The following free bus services will operate to the gates of Himley Park for the Himley "Out Of This World" Spectacular event on Saturday 9th. Buses will stop at all stops along the routes.
249 Cradley - Himley: Cradley Interchange (Stand D) - High St, Quarry Bank - Waterfront East Car Park - Bank St, Brierley Hill - Pensnett Road - Commonside - High Oak - High St, Pensnett - Tansey Green Road - Stallings Lane - Wolverhampton Road - Himley.
Service 249 will operate every 15 minutes.
The first bus leaves Cradley at 17:30 and the last bus at 19:45.
The first bus leaves Himley at 18:00, there is a break of outbound service 19:30 - 21:00, then service resumes until the last bus departs at 23:00.
250 Dudley - Himley: Flood St - Martin Hill St - Vicar St - King St - Birmingham St - Fisher St - Castle St - The Broadway - Ednam Road - Priory St - Wolverhampton St - Himley Road - Cinder Road - Stallings Lane - Wolverhampton Road - Himley.
Service 250 will operate every 5 minutes.
The first bus leaves Dudley at 17:30 and the last bus at 20:00.
The first bus leaves Himley at 17:45, there is a break of outbound service 20:15 - 21:00, then service resumes until the last bus departs at 23:00.
251 Halesowen - Himley via Stourbridge: Halesowen Bus Station (Stand A) - Colley Gate - High St, Lye - Stourbridge Bus Station (Stand J, Vauxhall Road) - Audnam - Wordsley - Kingswinford - Moss Grove - Wolverhampton Road - Himley.
Service 251 will operate every 20 minutes.
The first bus leaves Halesowen at 17:05 (Stourbridge at 17:25) and the last bus at 19:45 (Stourbridge at 20:05).
The first bus leaves Himley at 17:40, there is a break of outbound service 19:45 - 21:00, then service resumes until the last bus departs at 23:00.
252 Coseley - Himley via Sedgley: Coseley Roseville Square - Castle St - Vicarage Road - Birmingham New Road - Sedgley Road - Tipton Road - Tipton St - Dudley St - Vicar St - Sedgley - Gospel End St - Cotwall End Road - Sandyfields Road - The Straits - Straits Road - Louise St - Abbey Road - Zoar Street - Gornal Wood Bus Station - Abbey Road - Bull St - Cinder Road - Stallings Lane - Wolverhampton Rd - Himley.
Service 252 will operate every 10 minutes.
The first bus leaves Coseley at 17:30 (Sedgley at 17:40) and the last bus at 19:50 (Sedgley at 20:00).
The first bus leaves Himley at 18:00, there is a break of outbound service 19:50 - 21:00, then service resumes until the last bus departs at 23:00.
253 Stourbridge - Himley, Shuttle Service: Stourbridge Bus Station (Stand J, Vauxhall Road) - Audnam - Wordsley - Kingswinford - Moss Grove - Wolverhampton Road - Himley.
Service 253 will operate every 10 minutes.
The first bus leaves Stourbridge at 17:00 and the last bus at 19:50.
The first bus leaves Himley at 17:20, there is a break of outbound service 19:30 - 21:00, then service resumes until the last bus departs at 23:00.
Some of the frequencies seem higher than previous years
Quote from: Winston on November 03, 2013, 11:23:21 PM
Some of the frequencies seem higher than previous years
Were the same services in place in previous years, Winston? What were their frequencies?
Which garage(s) operated the services?
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 03, 2013, 11:33:18 PM
Quote from: Winston on November 03, 2013, 11:23:21 PM
Some of the frequencies seem higher than previous years
Were the same services in place in previous years, Winston? What were their frequencies?
Which garage(s) operated the services?
It appears I'm wrong, it was the 5min frequency of the 250 that jumped out. But looking back at past years if always been that frequent......
2009
http://www.stourbridgenews.co.uk/news/4717531.Free_buses_to_Himley_bonfire_tonight/
2010
http://www.dudleynews.co.uk/news/local/8491277.Free_buses_to_firework_bash/
The services were originally always operated by WN with 53/04/54 plate Tridents, not sure about the last two years as haven't been
WN,WB and PE i believe operated it last year, WN with 126 branded tridents,WB with Geminis and PE with E400's
WB used to send a lot of Presidents at one point as well, it was an absolute joke trying to get up the Himley Road in one of them with an absolutely full load, as each bus is loaded by stewards/police.
