Tellings-Golden Miller MB Varios
Prepared on Notepad by Ian Smith,
This page created 18th November 2011.
New 8.5m Beaver2s: 701-708
Tellings-Golden Miller bought six long (8.5m) Beaver2-bodied Varios in the summer of 1997.
It had won Surrey tendered routes 501, 511 and 521 from Westlink, and then route 691 from Armchair,
and these were new rolling stock to equip the routes.
They were painted in company livery of white with a blue skirt and yellow band. The first four
(later 701-704) receive branding in red along the yellow band for the Esher-Surbiton-Kingston
corridor served by the 501/511/521.
By the spring of 2001 these six Varios were in regular use on the 514, 515 and 564. They were pulled off these routes suddenly when Tillingbourne and Surrey Buses failed, and were put to work on the suddenly expanded network until matters settled, when T-GM largely withdrew. T-GM's last new Vario came in January 1999, when the 471 (Kingston - Dittons - Hersham - Weybridge - Addlestone - New Haw - Woking Stn) was won. It was one of three buses for the route, the other two being Dart SLFs. All three were route-branded. These eight became 701-708, in line with their registration numbers, when the fleet was numbered in 2003. 701-6 were transferred to Dartford in August 2003 when Tellings-Golden Miller took over the Crystals operation. There they worked on the R2 (Petts Wood - Orpington - Biggin Hill Valley) and R8 (Orpington Stn - Green Street Green - Downe - Biggin Hill). The R2 was re-equipped with Caetano Nimbuses in June 2004, and 701-4 went into store at Fulwell. 701 and 703 went on to Byfleet, briefly, before joining 702, 704 at Burton's of Haverhill. 705, 706 stayed at Dartford a bit longer, although new Sprinters arrived for the R8 in July 2004.
Hired 8.5m Beaver2s: 748, 749, 754, 757In September 1998 T-GM took on the 81 (Woking - Barnsbury Estate), (along with Tillingbourne), and the 437 and 438. To service these routes T-GM hired four Beaver2s from Dawson Rentals. These had started out with Meteor Parking earlier in the year. Their 2003 numbers reflected the last two digits of their registrations.The 437 was lost in November 2002, but who gained it was not immediately apparent. Two of the Varios (748 and 754) were loaned to Countryliner to work the route, but it then passed on in December to Thames Bus of New Haw, who took on the loan of the two T-GM Varios, plus Vario 758. From the passenger point of view, no apparent change! The three Varios were returned to T-GM in September 2003, and 748 and 754 were then promptly loaned to Excel of Stansted for a short contract running the Braintree town service, where they stayed three months until December. An extra 8.5m Beaver2: 758A further Beaver2 was acquired in late 2001, sometime after the demise of Tillingbourne and the consequent extra work taken on by T-GM. It had originated with First Eastern Counties (2013), and had then been hired by Blue Triangle for the C10 in Central London. Connex had taken over the route, and the hire, but did not use this Vario in service. It became 758 when the fleet was numbered in 2003.T-GM takes over Crystals: two short Varios: 717, 718
In August 2003 T-GM took over the Crystals operation in Dartford. They took some of their fleet of buses,
including the Solos and a pair of Varios, but eschewed the older Mercedes midibuses.
The two Varios taken on were numbered 717 and 718. They were the shorter 7.8m variant.
They were supplemented on the main ex-Crystals routes by the transfer of 701-6 from Byfleet to Dartford.
717 was badly damaged in an accident in September 2004, and went to Fulwell for repair. It remerged in T-GM livery,
and went to their "country" operations at Byfleet. 718 was also accident damaged on Christmas Eve 2004,
but was quickly repaired and returned to service in red. But the ex-Crystals operation was sold to Metrobus in March 2005 - but not 718.
This Vario was transferred to join its companion at Byfleet. It was soon redundant there,
and left in May to join its erstwhile companions at Burtons of Haverhill.
Travel London takes over T-GMJune 2005 saw the Varios remaining with T-GM taken over by Travel London. Those ten were 705-708, 717, 748-9, 754/7/8. They were fairly quickly replaced, some going to Connex in Jersey, others being sold off by auction. They were joined briefly by a Vario imported from Travel West Midlands, but that too soon went. The remnant received new numbers in the MB series. One, MB5, previously 707, hung on as a crew relief bus, receiving further renumberings as 9902 and 8928 before disposal during 2008.
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