Bus Shite

[Zelandeth]

Didn't they have a habit of dropping their huge single piece windscreens out under braking for fun too?

[Eyersey1234]

3 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Didn't they have a habit of dropping their huge single piece windscreens out under braking for fun too?

Quite possibly, bits were falling off them all the time lol

[Eyersey1234]

Come to think of it the MANs that replaced the Excels were shit as well, more reliable (though I realise that's not saying much lol, ANYTHING is more reliable than a fucking Excel apart from a Plaxton Primo) but they were awful to drive, the Bismark had a better turning circle than them. 

[Eyersey1234]

One of the MANs and one of the 6 Plaxton Primos we bought in 2006.

[Zelandeth]

Still wish I could get at one of those earlier MAN 18.220 (etc) buses in a boneyard...want to raid the instrument panel for all the warning lights.  There must be about 50 of them and I'm sure having a full set in the box of random panel indicators would mean I had ones with appropriate symbology for most applications I'd want a warning light for...

[dollywobbler]

Those Plaxton Primos just look awful. The proportions are horrific with that short rear overhang. I appreciate this makes no difference to how the operate or drive, but even so.

[Lwk22]

50 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Those Plaxton Primos just look awful. The proportions are horrific with that short rear overhang. I appreciate this makes no difference to how the operate or drive, but even so.

I had the mispleasure of driving one of these once. The odd proportions definitely made it feel different compared to a standard bus with a tail end. Horrid thing it was.

[Zelandeth]

53 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Those Plaxton Primos just look awful. The proportions are horrific with that short rear overhang. I appreciate this makes no difference to how the operate or drive, but even so.

Was a horrible contraption obviously resulting from manufacturers trying to make something fully low floor which could fit into the dimensions of an old Merc Beaver.  It was such a huge compromise that it was never going to be able to do anything well...just a bunch of things poorly.

Could be worse though...Optare Alero anyone?

No less than six changes in direction in the prop shaft between the gearbox at the front and the driven axle at the back if I remember rightly (the propshaft runs under the offside sill). 

We had two on the community transport scheme back in Aberdeen and the blasted things were nothing but trouble in every conceivable way from day one.  We absolutely didn't want the second one, but couldn't sell the idea of getting a different second vehicle to those holding the purse strings.

Overcomplicated, overstressed and undercooled.  Being based in Iveco mechanicals at about their worse period probably didn't help!

[Eyersey1234]

2 of the ADL Enviro200 MMCs we bought last year. 

[Eyersey1234]

56 minutes ago, Lwk22 said:

I had the mispleasure of driving one of these once. The odd proportions definitely made it feel different compared to a standard bus with a tail end. Horrid thing it was.

The main problems with them were the amount of vibration and rattles on them, the way the door opened and the mirrors. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to put the mirrors at just the right height to hit street furniture etc needed their head examined 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Lwk22 said:

I had the mispleasure of driving one of these once. The odd proportions definitely made it feel different compared to a standard bus with a tail end. Horrid thing it was.

The oddest thing I ever found to drive was an Optare Solo.  Having the front wheels right out front just feels wrong on anything that's not a Merc 809D Beaver...and makes the bus feel incredibly cumbersome for how small it actually is.

I'm hardly an experienced bus driver though and a decent chunk of the 100 or so hours I'd guess has been in vintage stuff, so I always feel a bit like a fish out of water in new things!

The Versa *looked* like it should be odd because of the really pointy nose and how the windscreen is narrower at the base than the top, but it didn't actually seem that strange once moving.  Went well too, but bloody rattly.

[Eyersey1234]

7 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

The oddest thing I ever found to drive was an Optare Solo.  Having the front wheels right out front just feels wrong on anything that's not a Merc 809D Beaver...and makes the bus feel incredibly cumbersome for how small it actually is.

I'm hardly an experienced bus driver though and a decent chunk of the 100 or so hours I'd guess has been in vintage stuff, so I always feel a bit like a fish out of water in new things!

The Versa *looked* like it should be odd because of the really pointy nose and how the windscreen is narrower at the base than the top, but it didn't actually seem that strange once moving.  Went well too, but bloody rattly.

We had 4 Solos that had transferred up from Whittles, a bus company we used to own in Kidderminster, and I agree they were odd things to drive. 

[Talbot]

This seems like as good-a-place as any to put this... Did I read somewhere that the big yellow ex-megabus Autoshite funbus is no more?  What happened there then?

[Saabnut]

On 6/26/2020 at 2:39 PM, Talbot said:

This seems like as good-a-place as any to put this... Did I read somewhere that the big yellow ex-megabus Autoshite funbus is no more?  What happened there then?

