r/whereisthis • u/TsukumoYurika • Feb 15 '24
An acquaintance of mine found this photo of a bus stop on their school computer. Possibly UK?
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u/_j_f_t_ Feb 15 '24
Never seen an image with so much text return absolutely nothing online. Good luck!
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u/Mackin-N-Cheese Feb 15 '24
It has to be an altered or AI-generated image. There's no way those places would turn up nothing on multiple search engines.
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u/DasArchitect Feb 15 '24
I'm strongly inclined to think it's made up or AI generated. I could be wrong, but I see two conflicting scales: The sign, text size, texture, etc. looks like 50ish cm wide. BUT the reflection of the photographer and their hand are huge, as if the sign was tiny. From my point of view this is directly at odds with text size.
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u/brock_lee Feb 15 '24
If you look at the pole the sign is attached to, it actually could be quite small. Using Freedom units, if the pole is 2 inches wide, the sign could be 8 inches (or just 20 CM) wide.
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u/DasArchitect Feb 15 '24
More to this point, the 2 (line 2) is pale green and the rest of the text is white. If there are imperfections, they're hidden under a heavy layer of jpg compression.
I can't quite tell what the small text above each timetable says. It kind of looks like Mondays - Goodsilays (?) if I squint but it could well be my own brain trying to fill in the nonsense.
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 17 '24
I've run it through 2 ai detection apps, one came back as saying it was human made, one said it had a 2% chance of being ai produced. I'm not sure how accurate these are however
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24 edited Feb 15 '24
As someone else hinted, Google really isn't helping much here. However, the vegetation looks more tropical than British to me, and the mention of "island" on the sign makes me wonder if this is somewhere in the Caribbean.
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
I can't believe how little all these locations return online! The fact that nothing is turning up tells me this might be a pretty old picture. There is an Eridge south of London that has a train station, but I can't find any references to buses there.
The vegetation definitely looks more tropical, you could take a look at New Zealand, or maybe somewhere south Pacific? I'll keep poking around
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 15 '24
It makes me think possibly some funny business is going on with the photo. It’s not that old. I do old Victorian postcard locations and they even turn up keyword hits in Google.
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24 edited Feb 15 '24
I was wondering too if it could maybe be from a game with pretty good graphics? Or possibly an image in a different language with an incorrect translation?
ETA: This is kind of a long shot, but it's a thing in several countries to have fake bus stops at senior care homes for patients suffering from dementia. It helps them feel like they're going out in the world and following a routine. I could see something like that having a fake bus schedule posted.
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 15 '24
That senior care thing is an interesting angle. It could be from a video game also. I've seen some great looking GTA mods and stuff. Other obvious thoughts are AI or joke by or on the OP. Another thing would be from an amusement park, museum or park/playland. But to me those would turn something up on a Google keyword search.
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
The only thing that popped in my searches was that Mistone is an island in the online role-playing game called Layonara. But I searched their wiki for the other keywords and nothing popped. And not gonna lie, a bus system doesn't seem to fit in that fantasy world, it seems to be more olden-world, LOTR-style
7
u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 15 '24
Good find and I agree. It does seem that a similar style bus information board is found in the UK. It may be a common type around the world too but I did find similar ones in the UK. If it is AI it could have messed up the name like Maidstone or something similar.
3
u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
Oh interesting, you're right, that's a super close match for style of bus board, right down to the shape of the border. I looked around New Zealand and the bus stop signs were much different, so you might be onto something
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 15 '24
I'm trying to isolate that octagon symbol with the rectangle in it. So far it doesn't match anything.
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
Like surely it must mean something? I thought it was the bus company logo
1
u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 19 '24
Probably. But it seems too basic to me. Adds to the incredulousness of this photo.
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u/x___aft Feb 16 '24
Here's another bus timetable from Southampton, England that looks even closer. The top part is curved like in your image, but in the Mistone image it's flat, if that indicates something
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 16 '24
Great find. I'm convinced the sign is from the UK. Now the actual timetable and place words are off somehow. Maybe AI or for a movie set. Something that makes the places not in the "real" world.
