Welcome to the KELLS TRANSPORT MUSEUM
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IRELANDS OPERATING BUS MUSEUM |
November 29, 2010. This site does not open properly with Firexfox Browser. ONLY USE INTERNET EXPLORER.
DISCUSSION FORUM OPEN AGAIN WITHOUT PASSWORD.
As the discussion board was effectively killed due to the requirement for a password, we are going to re-open it and hope it keeps being used for the purpose it was intended, namely discussion of buses. Accordingly it is open again now and we welcome your contributions. Please do not abuse it.
A VERY HAPPY CHISTMAS AND A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.
December 25, 2011. We would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very happy Christmas season and a prosperous 2012.
From the museum point of view 2012 could not be worse ghan 2011 but when one thinks things canot get worse, they just have the habit of doing so! Anyhow we are optimistic. Good luck everyone!
THE GREAT CLEANUP OF THE BUSES IS COMPLETE.
October 17, 2011. We finally got the destroyed vehicles cleared up and the following sad photos show what remains of eleven fabulous Tigers. We have included for posterity photos of what remained of the chassis after the bodies got burnt.
For the record they were:
340
385
1003
1271
1288
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
2620
The big cleanup. Scrap on the left. Chassis stacked on top of each other on the right.
To describe the overall disaster as heart breaking is to put it mildly. It has really taken the heart out of us. However, all we can do is get on with it and this is what we are doing. As soon as the scrap is removed we will then put in new surface and hopefully make the place look like a museum again and not a scrapyard!
Our next major task is to salvage what we can from the office which also was blown up. We have managed to save the photo albums but they have suffered flame damage. We think we should be able to save the early photos as they were in plastic wrapping in albums but it is an awful lot of work as each photo has to be individually, carefully, taken from the album, cleaned and probably reprinted. We do not know yet what is possible as clearing the yard was our number one priority.
My last drive in 2620!
JUSTIN AND JOSIANNE VILLA VISIT MUSEUM.
September 16, 2011. We were delighted today to welcome Justin an Josianne Villa from Malta to the museum. They were on their honeymoon and we took it as a compliment that they should come all the way to visit us.
Justin is in the forefront of old bus preservation in Malta and has so far been instrumental in saving 91 vehicles. Without people like him these magnificent machines would not have been saved. At least they do not blow their vintage buses up in Malta! We wish Justin and Josianne the best of luck.
While we could not compete with the Malta buses we took them for a ride in 1981 which was as close as we could come to their magnificent machines. His next project, by the way, is restoring an AEC ex London Transport Swift.
Justin and Josianne with 1981.
September 10, 2011. A GREAT DAY ON SLEZSKE ZEMKE DRAHY.
September 10 was the last day of scheduled steam for the summer of 2011 A full set of pictures are on the World Railways website but the following give a flavour. Webmaster is in red shirt, kneeling in front.
2650 OUT FOR A RUN. NEW POLICY TO MOT AND PSV SELECTED VEHICLES>.
September 8, 2011. We took 2650 for a run today to Cork. She and 2643 are to be first in our new project to MOT and PSV some of the best vehicles and keep them that way. We would hope to keep them active three days a week and we will see if this preserves them better. On the other hand there is always the risk of damage by using them so the jury is out on whether it is better to park them or use them. Anyhow, we will start with three Tigers and see what happens and keep you informed. Comments on the discussion board are welcome.
MORE CRAZY IRISH SIGNS.
September 7, 2011.The following sign was observed in Killorglin over the weekend. The top says "We are Open" while the bottom says "Reopens at 3 p.m."!
ULSTERBUS 2643 ARRIVES
September 6, 2011. Tiger 2643 arrived today and was delivered by Stephen Lynch.
The following are her details:
Registration Number: SXI 2643
Chassis Make: Leyland
Chassis Model: Tiger
Chassis No.: TR00
Body Make : Alexander Belfast
Body Model: N
Body Number:
Engine: Volvo
HP:
Seating: B53F
Date service entry: 1992
Stephen on arrival.
