Messages

Many thanks for that info, Winston!  8)

More an unusual sighting than an unusual working.  Passing a deserted Long Acre yesterday on the train, there was a lone d/d outside the workshops.  I got a partial registration and from that I think it might have been 40412 - YV03 PZJ.  The livery looked like the green / white / blue of Preston Bus, but I don't recall it was signwritten for Preston Bus ..... can anyone confirm the identity and what it was doing there?

Ah, cheers 2206, thanks for clarifying!

A bit conflicted about the Harborne city changes... Serving New Street, and Moor St. relief? I'll have to wait and see...

I'm very intrigued by the mention of Livery Street.  Isn't the top of Livery Street right turn only into Colmore Row - or can you go left past the Snow Hill entrance plaza and across the tram tracks to access Colmore Circus (and from there the route would presumably be past Old Square, down Priory Queensway and round to Moor Street Queensway?

Many thanks - that confirms our thinking!

A mate has recently sent me an old photograph dating from September 1974.  It's featuring Midland Red D9, EHA444D which is in WMPTE livery (I think it was 5444) on route 140, and it's correctly displaying Dudley via Blackheath.  The location of the photo however is unusual - it's at a north-bound bus stop on the Wolverhampton Road, opposite Brandhall Road, which we've confirmed via Streetview.

Did the 140 ever go up the Wolverhampton Road?  I don't think so - didn't it always go via Quinton then up Long Lane?  Can any oldtimers recall?  :D

(It's difficult to tell, but there doesn't seem to be anyone in the cab, driver / conductor possibly standing by the rear door, so we're speculating it's probably come off service, returning to either Oldbury or Dudley garage and / or it's broken down ....)

WA |6752 | 77 - left Sutton Coldfield around 12:25

Not affecting London, but they also cancelled the 22:54 to Northampton which can be a very busy service, especially if there has been anything on at the NEC!

Just as a postscript to last Saturday's LM services - one of the Euston - MKC stoppers was cancelled due to non-availability of crew; it was 17:09 northbound off Leighton Buzzard which I was trying to catch.  In consequence the following 17:42 semi-fast via Northampton to New Street was both rammed and late; it was only a 4-car (251 from memory) and to make matters worse, the toilets were out of use. 

They made an on-board announcement of an extended "relief" stop at MKC - of course that's a busy station anyway, and when about 150 people got off there, the guy standing next to me said, horrified, "Surely they're not ALL going for a piddle ....."  :D :D :D

The conductor wasn't the happiest of bunnies and told me the unit shouldn't ever have been allowed off depot in that state.  There seemed to be at least three spare units actually in and around Northampton station when we got there, and I would have thought that they could have switched our defective one, but it didn't happen ....

There's a s/d currently on the 914, (one of the 70xx's I think), being followed by either 4487 or 4489 on the 904.  Both were heading towards Sutton around 1/2 hour ago.

The one thing that annoys me is the rattle / vibration from the engine compartment on acceleration. They're all the same.

Yes, I noticed that the other day on 2227, it was quite intrusive.  Purely by coincidence, I've ridden that one three times now, but haven't been aware of any rattle before ......

Saw a 904 laying over in the "116" bay at Asda Minworth this morning; mind you, he had a tight squeeze as WMSNT's 1402 was already in residence!  :)

I presume he'd have to go out of the superstore, round the roundabout and back in to the proper "904" stop to take up his next service ... it's quite weird seeing a d/decker in there after all these years.  I suppose the last regular d/ds in Asda were the old green & cream North Birmingham Buses?

Yes, I saw that too in Kiddy, and recorded it as X165NWR.  Googling, it seems to have previously resided up in Yorkshire!

Just for the record, 2217 spent yesterday on the 71 ... the first 37 branded one I've seen on the Sutton Coldfield service.

Our Sutton buses are starting to get scrolling via points, I guess in preperation for the service changes. A Sutton Lines branded has, a ticket branded bus has and a '61' plate on the 914 has also.

4921/35/39, I think .....

Passed through Asda Minworth today.  The 904 is terminating at the first layby as you go in, which seems a bit strange, as every service passing through Asda is flagged for that stop, bar the 116, which continues to use the second layby in solitary splendour !  :D

There is also a strange service flagged I haven't noticed before.  It's the S23, igo, two trips each way, Fridays only, to Castle Vale, starting 09/09/13 according to networkwestmidlands.com .... do they mean 2015; it isn't on the 31/05/15 Birmingham map ....