I really get annoyed when I read postings like this...

Alan, if you dont like what KTM or Grimes is doing, then why are you even visiting this site??? I would also be interested in seeing what work Alan has done, and indeed what bus he owns... because talk is cheap, pictures speak for themselves.

Everyone has their way of doing things, be it the right way or the wrong way, you wont please everyone. And whilst I have been highly critical and questionable of some of the KTM's actions and purchases in the past, at the end of the day it really is no one else's business but their own.

I can see the KTM's point as to why they are preserving so many vehicles - the bottom line is that it doesnt matter if they stay the way they are for the next 20 years, the fact of the matter is that they are at least preserved, so that in 15 or 20 years time someone will at least have a chance at preserving a KC or a CVH if they want to. If this happenned 30 years ago with the R's...?? it doesn't even bear thinking about! It doesnt matter how many there are preserved or what state they're in, what matters is that they are survivors and are there for the future.

However, the question DOES have to be asked... at what point does a yard of preserved buses that are in sound mechanical and body condition become a scrapyard full of hulks with no engines, windows, seats or even wheels in some cases! Whilst you do need 'donor' vehicles you have to draw the line somewhere... if you have 14 KC's why do you need 3 or 4 hulks... will 14 KC's EVER be restored??

I tend to agree with Alan's point that the amount of Leyland Nationals preserved by KTM is excessive, but as I am not a particular fan of these buses then I am bound to be a bit biased. But still, they all have their part in telling the story and have as much signifigance and importance as an Irish vehicle. As said with the KC's, they are preserved and are there for whoever wants to take them on as a restoration.

And might I add that as a private preservationist myself (totally independent of any museum) who has spent the last 18 months working on various projects I would not tolerate ANY outsider telling me what I should or shouldn't do with my collection, especially when they have neither helped with the restoration or even put any money towards it.

So in short, if you dont like what someones doing, tough luck. Deal with it. As for KTM if you dont like them, ignore them! Unless you are directly affected by their actions or are directly involved with their organisation (which for the record I am not either directly, or indirectly) then you have no right to criticise anyone, no matter who they are.

So Alan, lets see YOUR restoration project, because I am very interested in seeing it and I am sure everyone else is as well. I have KC48 restored as best I can to its Dublin Bus livery... and I am currently working on two others, so lets see yours!