Ressurection of the Railbus

This was something of a surprise shoot.  On the way back from the GP's a few weeks back, I (Ben) was passing the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway station at Ingrow when I spotted activity in the yard... a railbus being arranged for road transport.

Back in Feb 2016, I snapped (again, by chance) the arrival on a low-loader of a railbus, being moved for restoration at the Vintage Carriages Trust base in Ingrow Yard.  This unique vehicle, the former rail inspection unit "Olive" (for Overhead-Line-Inspection-Vehicle) usually resides at the Middleton Railway in Leeds, at which some detestable little scrotes had set it on fire.  The arson attack was spotted early enough so that the fire brigade managed to save the vehicle, though with heavy damage.  The VCT having helped restore it in the first place (sadly not long before the fire), they ended up doing the fresh bought of work on it.

Earlier this year, during a family visit to the museum at the VCT I was able to photograph the nearly-completed unit in the workshop (the VCT are doing the bodywork and mechanicals I believe, I gather the interior re-fit will be done back at Middleton).

Anyway, needing to pop into the museum to get some reference magazines for another project, I got a few snaps on the way past, the railbus being prepared for transport by low-loader lorry back to the Middleton line.  Ex-Mersey Docks and Harbour Board shunter "Huskisson" doing the honours with the shunt, which involved moving a lot of the restored vintage stock around the yard.  It was nice to see this rarely-used loco out and about as well.

The unit prepared for transport.  By this point I was starting to feel grotty again and didn't stay to watch it being winched onto the lorry trailer... in fact I'd end up back in casualty that evening, and thought I'd equally end up not being able to do anything with the pics.  But a few days later, I sent them off to the mags on the off chance.

To my surprise, the pic has been picked up by a few places, not bad for a chance snap taken in passing.