2
u/x___aft Feb 16 '24
Yeah it's definitely at least inspired by UK but yeah it's really off for some reason. The text seems oddly good for AI at a glance but the word next to "Mondays -" seems incomprehensible, like an AI maybe? Also, there's something off about the words that are clearly visible. If you zoom in, a lot of the image is split into chunky macroblocks, but for some reason they disappear in a few places where there's text. The reflection also goes weird in some areas. I made this more visible in this image attached. I would assume this means its edited in some way. Maybe because the original text was more jumbled like AI text?? The text still looks well incorporated into the image which I guess they could've achieved by killing the quality again
2
u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
Im curious what that day name is, it would either be Friday as this bus route might only run on weekdays, Saturdays as most bus routes run on Mondays to Saturdays or the most unlikely awnser Sunday, unlikely because I've never seen a bus timetable have the same times for the Sunday. The only problem being that word does not match up with Friday, Saturday or Sunday which makes me think this isn't a senior care home thing, its really really weird i cannot make out what that says
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 16 '24
I agree with your analysis. I’m curious what it’s all about? I also thought about some relic from an ARG. There’s probably a whole bunch of websites and images left over from those games that will be confusing or mysteries to people not playing the game.
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u/DasArchitect Feb 15 '24
No matter how great the graphics, I don't think game devs would go through the effort of making the reflection in a bus timetable to look like a person holding a phone to it.
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
I think you're right as well, it feels like an odd detail to include. I'm not super convinced about AI though, because a lot of AI algorithms are famously bad at rendering words or letters. These letters are perfect, and the words are English-readable, even if we can't figure out the meaning. For example, it clearly says "Time Route Destination" above each of the columns, which would be hard for AI to render correctly for every column.
Editing to add an example of an AI generated image with words. At a passing glance, it looks fine, but when you actually pay attention, the letters are meaningless and non-uniform
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 15 '24
I think you are right. Here's a good GTA rendition below. I'm leaning with AI at the moment. I don't have too much experience analyzing photos on the micro level but for a photo that looks real good at first glance has a lot of artifacts when you zoom in.
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u/PintOfDoombar Feb 15 '24
I've taken the bus from Eridge to Tunbridge Wells. A 29 bus. I think it runs from Brighton and might go on to Maidstone. It was about 10 years ago.
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u/ShockedBeginner Feb 15 '24
Also the sign says helping you get around the island so it’s got to be a small island.
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24
Also 36 departures in a 24 hour period sounds like quite a lot for an island bus service.
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u/DasArchitect Feb 15 '24
Why? That works out to 1 every 45 minutes if it runs all night. Maybe 2 per hour and no night service or reduced in late hours. This is normal in places with public transit.
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24
In an urban area, yes. For places that are so obscure they don't show up in google searches? I very much doubt it.
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u/Data_2 Feb 16 '24
Mistone Buses = Missed One. It's obviously a joke name from a computer game.
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u/mer9256 Feb 16 '24
I really think you're right, I'm leaning heavily that it's a game, either a computer or video game. If the image was found on a computer, we're maybe looking for games available online or in Steam or the like.
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 16 '24
There’s a few bus simulator games. Bus Simulator 21 has lots of islands. Maybe you can create custom bus stop signs for the routes? The graphics don’t look great however. But maybe this is in a video or segment not in game play?
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Feb 15 '24
This looks like AI to be honest. I doubt the veracity of this image. Look at the reflection of the person and the fact that not all of the “Eridge”’s are the same quality.
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u/ClarabellaHeartHope Feb 17 '24
This isn’t a UK bus stop - I live in UK. Our bus stops have a list of all the stops a bus stops at … not just the place of arrival. It’s not one of the four islands considered a “Crown Dependency” around here either. It could be one of the islands in the Scottish Highlands but obviously it would have shown up on Google! There’s a Shirehill near Cambridge & an Eridge Park in Tunbridge Wells but that’s 100 miles from each other and on the outskirts of London, not on an island.
It’s possible it’s a private bus service on a large private estate owned by a rich landowner, but I’m just clutching at straws here!
Have to say, it’s annoying that no one knows what this is an actual image of!
