Bus Shite

[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?!!! 

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 hour ago, SunnySouth said:

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?!!! 

£££ ???
We've got a new(ish) hourly bus service down to Carmarthen from Aberystwyth (110 miles return journey) that's an all electric, planet saving, green machine service*. The actual units are YingTongs brand like the London one above.  Specific model is the E10.
TrawsCymru (who provide the service) are pretty much Welsh Government owned so are likely to have to comply with their 'value for money' purchasing guidelines [those are totally awful to work with, trust me] and as there's no restrictions on Chinese kit (yet) that's what they're running.
There may be a seachange in UK purchasing rules but, atm, it's only Huawei that's banned (I think)

*I've actually been on one (gasp). And compared to the rattly, shonky First bus I transferred to - whisper quiet.

[cms206]

The Yutong E10s and E12s are actually a really decent product and very highly rated in the industry; backup is top notch and supplied by Pelican Leyland-DAF in Castleford. The diesel offerings such as the current GT12 are DAF MX-powered with ZF 'boxes and from what I'm hearing they're not far off VDL-Bova levels of quality but with much better backup.

 

The BYD offerings on the other hand are absolute horseshit, hence Alexander-Dennis going out on their own with Voith supplied mechanicals for the new all integral Enviro 100 and Enviro 400 electrics.

 

I drove my first BYD E400 last week in Manchester and the steering has all the feel, weight and directional capability of a Fleetline - and they're fucking freezing. I was a broken man after five hours in one 😂

[SunnySouth]

Interesting to hear that some of it has decent backup; I recall it was a lack of that that killed off the ridiculously named King Long brand, whose coaches had a brief dalliance into the UK market back in the 2000s. I guess they probably come with a free set of finest LingLong HappyWank tyres chucked in for free, too?

I’d still rather them buying ADL or Wright stuff, though. 

[cms206]

23 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

Interesting to hear that some of it has decent backup; I recall it was a lack of that that killed off the ridiculously named King Long brand, whose coaches had a brief dalliance into the UK market back in the 2000s. I guess they probably come with a free set of finest LingLong HappyWank tyres chucked in for free, too?

I’d still rather them buying ADL or Wright stuff, though. 

King Long's issues were mostly the fault of the UK distributor who were your run of the mill offshore tax avoiders. I believe the last parts supplier have gone to the wall, they were based in that well known hub of bus activity - Oldmeldrum.

Yutong's stuff is quality; as I say the running gear on the diesels is DAF MX11 (on the GT12) and Cummins ISB6 (on the TC9), ZF gearboxes and axles across the board, tyres are by Michelin, all the kit is standard fit on European stuff. Build quality is up there with the best and prices are competitive. I'd sooner run a Yutong GT12 over a Turkish built Temsa Safari HD12.

[martc]

An Ikarus photobombs our favourite* frog faced fascist and his best mate.

[martc]

The driver -

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Found this channel on You Tube:

 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

https://youtu.be/S0Pk_sExV6g?si=xiJD4bcIQ_KCMpQR

[martc]

In the US -

A long in the tooth GM Traveler (35-foot bus) at JFK in 1977. Carey had the airport contract for 47 years.

Noo Yoik again, this time it's 1925 and we're on the corner of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. This could have been made by 'Yellow Coach' judging by the grille -

Talking of which, plenty of info on some more outlandish Yellow Coach models here - https://zavanak.com/transport-topics/yellow-coach-720-735/

[Remspoor]

Two Ex Madrid transport (EMT) Leyland Titan (OPD2/6) buses here in Spanish have been purchased to be restored and added to a museums collection. The newspaper is behind a paywall so this is are archived story, in Spanish.

https://archive.ph/dg6bd

This is the link translated by Google into English.

https://www-eldiario-es.translate.goog/madrid/somos/autobus-plantas-emt-madrid-vendia-wallapop-sera-restaurado-museo_1_11510475.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

These Leyland buses are Right Hand drive with only the stairs set up for the roads of Madrid.

 

[Remspoor]

The Dutch football fans are using a Bristol VRT

Dutch reg BJ-DH-95 details of it`s British service in the link

http://bcv.robsly.com/fao423v.html

Story.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/article/2024/jul/09/oranje-bus-euro-2024-netherlands-fans-germany

 

 

[quicksilver]

In Oxford last week, with all the Low Emission Zones and the city bus fleets going electric, I was very surprised to see this old Volvo B10M from the local Charlton Services fleet, still going strong after 23 years. Remarkably it's never had a cherished plate and wears its age for all to see.

And today it turned up on my home turf. Not sure where it was going but nice to see it again anyway. Not so long ago I wouldn't have considered a B10M very interesting; how times have changed.

