Bus Shite

[Metal Guru]

6 hours ago, martc said:

London Victoria Coach Station in 1957. The journey took 50 days and cost £85 (£1720 today).

You can go slightly further today, but it's a little more expensive, but I'm not sure if the Calcutta journey included board and lodgings.

I can't be arsed to look, but is this the longest coach journey from/to the UK?

 

I’m trying to imagine anything worse. No, I can’t !

[martc]

Tubwell Row, Darlington, 1967.

[SunnySouth]

On 04/06/2024 at 20:27, martc said:

London Victoria Coach Station in 1957. The journey took 50 days and cost £85 (£1720 today).

You can go slightly further today, but it's a little more expensive, but I'm not sure if the Calcutta journey included board and lodgings.

I can't be arsed to look, but is this the longest coach journey from/to the UK?

 

London - Calcutta - London seems a long way round; can they not just get the Tube to go London - London?!

[SunnySouth]

Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLEs are FUCKING EXCELLENT buses and deserve to live FOREVER; alas these seem to be the last ones still in service anywhere and they’re going to live until next weekend

These are superb motors, a real “Proper Bus” from the modern golden age, it’ll be sad when all we have are rattling Dart-a-likes and seated milkfloats. I’d seriously like to go to this event but there are some logistical issues to grapple with.

https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/the-blackburn-bus-company/news/were-waving-goodbye-to-our-volvo-b10s/

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, SunnySouth said:

Wright Renown bodied Volvo B10BLEs are FUCKING EXCELLENT buses and deserve to live FOREVER; alas these seem to be the last ones still in service anywhere and they’re going to live until next weekend

These are superb motors, a real “Proper Bus” from the modern golden age, it’ll be sad when all we have are rattling Dart-a-likes and seated milkfloats. I’d seriously like to go to this event but there are some logistical issues to grapple with.

https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/the-blackburn-bus-company/news/were-waving-goodbye-to-our-volvo-b10s/

They are probably one of the last solidly built old buses.  Even though the ones First had were utterly neglected, they still drove really nicely.  What replaced them definitely won't be standing up half as well after going on 20 years.

[SunnySouth]

11 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

They are probably one of the last solidly built old buses.  Even though the ones First had were utterly neglected, they still drove really nicely.  What replaced them definitely won't be standing up half as well after going on 20 years.

Absolutely this! First utterly ran them into the ground - as they did with everything in their fleets back then - and yet, as you say, they still rode and drove beautifully, with that silky smooth transmission soundtrack and quietly purring engine. They were also, IMHO, very smart looking machines, a mix of functional but well proportioned and understatedly handsome. Just lovely things, I miss them muchly! 
 

*I’ll take myself off to bed now nurse…

[Zelandeth]

1 minute ago, SunnySouth said:

Absolutely this! First utterly ran them into the ground - as they did with everything in their fleets back then - and yet, as you say, they still rode and drove beautifully, with that silky smooth transmission soundtrack and quietly purring engine. Just lovely things, I miss them muchly! 

These had all manner of horrendous clattering from the front suspension, most had the cooling fans running flat out all the time, but they still drove lovely.  Seldom saw them on the recovery wagons either.  Unlike the B7LAs...Which was a shame as they actually drove (with the exception of the one which they never got the brakes set up right on Y7ROT I think) sweet enough when they were actually bloody working - however than seemed to be rarely!

Always reckoned that with a coach diff in a B10BLE would have made an ace big camper base, especially as the Renowns were already double glazed.  Obviously now they're getting thin on the ground I'd be more inclined to preserve it - but they were just older buses eleven years ago!

Still reckon the bargain of the century though were the B10M PSs when Stagecoach were selling them off.  The MD of our area had said to me when I queried on what they were asking for them, "If you came to me with £650 I'd make sure you got a good one."

Suffice to say back then I did quite a bit of looking to see if I could find somewhere to store one, but I just couldn't make it work.  Probably for the best as I really wouldn't have been able to afford the upkeep back then!  H622ACK was the bus I had my eye on though at the time.

[SunnySouth]

Well, made the journey to The North, and copped two of the three Renowns I could see out & about today on Transdev’s tracker; happy with that

They look better outside than inside, though nothing that a refurb wouldn’t fix if they wanted them to carry on for another twenty years, and the first one had soggy back seats where I presume the rain was coming in earlier (must’ve been an epic OAP pissing incident otherwise), but as predicted they both went very well indeed! Yup, still would… 

Chuffed I got another couple of rides on these, in service and in anger; it’ll undoubtedly be the last time. I know some would look at these and say “they’re just a boring modern”, but I grew up with First’s Barbie spec versions and later drove them, and those distinctive sounds and smells carry happy memories - it’s amazing what a knackered old bus can evoke if you’re that way inclined!

