Bus Shite

[Noel Tidybeard]

don't forget all you midlands anoraks bus shitters its Yardley Wood Bus Garage 80th birthday bash this Saturday 10/11/18

[Six-cylinder]

.

[dollywobbler]

Celtic Travel near us have some new buses. They look absolutely horrible.

 

That's more like it. I do like extra wipers.

[Six-cylinder]

  On 06/11/2018 at 20:49, Noel Tidybeard said:

don't forget all you midlands anoraks bus shitters its Yardley Wood Bus Garage 80th birthday bash this Saturday 10/11/18

 

Interested.

 

Can you park close by?

 

Will you be there to give me some incite to what I am looking at? 

[artdjones]

  On 06/11/2018 at 18:40, Six-cylinder said:

Can we play snap!

Falconer and Watts of Llanishen, Cardiff.

[Noel Tidybeard]

  On 06/11/2018 at 21:17, Six-cylinder said:

Interested.

 

Can you park close by?

 

Will you be there to give me some incite to what I am looking at? 

 

not sure about parking prolly a bit of a free for all

 

i certainly amgoing to try to be there

 

googley maps of YW garage

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4149207,-1.8689791,138a,35y,270h,39.47t/data=!3m1!1e3

[Inspector Morose]

I might pop along. Some of the Nat Ex heratige fleet might be attending namely the blue Timesaver Metrobus.

[Noel Tidybeard]

  On 06/11/2018 at 22:04, FPB7 said:

I might pop along. Some of the Nat Ex heratige fleet might be attending namely the blue Timesaver Metrobus.

 

jolly good that's just the anorak bus spotter knowledgable fellow we need :mrgreen:

[Noel Tidybeard]

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsocsi.in%2FSnYoB%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2gPuBGHIdFZz7qyfSU1-xIUkSoC3MXeUkv4EFvu-2MITi4i-5QjafBWQI&h=AT3RjIrYZi_jZy-_SGwIfofLZRc9x2ZmVFDN1hcIVQMjh50JfvAgZSKQfnoUzNtNxpbZkK9LuLfnwrgZJ9AvERM7UyPBMkMrsE6I74qy9kDkmSv0e6uc7B2BbQR3X_YOVuZ_SGw-glND3bIyFvIR627uBatexQOkglgujHvEpupzQe--aLNE0DgHGcuUeafhGhAHf4KV2ELpl8tOBdedtmjh0RY_PRPGVmMiZ3m7SQZrdz4SXcQSm1j2ZrfmbdWEgX-gtDsk47hPIYOnywLfaec7BSaAfDs_wvbWD3ri1PntXz9PIe35j-hBcnW00Fc3s_ond-rVGWIkdIcksV_Ec7CJcqLawVuekYNniO8lQ6C9QfHAwOi1PjOsF8tF7-EhqjjoK7n5JCDcweld_iDl4ajXzNckMH7JBqBGCM49CORy4XVdGZ4ocomw9razxhiHik4WTS9GZfAS1_Bp7XxisOwxAzXpVMw

[Guest Hooli]

  On 06/11/2018 at 21:15, dollywobbler said:

 

 

 

That's more like it. I do like extra wipers.

 

 

I used to drive one of them, for a different company. Lovely old things even if the one I had suffered a very stiff gear shift.

[320touring]

This was working an actual 25 to Illford..

[LightBulbFun]

im prolly the only person in the multiverse that actually looks forward to tube strikes 

 

because all the Routemasters (and sometimes RTs even!) come out to play in service once more

 

I wonder what people think when they are waiting at a bus stop for their regular bus and a 1940s RT pulls up instead...

[RoadworkUK]

Here's another of those Mosely / Caetano Faro A Series things.

 

 

 

Spotted reverting to its elements on a farm on Orkney two years ago.

[sierraman]

Looks like a Ford A series powered 1960’s prefab secondary school.

[dollywobbler]

  On 08/11/2018 at 01:47, LightBulbFun said:

im prolly the only person in the multiverse that actually looks forward to tube strikes

 

because all the Routemasters (and sometimes RTs even!) come out to play in service once more

 

I wonder what people think when they are waiting at a bus stop for their regular bus and a 1940s RT pulls up instead...

