Perry Barr Garage

[Rob H]

John were you driving 4854 this morning in Birmingham around 10:20-10:25? :) I'm only asking because I may have seen you and some other chap at the front while I was aboard 4910 on the 957 :)

I was on 4854 this morning Rob, but not driving.

I did drive 4852 this afternoon for a round trip

Was you sitting on one of the front two seats? :)

[John]

Was you sitting on one of the front two seats? :)

Yes, passenger side  ;)

[Trident 4609]

John were you driving 4854 this morning in Birmingham around 10:20-10:25? :) I'm only asking because I may have seen you and some other chap at the front while I was aboard 4910 on the 957 :)

I was on 4854 this morning Rob, but not driving.

I did drive 4852 this afternoon for a round trip

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

[Rob H]

Was you sitting on one of the front two seats? :)

Yes, passenger side  ;)

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

[John]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

[Rob H]

4937 having a day on the 33 today

[uniquicity]

4516 has had a whoopsie...

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2014/01/31/woman-taken-to-hospital-after-birmingham-smash/

[Sh4318]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

[nitromatt1]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

I'd love to drive a Gemini, unfortunately given Pensnett is the garage I'd probably work for, unless something radical happens I don't think I'd get to!

[winston]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

I'd love to drive a Gemini, unfortunately given Pensnett is the garage I'd probably work for, unless something radical happens I don't think I'd get to!

You're assuming Pensnett will have you....  :P

[John]

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

Yes, had both yesterday. I had 4300 in the morning and 4497 in the afternoon (I have also driven 4479, 4239, 4243 and 4254). They are both nice buses to drive when you get a good one (4239 is not a good one! Brakes are awful on it). The Gemini had better kickdown than the ALX400 though, but both are near enough the same to drive. I brought 4497 back to garage last night as well from Chelmsley, the speed limiter was set around 46mph, getting 50 downhill on the Collector Road

The only thing I didn't like on the Gemini is the location of the ticket machine. It is right next to the cash chute, and it is very difficult to see the money people put in it

[nitromatt1]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

I'd love to drive a Gemini, unfortunately given Pensnett is the garage I'd probably work for, unless something radical happens I don't think I'd get to!

You're assuming Pensnett will have you....  :P

No, note the conditional tense I wrote that post in. ;)

[winston]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

I'd love to drive a Gemini, unfortunately given Pensnett is the garage I'd probably work for, unless something radical happens I don't think I'd get to!

You're assuming Pensnett will have you....  :P

No, note the conditional tense I wrote that post in. ;)

The 'conditional tense' being that Pensnett don't want you thrashing their buses & making them scream.......  :P

[nitromatt1]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

I'd love to drive a Gemini, unfortunately given Pensnett is the garage I'd probably work for, unless something radical happens I don't think I'd get to!

You're assuming Pensnett will have you....  :P

No, note the conditional tense I wrote that post in. ;)

The 'conditional tense' being that Pensnett don't want you thrashing their buses & making them scream.......  :P

If I was lucky enough to drive at Pensnett, or at any other garage or company, passenger safety and comfort would be my priority and I would do my utmost to ensure that it is not compromised. It would be irresponsible to behave in any other way.

[Sh4318]

How did you find driving the E400 in service? Was it a busy trip John :)

Nice buses to drive, the Enviro400s. The favourites have to be both of the Scanias

I got on at 3.11pm, so it was starting to get busy. I had a full bus leaving town on both decks. Ended up at Pheasey 16 minutes late (combination of traffic, time to load passengers and me not been used to driving the route) but that dropped to about 8 minutes when the buddy driver took over in town

Yes I seen you then ;) Are you driving any buses tomorrow? :)

On the 94s for next two days, so will be driving some journeys All buddy drivers are different, the lady with me on the 28s let me drive all journeys yesterday, as opposed to 1 1/2 trips out of 5 33 trips today. I don't mind though as I can make sure I know the route perfectly

Managed to drive any Gemini or ALXs yet? What are they like to drive? I've always imagined the Gemini is a quality bus to drive :P

I'd love to drive a Gemini, unfortunately given Pensnett is the garage I'd probably work for, unless something radical happens I don't think I'd get to!

You're assuming Pensnett will have you....  :P

No, note the conditional tense I wrote that post in. ;)

The 'conditional tense' being that Pensnett don't want you thrashing their buses & making them scream.......  :P

If I was lucky enough to drive at Pensnett, or at any other garage or company, passenger safety and comfort would be my priority and I would do my utmost to ensure that it is not compromised. It would be irresponsible to behave in any other way.

Winston was joking Matt ;)