[Yoss]

@martc - Ikarus alert!

Seems to have had a modernised front fitted, I can't believe it was built like that. But from the side it is pure Ikarus. This was in Bekescsaba, southern Hungary. 

 

At first glance you'll wonder what the hell this is a picture of. 

It's taken out of the back window of a trolleybus in Budapest. I've been on trolleybuses all over Europe many times and never had this happen but this week it happened twice. The driver had to get out with a pair of black rubber gloves and a big stick to reattach the pick up poles. 

[Yoss]

Forgot this one. 

Apparently a Credo EC12. A new one on me. 

Built in Györ in Hungary but it seems to be made of bits from other people's parts bins to keep costs down including axles from SOR, a Czech company, plus an Iveco engine and ZF manual box. 

[LightBulbFun]

On 26/03/2024 at 04:08, LightBulbFun said:

I see the RMOOA have announced the venue and date for Routemaster 70

I am hoping to be there, I was at Routemaster 60 and lost all my pictures of that event due to a hard drive failure, hopefully I can avoid repeating that this time! and hopefully finally find someone who can renew my RMOOA memembership, I tried emailing them some years back but they never responded to my email

I am just a bit concerned about getting around, the last time it utterly broke me

 

@Yoss do you (or any other shitters?  )  have any plans to be there? would be good to know if familiar faces will be there, so I dont feel completely like a fish out of water LOL

 

On 26/03/2024 at 19:03, Yoss said:

I do intend going but unlike at RM 50 and 60 I don't have a bus to bring so I'll probably just pop in. I haven't worked out my days off that far in advance but if it's a long weekend (the chances are 1 in 3) I'd probably go on the Saturday, if not it would obviously be Sunday.

Chiswick is a lot easier for me to get to than Finsbury Park anyway but probably not for you. You could use the North London Line direct from Dalston Kingsland to Gunnersbury which would be the nearest stop. But that would be dependent on there being no engineering works which seems unlikely going by my recent experiences. Otherwise you could drop down to Aldgate or Whitechapel and get the District to Gunnersbury. If you go this way you can get off one stop early at Chiswick Park. You would have slightly further to walk but Chiswick Park is one of my favourite Charles Holden stations. I would definitely do this.

just wondering as the date draws near, do you know what day(s) you will be going?   if you are still planning on going etc! Ill be honest I completely lost track of it until just a few days ago in that, I knew it was "sometime in the summer" but Its only yesterday/the day before did I realise Oh shit! its *this* weekend, so thats going to be interesting for me! it is times like this where I do wish I had bought myself a London Taxi or something, so I could run down to the FoD and borrow the Mobility scooter that lives there! (as I still remember just how badly Routemaster 60 broke me 10 years ago! was awesome, but also very painful/exhausting)

[Yoss]

42 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

 

just wondering as the date draws near, do you know what day(s) you will be going?   if you are still planning on going etc! Ill be honest I completely lost track of it until just a few days ago in that, I knew it was "sometime in the summer" but Its only yesterday/the day before did I realise Oh shit! its *this* weekend, so thats going to be interesting for me! it is times like this where I do wish I had bought myself a London Taxi or something, so I could run down to the FoD and borrow the Mobility scooter that lives there! (as I still remember just how badly Routemaster 60 broke me 10 years ago! was awesome, but also very painful/exhausting)

Yeah, I'm working Saturday so I'm just going along on Sunday. I'm just going to drive probably to Syon Park/Brentford area then get the 237 or 267 in to Chiswick. I see there is engineering works on the District but from your direction I'd get the North London Line from Dalston Kingsland to Gunnersbury. I know it goes the long way round but it is one train all the way. Gunnersbury Station is actually closer to the venue than Chiswick Park anyway. 

I've not been there since it was still Chiswick Works. I've been past the entrance many times on the bus and it just looks like one of those steel and glass business parks that you get anywhere but I'm sure it will look much better full of RMs. 

[martc]

Talking of modern* Ikarus's here are some 350's and 380's in the UK, where they were sold as 'Blue Danubes' , in the late '80's, the front end design differs from coach to coach... 

@Yoss - this one has a similar front to 'yours'

[martc]

A colour transparency of a Routemaster bus passing through Parliament Square, 1961, by Heinz Zinram.

[Saabnut]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

 

just wondering as the date draws near, do you know what day(s) you will be going?   if you are still planning on going etc! Ill be honest I completely lost track of it until just a few days ago in that, I knew it was "sometime in the summer" but Its only yesterday/the day before did I realise Oh shit! its *this* weekend, so thats going to be interesting for me! it is times like this where I do wish I had bought myself a London Taxi or something, so I could run down to the FoD and borrow the Mobility scooter that lives there! (as I still remember just how badly Routemaster 60 broke me 10 years ago! was awesome, but also very painful/exhausting)

LBF - can you not hire a scooter for the day from somewhere local? Being in a high population area I would have thought it possible?