[busmansholiday]

11 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

they’re just a boring modern”

They are,

12 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

but I grew up with First’s Barbie spec versions and later drove them,

that's the difference, I grew up with buses built in the 50's and got to drive some of them in anger at the twilight of their lives.

[danthecapriman]

I must admit those Volvo’s and other buses of that era don’t do anything for me. But the ones I remember and love are the Leyland National’s, Bristol VR’s, Leyland Atlantean’s, that kind of era stuff. I never drove buses but always remember getting on them as a kid to go to town with parents or my grandparents, then when I was older I took an interest in them as a petrol head! They’re just what I remember and miss seeing now. There’s probably people out there that see those as either old crap or modern crap whichever way you see it!

 

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, SunnySouth said:

Well, made the journey to The North, and copped two of the three Renowns I could see out & about today on Transdev’s tracker; happy with that

They look better outside than inside, though nothing that a refurb wouldn’t fix if they wanted them to carry on for another twenty years, and the first one had soggy back seats where I presume the rain was coming in earlier (must’ve been an epic OAP pissing incident otherwise), but as predicted they both went very well indeed! Yup, still would… 

Chuffed I got another couple of rides on these, in service and in anger; it’ll undoubtedly be the last time. I know some would look at these and say “they’re just a boring modern”, but I grew up with First’s Barbie spec versions and later drove them, and those distinctive sounds and smells carry happy memories - it’s amazing what a knackered old bus can evoke if you’re that way inclined!

This is what the ones I was most used to seeing looked like.

Pretty sure that was the first one I drove.

Same bus later spotted in a heritage livery...

Usually working along side these identically based Alexander bodied examples.

Though the Wright ones always felt a bit better put together it felt like, and I preferred the layout of their cab.

Yes I'd rather have a National or a 70s era coach in the garage given the choice - but nostalgia is a powerful thing and it's nice to see people taking an interest and ensuring that some do make it into preservation.  They were the first buses that I was really let out on the public highway in, and I've spent many a happy afternoon trundling around Aberdeen with First's then head driver trainer looking into various road safety or traffic management matters behind the wheel of them.

I reckon realistically they're probably the last generation of vehicles which realistically will be even vaguely a realistic proposition for anyone who doesn't have a full depot behind them - these are electronically complicated enough to make most people's heads spin, but the buses that replaced these...Just no.  The complexity will kill them.  Plus to be honest, I really can't see a Streetshite not self-destructing in some terminal way after about 15 years anyway.

These aren't what I grew up with though.  To be hones what I grew up with was bugger all in terms of buses as we lived in the back of beyond and didn't have a bus service!  However on the couple of times a year we went into Aberdeen, these were what I remember seeing (and hearing).

You used to be able to hear them fully from the far end of Union Street.  Especially 130, which I'm pretty sure had shredded a substantial chunk of the baffles from the exhaust system. 

Speaking of 130...

Not my video, but captures the rumble of the L10 quite nicely.  You could just leave me on the back seat of the lower deck there all day and I'd be quite happy.  The noise and the smell of these buses is pure nostalgia for me.

I've been lucky enough to have a couple of shots out in 131 shown in preservation above, and can vouch for the fact that she goes very, very well indeed.  Seems to have a high speed diff fitted as well so will actually cruise quite comfortably at the legal speed limit rather than screaming its head off at 40mph like so many deckers.

[cms206]

Good afternoon from Manchester.

One week in and I have never seen such disorganisation and lack of being arsed at a bus operator, and I have worked for some real two-bit shitehouse outfits in my time.

Bee Network seems to be entirely shambolic as well.

 

Have a photo from the middle of last week when I killed the training bus and sat almost five hours on Saddleworth Moor waiting for a replacement bus coming from a garage not even eight miles away.

[martc]

LAZ-695E coaches at the quayside of Novorossiysk Harbour discharging passengers for the cruise of a lifetime aboard the goodship Bashkiria in the early 70s.

[martc]

Mitcham Road, Tooting, 1959. The trolleybus is on route 630, which ran from Harlesden to West Croydon. Trolleybuses last ran on this route in 1960.

2024.