From my recollection PE have only operated the one year so far, despite being by far the closest garage over not wanting to get their still relatively new Enviro's trashed, though they seem to be less worried now as they get older.
Will be there Saturday on the 250 so will report if I see anything unusual
Im sure pe just lent a few e400 to pl last year
Quote from: pensnettdriver on November 04, 2013, 09:02:38 AM
Im sure pe just lent a few e400 to pl last year
They were used by WB staff
Didn't a couple break down either 2011/12 and they borrowed our enviros ??
What is to stop people using the 251 as a free 9 service between Halesowen and Stourbridge?
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 04, 2013, 05:47:22 PM
What is to stop people using the 251 as a free 9 service between Halesowen and Stourbridge?
I suppose nothing although i would have thought the buses would be pick up only till arriving at Himley Hall.
Noted on the Himley services tonight
4115
4201
4248
4525
4539
4540
4542
4544
4556
4562
4563
4565
4575
4578
4586
4589
4596
4605
4705
4706
4707
So 14 WN Tridents (including 126 branded 4575 and 529 branded 4605), 4 WB Geminis (including Dudley Road branded 4705/6/7), 1 WB ALX400 (Soho Road branded 4248), 1 WB President and 1 PN Trident
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 09, 2013, 09:55:48 PM
Noted on the Himley services tonight
4115
4201
4248
4525
4539
4540
4542
4544
4556
4562
4563
4565
4575
4578
4586
4589
4596
4605
4705
4706
4707
So 14 WN Tridents (including 126 branded 4575 and 529 branded 4605), 4 WB Geminis (including Dudley Road branded 4705/6/7), 1 WB ALX400 (Soho Road branded 4248), 1 WB President and 1 PN Trident
Didn't this leave WN short of buses today? Surprised that WN didn't put out a Hybrid.
Quote from: Stuharris 6360 on November 09, 2013, 10:12:28 PM
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 09, 2013, 09:55:48 PM
Noted on the Himley services tonight
4115
4201
4248
4525
4539
4540
4542
4544
4556
4562
4563
4565
4575
4578
4586
4589
4596
4605
4705
4706
4707
So 14 WN Tridents (including 126 branded 4575 and 529 branded 4605), 4 WB Geminis (including Dudley Road branded 4705/6/7), 1 WB ALX400 (Soho Road branded 4248), 1 WB President and 1 PN Trident
Didn't this leave WN short of buses today? Surprised that WN didn't put out a Hybrid.
Services don't start until 5pm
Vast majority of 126's became B7 operated at around 5-6 ish and there were a couple of PE Enviro's out as well, a few buses were driven by inspectors in white shirts and what looked like engineers in orange coats, to cover and for the overtime I presume
Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on November 09, 2013, 11:01:20 PM
Vast majority of 126's became B7 operated at around 5-6 ish and there were a couple of PE Enviro's out as well, a few buses were driven by inspectors in white shirts and what looked like engineers in orange coats, to cover and for the overtime I presume
I saw mostly Tridents on the 126 at 8-9pm, only one B7
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 09, 2013, 11:28:43 PM
Quote from: wilmotm (Matt Wilmot) on November 09, 2013, 11:01:20 PM
Vast majority of 126's became B7 operated at around 5-6 ish and there were a couple of PE Enviro's out as well, a few buses were driven by inspectors in white shirts and what looked like engineers in orange coats, to cover and for the overtime I presume
I saw mostly Tridents on the 126 at 8-9pm, only one B7
I saw at least 2 B7RLE on the 126 today probably allowing 126 branded 4575/9 to be used on the Himley Bonfire Duties
To add to another post they would be stupid to let a brand new hybrids loose on the Bonfire run, I'm surprised some of the refurbed Tridents were allocated considering the state some of them came back in!! :-\
well i got the 252 and it was all tridents on there and there gonna need a good long clean today cause they are as muddy as a rugby players arms
4544 was on the 11 still at 4:10
4562 came off a 59 about 4:10
4565 came off a 126
4589 came off the 2 (Was seen about 4 still in service going towards Warstones)
4605 obviously came off a 529 (Saw it earlier on yesterday)
Well there were some odd workings in Wolverhampton before the services started with
2004/4004/4019 on the 256/7
4021 on the 255
2018 and 2028 on the 126
2027 on the 59 (Allocated from start of service which is quite unusual as single deckers are usually on the 59 to replace a broken down Spectra)
And 4589 on the 2 and 2015 on the 26/62!
there were a few tridents on weird workings yesterday, several on 3/4 at least 2 on number 2service.
