Paul Williams
@northwestern299a.bsky.social
Amateur historian, corporate communications leader, vintage bus owner, trustee at Museum of Transport Greater Manchester.
Got to the platform at Birmingham New St this evening to catch the train back to Lichfield. This was in the platform - but sadly not our train! It left a minute later, leaving us with rather more mundane transport home…
November 26, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Got to the platform at Birmingham New St this evening to catch the train back to Lichfield. This was in the platform - but sadly not our train! It left a minute later, leaving us with rather more mundane transport home…
My restoration project in a trade magazine. It’ll be a long and bumpy road to completion…
November 7, 2025 at 10:07 PM
My restoration project in a trade magazine. It’ll be a long and bumpy road to completion…
It's now safely stored 'somewhere in the north west' and it comes out to play from time to time. /Ends
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
It's now safely stored 'somewhere in the north west' and it comes out to play from time to time. /Ends
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...
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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...
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.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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.
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.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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.
2022: mobile, with an MOT but looking less than pristine.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
2022: mobile, with an MOT but looking less than pristine.
I haven't even mentioned a myriad of smaller jobs - refurbished steering wheel for just small example.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
I haven't even mentioned a myriad of smaller jobs - refurbished steering wheel for just small example.
New floor, refurbished seats back in, lot of new exterior work - looking a lot better.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
New floor, refurbished seats back in, lot of new exterior work - looking a lot better.
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...
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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...
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...
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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...
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!
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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!
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...
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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...
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!
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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!
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.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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.
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.
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.
October 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
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.
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.
Hmm, not my best. Too busy waving! Let me know if you want a copy.
October 17, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Hmm, not my best. Too busy waving! Let me know if you want a copy.
It’s a dreary and miserable day AGAIN. Then I look at this photo from February in Auckland, and I feel better 🙂
October 15, 2025 at 8:44 AM
It’s a dreary and miserable day AGAIN. Then I look at this photo from February in Auckland, and I feel better 🙂
If you think that's an impossible task for an amateur, this isn't my first rodeo...
October 14, 2025 at 10:32 AM
If you think that's an impossible task for an amateur, this isn't my first rodeo...
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?"
October 14, 2025 at 8:12 AM
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?"
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.
October 13, 2025 at 1:07 PM
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.
Oops, I did it again... I appear to have commenced a new restoration project. Should keep me busy for the next few years.
September 8, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Oops, I did it again... I appear to have commenced a new restoration project. Should keep me busy for the next few years.
More productive than watching 'Cash in the Attic'...
August 18, 2025 at 1:10 PM
More productive than watching 'Cash in the Attic'...
That moment when you’re working on a restoration project that’s years away from completion, and you’ve spent all day in the sweltering heat removing the dirt, oil and corruption of sixty years from various chassis components, and suddenly you pause and think ‘oh actually, that’s looking better’.
July 12, 2025 at 9:23 AM
That moment when you’re working on a restoration project that’s years away from completion, and you’ve spent all day in the sweltering heat removing the dirt, oil and corruption of sixty years from various chassis components, and suddenly you pause and think ‘oh actually, that’s looking better’.
Wow, what a day. As a raffle prize I got a morning on a @gwr.com class 800 simulator. Once the instructor realised I knew a little bit, he started throwing all kinds of trouble at me! A memorable day.
May 15, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Wow, what a day. As a raffle prize I got a morning on a @gwr.com class 800 simulator. Once the instructor realised I knew a little bit, he started throwing all kinds of trouble at me! A memorable day.