 

[N19]

On 28/05/2024 at 14:16, busmansholiday said:

I'm not naming the (South Yorkshire) operator, but when I was sent it my guess was correct first time..

Tracky?

[busmansholiday]

Just now, N19 said:

Tracky?

This was taken last month, not 15years ago.

[N19]

1 minute ago, busmansholiday said:

This was taken last month, not 15years ago.

Is it really fifteen years - crikey.

 

[quicksilver]

On 04/06/2024 at 20:27, martc said:

London Victoria Coach Station in 1957. The journey took 50 days and cost £85 (£1720 today).

You can go slightly further today, but it's a little more expensive, but I'm not sure if the Calcutta journey included board and lodgings.

I can't be arsed to look, but is this the longest coach journey from/to the UK?

 

That coach does some pretty mundane stuff when it's not trekking to Pakistan. Here it is in the exotic surroundings of Milton Keynes on a rail replacement job last month.

17 days each way travelling for 14 days there? Nah, I think I'll give that a miss.

[martc]

2 hours ago, quicksilver said:

17 days each way travelling for 14 days there? Nah, I think I'll give that a miss.

Is the 17 days journey the rail replacement trip, or the one to Pakistan?

[cms206]

My first three weeks at Oldham are almost up; naturally I've been on the backshift during my week on the road, and as such it's drivers choice so I've been hitting the unusual automated manual Volvo B5 Geminis hard.

 

A photodump of this nonsense, on the basis I might not get back 😂

[willswitchengage]

On 28/05/2024 at 18:33, busmansholiday said:

Modern buses actually ring twice when you press the bell for some odd reason. 

I find this is an area where bi these days have genuinely gone the wrong way. Growing up in the 90s, a single press of a rectangular, large and tactile red and yellow stop button would yield a loud and reassuring single 'ding'. It sounded like a mechanical bell was actually being rung.

Move forward ten years and we get crap looking small, round bell buttons and they would yield a feeble 'beep'. It was pathetic.

Now we've still got the same crappy buttons but a feeble 'ding ding' for some unknown reason.

I recently traveled to a third world country called the USA and the bell was sounded by pulling on a cord than ran the length of the vehicle.

[willswitchengage]

Reading Busses have started their seasonal use of an open top DD on their busiest route. A nice old Trident making a pleasant sound.

[Austin-Rover]

16 hours ago, cms206 said:

 

This would have been my bus to school back in the day! You can't believe how disappointing it was to see TfGM chose that insipid yellow for their corporate identity when they had any number of shades of orange in their back catalogue. Very weird, especially as on the whole the SELNEC / GMT era is remembered fondly by the yokels. 

 

[cms206]

1 hour ago, Austin-Rover said:

This would have been my bus to school back in the day! You can't believe how disappointing it was to see TfGM chose that insipid yellow for their corporate identity when they had any number of shades of orange in their back catalogue. Very weird, especially as on the whole the SELNEC / GMT era is remembered fondly by the yokels. 

 

Indeed; Hyde Road have recently turned out an Enviro 400 in GMT livery and it looks absolutely astounding among a sea of custard yellow.

[busmansholiday]

1 hour ago, Austin-Rover said:

Very weird, especially as on the whole the SELNEC / GMT era is remembered fondly by the yokels. 

I'm clearly getting tooooo old as I remember all the different colours of the buses before SELNEC took over (in 1968/9,)

 

[Remspoor]

On 21/06/2024 at 13:45, willswitchengage said:

Reading Busses have started their seasonal use of an open top DD on their busiest route.

I really wanted this to say

Reading Buses have started their seasonal use of the Reading Mainline RMs

 

[martc]

Northumberland St, NuT. Did you know this was once a part of the A1?

[martc]

NuT again.

[Eyersey1234]

Been following this electric Yutong in London, god this fucker is ugly.  Looks like it was designed by a 5 year old

[SunnySouth]

13 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Been following this electric Yutong in London, god this fucker is ugly.  Looks like it was designed by a 5 year old

One of the few things that Britain still manages to competently manufacture is buses. I do wish, therefore, that British bus operators would stop entertaining this f*king Chinese shite. By all means buy european offerings, we know they’re well established and good quality, but why some firms want to spend vast sums of money supporting the Chinese enconomy I really cannot fathom. Chinese vehicles have never been renowned for long lasting quality - as plenty of MG owners have discovered - and in the current political climate it makes even less sense to be proudly touting this shit. WHY?!!!