Quote from: Trident 4609 on November 10, 2013, 08:24:29 AM
4544 was on the 11 still at 4:10
4562 came off a 59 about 4:10
4565 came off a 126
4589 came off the 2 (Was seen about 4 still in service going towards Warstones)
4605 obviously came off a 529 (Saw it earlier on yesterday)
4575 was on the 126 earlier as well
The service was a shambles though, in all honesty. The 251 was running more like hourly, with crowds left behind in Halesowen. Buses were all over the place, inventing their own lines of route. Noticed the distinctive PL inspector seemed to be controlling proceedings.
The 251 I caught (4605) did the following...
141's route from Halesowen to Cradley Heath (except missed out Old Hill high street using Heathfield Way, and missed out Cradley Heath high street using Foxoak Street), then continued straight along the A4100 passing Merry Hill, then joined the 246 route following Brettell Lane to Amblecote, then turned right onto 256 route, then straight up the A491 to Himley.
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 10, 2013, 10:47:11 AM
The service was a shambles though, in all honesty. The 251 was running more like hourly, with crowds left behind in Halesowen. Buses were all over the place, inventing their own lines of route. Noticed the distinctive PL inspector seemed to be controlling proceedings.
The 251 I caught (4605) did the following...
141's route from Halesowen to Cradley Heath (except missed out Old Hill high street using Heathfield Way, and missed out Cradley Heath high street using Foxoak Street), then continued straight along the A4100 passing Merry Hill, then joined the 246 route following Brettell Lane to Amblecote, then turned right onto 256 route, then straight up the A491 to Himley.
It would seam the driver made a genuine mistake on the route then! the drivers get no training on this have to drive through a town/area they are unfamiliar with and are given a dodgy map with not much detail on it to go on, added to this a completely ridiculous unpractical schedule plus the driver may have been told to go a different way by an inspector depending on the situation so its hardly suprising things 'didn't go to plan' also are we forgetting the 30minute que to get into Himley? also one bus allocated 251 had defective lights so didn't run a full shift also meaning the 251 service was a bus down for part of the service.
I will go on also the minute the words 'free bus' are uttered the whole of the midlands wants to jump on it. There is only limited resources to do this and I think despite the problems is still a credit that they did what they did
I will also add that if it wasn't for all the inconsiderite idiots parking cars dumping them anywhere and dumb pedestrians walking in the middle of the road without 2 ***** maybe the traffic wouldn't have been so bad making things run better but whenever you are going to get a vast number of people going to the same place at the same time obviously it will be a nightmare
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 09, 2013, 09:55:48 PM
Noted on the Himley services tonight
4115
4201
4248
4525
4539
4540
4542
4544
4556
4562
4563
4565
4575
4578
4586
4589
4596
4605
4705
4706
4707
So 14 WN Tridents (including 126 branded 4575 and 529 branded 4605), 4 WB Geminis (including Dudley Road branded 4705/6/7), 1 WB ALX400 (Soho Road branded 4248), 1 WB President and 1 PN Trident
PN provided 3 vehicles don't know what their fleet numbers were though
Were there any other bonfires on in the Dudley area last night?
It seems to me, the only pulling points for Himley were 'Free Buses' & a local radio station(Free I presume).
Lets face it, one Catherine Wheel is the same as any other, whatever the location.
How much was it to get into Himley anyway?
Over in Walsall, the three main bonfires over the past few weeks(Bloxwich, Brownhills & Willenhall) were £4 each.
I went to the Bloxwich one a couple of years back. Ok £4 might seem a bit steep, but at least there wasn't any traffic problems.
Didn't Walsall used to do theirs in the Arboruteum at one point?
Wasn't that on a similar scale to Himley?
