On 1 August 2023, I visited Várpalota in Veszprém County for the first time in my life. Obviously, the purpose was to capture the Ikarus buses on the streets of the town. Apart from Sopron and Győr, Várpalota was already the only place in Hungary with Ikarus 280s still in service, three to be precise. However, only one of them, the HPR-617 ran that day, and neither the GMY-382 or the newly transferred LOC-730. There was, however, the Ikarus C80 with the registration number JOU-730 in service. I spent most of the day filming these two buses, which turned out to be a good decision in the sense that both have since been taken out of service. The JOU-730 was taken out of service at the end of August 2023 and the HPR-617 on 12 April 2024. Of course, I also filmed the Ikarus buses in addition to them, so some EAGs and C56s can be seen in the video.
The two articulated Ikarus buses were mostly running between Várpalota and Pétfürdő, so I also made a trip to Pétfürdő, with the JOU on the way there and the HPR on the way back. In the afternoon, however, the HPR-617 was running inside Várpalota, on the local line 10, which I liked the most. From Miskolc, the housing estates reminded me of Komlóstető, while the area of detached houses above reminded me of Berekalja or Bábonyi-bérc. It was a wonderful experience to film such a beautiful Ikarus 280 in these places. Unfortunately, it only did a few laps there.
By the end of the day, the stormy weather arrived, with heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. Of course, this didn't deter me from filming, which meant I got a cold. Anyway, it was a great day :)
Content:
0:00 Outside filming in Várpalota
1:23 JOU-730 - Short riding scene
2:40 Outside filming in Pétfürdő
5:13 HPR-617 - Short riding scene
6:05 Outside filming in Várpalota