Round Trips

[Kevin]

@Kevin was it a pointer or a Marshall that you had no the 246?

Marshall

[the trainbasher]

@Kevin was it a pointer or a Marshall that you had no the 246?

Marshall

Can't beat bench seats...

[Liberator9]

Did this a few weeks ago and worked out pretty well

71 - Solihull to Tile Cross
17 - Tile Cross to Birmingham - 1796
99 - Birmingham to Q.E/University Hospital - 808 (a very good Enviro 200 - actually starting to like them ;) )
84 - Q.E/University to Hawkesley  (great route to ride I found)
35 - Hawkesley to Birmingham - 4722
957 - Birmingham to Solihull - 4905
S2 - Solihull to Widney - YJ10MFY

[John]

Mine today

997 Beeches Road - Walsall
529 Walsall - Wolverhampton - 4603
255 Wolverhampton - Merry Hill - 4312
53 Merry Hill - West Brom - 4198
5 West Brom - Queslett - 4114
997 - Queslett - Beeches Road - 4770

All for free as well  :D

[Sh4318]

This is probably the biggest one I've done:

09:46 Galton Bridge to Wolverhampton, London Midland, 323217
10:15 Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly, CrossCountry, Voyager
11:46 Manchester Piccadilly to Deansgate, First Transpennine Express, Class 185
Deansgate to Piccadilly Gardens, Stagecoach, X50, Enviro 400
Piccadilly Gardens to Trafford Centre, Stagecoach, X50, Enviro 400
Trafford Centre to Piccadilly Gardens, Stagecoach, 250, Enviro 400
Piccadilly Gardens to Wilmslow Road, Stagecoach, 142 (Magic Bus), Trident 2
Wilmslow Road to Piccadilly Gardens, Stagecoach, 142 (Magic Bus), Optare Spectra
Piccadilly Station to Oxford Street, Metroshuttle, 3, Solo Hybrid
Oxford Street to Victoria Station, Metroshuttle, 2, Solo Hybrid
18:45 Manchester Victoria to Salford Central, Northern Rail, 150118 + 156
Salford to Piccadilly Station, Metroshuttle, 1, Solo Hybrid
19:27 Manchester Piccadilly to Wolverhampton, CrossCountry, 220 004
20:49 Wolverhampton to Smethwick Galton Bridge, London Midland, 323203

Just to say, Manchester Magic Bus is ridiculous, there's like a bus every second on the 142, and that's not an exaggeration, the Wilmslow Road on a whole has an unbelievably high amount of buses per hour, with the 42 (Stagecoach and First), 43, 142, 143

[nitromatt1]

@Sh4318 how much did that all cost you?

[Sh4318]

@Sh4318 how much did that all cost you?

Off-Peak return from Smethwick Galton Bridge to Manchester Piccadilly (with 16-25 railcard) - £23.35
Off-Peak single from Manchester Piccadilly to Deansgate (with railcard) - £1
Off-Peak single from Manchester Victoria to Salford Central (with railcard) - £1
Stagecoach dayrider - £4
Just under £30 all together :)

I think you'd like Magic Bus (routes 142/143) @Matt, full of Euro 2 ALX/Tridents, East Lancs Lolynes, Spectras and Plaxton Presidents

[the trainbasher]

Last friday

226   1521    Home   to   Merry Hill, Bus Station
X26   1511      Merry Hill, Bus Station   to   Dudley, Bus Station
246   4200      Dudley, Bus Station   to   Russells Hall, Hospital
310   2257      Russells Hall, Hospital   to   Dudley, Bus Station
1   5517      Dudley, Bus Station   to   Dudley, Coronation Gardens/Council House
82      X503WGR   Dudley, Coronation Gardens/Council House   to   Loxdale, Metro Station
82   555      Loxdale, Metro Station   to   Bilston, Bus Station
905      Y665NLO   Bilston, Bus Station   to   Parkfield, Birmingham New Road/Parkfield Road
81   1673      Parkfield, Birmingham New Road/Parkfield Road   to   Wolverhampton, Bus Station
11      J517GCD   Wolverhampton, Bus Station   to   Wolverhampton, Stafford Street/University
878   6   Y705TGH   Wolverhampton, Stafford Street/University   to   Oxley, Stafford Road/Lodge Road
4   2021      Oxley, Stafford Road/Lodge Road   to   Dunstall, Stafford Road/Gorsebrook Road
32   4013      Dunstall, Stafford Road/Gorsebrook Road   to   Dunstall, Lower Stafford Street/Five Ways
32      Y131GBO   Dunstall, Lower Stafford Street/Five Ways   to   Wolverhampton, Stafford Street/University
2   2025      Wolverhampton, Stafford Street/University   to   Wolverhampton, Bus Station
126   4551      Wolverhampton, Bus Station   to   Dudley, Bus Station
X96   2096      Dudley, Bus Station   to   Merry Hill, Bus Station
226   20867      Merry Hill, Bus Station   to   Home

[nitromatt1]

@Sh4318 sounds right up my street!

[nitromatt1]

Planning to attempt the following round trip at some point in my upcoming holiday in Pembrokeshire.

08:40 service 381 Tenby - Narberth arriving 09:26 (Silcox)
09:26 service 322 Narberth - Carmarthen arriving 10:03 (Silcox)
10:15 service 40C Carmarthen - Aberystwyth arriving 12:26 (First Cymru)
13:10 service X50 Aberystwyth - Cardigan arriving 14:54 (Richards)
15:00 service 412 Cardigan - Fishguard arriving 15:40 (Richards)
16:00 service 404 "Strumble Shuttle" Fishguard - St Davids arriving 17:38 (Richards)
18:00 service 411 St Davids - Haverfordwest arriving 18:40 (Richards)
18:45 service 381 Haverfordwest - Tenby arriving 19:55 (Silcox)

It's an epic trip with some amazing routes but it all hinges on the 0 min connection at Narberth!

