Diamond Bus - Unusual Workings

[PM]

allocations seem to be a bit different, there was a ex transdev b7 on 43 today and one on the 4, only saw 1 dart of the 4 rest Volvos and cadets, improvement I must say!!!

Which dart was on there out of interest? Personally, I would ensure the 4 is fully b7rle, the 301 then gets the remaining b7rles topped up with cadets and then the 43/42 get cadets and full length darts and the 40 gets MPDs.

What I would love to know is what happens to the royales each day. There should be 2 spare everyday from the 56/202 so where are they allocated as I rarely see them on other routes, with the possible exception of the 002.

[Nathan4775]

30207 - spent the day on the 56, managed to ride it on the 12:17 trip from Birmingham

[bwsau cymru]

30486

Seems to be on 4's everyday!! And fully agree 4 should be all b7's!!!

[OH25]

20830 on the S2/S4 in Solihull about 4pm

[winston]

allocations seem to be a bit different, there was a ex transdev b7 on 43 today and one on the 4, only saw 1 dart of the 4 rest Volvos and cadets, improvement I must say!!!

Which dart was on there out of interest? Personally, I would ensure the 4 is fully b7rle, the 301 then gets the remaining b7rles topped up with cadets and then the 43/42 get cadets and full length darts and the 40 gets MPDs.

What I would love to know is what happens to the royales each day. There should be 2 spare everyday from the 56/202 so where are they allocated as I rarely see them on other routes, with the possible exception of the 002.

Weren't a couple of the Royales working out of Redditch for a while, not sure if they're still there. The repaints seem to have dried up/unless know one has spotted the latest ones yet

[Trident 4609]

The royals Centro's have been back at Tividale for some time Winston :)

[tank90]

Can't go wrong with 3/4 digit fleet numbers. That's one thing I wish all operators would adopt. I find First & Stagecoaches' system disgusting, let alone Diamonds.

I agree, plus you can no longer use the registration numbers to identify fleet numbers

For diamond's fleet, a three digit system as used by Go Ahead would work fine. I guess 5 digit numbers can show more info eg single/double, dda or not etc.

Wouldn't it just be simpler to use a 3 digit system allocate the fleet numbers in blocks for vehicles with the same/similar specs, so allocators can easily identify which bus is the most appropriate to allocate where

I agree-coaches in the 100's, MPDs/solos/streetlites/primos etc in the 200's/300's, darts/cadets/versas/streetlites in the 400's, full length single deckers in the 500's , deckers in the 600's and driver trainers etc in the 700's.

Four would do it.
1000-1899 for coaches
1900-1999 for the 15 seater mercs
20xx for solos up to 29 seats
21xx for solos 30 +seats
22xx for Primos
23xx for WF Streetlites
24xx for MPDs
25xx for short E200s
26xx for all Long Darts
27xx for all E200s
28xx for all DF Streetlites
2901-25 for Versa
2926-2999 Hybrid Versa
30xx for the VDLs and DAFs
31xx for all the E300s
32xx for all the Man chassis buses
33xx for all the Scanias
34xx for all the B7RLEs
35xx for the Citaros
40xx Presidents
41xx Tridents
42xx B5LH
43xx B9TL
44xx Scania
90xx for the heritage fleet ie the Lnyx and the Leyland DDs
99xx for all vans and cars and recovery trucks

[PM]

Can't go wrong with 3/4 digit fleet numbers. That's one thing I wish all operators would adopt. I find First & Stagecoaches' system disgusting, let alone Diamonds.

I agree, plus you can no longer use the registration numbers to identify fleet numbers

For diamond's fleet, a three digit system as used by Go Ahead would work fine. I guess 5 digit numbers can show more info eg single/double, dda or not etc.

Wouldn't it just be simpler to use a 3 digit system allocate the fleet numbers in blocks for vehicles with the same/similar specs, so allocators can easily identify which bus is the most appropriate to allocate where

I agree-coaches in the 100's, MPDs/solos/streetlites/primos etc in the 200's/300's, darts/cadets/versas/streetlites in the 400's, full length single deckers in the 500's , deckers in the 600's and driver trainers etc in the 700's.

Four would do it.
1000-1899 for coaches
1900-1999 for the 15 seater mercs
20xx for solos up to 29 seats
21xx for solos 30 +seats
22xx for Primos
23xx for WF Streetlites
24xx for MPDs
25xx for short E200s
26xx for all Long Darts
27xx for all E200s
28xx for all DF Streetlites
2901-25 for Versa
2926-2999 Hybrid Versa
30xx for the VDLs and DAFs
31xx for all the E300s
32xx for all the Man chassis buses
33xx for all the Scanias
34xx for all the B7RLEs
35xx for the Citaros
40xx Presidents
41xx Tridents
42xx B5LH
43xx B9TL
44xx Scania
90xx for the heritage fleet ie the Lnyx and the Leyland DDs
99xx for all vans and cars and recovery trucks

I don't see you need that much detail or space eg for the 4/5 primos you don't need a series, nor for the few full length e200s. I'd keep it dead simple: minibuses, midibuses, full length buses, deckers.

[tank90]

Can't go wrong with 3/4 digit fleet numbers. That's one thing I wish all operators would adopt. I find First & Stagecoaches' system disgusting, let alone Diamonds.

I agree, plus you can no longer use the registration numbers to identify fleet numbers

For diamond's fleet, a three digit system as used by Go Ahead would work fine. I guess 5 digit numbers can show more info eg single/double, dda or not etc.

