Stagecoach North West Discussion

[cainebj]

first one should be here in september for driver familiarisation (mostly due to the wheelchair lift). they should all be out in service by end of October apparently.

 

[Dallamlad]

Great so when are the rest of CE's Enviro's arriving?

21003 on the 3/4
17017 on the 2
18362 on the 2a
20463 on the X1.

 

[darrenw29]

There are a few there now!!!

 

[Dallamlad]

Fantastic great stuff! I seems Cumbria are getting quite a lot actually lol.

 

[KendalKing]

It been fun & games again today on Kendal Town services, due to the extremely heavy traffic. The following buses have all seen use on Town services today 14248, 20305, 20459, 33165, 47009, 47055, 47057, 47058, plus Princess had their Solo out on Town Services.

16334, 18278, 18280 on X35's
16657 on the 755 this morning.
20994 on the 106.

 

[mbonwick]

18374 on 555s at 1400 today.

 

[cainebj]

33167, 33169 and 47060 on Harrington & Seaton.
33168 on 50.
42562 on 51.
47059 later appeared in Workington after the evening services had just started.
47024 was sat on the annexe, presumably after running SL Ltd or Maryport Town Services.
20195 was on SL Ltd Contract, and later Staff Shuttle.
LED's are dead on 22597 so board in windscreen showing "30 MARYPORT".

 

[KendalKing]

18374 on 555s at 1400 today.

Did you see which Leyland Olympian was on the 1709 from Kendal to Lancaster, and the 1820 from Lancaster ? As i was unable to see which one it was.

 

[mbonwick]

Afraid not, I only saw that service because I was returning along the A6 from my holiday in Dorset.

I'd be worried if Step entrance vehicles are appearing on Lancaster services - surely these should be priority low floor?

 

[Stonesourscotty]

Does anyone know why Skyliners are running some X61's?

 

[Dallamlad]

I always enjoyed having a Leyland on the 555 and I miss the old Olys that used to operate the service.

 

[mbonwick]

Don't get me wrong, I prefered the Volvo Olympians to the Tridents, but given the image the Tridents have created for the route, Leylands really aren't suitable. The Volvo would just about be OK though.

 

[pickles]

~~~~~

 

[driver9000]

Does anyone know why Skyliners are running some X61's?

Availability issues with the Expressliner B10Ms? Ive seen Olympians on the X61 recently too.


Regarding Tridents on the 555, I think it was the cheapest way of converting the service to low floor by using existing stock, which is an excellent thing and was long overdue. However with the long distance nature of the service I think a reworking of them internally should have been on the cards by adding DP seating to them like the Volvo and Leyland Olympians had before them.

 

[mbonwick]

I agree that the Tridents were a long overdue and necessary step (no pun intended) to low-floor operation.
However, judging from what Paul McGill has said, they simply cannot cope with the route. Therefore I would suggest replacing them with new Scania/E400 deckers and cascading them elsewhere, eg. Lancaster to see off the 4 Leylands and a few Volvo Olympians, which could then be divided between Lillyhall and Barrow to displace more Leyland Olympians.

 

[cainebj]

have to say that Tridents on the 555 are much better than volvo olys on 300!!!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
33168 and 33169 on Harrington & Seaton.
20734 and 34616 on 31.
16652 and 16653 on 300.
42566 on 50.
34079 on 51.
theres 2 solo's on 1 in Whitehaven, which IS NOT advertised low floor, but theres a beaver bodied vario on a route advertised low floor!

 

[mbonwick]

Ah, but you've missed my point Brett.
While the Tridents are a good thing, as Paul McGill informed us, they are now regularly appearing at Morecambe for rear axle/engine/gearbox work or replacement. This is down to the challenging nature of the route.
It would be far better to replace these with specifically designed long distance vehicles, and move the Tridents back to where they are suited (IE. city operations)

 

[Dallamlad]

I would agree with Mbonwick. I'm not sure what the route is like from KL onwards but between Lancaster and KL its quite flat at least up to Carnforth. However they are at ME a lot as mentioned so they are obviously feeling the strain. Seats are another good idea as seating on those small city seats for a whole journey up to the Lakes is not that comfy as I'm sure Mbonwich will confirm. But as ever Cumbria we're lucky to get anything lol.

A new investment would be lovely and would make sense seeing as it is a very high profile route up here and cascading KL's Tridents to us would be great!

20544 on the X1
Normal Tridents on the 2/2a.
14195 on the 50.

 

[cainebj]

they do need something a little better on 555, but i wouldnt say its that urgent lol. i've only really travelled Keswick - Windermere, which aren't the best of roads (quite a big hill coming out of Keswick, and theres a pretty twisty dual carriageway). the tridents can manage those hills though (if you get a decent driver who knows how to get a bus up a hill, which you don't always get!).

16447 ran dead to Lillyhall around 1745.
20757 (i think) on 300.

 

[Dallamlad]

Well yeah it isn't a huge problem and we shouldn't be complaining really lol but in an ideal world..haha...it would be nice to have something better.

 

[cainebj]

just like it would be nice to have something better on 300 that is capable of travelling in a gear higher than 3rd hahaha

 

[Dallamlad]

Haha yes indeed oh well lol.

 

[pickles]

~~~~~

 

[driver9000]

I agree that the Tridents were a long overdue and necessary step (no pun intended) to low-floor operation.
However, judging from what Paul McGill has said, they simply cannot cope with the route. Therefore I would suggest replacing them with new Scania/E400 deckers and cascading them elsewhere, eg. Lancaster to see off the 4 Leylands and a few Volvo Olympians, which could then be divided between Lillyhall and Barrow to displace more Leyland Olympians.

Totally agree with you, they do need either uprating or replacing with more substantial buses. The old Leyland Olympians J127 XHH etc were uprated versions specially for climbing the hills the 555 has along its route - this was evident when 1026 and 1027 came to Morecambe and the extra 'oomph' was noticable when compared with the 22xx series Olympians. However it could have been worse - the 555 could have been given the 3 speed Tridents instead

 

[pickles]

>>>>>

 

[mbonwick]

I think it was a mistake to covert the 3-speed Tridents to OT and send them up the Lakes. The 599 is still quite a hilly route and they do struggle in places.

 

[Dallamlad]

Yes I imagine they would struggle. But hey hey the boys in ties never thought about that lol.

 

[driver9000]

J126 and J127 XHH still do the X35s in place of tridents.

cracking motors - there is a photo of me lurking on the internet of me driving 1027 out of Preston bus station

 

[pickles]

~~~~~

 

[Dallamlad]

Oh dear and an 09 plate as well...