53809 at Bath - both of them... - a photo on Flickriver

            It is one of life’s odd little coincidences, and probably only noticed by people with the right combination of a certain disposition and “a certain age.” This photograph might bring the little coincidence to a wider audience.

In 2005 or so (judging by the registration plates), First Bus (Bristol, Bath & The West) put 20 ubiquitous small single deck buses into service. Hopefully a bus person will be along shortly to give us some more details of manufacturer and model, because if it ain’t an ECW-bodied Bristol or a Routemaster I’m seriously out of my depth… 

First Bus gave them the fleet numbers 53801 to 53820 and to this day (June 2018) they can still be seen plying the streets of Bath and surrounding areas. However, given the life expectancy of the average bus, they may not be around for too much longer.

Some of us of “that certain age” were around when those fleet numbers, or at least some of them, could be seen in earlier days in Bath. These were on the Somerset & Dorset Railway 7F 2-8-0s, of which there were 11 built, and they were given the BR fleet numbers 53800 to 53810 after railway nationalisation in 1948.

They were all withdrawn from BR service by 1964, but two of them have been preserved (53808 and 53809), both having been rescued from Dai Woodhams scrap yard at Barry many years ago.

Neither of them is likely to be seen in Bath very often (if at all) any more, although back in March 2006 and to mark the 40th anniversary of the closure of the S&D between Bath and Bournemouth, 53809 was indeed brought back to Bath Green Park station and put on display, and that is the subject of the left hand photograph. In fact, this is the third time that I’ve posted that particular photo on Flickr, having posted it very shortly after I joined and then posting it again by mistake some time later, having forgotten that I’d uploaded it the first time…

The right hand photograph shows the new 53809 waiting for its next turn of duty at Bath Bus Station on 6th June 2018.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Bath / Bathwick (show map)

Taken on: June 6, 2018

Tags:

Bath

Green

Somerset

Dorset

Railway

Beeching

Optare

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Groups appears in: • UK Railways • South Glos more » • Avon area • Somerset and Dorset Railway • Railways of Hampshire and Neighbouring Counties • UK Rail • GB Railways • Rail UK: Gloucestershire Railways • This Is Somerset • South-Coast Transport • Two Tunnels Bath • Somerset and Surrounding Areas (UK) • Midland Railway • The Somerset & Dorset after closure « less

Camera: Fujifilm FinePix A605, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, 5.9mm, ISO 320 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Fujifilm FinePix A605
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.017 sec (1/60)
Focal Length:	5.9mm
ISO:	320
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Fired
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Digital Camera FinePix A605 Ver1.23
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