Another front view - without Stephen!
Rear View - It's the road which is leaning, not the bus!
Inside Looking Back.
Drivers Area
Dungannon Plate
Inside Notice
A FIRE ENGINE COMES TO DEPOT.
September 2, 2011. My office reverberated to the sound of a fire engine with sirens blaring and blue lights flashing coming down the lane. When one hears that one is not exactly delighted but it turned out that Roy Kearney had decided to cheer us up by donating a fire engine as the most appropriate vehicle.
She is an absolutely super machine and we owe Roy thanks - he has always been a superb friend of the museum - and she is a most welcome addition. She is also the first arrival since the disaster and we are now ready to accept vehicles again. We expect four buses in the next two weeks.
Roy with the fire engine on arrival.
BOMBER GOES TO JAIL.
September 1, 2011. We are still very restricted in what we can say for fear of prejudicing any trial that may arise but we can reveal that the museum bomber is in jail and unlikely to trouble us for a few years at least. He was lifted on foot of other charges. Its not much consolation but it may remove the threat or we hope so.
August 7, 2011. The reality of the extent of the disaster is now only hitting home. You may wonder why the website has been so quiet. The reason is simple. The amount of work needed to sort out the remains of the office is way beyond our resources and it is now unlikely that we will have sorted through the remains this side of Christmas.
Every sheet, photo, everything has to be cleaned and then copied and then filed. We have neither time nor staff for this gigantic operation. On the bus front we have effectively lost a year. We have no spare time to run the vehicles as we would normally do and all spare time is devoted to the office recovery. We have now decided to suspend all bus work probably until next March. There is no chance now of getting up our new maintenance shed this year.
It now seems the disaster will see the museum set back over €250,000 which could have done so much for increasing, improving and maintaining the collection. This money has effectively been poured down the drain. When we look out at the devastation we just still cannot believe it and think we are having a bad dream. All bus deliveries have had to be put on hold. We have 42 buses awaiting collection.
As for clearing up the mess caused by the bombing of the eleven Tigers, this is another nightmare. We have to cut the bodies of every bus off and put in a scrap heap as nothing in the bodies has survived. We must then store the chassis until we can evaluate the engines, gearboxes and axles and see what can be rescued. Right now we have no idea if the engines have survived. There is one Gardner, five Volvo and five TL11 engines so it would be crazy to scrap them without seeing what can be rescued as even one TL11 would be a valuable source of spares.
We would appreciate hearing from any of our northern friends with experience of burnt and bombed buses as to the likelihood of what could have survived, particularly experience with engines and gearboxes. But the worst of all is the amount of work needed and the cost of doing it. We are not in the scrapping business and have no facilities. We are hoping to avail of some government employment schemes but we are not holding our breath!
So in brief, an unmitigated disaster but we will not give up but it will take years to recover, which I do not have. We will keep you posted.
July 2, 2011. The Gardai are making progress and are now reasonably sure of the identity of the attackers. The sad thing is that they are from Armagh having made the long trip south to cause the damage. They are also known to be professional bombers with, shall we say, vast experience! Even worse we have received phone calls warning us of a possible new attack. I really thought that those days had gone, but obviously not. Whether the Gardai can protect us or not is a debatable point but they are working very closely with the museum.
At least we have our phones back now and are waiting for the internet. Our new office is almost finished - that is until the next bomb! We are hoping to go to Mogeely still- if we have any buses left! It is really is a frightening prospect that faces us as these people are ruthless and are very difficult, if not impossible,to stop. What is at stake is no less than our national heritage, not my collection and the resources of the state must be deployed to prevent the destruction of this heritage.
ASSESSMENT OF DISASTER ON MUSEUM.
