First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

[ValleyLines142]

New StreetLites 47551 (SN14 FGC) & 47553 (SN14 FGE) were out on the X2 & X3 (Bristol - Portishead) diagrams today in full "Express Yourself" livery.

Indeed they were! Just missed out on a journey on 47553, which was a shame, instead having to opt for 42969.

47547 was on the 319 today too, seen working the 1245 Cribbs Causeway to Bath service at Bristol Parkway. Again I just missed out as my train arrived as it left!

Other observations include 67600 on the W1, yet displaying just 1, and 40835 on the 1755 service 178 Bristol to Bath.

47444 was also on the 90, and both 42733 and 42736 were on the 70.

 

[swifty]

New StreetLites 47551 (SN14 FGC) & 47553 (SN14 FGE) were out on the X2 & X3 (Bristol - Portishead) diagrams today in full "Express Yourself" livery.

Dave

47552 was out yesterday evening working the X9. I noticed from the offside at least there didn't seem to be any specific route branding?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Those were they days! https://www.flickr.com/photos/22455491@N02/2955159329

No both were variations to route & timetable, however today it's a short notice variation so a last minute change I'd assume?

One of my first SN trips was on a VR of the same batch albeit it still wore NBC green in 1991! Oh, and Merc 811s on the 21!
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66355 seen NIS in Saltford heading for Bristol. Next one for the paintbrush though not rubbed down? Passed 66352 working back on a 319. 47547 working 379 whilst 46603 is still working!!

66107 also working 173; been a while since I saw something other than an Eclipse on there

Unrelated but saw two Routemasters (one on ring road, one at Willsbridge) last night AND two Optare Alero that had been converted to stretch limo standard. Odd

 

[swifty]

Unrelated but saw two Routemasters (one on ring road, one at Willsbridge) last night AND two Optare Alero that had been converted to stretch limo standard. Odd

One of them was RML2665 of BBC, it must of been on a private hire as I saw it heading off round Longwell Green.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

One of them was RML2665 of BBC, it must of been on a private hire as I saw it heading off round Longwell Green.

That was the one I saw at Willsbridge. Don't know if the other one was the Warmley?

 

[CD]

Ex Truronian Solo 53401 seen at Temple Meads at about 1230 on a 1 to Broomhill !!!!!!!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Ex Truronian Solo 53401 seen at Temple Meads at about 1230 on a 1 to Broomhill !!!!!!!

You win! Can't beat that

 

[freetoview33]

Ex Truronian Solo 53401 seen at Temple Meads at about 1230 on a 1 to Broomhill !!!!!!!

That is just madness! Bring on more streetlites next year PLEASE!
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On that subject it looks like the only singles wright now do is the streetlite!

 

[swifty]

That is just madness! Bring on more streetlites next year PLEASE!
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On that subject it looks like the only singles wright now do is the streetlite!

We should still be due 47559-72 for Bristol over the next few months. It also begs the question of what was being used on the 619 today?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

We should still be due 47559-72 for Bristol over the next few months. It also begs the question of what was being used on the 619 today?

47559-71 are due but Wrights are closed for holidays at the mo. I too wondered what was on the 619? Gemini??

 

[winston270twm]

That is just madness! Bring on more streetlites next year PLEASE!
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On that subject it looks like the only singles wright now do is the streetlite!

Wrightbus are also bodying Volvo B8RLE single deck chassis with the Eclipse 2 bodywork.

 

[Class 33]

Wrightbus are also bodying some new Gemini's with classic Bristol VR bodywork! https://www.flickr.com/photos/briti...LGC-4gYY7N-nEUBgM-6MGvF5-4gYKkd-aPQ3hZ-4gUSYM

 

[freetoview33]

Wrightbus are also bodying some new Gemini's with classic Bristol VR bodywork! https://www.flickr.com/photos/briti...LGC-4gYY7N-nEUBgM-6MGvF5-4gYKkd-aPQ3hZ-4gUSYM

Same it's not real

 

[ValleyLines142]

Ex Truronian Solo 53401 seen at Temple Meads at about 1230 on a 1 to Broomhill !!!!!!!

That's absolutely idiotic! Why on earth would First do this?! They should stick these on the 70 instead

I bet they had a Gemini on the 5 or something!

 

[swifty]

That's absolutely idiotic! Why on earth would First do this?! They should stick these on the 70 instead

I bet they had a Gemini on the 5 or something!

The 5 is run by Hengrove so it wouldn't make any difference I guess having the Solo on the 1 means it had more than likely been on there all day instead of being used on the 619? Unless it was at the depot for some reason and was used as a last resort replacement?

