Stagecoach North West Discussion

[cainebj]

its really good to see stagecoach back lol
was on PX56CWP (35249) to whitehaven, and got PX56CWM (35246) back (both darts, on 31 service). as you look at the door from the outside, the right hand side was dodgey on both of them! it wouldnt open until the left hand side was open!
R255NBV (16655) was on 300, and the left hand side of the door was broken! it was stuck open! the right hand side still worked though!
versa on 31A, rather than usual 31.
both 08 reg solo's on their intended route (mirehouse circular 3 / 4). one of the ex preston solo's on moorclose circular along with P129XCN (20129, the best B10m at lillyhall! picks up speed well and doesnt sound like its at its limit!)
709d with broken display on seaton 47, one of the P reg 810d varios (42562) were running "dead" as staff shuttle. 709d on Lowca - Kells 1 service, with almost un-readable display (40445)! for once, any B10m's with flip-dot in service had readable displays!!!

 

[mbonwick]

The door fault you describe with 16655 seems to be very common with the Olys. Dunno what it is though.

 

[Dallamlad]

B10's seem to be doing the Preston routes a lot lately. I also observed 17021 and 17022 on the 2A route this evening which is rare these days what with the 55 plate Tridents.

There was an accident in Lancaster early this evening and all traffic heading into Lancaster was diverted up around the top of town. This meant that the 2A had to turn right at Bowerham and go round to Williamson s Park and then down to the center of Lancaster. The Preston routes also did this. Its been cleared up now but apparently someone went over a car windscreen.

 

[mbonwick]

When you say the top of town, do you mean going up onto the Ridge and then down East Road? Whereabouts was the accident?

It's not overly rare to see the 170xx on University runs, though admittedly it's not as often. Not all the new tridents are 55 reg, some are 05 (off the top of my head, I think it's the 1832x)

 

[Dallamlad]

Yes your right some are 05 reg sorry I'm so used to talking about Kendal's lol. yes they are 18324/25/26/27/28/30 etc i think may have added one there I'm not sure.

Top of town would be Bowerham area so if you head toward the Infirmary you eventually reach a big roundabout. Take the first left and ur following the bus route. The accident was early this evening not sure what time but happened just up from KFC in Lancaster at the traffic lights on the canal bridge.

 

[mbonwick]

Yeah I've got you. My mum works at the RLI Personally I see the Ridge area as the top of town...

Obviously most services were totally screwed cos of that accident - I'll bet the traffic was queued all the way back out over Skerton Bridge!

The F reg NC Leyland Olympians (F297/8 DRJ; 14297/8 I think) that were rumoured to be being readied for service may possibly be heading to Ensign, as several ex-Bullocks and SC Manchester vehicles made the move over the festive period. A contact at Ensign mentioned the NC Olys, so perhaps they will mve to Manchester, ready to be collected?

 

[Dallamlad]

Yeh I see Bowerham as the top as its on a hill lol and well above sea level.

Where are those Leylands now? Do you mean they are Stagecoach vehicles that are up hear but are been moved down there?

 

[mbonwick]

The Leylands are currently in store at Lillyhall, but allegedly they are to be sold to Ensign bus. This would mean that they would first be moved to SC Manchester, from where Ensign can pick them up. However, I don't know how accurate the rumours are.

 

[driver9000]

Ive always known the KFC/Canal Bridge/Pointer area as the 'top of town' too.

I spied with my little eye that 20133 appears to have joined 20131 at Morecambe.

20131 was running around pretending to be a Lo-liner today on the 4.

As for the door problem on the R reg Volvo Olympians, its a very common fault indeed I think its something to do with the door rams sticking and low air pressure in the pipework for the doors.

 

[Dallamlad]

Yes 20131 and 20133 have been together for a while i think. 20131 has an LED screen where as 20133 still has its old one. I would assume in the past 20131's screen was damaged and they simply stuck an LED in when it came to replacing it, kinda like what they have done with 21003.

Yes I have observed a few B10's on the 3/4 routes. Was 20131 they other day running the 3. The Volvo Olys have been doing the 2/2A routes as well but this is bound to happen.

 

[mbonwick]

20133 - was at Lillyhall I think?

Door rams sticking, wouldn't surprise me, I remember back in 2005 when I was on an N reg LakesLink Oly, I think it was 16336. All you could hear all the time on the top deck was the air leaking out from the pipes for the door!

 

[Dallamlad]

I see well its been with use for a while but probs moved down earlier this year.

Oh those old Lakes Link Olys I miss them. I remember when they were moved from Kendal to Lancaster they were used on the 40 routes for a very short time before being moved on to Preston. Sore a pair of them on the X2 in Preston the other day LED screens look good! I know Carlisle got a few along with Lancaster's old Leyland Olys.