Vandals with matches I am sorry to say

[Saabnut]

The last time I saw a trolley bus in service it was a double decker in Wolverhampton over 50 years ago.

Today in Bergen I have seen a load of these bendy trolley busses. New since the last time I was here, about 12 years ago!

[busmansholiday]

Still a popular mode of transport in Europe and the world with a few cities looking to reintroduce or expand their systems. Think that's a Neoplan one, although it looked like a Solaris initially.

I was in Bradford in 1972 when then last UK system closed. Next time I travelled on a trolleybus was in Constanta in Romania in 1991 then in Burgas Bulgaria a couple of years ago.  Twelve months after Bradford closed we had the 1973 fuel crisis and lots of people were looking over their shoulders and asking why the country had got shut of them (and trams).

[catsinthewelder]

On 6/26/2020 at 7:51 AM, Eyersey1234 said:

We had 4 Solos that had transferred up from Whittles, a bus company we used to own in Kidderminster, and I agree they were odd things to drive. 

I knew those well, me and my bicycle were usually the only passenger on the 5pm Knighton to Ludlow service.  It was a lot easier on them than when they were broken and I had to balance it on an old coach's entrance steps for 10 miles.

[lisbon_road]

Just looking at some old Buses magazines. Came across an article about how Paxton sold coaches in Denmark, including some Paxton bodied Magrius Deutz coaches. Well I never. 

[willswitchengage]

On 6/26/2020 at 2:39 PM, Talbot said:

This seems like as good-a-place as any to put this... Did I read somewhere that the big yellow ex-megabus Autoshite funbus is no more?  What happened there then?

This one? Look closely here and you can see @cms206's face falling off.

Anyone here trolleybi-curious should visit Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The buses are long gone but for some reason the wires were left up.

[martc]

1 hour ago, willswitchengage said:

Anyone here trolleybi-curious should visit Plovdiv in Bulgaria. The buses are long gone but for some reason the wires were left up.

Or go to Salzburg where there is an extensive trolley bus network.

[somewhatfoolish]

One of those answers to a question no-one asked.

[quicksilver]

19 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

One of those answers to a question no-one asked.

Oooh, a McLay Wayfarer body on a Leyland FG. Obscure low-volume truck-based buses of the sort that might be found in Scarfolk Council's community transport fleet fascinate me so this is right up my street. It's not too bad compared with some of the hideous shite churned out at the time.

[Eyersey1234]

I was told yesterday there are about 50 coaches parked up at Caetano that National Express have had to pay for to stop Caetano going bust as all the operators have not taken delivery due to the shut down, apparently they are trying to get the operators to take delivery despite the fact that no-one has the work for them at the moment. 

[Yoss]

This story popped up in my newsfeed earlier. Happened at Nailsea near Bristol. The story mentioned how the driver was shaken but unhurt. He should be bloody ashamed of himself at the very least. It's a 12' 6" Bridge and it looks like one, it's not even close. 

A nice 6 month old Enviro 400 City. But the best bit is this picture taken before the shoddy driver had a chance to switch it all off. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 6/29/2020 at 5:51 PM, Saabnut said:

Vandals with matches I am sorry to say

what? just mr flowers bus or others too

[Eyersey1234]

5 hours ago, Yoss said:

This story popped up in my newsfeed earlier. Happened at Nailsea near Bristol. The story mentioned how the driver was shaken but unhurt. He should be bloody ashamed of himself at the very least. It's a 12' 6" Bridge and it looks like one, it's not even close. 

A nice 6 month old Enviro 400 City. But the best bit is this picture taken before the shoddy driver had a chance to switch it all off. 

He obviously wasn't paying attention to his own blind ?

[Saabnut]

8 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

what? just mr flowers bus or others too

Several buses were lost that night I believe

[Noel Tidybeard]

shit!

[sloth]

anyone got pics of 1980s and 90s hull corp stuff, or hull operator applbys? they had a few ex notts atlanteans for a while. inc one that shed its engine cover at my school....

liking the eyms stuff posted. i remember catching the eyms vr's to castle hill as a kid.

[quicksilver]

5 minutes ago, sloth said:

anyone got pics of 1980s and 90s hull corp stuff, or hull operator applbys? they had a few ex notts atlanteans for a while. inc one that shed its engine cover at my school....

liking the eyms stuff posted. i remember catching the eyms vr's to castle hill as a kid.

Applebys you say? Saw a few of them when on holiday in Scarborough in 1999 including the random collection of open-toppers they ran along the seafront.

TOF 708S - Applebys by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

957 XYB - Applebys by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

WJY 760 - Applebys by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

ORJ 366W - Applebys by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

KON 326P - Applebys by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

KMW 176P - Applebys by Adam Floyd, on Flickr