[artdjones]

The guy obviously has a slight* obsession, but what a garden toy!

Edit:- Just looked him up, he died 2 years ago at the age of 96.

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, Yoss said:

Yeah, I'm working Saturday so I'm just going along on Sunday. I'm just going to drive probably to Syon Park/Brentford area then get the 237 or 267 in to Chiswick. I see there is engineering works on the District but from your direction I'd get the North London Line from Dalston Kingsland to Gunnersbury. I know it goes the long way round but it is one train all the way. Gunnersbury Station is actually closer to the venue than Chiswick Park anyway. 

I've not been there since it was still Chiswick Works. I've been past the entrance many times on the bus and it just looks like one of those steel and glass business parks that you get anywhere but I'm sure it will look much better full of RMs. 

Awesome good to know! I might just pop down on the Sunday then and skip satuday, I mean of course I would love to go both days, but I do have to be careful that I dont utterly ruin myself!

tho you would not happen to Know if Ian, from Ians bus stop is going to be there/which days he might be there if so? he is a chap I very much want to meet in person some day and just give thanks for his Awesome website, I have been browsing/following it religiously for 20 years now! plus I really love how its never changed in design and still renders perfectly on even the oldest web browsers, as also a vintage computer nerd, his website is great for that  

although worrying I notice his website seems to be down/gone atm! he did say that he was updating it a little bit to work better on chrome (not that i ever experienced issues!) so hopefully its just related to that, and not that its actually gone down for good! that would be a massive shame

1 hour ago, Saabnut said:

LBF - can you not hire a scooter for the day from somewhere local? Being in a high population area I would have thought it possible?

its something I thought about myself "where could I borrow one from" hence my imediate thought about the one at the FoD  but I am not sure about where exactly things are with regards to hiring one, and im worried about having to go get it and then bring it back at the end of the day (I dont know Chiswick very well at all) 

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome good to know! I might just pop down on the Sunday then and skip satuday, I mean of course I would love to go both days, but I do have to be careful that I dont utterly ruin myself!

tho you would not happen to Know if Ian, from Ians bus stop is going to be there/which days he might be there if so? he is a chap I very much want to meet in person some day and just give thanks for his Awesome website, I have been browsing/following it religiously for 20 years now! plus I really love how its never changed in design and still renders perfectly on even the oldest web browsers, as also a vintage computer nerd, his website is great for that  

although worrying I notice his website seems to be down/gone atm! he did say that he was updating it a little bit to work better on chrome (not that i ever experienced issues!) so hopefully its just related to that, and not that its actually gone down for good! that would be a massive shame

its something I thought about myself "where could I borrow one from" hence my imediate thought about the one at the FoD  but I am not sure about where exactly things are with regards to hiring one, and im worried about having to go get it and then bring it back at the end of the day (I dont know Chiswick very well at all) 

I've absolutely no idea I'm afraid. I noticed his site wasn't working too a little while back. 

[LightBulbFun]

46 minutes ago, Yoss said:

I've absolutely no idea I'm afraid. I noticed his site wasn't working too a little while back. 

yeah! along similar lines I noticed @Inspector Morose's blog website had vanished into the void as well, I hope everything is alright over there!

[worldofceri]

Dunno about his blog but the Mundane Public Transport page on FB has recent posts and the inspector himself is living his best life in Amsterdam as we write, again according to FacePalmBook.

[Inspector Morose]

On 16/07/2024 at 22:12, LightBulbFun said:

yeah! along similar lines I noticed @Inspector Morose's blog website had vanished into the void as well, I hope everything is alright over there!

Currently bothering Dutch trams.

 

[martc]

My fav Ikarus - a '55', nicknamed the 'Rocket'. They made these from 1953 to 72. Just look at it, it's ace, as good as any western luxury* coach. (The plane is a Tu144 by the way).

[martc]

NuT

[Yoss]

12 minutes ago, martc said:

My fav Ikarus - a '55', nicknamed the 'Rocket'. They made these from 1953 to 72. Just look at it, it's ace, as good as any western luxury* coach. (The plane is a Tu144 by the way).

It's not a TU144, they look like this. 

I think you mean a TU114, probably just a typo. 

[martc]

Just now, Yoss said:

I think you mean a TU114, probably just a typo. 

 

Yup. I did mean the Tu114, thanks for the correction.

Please don't let my typo detract from the glorious Ikarus that was stood in front of it, the 114 I mean not a 144 who's reputation suggests it should have been called the Rocket, rather than the 55!