Quote from: richie on November 10, 2013, 12:55:29 PM
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 09, 2013, 09:55:48 PM
Noted on the Himley services tonight
4115
4201
4248
4525
4539
4540
4542
4544
4556
4562
4563
4565
4575
4578
4586
4589
4596
4605
4705
4706
4707
So 14 WN Tridents (including 126 branded 4575 and 529 branded 4605), 4 WB Geminis (including Dudley Road branded 4705/6/7), 1 WB ALX400 (Soho Road branded 4248), 1 WB President and 1 PN Trident
PN provided 3 vehicles don't know what their fleet numbers were though
I saw 4200 and 4201 so there's 2 of them, the other was an E400 but didn't catch that fleet num.
Quote from: Westy on November 10, 2013, 01:01:18 PM
Were there any other bonfires on in the Dudley area last night?
It seems to me, the only pulling points for Himley were 'Free Buses' & a local radio station(Free I presume).
Lets face it, one Catherine Wheel is the same as any other, whatever the location.
How much was it to get into Himley anyway?
Over in Walsall, the three main bonfires over the past few weeks(Bloxwich, Brownhills & Willenhall) were £4 each.
I went to the Bloxwich one a couple of years back. Ok £4 might seem a bit steep, but at least there wasn't any traffic problems.
Didn't Walsall used to do theirs in the Arboruteum at one point?
Wasn't that on a similar scale to Himley?
Himley had basically been turned into a small Alton Towers for the night, I didn't go in but it looked absolutely amazing from the outside
it was to be honest i went and the only let down was the rip off for food and rides and ENTRY and the crappy live bands they had on
Aaah a bit like the one Beacon Radio Show I went to the once, quite a few years ago.
Quote from: Westy on November 10, 2013, 02:03:46 PM
Aaah a bit like the one Beacon Radio Show I went to the once, quite a few years ago.
Yeah it was 'beacon' except they changed there name to free radio didn't they.
4540 on the 59 today. Was expecting it to be abit muddy but it was infact spotless
Quote from: domino.99 on November 10, 2013, 05:36:16 PM
Quote from: Westy on November 10, 2013, 02:03:46 PM
Aaah a bit like the one Beacon Radio Show I went to the once, quite a few years ago.
Yeah it was 'beacon' except they changed there name to free radio didn't they.
Must admit I prefer the 80's to the Fm service personally!
Quote from: Trident 4609 on November 10, 2013, 07:45:22 PM
4540 on the 59 today. Was expecting it to be abit muddy but it was infact spotless
4605 also back on the 529 no mud at all so good job to the cleaners, I wouldn't have fancied cleaning that mess up :D
Quote from: nitromatt1 on November 10, 2013, 01:22:29 PM
Quote from: Westy on November 10, 2013, 01:01:18 PM
Were there any other bonfires on in the Dudley area last night?
It seems to me, the only pulling points for Himley were 'Free Buses' & a local radio station(Free I presume).
Lets face it, one Catherine Wheel is the same as any other, whatever the location.
How much was it to get into Himley anyway?
Over in Walsall, the three main bonfires over the past few weeks(Bloxwich, Brownhills & Willenhall) were £4 each.
I went to the Bloxwich one a couple of years back. Ok £4 might seem a bit steep, but at least there wasn't any traffic problems.
Didn't Walsall used to do theirs in the Arboruteum at one point?
Wasn't that on a similar scale to Himley?
Himley had basically been turned into a small Alton Towers for the night, I didn't go in but it looked absolutely amazing from the outside
To answer some of the questions (hopefully)
I was told it was £9 for adults
I quote some of the comments I heard:
"If I'd wanted rides I would have gone to Alton Towers"
"What happened to the big bang at the end?, No car alarms going off..nothing"
"It wasn't as good as last year"
"How much did you pay for that burger!!!!!!"
"If I have to pay an adult fare I'm not going in!"
I know you will all say negative old me but honestly I did not hear any positives. This is what I heard, I did not go in and I did not see only it did seam like the fireworks didn't last long and they seamed to 'fizzle out' rather than 'finish with a bang'!
Talking to my lift this morning & she said she went to a school in Sedgley.
It was rammed & she paid £13 for the privilege apparently.