Author | Lightnews

Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 8d

Not all cartoons are just simple and funny. This one is so uplifting it brings me to tears, and strongly reminds me of my daughter’s cancer journey. xkcd.com/2386/

Ten Years

xkcd.com

Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

It's now safely stored 'somewhere in the north west' and it comes out to play from time to time. /Ends

Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

Finished! Well, so far as any restoration is finished. There are always niggles and little things to attend to. This photo was taken just outside Wilmslow (where it was based in its early days) for a photo shoot for a trade magazine. If you've got this far down the thread, well done...

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

2023: finishing touches, such as the lettering. There's more of it on a bus than you might think! Most of it was with original 'varnish fix' transfers - not a job for the unskilled.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

Time for repaint, and over to a lovely gentleman, Les Bank, who'd been painting buses for 60 years. A master craftsman, it turned out to be the last bus he painted as he died suddenly in 2024.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

2022: mobile, with an MOT but looking less than pristine.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

I haven't even mentioned a myriad of smaller jobs - refurbished steering wheel for just small example.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

New floor, refurbished seats back in, lot of new exterior work - looking a lot better.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

2021: bodywork structure. Oh boy! 299 had looked okay when I bought it but I knew the body structure was poor. So it was off to the nice people at Reliance Bus Works at Newcastle under Lyme. It's fair to say that the entire rear was held on with paint and willpower...

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

Seats out for refurbishment, attack the interior, attention to the windscreen and driver's window - by now it was Covid lockdown and as I was WfH all the time, Dawn was glad to get rid of me to work on 299 once a week...

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

The interior needed a LOT of TLC. One of the problems was that the front dashboard had been painted in thick black paint to reduce reflections. Can't paint strip it (fibreglass), so a firm in Macclesfield soda blasted it - yep, ordinary baking soda. Worked a treat!

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

Next, electrics. Blown voltage regulator; and alternator not charging, despite the 'charge' light going out, along with oil light, on starting. Lightbulb moment: some sparks had wired the charge light in parallel with the oil light! Didn't fix the problem, but stopped drivers reporting it...

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

The first challenge was to understand the cooling issues. This led to a lot of work to rebuild the water pump; fix the hole in the (inaccessible) header tank; replace the blocked anti-airlock pipe; and completely rebuild the radiator. The cost is strictly classified!

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

I bought 299 in December 2017. It looked okayish, but I knew that the semi-shiny paintwork hid a multitude of sins. The interior was very tired; the body didn't feel 'tight'; the electrics were a joke; and it overheated constantly. It has a Gardner engine, they famously ran cool so clearly an issue.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 9d

I'm posting this thread not because I think people will read it, let alone find it interesting, but for my own amusement.

I've always been interested in transport, whether it be land, air or sea. But my first love is buses. Here's the story of how I restored my North Western 299A, a 1968 Bristol.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 10d

I did! Download link shortly, let me know when you’ve got it so I can delete the link - just put a thumbs-up on it, that’ll do.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 10d

Hmm, not my best. Too busy waving! Let me know if you want a copy.

A red freight train approaches the camera, loaded with containers, at Rugeley Trent Valley railway station in Staffordshire.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 11d

Are you still rostered for 4L56 tomorrow (Friday)? If so, look out for me and my camera at the far end of the Down platform at Rugeley.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 12d

It’s a dreary and miserable day AGAIN. Then I look at this photo from February in Auckland, and I feel better 🙂

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 13d

He is wiv de Angles (and Saxons) now

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 13d

If you think that's an impossible task for an amateur, this isn't my first rodeo...

Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 13d

I recently bought a 1965 classic coach to restore. Every time I see it, I overwhelmed by two thoughts: "what a lovely survivor, what a treasure it'll be when it's finished"; and "oh good grief, what on earth have I done?"

The inside of a very tatty 1960s coach, looking towards the front. There are no seats, no windscreen and ther overall effect is that it's in very poor condition.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 14d

Please let me know when you've downloaded it, then I'll delete the link.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 14d

Sure, the image is very big (I have a nice camera) so I'll post a download link here in a few minutes. Feel free to use it however you like! Here's a smaller version.

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Paul Williams @northwestern299a.bsky.social · 14d

I took a nice action shot of 4L32 this morning at Lichfield Trent Valley, and I do believe I see you in the cab. Let me know if you'd like a copy.

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