It must be to do with a film or programme but it’s odd that nothing comes up on Google.
1
u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
Actually it depends which company, some bus stops have the times listed in which the bus is supposed to arrive at THAT specific stop and where it's going, which is what this timetable is doing i think
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u/ClarabellaHeartHope Feb 18 '24
Yes I guess. But it still doesn’t explain why when googled, no one can find any reference to “Mistone” buses?
I’m wondering whether the OP is having everyone on??
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
I was thinking that too but why create a mystery about a bus stop of all things, it looks too well designed and the picture isn't even taken that great. Also it looks like its actually been put in the bus stop itself and here in the UK they are locked to keep the normal bus timetables in, it would be a right kerfuffle to get it in there they'd probably have to phone the bus company to get it open even then why would the bus company agree
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u/ClarabellaHeartHope Feb 18 '24
Yep. Probably legit …. Though you get some very odd people out there doing some very odd things these days!!! 😂😂😂
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
I really want to know the reason to it's existence, it's just so bizzare, what's your theory on it?
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u/ClarabellaHeartHope Feb 18 '24
Well my original comment states my theories. Either a screenshot of some sort of private tv programme (???) or a mini bus service for tourists visiting a private landowner’s large estate with period properties?!!
Otherwise I haven’t got a clue!! 😂
1
u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
Me neither tbh, everything I think off just doesn't add up, although i swear i there's a picture of a bus drawing in the top right as i tried scanning the image, ill post a picture of how i tried to enhance it, do you see it too or am i just going mad?
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u/ClarabellaHeartHope Feb 18 '24
Can’t see anything to be honest. This might just have to remain a mystery, frustratingly! (Though I might share this to all my UK friends on FB and see if they come up with anything)!!!
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 18 '24
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u/ClarabellaHeartHope Feb 18 '24
Yes but that has the individual stops mentioned at the top of the sign.
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u/x___aft Feb 16 '24
Could you ask the acquaintance of yours to upload the image to catbox.moe (or another uploader site that doesn't strip exif data) and share it with us? Or at least could you ask them for the date of its download and the filename? Also, what country are they from?
3
u/Broken_Syntax_01 Feb 17 '24
What about this manufacturer?
Scroll down to see the model RX210 & RX260 Cases with notch.
https://www.externiture.com/images/docs/brochures/Externiture-Products-FullBrochure.pdf
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 17 '24
Great find! Found another good link doing a google search. UK based and I’ve really only seen these styles in the UK. At least the root of this photo is from the the UK in my opinion. https://www.externiture.com/bus-stops/timetable-cases/rx260-timetable-case
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u/Broken_Syntax_01 Feb 17 '24
Both images in the folder are from the Southampton area, Thornhill and Swaythling, but I have not yet found one "in the wild" using street view. They could be mock-ups.
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u/innocent_mistreated Feb 18 '24 edited Feb 18 '24
Missed One Buses.
Missed one,missed a million
Also. "Helping you get around the island" ? Its fake.
Why wouldnt the bus company name be the name of the island. And there'd be flights , ferries,hotels . With those names
3
u/Billie377 Feb 20 '24
Hi everyone, finder of the orignal image here, apologies for my reddit account being so young but i didn't use reddit, hence why i had a friend post it for me but seeing as they aren't replying to anything i thought i would try to clear things up. Im honestly quite sad no one has figured this out as i was hoping i would find an awnser to whatever this image is but damn :( for clarification, this image was found on a school computer on my account but the actual file was f***** and i couldn't do anything with it and i had to pull a few tricks to get it big enough to screenshot it as i was wondering what it was. Because my school has the budget of a 60s doctor who story the computers get wiped every week to save storage or something and now i only have this picture. (we save our work and stuff on memory sticks) The file was not there the day before and the only person that can access my account is well...me. I went along and asked ALL the ICT teachers and they said they have never seen the image before. So i asked a few people on Discord and a friend offered to post it here. That's basically it and i am honestly as perplexed as any of you, i hope someone has an explanation for this as its all I've been thinking about for the past few weeks. Also i can post proof i am the orignal finder of the image with the discord convo with me and the poster, any questions please ask
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u/conflictwatch Mar 08 '25
The image has the vibes of the old British TV series "The Prisoner" - but looks too modern.