LH seem to be sending Darts out on a regular basis on the likes of the 1/2 and 43-45 at the moment. When one of the Marshall broke down the other day there was a Gemini on the 17 from mid afternoon till midnight!

 

[ValleyLines142]

The 5 is run by Hengrove so it wouldn't make any difference I guess having the Solo on the 1 means it had more than likely been on there all day instead of being used on the 619? Unless it was at the depot for some reason and was used as a last resort replacement?

LH seem to be sending Darts out on a regular basis on the likes of the 1/2 and 43-45 at the moment. When one of the Marshall broke down the other day there was a Gemini on the 17 from mid afternoon till midnight!

Oh and it is! I just realised that!

Haven't seen any deckers on the 17 yet.

 

[freetoview33]

To be fair I think I know why, A gemini on the 1 broke down early this afternoon

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

The 5 is run by Hengrove so it wouldn't make any difference I guess having the Solo on the 1 means it had more than likely been on there all day instead of being used on the 619? Unless it was at the depot for some reason and was used as a last resort replacement?

LH seem to be sending Darts out on a regular basis on the likes of the 1/2 and 43-45 at the moment. When one of the Marshall broke down the other day there was a Gemini on the 17 from mid afternoon till midnight!

My thought was along similar lines. The Solo was VOR (inspection in the morning?) so would've been at LH. Decker probably had a fault a) that they thought could be sorted at the roadside but then couldn't or b) it was the only vehicle spare, so off it went to Broomhill!

 

[ValleyLines142]

If I was at Cribbs Causeway waiting for the 1 I would have let that one go, as it would have got so busy along the way!

 

[CD]

It would have been very easy to say a bus has broken down and not run the service as its only a 10 min frequency. But congratulations to First WOE for making a effort.
Its things like this that make the hobby interesting,something unusual.
I know Solos used to work 672/674 and the Sunday 632, and Bath,WSM and even Wells(when they had some) worked in Bristol. But is this a first Solo on a City service?
It reminded me of about 10 or 11 years ago when I was at BTM waiting for a 376. A MB 709D/Plaxton Beaver came along on a 54. Just couldn't resist doing it to Happy Landings for the 376 forward.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

It would have been very easy to say a bus has broken down and not run the service as its only a 10 min frequency. But congratulations to First WOE for making a effort.
Its things like this that make the hobby interesting,something unusual.
I know Solos used to work 672/674 and the Sunday 632, and Bath,WSM and even Wells(when they had some) worked in Bristol. But is this a first Solo on a City service?
It reminded me of about 10 or 11 years ago when I was at BTM waiting for a 376. A MB 709D/Plaxton Beaver came along on a 54. Just couldn't resist doing it to Happy Landings for the 376 forward.

As you say, there have always been Solos popping into Bristol on routes like the 632 and I've seen them on the 319 too but may well be the first time one has turned up on a true city route.

The last mini I can remember were a pair of S-RWP Varios that were with First Coaches but often appeared on the 4 (Centre - Downend - Hanham). My first city adventures were in 1992 so Transits had gone by then (?) but Merc 608s and Ivecos were around.

Badgerline had Transits on various routes though can't recall if they had any at MH but I remember Wells worked the 161 with them!

 

[Private Baxter]

One of my first SN trips was on a VR of the same batch albeit it still wore NBC green in 1991! Oh, and Merc 811s on the 21!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
66355 seen NIS in Saltford heading for Bristol. Next one for the paintbrush though not rubbed down? Passed 66352 working back on a 319. 47547 working 379 whilst 46603 is still working!!

66107 also working 173; been a while since I saw something other than an Eclipse on there

Unrelated but saw two Routemasters (one on ring road, one at Willsbridge) last night AND two Optare Alero that had been converted to stretch limo standard. Odd

66355 is actually in not bad condition, that one could wait a bit longer. 356 is shocking howeer. Still I guess they'll all be done before too long anyway so doesn't matter much.

It looks like Bath haven't quite decided what they want to put their new streetlites on, perhaps they won't have an allocated route.

66107 on 173 again today, but I admit it's quite unusual these days.

And 46603! Must be 20 now! Wonder how long it will continue. Could make it to 2015 at this rate!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

66355 is actually in not bad condition, that one could wait a bit longer. 356 is shocking howeer. Still I guess they'll all be done before too long anyway so doesn't matter much.

It looks like Bath haven't quite decided what they want to put their new streetlites on, perhaps they won't have an allocated route.

66107 on 173 again today, but I admit it's quite unusual these days.

