BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
Page 85
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3 RITAIN'S troubled earlywarning Nimrod system is detecting speeding motorway ic: "clutter on the ground is
loading a computer," says the Daily graph's air correspondent. What gued me in the report was the news GEC Avionics, prime contractor for :arly-warning system, is to
)duce filter controls to reject vehicles tiling at less than 128km/h (80mph). rhy does the RAF want to pick up road transport? Does it pass on rmation to the Department of the ironment? I phoned the Ministry of !rice and was told that if road traffic ,e that speed was filtered out, :opters could be missed, too.
'rod is designed not only to pick up °aching missiles and planes, but to s tighter control as well. There's no cc of getting a speeding summons of the RAF.
uwever, gentlemen, it occurs to me: rave the technology. The GLC, re its demise, could have got rid of ';. of its millions with a pilot scheme.
)ON'T groan inwardly when you read "Friends of the . . ." use this paragraph, while being .ered in my own down to earth , will continue "the British onercial Vehicle Museum" at King 1, Leyland, Lancashire is today .ch 22) holding its awn at 2.30pm — ission is free on this occasion. m asked to tell you that the Friends ct: "to provide a display the like of Ii has never been seen before" at the Ind 90th Anniversary Rally on May i and it's not too late to get in on ict and enter if you phone the !um manager on 0772 451011. le venue is Leyland Vehicles, North ks, Leyland, Preston, Lanes, the
organiser. Any chassis, engine or -work built by the company or any diary "absorbed into the Leyland ire during the past 90 years" fies.
ADVERTISING campaign by Greater Manchester Transport 21ippercards and Saver Tickets has ficantly increased ticket use and .quently speeded passenger
:ling and journey times, claims 1. Now it's trying a "Scratch 'n' h" card campaign with prizes
NA I IUNAL liw, L:rilpany subsidiaries are sh,,.cing plenty of initiative these days in (ireating new services, hut this is not an example. Wilts and Dorset has no plans to introduce water buses to meet a deluge of competition from private operators once the bus industry is deregulated.
This Bristol LH, specially cut down to Wilts and Dorset specifications and operating out of Swanage on service number 150, missed its ferry connection from Sandbanks near Poole to Shell Bay earlier this month. Owing to a combination of strong winds and high tides, the slipway for boarding the chain
ranging from 50p to .00 and supported by TV advertising. Who's featured on the box? London's own Arthur Milliard. I await a Bernard Manning bon mot.
NOW THAT'S what I call a grand banquet. The Port of Zeebrugge entertained 800 people from Britain and Belgium to a banquet to mark the 20th anniversary of Townsend Thoresen services from 1)over.
TT managing director at Dover and European Ferries main hoard freight director John Brigg's was made an Officer of the Order of King Leopold — and then presented gifts to three major freight customers: Mike Wakefield, of Lep Transport; John Smith, of Laser International Transport; and Gilbert Duchene, of the Belgian international haulier and freight forwarder Atramefl
fL•rry was covercd in sand, into ‘vIncli the bus sank axle-deep. In the process a brake pipe ruptured, locking the brakes on.
All attempts to move the bus failed before the tide rose to submerge the vehicle to a depth of nearly 4m. It remained in position overnight with the ferry pressing against it to prevent its being swept away. The following day Wilts and Dorset engineers and Royal Marines eventually recovered the vehicle after the brakes had been freed by divers.
Unfortunately, it was a write-off; in efforts to pin down the obdurate bus, the ferry crushed it beyond repair.
NATIONAL Bus Company subsidiary London Country Green Line has organised a special weekend break for vintage bus and coach enthusiasts.
The break coincides with Leyland's 90th Anniversary reunion on the weekend of May 17 and 18. The reunion aims to bring together the largest collection of old and new Leyland vehicles ever seen.
Green Line is sending two vehicles to Leyland for the event and is actually operating them on the weekend break. They are a 1957 Green Line double Routemaster coach and a 1952 AEC Regal 'RP' type coach.
Passengers will be able to travel from London on either vehicle to Blackpool, where overnight accommodation has been arranged on May 16, and then on to Leyland.
• by the Hawk