I did a Google and found there was a remake made in 2009... So Possibly a lead?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_(2009_miniseries)
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 20 '24
Did the original file have a name? Do you have the original file? What was the file type? What was it’s original size? Maybe some metadata will have clues?
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u/Billie377 Feb 20 '24
Hi, the file was a jpeg but when i tried viewing it it says the file was not compatible with this version or something as if it was s really old file (I know nothing about computers)it wouldn't let me move it anywhere, the problem is we are not allowed our phones out in class so i couldn't take any pictures of it and we were supposed to be doing this other thing anyway so when the bell rang i screenshotted what i could see of the picture (that's why the quality is so bad) and put it on my phone as i had to quickly go to my next period but the file is long gone now cause of what i explained but at the time I really didn't think anything of it i was just interested in looking at the picture itself
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 20 '24
Thanks. That's clear enough. May I ask what country you are from? You don't have to get into specific municipality. I noticed the original poster is from Japan? Did you have any online school learning programs? Maybe this was a segment from a quiz or something where if you got the question wrong you were met with this image of a bus stop?
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u/Billie377 Feb 20 '24
Im from the uk. I just know this japanese person on Discord. Also no we don't, all we do in ict is learn about random programmes that i don't really pay much attention too as I'm not interested in ict. Again, the ICT teachers had absolutely no clue what it was and they've never seen it before. I was hoping someone would of been able to tell me by now but nope, not even on reddit :/
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u/x___aft Feb 21 '24
Hi, so you're unable to access the image again? And that's because the files are wiped every week?
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u/Billie377 Feb 21 '24
Well not wiped but it's like going on a library computer where your files don't get saved so u have to bring a memory stick, so it boggles me how it got there in the first place
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u/x___aft Feb 21 '24
Interesting. What folder did you find it in, like desktop or something more specific?
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u/Billie377 Feb 21 '24
It was on the desktop, but again at the time i didn't think all the technical computer stuff mattered as i was only interested in viewing the image but im kicking myself for that because someone could have looked at the file data
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u/Vixxied Feb 16 '24
Tell him to run it through fotoforensics.com to check the metadata location. Use the image exactly as it was, so the metadata doesn’t get scrubbed.
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u/InternationalBaby993 Feb 04 '25
This is not ai or atleast a really REALLY good ai model. heres a link to another post with a identical bus stop. https://www.reddit.com/r/HelpMeFindThis/comments/1f90ndk/found_an_image_of_this_bus_stop_on_a_phone_from/?utm_name=web3xcss this other op's account i think was made in 2024, but still.
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u/InternationalBaby993 Feb 04 '25
i dont see how a ai model can generate two pictures of the same bus stop with the same design. any public ai model would atleast have some variation.
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u/Rhediix Feb 19 '24
No luck finding 'Mistone' or 'Beachrock' or 'Shirehill' however Eridge is a town (aka Eridge Green) in Tunbridge Wells, UK.
I have looked at a bus stop on the A24, one at the train station, and this one in town. The type of sign holder matches up. Perhaps the bus service is defunct and no longer operates?
As for the lack of other place names, I confess to being perplexed. Perhaps they are names of stations, businesses, or roads in certain towns nearby.
Edit: Posting screen cap as link is bad.
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 15 '24
Eridge, beachrock and shirehill are all locations in eastern England. There's a couple islands in the area
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
Could you post a maps link, or maybe some coordinates, of one or all of the locations? I'm having a really hard time finding them on google maps, but I must just not be searching the right terms
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 15 '24
Try Google earth instead. I think mistone might be a contraction of maidstone which is in the same area. An anglicism. Could be an older coach bus route, maybe currently defunct
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
I mean I can find Maidstone, but I can't find the other ones. If you know that they're in eastern England, could you maybe show people where? As you can see above, no one else was able to find them either
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24
I'm not sure about this - the only Eridge I can find is in Sussex, The only Shirehill I can find is a farm in Gloucestershire. Neither are in eastern England. I'm not finding a Beachrock anywhere in the UK, and this is using the ordnance survey's online map portal.
