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Yeah, I've used for the 120 now for about 10 years, I've seen almost every type of bus on that service, apart from omnilinks, geminis and tridents. I remember when routes like 128, 129, and even the 258 had doubles

Since the 120 moved to Pensnett, West Bromwich only operate the 120 on Boxing Day. The one day of the year it gets treated to a Gemini!  ;D

Some of you grizzly old-timers might help out with this one...

When I was a small child, one of my earliest memories was being flung from the back-seat of a very old double-decker down the aisle, when it braked suddenly. Was there an old route 43, that ran from Nechells to Londonderry, via Smethwick, or did I imagine it all?

Nothing beats a little nostalgia! I grew up with the 120 route, and have seen it passed to and fro between garages, from Dudley, to Hockley, then West Bromwich and now Pensnett, that it almost brings a little tear to my eye now that it has finally received some new buses of its own! I've travelled on it with Metrobuses, Mercedes O405Ns, Volvo B10Ls, Volvo B6LEs, Plaxton Presidents and ALX400s, and yet I've not yet caught one of the new B7RLEs on it!

Talking about through bus services between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, how many people remember the 258?  It was introduced when Harts Hill garage was closed in about 1993 and ran via Bearwood, Blackheath, Merry Hill, Kingswinford, Swindon and Wombourne.  It was a half hourly service using Metrobuses, and replaced service 566 at the Wolverhampton end.  I can't remember which garage was operated it - it could have been jointly operated by Hockley and Wolverhampton. 

It lasted until 1996 when it was split at Merry Hill, with the 258 operating to Birmingham and the new 260 operating to Wolverhampton using brand-new route branded B10B's (I think 1378-1381).

I remember the old 258! I think it was operated by Wolverhampton garage, and it was a monster of a route! I recall catching it from Wolverhampton one day when I was bored, took about an hour to get to Merry Hill then another hour and a half to get to Birmingham!

Also the 'old' 2006 Solos don't have the onboard wi-fi which is supposedly the big selling point of the 'Solihull Signature' services.

My guess is it was curtailed due to reliability issues, and that no-one really used it to travel from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, or vice-versa.

That's why you get these surveyors from Centro on buses and at stations/interchange points at various times, asking where you travelled from and where you're travelling to. They use this information to determine passenger requirements.

As I keep telling that twit on the NXWM Facebook page, bus routes aren't provided for 'bus nerds' to enjoy, but to provide passengers with a means to get from A-Z, while making the operator money as a result. Hence why the 79 was curtailed from Wolverhampton to terminate at West Bromwich, and the 75 was introduced between Birmingham, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.

Of those that have already arrived in the West Midlands, 2 have gone to Acocks Green, 1 to Bordesley Green and the rest appear to be allocated to Perry Barr.

The one 'at Bordesley' is now at Perry Barr

Ah I see, your list still shows 7206 as allocated to BY, so I guess its not been updated yet!  :D

West Brom used to operate the 120 full-time previously.  ;D

Of those that have already arrived in the West Midlands, 2 have gone to Acocks Green, 1 to Bordesley Green and the rest appear to be allocated to Perry Barr.

Catch the 126 on a Sunday daytime, when there's no traffic about, and it cruises nicely along the Hagley Road and then up the Wolverhampton Road.  8)

It is probably a whole lot easier to program new routes into the LED display, rather than replace the old destination blinds.  ;)

Because there are several B10's that run the 37 alongside the omnilinks aswell as the the 5 and S1 so even though they are getting the new urban eclipses, which will mainly be used on the 71/72 will that leave enough buses for the routes that are currently B10 operated. It's why I wondered if they would transfer all the B10's as it would be ashame if they all left as they are the best SD in the fleet (in my opinion)!

Only the 71, 72 and S1 are B10L operated. And the S1 only uses one bus.

AG already gained two Omnilinks from Dundee, bringing the number of Omnilinks there up to 25, which should be more than enough to keep the 37 all-Omnilink operated. And AG have received extra Presidents from BC too, which they've been using to 'help-out' on peak-time workings of the 37, which is where you'd have seen B10Ls being used. The odd B10L has also appeared on other double-deck routes, like the 1, 5 and 31, but that was probably only while double-decks have been off for repaint/repair.

In the next week or so, when you get a chance to catch a B10L, do so, as it may be your last opportunity. I hope that some of them can be put to good use at other garages.

Local depot: Acocks Green

Favourite depot? I suppose it would be Acocks Green too, for no other reason than when one of their technicians found my mobile phone which I'd lost on one of their buses and contacted me (indirectly), invited me to the garage and personally handed it back to me!  A credit to NXWM's staff! His name was Dave, I recall.

In all honesty, I would like nothing more than to see this route get the 'flagship' upgrade it deserves.

This is now the only bus service that directly links Wolverhampton and Birmingham city centres. I would love to see new hybrid green buses operating this service, however due to the high frequency of the service, and thus the number of buses required to operate it, the cost would be too much.

The Outer Circle is a flagship service, if not THE flagship service of NXWM, due to it being reknown across Europe as the 'longest urban bus route' and the fact that it links so many suburbs around Birmingham, however it would be good if NXWM could lavish some attention to the 126 (and indeed also to the 900) as being 'inter-city' urban bus routes.

There's no immediate requirement to withdraw their B6LEs as they don't operate into Birmingham city centre, nor Merry Hill. So for now, they will remain, like WBs.