Messages

As pensnett is the only garage not mentioned to have any of the current batch on order that being wolves Walsall and West Brom
When and if we get any will we get brand new ones or early run in hand me downs ?

Isn't Pensnett the likely hydrogen garage (presuming it can be got to work reliably fairly soon)? Suitable for a fuelling plant as well? Gas a plenty 😀👍

Sadly it doesn't. I've witnessed cars going into the side of a bus that we've got at cov because they couldn't see the bus in the dark

The difference in a motorist's perception of a bus with dark red, dark blue or grey side panels in the dark I would suggest is negligible, if any at all - are we actually suggesting when the buses were generally white people did not accidentally drive into them? I suspect the answer is there's no measurable difference whatsoever and the body repairers have always been busy repairing accidental damage.

I would have thought the vehicle lights (including side markers) along with the saloon lights (when in service) would make them perfectly visible? 

I thought it was WB?

One of the WB employees posted that - 40 new EVs next year IIRC. Would neatly replace their E400 Tridents, which may be the oldest buses next year (especially if they receive some of the ones currently at YW.

Also, an order must be imminent for single deckers for the CV fleet, which is meant to be 100% zero emission during next year. Presumably the 30 or so E200s and B7RLEs will be cascaded to garages requiring single deckers. 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and your opinion of what constitutes a 'noteworthy working' clearly differs to others.

"Seem to be" is not the same as "booked type". The whole point of the 'noteworthy workings' threads was to point out 'unusual allocations', or otherwise vehicle types not normally allocated to that service.

Now I don't work for NX so I don't know what the actual 'booked types' are at other garages beyond my local area, and I don't have the luxury of time to go wading through BusTimes to see what is commonly used.

Here's a saying for you all: "if you've got nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all"

I'm not having a small minority of kill-joys ruining things for the few people who still enthusiastically spot buses for fun.

And also remembering some are keen on rushing out to take a photo of, say a short E200 on a 9 or 126 (what an unusual allocation - even if it might have happened once a day for instance). You never know, such pictures might become part of future bus books someone may write. 

they did eventually use anything that was handy, Single deck Fleetlines, Leyland Nationals 4475, 6829 & 6830 then 7018 to 7026 when new, the national 2 was perfect but too late, 4475 etc had a problem with the fish tail exhaust when turning left for the D1 under the bridge that why the Nat 2 was used instead

The Centrebus originally threaded itself through various pedestrianised streets (eg Union Street) and operated by 6 Commer minibuses in standard PTE livery, later changed to bright orange (4236-41 EOF236L etc). The route was modified and became much more useful, and much more heavily used such as it outgrew the minibuses. They were replaced with a batch of ex BCT Fleetline single deckers. The Commers were used as cover in certain situations after this 

As @Celestial Toymaker has said, the short Nationals were purchased to replace the dial a bus Fords, which were unreliable. However the dial a bus experiment was replaced by various new normal routes and the Nationals were sent to PB for the 39, and then replaced the time expired Fleetlines on the Centrebus service at least up to deregulation. AG did receive a batch of new standard Nationals (7018 onwards) which were used at Solihull, rather than the short ones originally intended. 

Remember the upstairs rear bench seat on Fleetlines? Absolutely rock hard. If the bus took a corner too quickly you'd slide from one end to the other.

Yeah - I think they may have been introduced in the mid 70s owing to the level of seat slashing occurring at the back, upstairs on Fleetlines. I remember when I was at school, there were lads who had their Levi's jeans patched in red leatherette! All the rage IIRC.

The entire seat was solid plastic in matching red on the ones you're referring to! Around the same time, a couple of Fleetlines were fitted with anti attack screens for the driver - at least one was a grilled affair rather like a fence at a zoo!!!! They were not liked!! 

Deactivate it I say , just annoying , how much fuel are you saving when it restarts after 2 seconds

Sackable offence, surely?

Does it auto activate an electronic handbrake, and the engine restart when you press the accelerator?

I must say, on a car it's something you get very used to and it comes as second nature to press the accelerator if it has activated at, say traffic lights just before green, in which case there's no delay. However, if all vehicles had it, imagine all those saved emissions if you're queuing in a traffic jam or at lights! I know some will say this is woke or some other such silly idea, but for the people who have to live breathe and work around the emissions it's not.

Have you ever noticed that on certain media it's always the people who want to drive through the areas and create the emissions that environmental features like EVs, ULEZ are designed to combat who moan loudest!!

4690 still drives great solid all rounder

1940 one of the better Scania's at WB lovely smooth driving bus, just cruises without fuss.

6805 66 plate, much better than 6804 , definitely sounds different to the 68/69 plate 6900s .
New steering wheel and cab seat helps.
Not a fan of the floor mounted door opener location  , left foot constantly knocking it, just get rid I say.
Seems more lively like it's got some pick up and go.
Still branded sutton lines

Most standard Fleetlines had floor mounted door open pedals (although the earlier ones such as BCT had a handle to operate them). 

E282 & E284 have gone to PB today making 114 there

Will they be returned to YW when the other PB vehicles are ready for service? (noting E181 will be somewhat later). 

They only need to drop Summer Road down 6" and the buses'd fit.

You might find this astonishing but in the late 70s a railway bridge on the then 358 (later 158) at Pelsall was raised to enable standard PTE Fleetlines and VRs to operate the service - the ex WCT Fleetlines being replaced were lower height. Summer Road bridge already has a lowered carriageway (to achieve 14 ft) - it might be very expensive in underground services and drainage to achieve further lowering, whilst raising the track (as at Pelsall - the line is now closed and a footpath) and bridge deck might not be straightforward as it's electrified. So prohibitively expensive. 

I wonder if it was changed in the mid/late 70s when the Erdington routes along Lichfield Road were recast to integrate Miller Street and Sutton garages operations (eg removal of ex BCT route 64 terminating just beyond the Yenton at the Birmingham City boundary - as was - Sutton was absorbed in 1974!!) - I know it was Lea Hall running the 28 (plus Liverpool Street in BCT days) but generally the PTE went in for area coordination schemes (eg Stourbridge, Dudley, Cannock (with MR Chaserider), Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, involving rail as well) and involving whichever garages ran services. 

Reservoir Road, then South Road, which was pretty bad when I used to drive it in Fleetline days with car parking on both sides of the road, you had to be really careful and look right up the road in case a bus was coming the other way because there was normally only about two places you could pass.

South Road looks even worse now

I thought in BCT days it did Short Heath Road, Marsh Lane, left to Gravelly Lane and then right to Chester Road to go past Chester Road station. I'm presuming it was changed to single deck to enable it to get conveniently to Erdington town centre. In BCT days (and WMPTE) it didn't get close to the town centre (but reasonably close to Erdington station). 

@Tony, Thanks for the updates on the electric buses. However, is there any news you are able to share on when YW's infrastructure will be in place to enable more of their electric buses to enter service? I'm presuming this will trigger other changes including Trident and further Scania withdrawals. Also curious to see what happens with the 4718 batch of E400s. 

For anyone who follows Pure Audits on YouTube, his video published today shows, in fact zooms in on, the former 4826 parked up in a big car park in Oxford. 'Quite an old bus,' he comments!

Interesting - I was in Southbourne near Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised when BX09 PFJ went past me on local service 1b (ex Yellow Buses) - the ex NXWM 4809 - in full Morebus livery (1264) - looked and sounded really good - it was twilight otherwise I would have waited for it to come back from the terminus and got a photo!! They have PFD (1263) as well.

Nearly all the double deck buses in the Southbourne area are 24 reg E400 MMCs but it didn't look or sound out of place.