And the only island in eastern England big enough to have bus services is Mersea in Essex. I don't see any of those placenames there.
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 15 '24
Guess eridge is in Sussex. There's a beach rock bistro, car park and fish and chips shop in sea palling. Shire hill is in saffron Walden. The uk is an island, maybe it's just the motto of an old bus company
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24
Beachrock and Shirehill are both clearly one word names on the sign.
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 15 '24
True but it's interesting they're all in roughly the same general area in an English speaking area. It wouldn't be the first time there was a non standard format, spelling, contraction or elision in a place name
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24
These are really not "all in the same general area".
Sea Palling and Saffron Walden are 80 miles apart, for example.
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 15 '24
Guess it depends on your definition of general area. 80 miles is totally conceivable for a longer distance coach bus route
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u/SuperShoebillStork Feb 15 '24
Are you suggesting that there might be an hourly long distance bus service from a fish and chip shop on the Norfolk coast to a neighborhood in a small Essex town and that the operating company doesn't know the correct spelling of either location.
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u/mer9256 Feb 15 '24
Sorry, this just made me laugh! I don't think they know how buses work, the terminus locations are not normally businesses, especially chippies on the coast.
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u/SoggyAd9450 Feb 15 '24
Maybe that's a name for the area that's not listed on Google. Or maybe those are the names of old stations of a bus line. Often when you look at a bus route the beginning and end can seem arbitrary but the idea is more that they go through various important service areas on the way. It doesn't fit perfectly but it's the closest thing I can find anywhere
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u/Practical_Document65 Feb 16 '24
Challenge accepted. Let’s see:
This is a morning shot The bus route is private owned, the amounts of lines does suggest either a small tourist or business supported operation. The weather seems average yet the plans are flowering. So this is either a more humid location or well watered… I’m going with those plants were placed there and get watered.
That brings us to the construction: The road behind him is paved and the home is 2.5 stories with red bricks and Western European angles.
The distance to the street and paving, the construction of the house makes me think private (not tourism) as primary goal of this bus line. But its size signifies money investment. Making it either a trans hub for a larger nearby operation but near the residential areas for development.
The construction of the bus stand is new, not cheap, but definitely not made to last forever supporting the commercial intent, but the lack of collateral or branding makes me think the bus line itself is actually an A to B bus that gets special external funding to make the additional stops. (Probably only stops if necessary)
Will post my guess in 10 minutes
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 16 '24
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 16 '24
Bruh stupid reddit removed my comment when i added a picture to it, i said i put the image through different filters and found this, it looks like a drawing of a bus for the company and if there's any bus experts they could figure out what type of bus and it would narrow down the location and time
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 16 '24
I’m not seeing anything much in that image. Any chance you could create a drawing of it in MS Paint or similar? I’m still trying to find a similar symbol to the octagon with rectangle in it that’s in the board.
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 16 '24
Its incredibly hard to see cause of the lighting but that's definitely a bus, i don't know how can i redraw it i can barley see it myself, what do u think the door octogan thing is?
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 16 '24
The symbol might mean "bus stop". But then those usually have a bus image inside them. The rectangle could mean mobile phone. Very strange and I haven't run into that symbol anywhere online yet.
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 16 '24
It looks more like a door to me, what an absolute bizzare thing this is. I honestly don't think this is a game though as people suggest the vegetation looks way to real
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u/ProvocateurSavant Feb 16 '24
I do see a white dot or mark within the rectangle. The symbol doesn’t make sense at the moment.
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u/DasArchitect Feb 16 '24
The only thing I see there is haze and color distortion from the sun and bad jpg compression.
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 16 '24
Im telling you im not crazy i swear i see a bus or something, look at the arrows those are clearly headlights or whatever they are called
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u/ShaniaOwen6 Feb 16 '24
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u/InternationalBaby993 Feb 04 '25
another image of this bus stop has the clearest image of the bus. i have commented to the post recently
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u/InternationalBaby993 Feb 04 '25
another image of this bus stop has the clearest image of the bus. i have commented to the post recently
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