Wednesfield Garage

[Trident 4609]

Does the nx 10 get busier than the arriva one then?

Certainly! I've been on jam packed B7RLE's at peak times with every seat taken and a fair few people standing.

I remember when it was just Midland/Arriva that operated the Sunday service (subsidised by Centro) but they lost the tender to NX and now Arriva have introduced a Sunday service commercially (Despite hardly any passengers using the Arriva 10on a sunday with only 3 passengers other than me on the 10:50 ex Wolves)

[Bob]

Lol every time ive been on the arriva one in the day its never been busy. Might get busier in the peaks but if we used that as a basis for using deckers most routes would qualify.  Incl most of cannocks. I guarantee you a peak 74 /5 would be busier than an arriva 10 :)

[Ashley]

I agree that the 74/75 is very busy at peak times. As for the 10, most times of the day there are peaks and troughs but the evening service most nights may as well use the Stafford crew bus (8 seater LDV Convoy)

[Bob]

The 74/5 needs deckers but arriva prefer to waste them on less busy routes. Theyve got some sort of aversion to allocating/operating any at cannock

[Westy]

The 74/5 needs deckers but arriva prefer to waste them on less busy routes. Theyve got some sort of aversion to allocating/operating any at cannock

How many were there in the Midland Red North days?

I know to the Olympians & ex Harper vehicles,  but was that it?

Other than that,  it was the 70's answer to the Mpd, the Leyland National!

[Bob]

In the 80s there were Olympians, the ex harper fleetlines the two ecw delivered new to MR ones as well, lots of DMSs, and midland red Alexander bodied fleetlines as well. There were also quite a lot of Leopards, Marshall dual purpose examples, willowbrook coaches and at least one plaxton HHA-L example weirdly ( considering its age) painted in Midland express livery. And like you say there were plenty of Nationals.  Dont forget the bendy buses too. The Stafford service didnt actually seem to be as busy as it is now, think it was hourly and often operated by nationals. Im sure at some point it was jointly run with stafford garage cos I remember seeing podless nationals on there which cannock never had. It was called 838 and went a different way to todays 74. Through clarion way estate rather than the a34

[Westy]

In the 80s there were Olympians, the ex harper fleetlines the two ecw delivered new to MR ones as well, lots of DMSs, and midland red Alexander bodied fleetlines as well. There were also quite a lot of Leopards, Marshall dual purpose examples, willowbrook coaches and at least one plaxton HHA-L example weirdly ( considering its age) painted in Midland express livery. And like you say there were plenty of Nationals.  Dont forget the bendy buses too. The Stafford service didnt actually seem to be as busy as it is now, think it was hourly and often operated by nationals. Im sure at some point it was jointly run with stafford garage cos I remember seeing podless nationals on there which cannock never had. It was called 838 and went a different way to todays 74. Through clarion way estate rather than the a34

Yeah,  remember catching a double decker 838 sometime in the 80's the once to Stafford!

[Bob]

There were a couple of the duple bus bodied tigers at some point as well. Quite a few more routes though then as well.  And breakdowns were rare lol

[Tony]

The 74/5 needs deckers but arriva prefer to waste them on less busy routes. Theyve got some sort of aversion to allocating/operating any at cannock

How many were there in the Midland Red North days?

I know to the Olympians & ex Harper vehicles,  but was that it?

Other than that,  it was the 70's answer to the Mpd, the Leyland National!

The big difference with the '70s version of the MPD' was that a National had between 49 & 52 seats (or 48 when Cannock garage fitted Fizzy drinks vending machines in some!) not the 29 of an MPD.

I bet no-one would ever put a vending machine selling Coke Cola in an MPD, the can would explode the way they shake!

[Westy]

The 74/5 needs deckers but arriva prefer to waste them on less busy routes. Theyve got some sort of aversion to allocating/operating any at cannock

How many were there in the Midland Red North days?

I know to the Olympians & ex Harper vehicles,  but was that it?

Other than that,  it was the 70's answer to the Mpd, the Leyland National!

The big difference with the '70s version of the MPD' was that a National had between 49 & 52 seats (or 48 when Cannock garage fitted Fizzy drinks vending machines in some!) not the 29 of an MPD.

I bet no-one would ever put a vending machine selling Coke Cola in an MPD, the can would explode the way they shake!

Vending machine on a bus ?

I remember Cannock had a National broadcasting Beacon Radio on it, which was pretty pointless as  you could not hear it  once the engine got going!

[Tony]

The 74/5 needs deckers but arriva prefer to waste them on less busy routes. Theyve got some sort of aversion to allocating/operating any at cannock

How many were there in the Midland Red North days?

I know to the Olympians & ex Harper vehicles,  but was that it?

Other than that,  it was the 70's answer to the Mpd, the Leyland National!

The big difference with the '70s version of the MPD' was that a National had between 49 & 52 seats (or 48 when Cannock garage fitted Fizzy drinks vending machines in some!) not the 29 of an MPD.

I bet no-one would ever put a vending machine selling Coke Cola in an MPD, the can would explode the way they shake!

Vending machine on a bus ?

I remember Cannock had a National broadcasting Beacon Radio on it, which was pretty pointless as  you could not hear it  once the engine got going!

Yes, I think it was 690, I remember travelling on it on the old 156

[Bob]

As noisy and rattly as they could be,  nationals were a hell of a lot more reliable than the rubbish cannock run now

[HTA844N]

Anyone know the route & timetable changes to service 310 from 20th July?

[the trainbasher]

@baker_06 it's the 110 that I believe is going sapphire!

As an aside I didn't expect this

PD0000478/355 - ARRIVA MIDLANDS NORTH LTD T/A ARRIVA MIDLANDS, THURMASTON GARAGE, 4 WESTMORELAND AVENUE, THURMASTON, LEICESTER, LE4 8PH
Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Bilston and Walsall given service number 334 effective from 20-Jul-2014.

[PM]

@baker_06 it's the 110 that I believe is going sapphire!

As an aside I didn't expect this

PD0000478/355 - ARRIVA MIDLANDS NORTH LTD T/A ARRIVA MIDLANDS, THURMASTON GARAGE, 4 WESTMORELAND AVENUE, THURMASTON, LEICESTER, LE4 8PH
Cancellation Accepted: Operating between Bilston and Walsall given service number 334 effective from 20-Jul-2014.

Thanks for the update @the trainbasher. It did seem lightly loaded when I went on it a while back...