On a side note, if anyone remembers seeing pictures on the news of a bus which had become trapped by the sea, well that was a Richards Enviro300 in Newgale on the 411 service.



EDIT: Just realised, if I catch the first 381 of the day at 0725, to Haverfordwest at 0840, I then have a 25 min changeover for the same 322, which sounds like a better option!

[j789]

The best one I did was to catch as many Metrobuses as possible in one day:

Did 103 to Brum
951 Brum to Walsall
351  Walsall to Cannock
351 Cannock to Walsall
529 Walsall to Wolverhampton
256 Wolves to Stourbridge
311 or 313 (cant remember) Stourbridge to Walsall
366 Walsall to Sutton
902 Sutton to Brum
10 Brum to home

Got Metros on every route except 311 and 10. Got lucky with 2887 being on the 529.

[Sh4318]

Mine today:
12:40 Galton Bridge to New St, London Midland, Class 350 (might have been 350123, don't remember)
13:04 New St to Coventry, CrossCountry, Voyager
Coventry Rail Station to Pool Meadow, National Express Coventry (NXC), 8, 4890
Pool Meadow to Tile Hill South, Torrington Avenue, NXC, 18, 4404
Tanyard Farm terminus to Pool Meadow, NXC, 6, 4206(?)
Hales Street to Willenhall, Remembrance Road, NXC, 13, 4216
Willenhall to Hales Street, Stagecoach, X16, Trident
Pool Meadow to Hampton-in-Arden, Diamond, 82, Centro
18:01 (arr 18:11, 10 mins late, due to train fault) Hampton-in-Arden to Birmingham International, London Midland, Class 350
18:17 Birmingham International to Lea Hall, London Midland, 323215
Lea Hall Rail Station to Birmingham Moor Street, National Express West Midlands, 59, 4441
19:24 Moor St to Snow Hill, London Midland, 172219 + 172343*
19:28 Snow Hill to Galton Bridge, London Midland, 172218 + 172335**

*the 19:24 was destined for Worcester Foregate Street, however, was terminated short at Birmingham Snow Hill due to a fault on the train, the train returned to Tyseley
**the 19:35 arrival at Snow Hill from Worcester Shrub Hill replaced the aforementioned train, this train usually runs empty to Tyseley LMD, however it will now replace the aforementioned train.

[nitromatt1]

My main aims over the weekend is to ride:

-Some of WB's new E200's
-A ride on a Solo at PB before they leave
-One of the ex WN B5's in service at BC

59 to Wolves
79 to West Brom
46 to Hamstead
654 to One Stop
952 etc to Birmingham
22 to Bartley Green
002 to Merry Hill
255 to Wolves
59 home? ;)

[Kevin]

My trip to Park Lane garage and back today..... The long way there and even longer way back...

Diamond 20607 - 16 - 09:08 Hamstead Village to town
NX B7TL no idea why I didn't even look at the fleetnumber - 89 - 09:50 city to Tat Bank
2080 - 120 - 10:35 Tat Bank to Dudley
2026 - 27 - 11:35 Dudley to Goldthorn Park
Diamond 20508 - 26A - 12:16 Goldthorn Park to Penn Road McDonalds
2001 - 2 - 12:38 McDonalds to Park Lane
...showed me face, saw people, saw buses...
Travel Express T580 JTD - 2 - back into wolves
Arriva 2414 - 10 - 13:50 Wolves to Perton
2020 - 10 - 14:42 back to Compton
508 - 62 - 15:01 Compton to Wolves
2006 - 4 - 15:40 Wolves to Pendeford
2006 (again) - 6 - 16:17 Pendeford to Whitmore Reans - Not gonna lie I wasn't expecting these two to interwork, thought it was just the 3 and 4 that did
5419 - 1 - 16:35ish Whitmore Reans into city
1775 - 89 - 17:08 Wolves to Bloxwich
Diamond 30409 - 301 - 17:42 Bloxwich to Walsall
819 - 45 - 17:52 (that was cutting it a bit fine...) Walsall to All Saints
819 (again - could have seen this coming and stayed on into West Brom) - 46 - All Saints to Hamstead

I have to say having a phone with internet connection and a live bus times app was an absolute blessing because beyond getting to Park Lane in the first place none of it was planned whatsoever

[CL]

My overly long journey for tomorrow. (Not timed. Starts as soon as I leave the house!)

PB16 - Hockley Circus to Hamstead Village
PB654 - Hamstead Village to Perry Barr (Hoping for a Solo)
PB907 - Perry Barr to New Oscott
WA77 - New Oscott to Walsall
WA39 - Walsall to Wolverhampton (Hoping for a B10L)
WN79 - Wolverhampton to West Bromwich (Hoping for a Spectra)
WB48 - West Bromwich to Bartley Green
BC23 - Bartley Green to Harborne (Unnecessary, but I want GOOD seats!)
**Lunch Break**
BC99 - Harborne to Halesowen Bus Station
PN241 - Halesowen to Dudley Bus Station
WB74 - Dudley Bus Station to Hockley Circus.

And so, if all goes to plan, my journey should last just under 6 and a half hours... Gonna be a busy day!