Messages

i agree about the 11 drivers, theres 1 who is totally sound, but the rest play silly buggers etc, racing and cutting up to get the passengers. Its a shame as apart from the 1 chap, the 32/33 service regular drivers are brilliant. I see they have 2 low floor vehicles now, but this company could do with a uniform livery, and uniforming the drivers. Another problem is the use of foreign drivers, who don't speak english etc - how do they read running boards and road signs? Ive always wondered that one

1690 1691 1692 1687 all seen in wn bus station today

or even clean them properly

saw 1690 heading down park lane today

saw 1670 + 1692 i think at wn

that was my point regarding the refurb etc. ive heard of dealers who cant shift excels breaking them for spares, in particular the engine to ressurect darts which are worth more in value and demand. i was suprised that the excels came back to use from d&g in the first place. problem now is, like u say, excels worth nowt. its interesting that operators like blackpool transport are re-engineering theirs etc. i wonder if that has improved them. when i was at choice years ago, r987ewu was the least popular one.

thanks jack. it seems a bit daft going to the expense of refurbing 6743 then parking it up due to a blown engine. after all im sure they use similar engines to a dart. shame about the ex heartlands dart, as it looks more modern with its facelifted front.

R742BUJ has been "recycled" i remember r987ewu on ebay with a knackered gearbox, with a donor bus available. i saw s2cla today on 10's. wasnt r743buj the excel that was refurbed inside and out when it came back from stoke? what happened with s3cla, and r741/4buj?
also, is the ex hartlands dart t102kgp i think, going to enter service?

i know the r741-44 buj excels were new for 171, but s2/3 cla was bought for 510

i wonder if they will see off the excels well the remaining operational 1 at least. i heard the other remaining one is very ill.

since the excels started disappearing, their place on the 11's has been cascaded by mercs and spectras. Ive seen at least 3 on there a lot of the time, and even occasionally see a b7rle on there! It isnt uncommon now to find a spectra on the 32/33 either.

well, 4320 is still in the same state as the photo, and was seen heading uptowards wolverhampton this morning

r133rly with select buses

there was 1661 a merc on the no.1 today. very unusual to see a single decker on there.

was on 4552 earlier, and that sounds more beefy than my trip home, same driver but 4305 on return to dudley. This seemed to rev higher and not change as much. I take it then this one 4305 has a voith box.

what is the excels fate? i was suprised to see some ex nxwm solos with banga.