June 25, 2011. The offices are definitely a total writeoff. We have opened a temporary office. We still have no phones or internet, both having been demolished by the bomb. We can still be contacted on 021-482-8046 by way of diversion to a mobile phone in the office so we can be contacted. There is no such thing as an emergency to phone companies so we expect it to be another two weeks at least before we have anything. Eircom flatly refused to put in any landlines at all as they say they have no money to replace the damaged lines.
The museum has also reopened to visitors although the exhibits were not exactly what we had in mind! Until August 15th. we are open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and welcome anyone. The facility to allow people to drive buses has to be temporarily withdrawn until we clear the debris. This could take two months as we have neither the time, staff or money at the moment.
Anybody who describes it as a disaster for the museum is being kind. We have six Tigers which were scorched and this means a repaint. Again who and when? The yard is totally blocked but it will be a priority to get the access back but it will take weeks. It is not helped that I ended up in A & E with a badly bruised leg which will take two to three weeks to heal but the good thing is that no permanent damage has been done but I could have done without it! Unable to walk more than fifty yards, much less drive the buses is no help. On the other hand I could have broken my leg as I got a bad fall. It certainly was not our week! I suppose at my age I should not be doing things that caused this but everyone is pitching in doing what they can to the best of their ability and I suffered from the delusion that I was fifty years younger. I no longer do!
If the bombers could only realise the damage and destruction they have caused they might think for a moment but I have no doubt professional bombers have no conscience. Ulsterbus have been brilliant and I have asked Bus Eireann for help also. Maybe the new Chairman might but so far the silence is deafening. I even appealed to them on the Joe Duffy Show, Sad, sad, sad. I really feel very disillusioned.
On the other hand I would like to thank all those who send messages of sympathy and offers of support and it was a wonderful to know that somebody cares. We will come back and better than ever but we reckon we are set back at least six months and probably a year and the guts of €200,000 which is not there to replace things. It is simply a horrendous loss. Anyhow, no point crying over spilt milk so its back to get everything rebuilt but the buses can never be replaced and that is the real tragedy.
FIRST PHOTOS OF THE BOMB ATTACK AND LATEST INFORMATION.
June 13, 2011. The latest situation is as follows. The bombing was a highly professional job. The CCTV is recording unit is damaged but we hope to recover the hard disk. This is vital to solving the crime. Three separate fires occurred simultaneously at 11.40 p.m. Sunday June 12, 2011. The source was at least three separate petrol bombs, at least one of which had a fuse and detonator. It was possible from the office remains to ascertain this. On the other hand the buses were so badly destroyed that it is impossible to tell what type of bomb was used on them, but bomb it was.
As only Ulsterbuses were involved it is believed these were the target. It is also suspected that much more would have been eliminated except for the fact that we had a caretaker some hundreds of yards away who when the first explosion occurred, called the fire brigade and immediately rushed to the lower yard and it appears this frightened the bombers. Until we see the CCTV the sequence of events can only be guessed at. There are suspects but at this stage we will say no more as we do not want to say anything to prejudice the Garda investigation. The total damage including the offices is now put at about €200,000. The offices are totally destroyed and will have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
As they say, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that we have recovered one stapler from the wreckage which appears relatively undamaged. The bad news is that everything else in the office equipment was wiped out. Both copiers were MELTED, the four television CCTV monitors were melted into a ball of plastic, the computers were melted inside and anything resembling plastic was melted. Because of the intensity of the bomb blast, it used up all the oxygen and the fire starved of oxygen and went out immediately. This meant that all papers were covered in soot and singed but no documents were lost. However, we now have to take each sheet, clean it and copy it and heaven knows how long that will take.
One piece of amazing good news is that some weeks prior all the museum records, logbooks, original photos, everything relative to the buses had been removed from the office to another location for cataloguing and sorting so all those are perfect and will return when the new offices are ready. They would have been returned the previous Friday only I was away at a wedding. To me the saving of these was a miracle as they were totally irreplaceable. They would have gone up in flames.