Is that actually going to be possible once ULEZ really kicks in?

[LightBulbFun]

  On 08/11/2018 at 07:58, dollywobbler said:

Is that actually going to be possible once ULEZ really kicks in?

 

I thought buses older then a certain age where exempt from all that stuff?

 

im worried about Route 15H tbh 

 

 

I used to drag my mum to one of the Routes bus stops wait for the right conductor to come along then I would drag her onto the bus and I would go back and forth the Route nattering to the conductor and then go back to the garage

 

(I tell ya West ham bus garage dont half make a mean jacket potato )

 

fun memories, I wonder if Paul still works the Route? (he was a nice conductor along with Mandy the bus driver) sadly I never got a chance to experience any running days or ride RML2760 back to the garage

[Inspector Morose]

Whilst on the subject of Ford A series buses, one must not forget the home grown version.

[meshking]

I had the dubious pleasure of a national express caetano like this the other week:

 

 

I guess these are a robotic manual? The chasm between gearchanges was impressive!

[Zelandeth]

  On 08/11/2018 at 09:19, meshking said:

I had the dubious pleasure of a national express caetano like this the other week:

 

 

I guess these are a robotic manual? The chasm between gearchanges was impressive!

Yes.

 

The huge 15m Volvos they use on the X5 between Oxford and Cambridge use buses with a similar box. It drives me spare when I'm on them. The fact that it's lurchy as all hell and insists on swapping between the 35 different ratios at about 50rpm above idle doesn't help.

 

I'd hate to drive them...darn things are in about 5th gear before you've actually completed the turn out of a junction.

[83C]

Ah, iShit gearboxes. Dreadful things, and even worse when you’re trying to drive up a B-road in Devon - in a normal 6sp manual i’d use 2-3 gears, whereas the iShit-fitted B12B made a serious effort to use all 12 gears whilst spending as little time as possible actually in gear.

[willswitchengage]

  On 08/11/2018 at 08:12, LightBulbFun said:

I thought buses older then a certain age where exempt from all that stuff?

 

Most Routemasters you'll see on the road doing regular trips were re-engined ages ago with generic Cummins stuff. I am assuming that they will just get aftermarket exhaust treatment like the stuff Eminox makes, their systems are popular on trucks.

 

In 'must try harder' green bus news:

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-46126728

 

  Quote

 

 

Harrogate's 'trailblazing' electric bus fleet powered by diesel generator

[Felly Magic]

I have also had to endure those Volvo/Caetanos on NX, the automated clutches do not like traffic, and the bodywork flexes when going over expansion joints. Surprisingly, Mike De Courcey's actually have stereos fitted, but only have cab speakers. 

 

I experienced TWM's Platinum buses too, E400MMCs with part 'leather' seats, USB ports on some seats, and next stop announcement, they are also fitted with 'stopstart', which will mean they eat starter motors

[Yoss]

  On 08/11/2018 at 08:12, LightBulbFun said:

I thought buses older then a certain age where exempt from all that stuff?

 

im worried about Route 15H tbh

 

Screenshot 2018-11-08 at 03.59.29.png

 

I used to drag my mum to one of the Routes bus stops wait for the right conductor to come along then I would drag her onto the bus and I would go back and forth the Route nattering to the conductor and then go back to the garage

 

(I tell ya West ham bus garage dont half make a mean jacket potato )

 

fun memories, I wonder if Paul still works the Route? (he was a nice conductor along with Mandy the bus driver) sadly I never got a chance to experience any running days or ride RML2760 back to the garage

I find Marshall Refurbs, aka Dartmasters, hideous things. I went on one once in 2005 and got off again after about ten minutes, vowing never to get on one again. So far I have kept that vow. They are Routemaster shaped from the outside and from about fifty feet away but any closer and you realise it's nothing of the sort. They're kind've like Routemaster ghosts. You catch a glimpse of them in the distance now and then but you can't get too near or the illusion is shattered.