Wouldn't it just be simpler to use a 3 digit system allocate the fleet numbers in blocks for vehicles with the same/similar specs, so allocators can easily identify which bus is the most appropriate to allocate where

I agree-coaches in the 100's, MPDs/solos/streetlites/primos etc in the 200's/300's, darts/cadets/versas/streetlites in the 400's, full length single deckers in the 500's , deckers in the 600's and driver trainers etc in the 700's.

Four would do it.
1000-1899 for coaches
1900-1999 for the 15 seater mercs
20xx for solos up to 29 seats
21xx for solos 30 +seats
22xx for Primos
23xx for WF Streetlites
24xx for MPDs
25xx for short E200s
26xx for all Long Darts
27xx for all E200s
28xx for all DF Streetlites
2901-25 for Versa
2926-2999 Hybrid Versa
30xx for the VDLs and DAFs
31xx for all the E300s
32xx for all the Man chassis buses
33xx for all the Scanias
34xx for all the B7RLEs
35xx for the Citaros
40xx Presidents
41xx Tridents
42xx B5LH
43xx B9TL
44xx Scania
90xx for the heritage fleet ie the Lnyx and the Leyland DDs
99xx for all vans and cars and recovery trucks

I don't see you need that much detail or space eg for the 4/5 primos you don't need a series, nor for the few full length e200s. I'd keep it dead simple: minibuses, midibuses, full length buses, deckers.

I'd go like that so I could find a bus not have to go through a list and pick out this or that.
Also Its easy to add on if you aquire more assets to add them in rather than bunching everything up into small groups. At the end of the day Rotala don't strike me as shrinking any time soon.
The major problem Rotala has is that there are Solos with 3xxxx and solos with 2xxxx, darts with 2xxxx and darts with 3xxxx that shouldnt be classifed in these feilds but they have.
Giving the Level of detail I have allows you to find and set out what you want and you can go further by the grouping say 2100-2130 to Preston and so on. 1xx works for most fleets but I think in some cases buses can get lost and as for 1xxxx they should not be needed unless you are a multi global operator and need to put every bus in one number sequence.

Either way us debating it here isnt going to change how Rotala number there buses so I kind of feel its a waste of time, but it has raised the question why they went from a 3 to 5 when 4 would have been just as good.

[PM]

Can't go wrong with 3/4 digit fleet numbers. That's one thing I wish all operators would adopt. I find First & Stagecoaches' system disgusting, let alone Diamonds.

I agree, plus you can no longer use the registration numbers to identify fleet numbers

For diamond's fleet, a three digit system as used by Go Ahead would work fine. I guess 5 digit numbers can show more info eg single/double, dda or not etc.

Wouldn't it just be simpler to use a 3 digit system allocate the fleet numbers in blocks for vehicles with the same/similar specs, so allocators can easily identify which bus is the most appropriate to allocate where

I agree-coaches in the 100's, MPDs/solos/streetlites/primos etc in the 200's/300's, darts/cadets/versas/streetlites in the 400's, full length single deckers in the 500's , deckers in the 600's and driver trainers etc in the 700's.

Four would do it.
1000-1899 for coaches
1900-1999 for the 15 seater mercs
20xx for solos up to 29 seats
21xx for solos 30 +seats
22xx for Primos
23xx for WF Streetlites
24xx for MPDs
25xx for short E200s
26xx for all Long Darts
27xx for all E200s
28xx for all DF Streetlites
2901-25 for Versa
2926-2999 Hybrid Versa
30xx for the VDLs and DAFs
31xx for all the E300s
32xx for all the Man chassis buses
33xx for all the Scanias
34xx for all the B7RLEs
35xx for the Citaros
40xx Presidents
41xx Tridents
42xx B5LH
43xx B9TL
44xx Scania
90xx for the heritage fleet ie the Lnyx and the Leyland DDs
99xx for all vans and cars and recovery trucks

I don't see you need that much detail or space eg for the 4/5 primos you don't need a series, nor for the few full length e200s. I'd keep it dead simple: minibuses, midibuses, full length buses, deckers.

I'd go like that so I could find a bus not have to go through a list and pick out this or that.
Also Its easy to add on if you aquire more assets to add them in rather than bunching everything up into small groups. At the end of the day Rotala don't strike me as shrinking any time soon.
The major problem Rotala has is that there are Solos with 3xxxx and solos with 2xxxx, darts with 2xxxx and darts with 3xxxx that shouldnt be classifed in these feilds but they have.
Giving the Level of detail I have allows you to find and set out what you want and you can go further by the grouping say 2100-2130 to Preston and so on. 1xx works for most fleets but I think in some cases buses can get lost and as for 1xxxx they should not be needed unless you are a multi global operator and need to put every bus in one number sequence.

Either way us debating it here isnt going to change how Rotala number there buses so I kind of feel its a waste of time, but it has raised the question why they went from a 3 to 5 when 4 would have been just as good.

No I agree-but it's an interesting issue to discuss.

[tank90]

No I agree-but it's an interesting issue to discuss.

Yes it is as it makes you wonder why First and Stagecoach have gone for 1xxxxx numbers.

[OH25]

YJ10 MFV on the 122

[vinh1000]

Blue solo on 82 :-(

[Nathan4775]

Yesterday;
YJ12 *** Hybrid - 99 ? is this common

[Rob H]

Yesterday;
YJ12 *** Hybrid - 99 ? is this common

I seen the Hybrid aswell and they do appear on there sometimes :)