The bad news is the buses. Eleven in total were involved. One bomb took out 1309, 1310, 1311, 1312 and 1313. These are totally destroyed. We will salvage the chassis, engine, gearbox and axle and we believe these are unscathed as the bomb blew the top and these were underfloor engined. The amount of work though is horrendous as the remains of the bodies have to be cutoff and taken away and then new wheels put on each so that we can move them. In the meantime the destroyed buses, which were our pride and joy, greet everyone who enters the museum so we have to clean the place up fast.
A distance away another one or more bombs tookout totally, 1003, 1271, 1288, 2620 and 385. Even worse, 340 got very badly hit and under normal circumstances would be considered a writeoff. However a preliminary inspection indicates it may be possible to rebody her, which we will do if humanly possible. We will be seeking a donor body. It can be argued that it would never be the same but she is a very historic vehicle, beeing the first Tiger, and the chassis, engine and gearbox see fine and intact and in Ulsterbus many vehicles were rebodied so we feel this will be the right course.
As I sit in the new office and lookout at the scene of devastation it not alone makes you cry but makes you wonder if you are indeed really mad to try and save these vehicles. It is heartbreaking and I am sure that anyone involved in preservation will understand the cost and effort that went into getting them to Cork. And to have it all wiped put in an hour. I totally fail to understand why and what pleasure people get out of wreaking this havoc. I thought the days of bombing Ulsterbus vehicles were gone, but apparently not. However, it makes me more determined to do what I can to preserve Irish transport heritage without distinction North or South. We are all Irish and these are Irish vehicles.
Finally, I must pay tribute to the fire brigades from Midleton, Cobh, Bandon and Cork who did such a superb job. We had ten fire engines. They saved everything not alight and some buses were within two feet of fiercely burning vehicles. We could have lost thirty Tigers. Thanks to Michael O'Driscoll and his crews. I also pay tribute to the Gardai who wer such a help. Everyone did a superb job.
Now the horrible photos.
This was the scene that greeted me on arrival.
The following morning the devastation is clear.
The office bomb went off here.
At one end of the office everything was blasted to the ground.
The other end was covered in soot and singed by the rush of flame.
That was our main fusebox and power box on the left
The kitchen, which was well tucked away ended up like this. Black coffee indeed!
FURTHER INFORMATION ON ARSON ATTACK AT MUSEUM
June 13, 2011. The latest situation is as follows. Three fires occurred simultaneously last night at the museum. The source was three separate petrol bombs although there might have been more. 1309, 1310, 1311, 1312 and 1313 were definitely totally destroyed. Six others were totally destroyed and they include 1003, 1271, 1288, 2620 and probably another 26xx and a yet unidentified Tiger.
The main office has also been totally destroyed and a second is probably a writeoff as well. Great credit is due to the Fire Brigades from Cork, Cobh, Bandon and Midleton who provided ten fire engines and only for their superb work it could have been a catastrophe. They managed to confine it to the eleven buses on fire when they arrived and others only suffered superficial damage. Photographs will be posted shortly.
It was obviously a well planned attack and we had just installed brand new CCTV which the Gardai are looking at. We just hope the recording unit did not suffer too much heat damage. It certainly was a terrible day for the museum and one wonders why anyone would go to that trouble.
ARSON ATTACK AT MUSEUM DESTROYS TEN BUSES
June 12, 2011. Today was a black day for the museum. Three fires occurred simultaneously last night at the museum and ten vehicles were totally destroyed. At this stage we are still ending the fire but the following is known. The office caught fire and was very badly damaged. Most of the contents may be intact but it has not been possible to get back into it yet.
It is known that Ulsterbus Tigers 1309, 1310, 1311, 1312 and 1313 are totally destroyed. This is a terrible tragedy. Also known lost are 1003, 1271 and three others as yet unidentified. Ten sections of the fire brigade attended and due to their heroic efforts the fire was contained. It is unlikely - to put it mildly - that the three fires, one of which was limited to two offices office were connected. Daylight has come and we were been up all night un til 4 a.m. and will go back about 8 and will report later when we have the full extent of the damage. It is a terrible tragedy.