And 46603! Must be 20 now! Wonder how long it will continue. Could make it to 2015 at this rate!

46603 was new in May 1994! I see from Steve White that the cull of Marshall Darts has begun with 41721/6 going. With further Streetlites due and service cuts, won't be long before most of those and the SPDs at history. Probably some MPDs as well?

 

[Class 33]

Keep the faith! Some more registrations are still trickling through;

FIRST BRISTOL LIMITED
73/X73/X74 - Route and Timetable

Interesting. Will keep an eye on the upcoming timetables on TravelineSW to see what these changes are. I expect most probably though just a minor change to the route through Bradley Stoke and minor timetable adjustments, probably nothing major.

Well I've had a look at the new timetable posted on TravelineSW. And nothing very interesting atall for the 73 X73. The new timetable doesn't indicate any significant or minor route change atall(if there is a route change it must surely be just a very minor route change in the Bradley Stoke area). And the timetable is more or less exactly the same. Only some minor timetable adjustments in the evening peak, including the 1655 73 from the Centre is axed probably due to traffic conditions causing this service to run late every day.

Don't know why it mentions X74 though. There is no X74 from 31st August and there hasn't been for a few years or so now.

 

[CD]

46603 was new in May 1994! I see from Steve White that the cull of Marshall Darts has begun with 41721/6 going. With further Streetlites due and service cuts, won't be long before most of those and the SPDs at history. Probably some MPDs as well?

Long may 46603 continue. It sometimes strays off the 161 onto the X75 and has been to Yeovil at least twice this year on 377.
It is certainly much more comfortable to ride on than Alexander Darts 42730/31/38 which have no legroom.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Don't know why it mentions X74 though. There is no X74 from 31st August and there hasn't been for a few years or so now.

Possibly a hangover from old days. VOSA often have old info on registrations, hence Downend being shown as the terminus when it was, and still is, Emersons

 

[freetoview33]

But traveline does say the 70 is also changing from the end of August! looks like it is going to every 15mins (so deckers must be on the cards)
BIG NEWS

Also shows the X74 stopping at U.W.E hourly
and a 71 and 72 towards the cente!!! from U.W.E Yes!

X74: Centre - U.W.E - Bradley Stoke (Willow Brook Centre) - Hourly
70: Temple Meads - U.W.E - 15 mins
71: Temple Meads - U.W.E - 15 mins
72: Centre - U.W.E - 20 mins

 

[Class 33]

But traveline does say the 70 is also changing from the end of August! looks like it is going to every 15mins (so deckers must be on the cards)

Well spotted! Just checked it out. And guess what, a service 71 is coming back! Both services Temple Meads-UWE. UWE retaining it's route via Ashley Down, and the 71 going via Gloucester Road! Giving a service frequency of every 7/8 minutes between Temple Meads/UWE and Filton Avenue/UWE! This is BRILLIANT news! This change wasn't even mentioned on the VOSA announcements!

However doubt it will be double deckers though if the services still terminate at Temple Meads, with the canopy issue. So most likely still single deckers, but could be a bit more of mix of vehicles rather than just Eclipse's.

Looking forward to this.

 

[freetoview33]

Well spotted! Just checked it out. And guess what, a service 71 is coming back! Both services Temple Meads-UWE. UWE retaining it's route via Ashley Down, and the 71 going via Gloucester Road! Giving a service frequency of every 7/8 minutes between Temple Meads/UWE and Filton Avenue/UWE! This is BRILLIANT news! This change wasn't even mentioned on the VOSA announcements!

However not sure whether it will be double deckers though if the services still terminate at Temple Meads, with the canopy issue.

And the 72 and X74!
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This does seem erm very similar to what I suggested to First!

With the 73 reduced tto every 12 mins

 

[Class 33]

Oh my god and a new service 72 Centre-UWE service as well!. Quite a different route though, via Redland and Lockleaze! Running every 20 minutes! Good stuff!

And a new X74 Centre-Bradley Stoke via M32, UWE, and Filton Gypsy Patch Lane! Journey times from Centre-Bradley Stoke much better at just 37 minutes! Running every half hour Mondays-Saturdays! Great news for people living in Bradley Stoke!

Very very interesting! About time we had some changes and improvments to the services in the 70 series. I'm quite looking forward to this! Some of these new services such as the 72 and X74 are not services I would really need to use, but I'm looking forward to trying these services out! I have a week off the first week in September so I'll go for a bit of ride on the buses on the Monday I think!

This must surely mean that extra buses are needed for these new services? Wonder if we'll be getting some new ones? Or maybe some pre-used buses from elsewhere?