD buses that over the years have been redesigned as a result). We will park on the O/T Pier Stop. The 1.34 mile Pier was built in 1830 with a 3ft Horse Tramway, this was converted to a 3.6 gauge electric railway in 1889, reverting back to 3ft in 1986, as it is to-day. You will break into two groups (your ticket will show which group you are in). Group One will visit the Pier Museum for a talk about the history including the Railway, conducted by their resident expert and guide Tim Watts. Group Two will make a return guided trip on one of the new battery electric trains; the groups will then swap over.

There will be a 30-minute break before we re-join our First Ensign O/T to the end of the tour at Leigh on Sea C2C station; for those who live south of the river there will be a bus back to Ebbsfleet.

Although Tea/Coffee and snacks are included, you may wish to bring a packed lunch. We place on record our appreciation to the Key Players who have made this trip possible: Wesley Tierney and Roger Wright; Marion Pattern and the Canvey Team; Peter, Ross, and Steve Newman; First Bus, Tim Watts; and Southend City Corporation. We will be making presentations to all of our hosts.

 

TOTAL TOUR COST: £36

The closing date for booking this trip is Friday 12th May. To book, please comple the booking form in the new look Spring 2023 Friends News magazine when it becomes available. Alternatively, register your interest by emailing: lauralangley.attc@gmail.com.