We will provide an update as it comes to hand. Gardai forensic experts will be there today to try and determine the cause(s) but the preliminary indications are pointing to arson. Three simultaneous fires in three different parts of the museum are very unlikely!
INNISHANNON RALLY A GREAT SUCCESS
June 5, 2011. Innishannon Rally started today and was a huge success. It was the best ever and it was simply impossible to photgraph the almost one thousand exhibits. Instead we did a representative collection.
To see the full collection of photos, click on "RALLIES" on the menu on left and then select "Innishannon 2011". Enjoy.
Meanwhile here are a few to whet your appetite.
NO RALLY WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT A THRESHING SECTION!
THIS WAS AN ABSOLUTELY SUPERB EXHIBIT!
LIKEWISE, A SMALL SELECTION OF THE TRACTORS!
A SMALL NUMBER OF TRUCKS WERE PRESENT INCLUDING THE BEAVER OF THE MUSEUM!
THERE WAS A GREAT COLLECTION OF SMALL ENGINES OF WHICH THESE ARE ONLY A FEW!
EVEN THE ANIMALS CAME IN DROVES - OR WAS IT FLOCKS?
ULSTERBUS 1961 ARRIVES
May 24, 2011. Baby Leopard 1961 arrived today.
The following are her details:
Registration Number: KOI 9961
Other Registrations Carried:
Chassis Make: Leyland
Chassis Model: Leopard
Chassis No.:
Body Make : Alexander
Body Model:
Body Number:
Engine: Leyland 680
Engine Number:
HP:150
Seating: B8F
Date service entry: .
Originally Delivered to: Ulsterbus
As Fleet No. 1961
Other Operators:
LEOPARD 1961 ARRIVES
24 May 2011.
Our latest arrival Leyland Leopard 1961.
Drivers Side View
Rear View
Inside Looking Back.
Inside looking Forward
Drivers Area
Instruments.
Switches.
Classic Leyland Dash
Side Panel.
Original Fleet Number.
BMMO 780GHA WITH ROGER BURDETT VISITS THE MUSEUM
April 15, 2011. We were delighted that Roger Burdett with his magnificent restored BMMO C5 and 20 guests visited the museum today. The following photos were taken during their visit.
780 GHA is one of a batch of 28 British & Midland Motor Omnibus Company built buses and first entered service in March 1959. It had a BMMO 8 litre engine driving through a four speed constant mesh gearbox and with disc brakes all round. The four speed box was subsequently replaced by a five speed.
She was sold out of service in 1971 and turned into a mobile caravan. It was then bought for preservation in mid-1998. It passed to Roger Burdett in 2004 who has done a magnificent job on it.
Three generations - 1959, 1976, 1990.
A magnificent machine approaching the depot.
Nearer the depot
Original owner plate.
Inside looking back.
Inside Looking forward.
Instrument panel
Switch panel closeup with modern digital tacho!
Indicator with Original radio.
Roger and Partner with 780 GHA.
The group.
ULSTERBUS 1400 ARRIVES
April 16, 2011. Tiger 1400 arrived at the depot today and was delivered by Ross Aitken and Malcolm Carter. She is the new queen of the fleet.
The following are her details:
Registration Number: Previously WXI 1400 and currently DFZ 8200
Chassis Make: Leyland
Chassis Model: Tiger
Chassis No.: TR00
Body Make : Alexander Belfast
Body Model: Q
Body Number:
Engine: Volvo
HP:
Seating: B53F
Date service entry: 1994
DO NOT USE FIREFOX BROWSER.
March 12 2010. We have discovered that this site does not open properly with Firexfox Browser. We are working on the problem but apart from knowing that it has to do with the table arrangement, we have not a clue. IN THE MEANTIME ONLY USE INTERNET EXPLORER.
UPDATED ON 23 OCT 2011 at 186,156