 

The original refurbs weren't great, the insides were too bright and the engines made some strange noises depending on which engine was fitted, but at least they still felt like an RM once you were on as the rest of the drivetrain was the original. Once they put those Allison gearboxes in they lost everything. And the hopper windows don't let any air in at all. Ghastly things.

 

To be honest, I'm surprised the heritage routes have lasted this long. When they announced them in 2005 I don't think anyone thought they'd still be running thirteen years later. They've done well really, most normal buses dont last that long.

[Zelandeth]

Some of the Arrival "Sapphire" branded routes here have stop/start on them.

 

So far I've seen them stuck halfway around two roundabouts where they've decided not to restart. We've only had them a few months...

[rml2345]

Our Stop-Start E400MMCs must be doing well then as I don't think we've had one fail to restart. Not in the six months I've been there anyway.

Nice buses to pilot and a world away from the Streetlites that make up much of the rest of the fleet.

[LightBulbFun]

  On 08/11/2018 at 20:39, Yoss said:

I find Marshall Refurbs, aka Dartmasters, hideous things. I went on one once in 2005 and got off again after about ten minutes, vowing never to get on one again. So far I have kept that vow. They are Routemaster shaped from the outside and from about fifty feet away but any closer and you realise it's nothing of the sort. They're kind've like Routemaster ghosts. You catch a glimpse of them in the distance now and then but you can't get too near or the illusion is shattered.

 

The original refurbs weren't great, the insides were too bright and the engines made some strange noises depending on which engine was fitted, but at least they still felt like an RM once you were on as the rest of the drivetrain was the original. Once they put those Allison gearboxes in they lost everything. And the hopper windows don't let any air in at all. Ghastly things.

 

To be honest, I'm surprised the heritage routes have lasted this long. When they announced them in 2005 I don't think anyone thought they'd still be running thirteen years later. They've done well really, most normal buses dont last that long.

 

Oh yeah I agree with you there its one of the reasons I detested so much to DWs idea of electrifying TWC the invacar

 

 sadly its all I had so I made the most of it its a shame RML2760 no longer run the route I used to enjoy riding on that when I could because it was un-molested, I even had a 22W Saloon bulb from that bus

 

why DID they fit hopper windows anyway? its not like that has any affect on emissions... (another is why in the 1990s did they plate up the heater inlet above the cab?)

 

but as crap as the marshals are are they are still Routemasters to me and Id be very sad to see any Routemaster withdrawn from service, and I have at least seem a couple Dartmaster RMs that have had quarter drops put back in, like RM1005 (although THAT bus has far from an original driveline LOL) but sadly none of the H15 RMs have had Quarter drops refitted (BTW does anyone know on the couple H15 that got done over recently and had incandescent lightbulbs put back in does anyone know if there using proper 22W London Transport Saloon bulbs or not? given the above news I really need to go and have a look for myself)

[bramz7]

All this Routemaster talk has got me reminiscing about the buses local to me when we lived in Bexleyheath. As an excitable child into all manners of vehicles (if it's got wheels I'll like it) I used to pay attention to the buses too.

It was all Titans really. You could hear them from a mile off. Route 401 came down our narrow road. No Routemaster for us, although I've definitely been on one...I think? I remember going on a London bendy and as a idiot teenager it was fun* to stand in the articulated bit.

And then in Slough it was all Beeline Darts and Lynx. And Slough bus station. Dank.

[busmansholiday]

Lothian have / are refurbishing there ex Mac Tours routemasters to an incredible degree. There's no quarter drop windows due to trying to get the gear system and the lights, although looking original, are all led.

[AndyW201]

Joining in the shite A-series based minibus fun, this and its sister 317 were a common sight round here and managed to last well into the early 90s. As was usual for Cleveland Transit, it was bodied by Northern Counties, it and 317 were nicknamed 'The ice cream vans' according to my dad who worked for them.

 

 

In it's later, not as attractive, post deregulation livery,

 

[Yoss]

I like the pool of oil collecting under that A Series.

 

 

As far as Routemaster hopper windows are concerned the old quarter drop were quite high maintenance and the hopper windows practically maintenence free so I think there's your answer.