Before: http://stagecoachnw.fotopic.net/p41597999.html

After: (Like the branding) http://www.paulsbuses.fpic.co.uk/p53803211.html

 

[cainebj]

i only seen 709d's in service today. was on the 46B sunday service to Brierydale. there was another 709d sitting in Workington bus station. there was probably a solo on 30 sunday service, and most likely dual purpose seated B10m's on 301 sunday service.

i don't think 20133 has ever been at lillyhall, not recently anyways. i havnt heard anything from any of the staff about it being there for repairs or anything. lillyhall has 20129 and 20134 in service. one has been fitted with LED and had re-trim, but can't remember which one it is now.

does anyone know if all lillyhall 709's are leaving service? i have a feeling 3 of them are staying in service, and the rest sliding off somewhere (most of them into operational reserve, and some of the reserve 709s being sent for disposal). they all need to go really, something wrong with all of them! i suppose if they take 6 out of service, they could use the good parts from them on the other 3 to make them "better"

 

[mbonwick]

Ah, fond memories of 16330-16340
I saw them just after they entered service with Preston, I must say they have certainly been given a new lease of life!

 

[driver9000]

Lancaster never operated the N reg Volvos in service, unless you mean the original Lakeslink J reg Leylands which Lancaster had 2 (1026 & 1027) they were regularly seen on the 40, 41 & 42. They were certainly quicker than the 220x batch aparantly this is due an uprated engine for taclking those Lake district hills! There is photo of me taking 1027 away from Preston on a 40 somewhere on fotopic

 

[Dallamlad]

No I'm sure Lancaster operated at least one N reg on the 40 route even if it was for just a day because I sore it, it had the 40 on the blinds and the Lakes branding on the side. Apparently they were meant to go into service with Lancaster permanently but they changed their minds at the last minute sending them to Preston and Carlisle instead. Yes that have been given a makeover. Some got a repaint, new seat and an LED. I'm sure whether they all got this new treatment or whether it was just the worse for ware ones.

I haven't see 17024 for a while which is odd has anyone else? I was looking at some pics of Lancaster's old Titans. I really miss them, tough old machines that they were. Not sure what they were like to drive obviously lol.

 

[driver9000]

For a short time Preston depot operated a few journies on the 40/41 so it was probably one of theirs, they werent at Morecambe. I loved the Titans, they were rugged and perfect for chugging around town, 10056 was great in the X2 dual doors made for speedy unloading in the Underpass. Some were rewired to operate in semi-automatic mode with other retaining the fully automatic wiring (56 was one of these). I only ever had one Titan break down on me when a fan belt snapped.

However none compare to the Bristol VRT!!

 

[Dallamlad]

Oh I see that makes perfect sense why did Preston run them for a time?

Yeah the dual doors would have been great did you say you used them? I never observed them being used. I suppose could open one set of doors and not the other is that what you mean?

http://susannahmorrish.fotopic.net/c1571638.html

I was thinking the other day that ex London bendy buses would work well on the X1 as it doesn't go by the bus station. However I guess there are a few tight corners on the route lol.

 

[driver9000]

Yes I always used the centre door at terminals, especially when busy - buses had seperate boarding/alighting points in the Underpass so fare evasion wasnt an issue. The entrance door was opened via a foot switch and the centre door via a button on the desk.

Bendy buses were trialled in Lancaster about 10yrs ago, the roads were found to be very unsuitable - good thing too Bendies arent what they are cracked up to be.

As to why Preston ended up with a few 40s I cant remember to be honest, there was a goo reason at the time though.....

 

[Dallamlad]

Oh I see very handy hopefully we seeing as London is meant to be upgrading their fleets we'll get a few dual doors lol wont happen but we can but dream lol.

Yeah bendy buses wouldn't really work I guess as Lancaster is quite cramped haha. If Londoners hate them then we probably will 2

 

[mbonwick]

Lancaster did have a few of the LL Olympians for a while - I can remember that one was swapped with 16666 this time last year. There was a lot of fuss over the ticket machines as Kendal's are config'd differently. I assume that the aim was to get this transferred down to Preston via the 40/1.

Reading through the comments on the site you linked to dallamLad, 20775 has nearly been stripped of all usable parts, donating dash panels (!) to 20451.
20661 has entered service in Kendal, I've seen it, and as a result 20702/20699 have been sold, supposedly to Stephenson's of Rochford in Essex.

 

[cainebj]

seen T606JBA in a layby just outside of Workington.
N201UHH (40001) was on the Cockermouth - Maryport service (think its 58 )
one of ex-preston solo's on seaton 47, rather than the circulars. no idea what was on moorclose circular instead of it.
now to carlisle.
from what i have seen so far, its pretty much the usual. carlisle citi branded 38 seat darts on their routes.

 

[driver9000]

17024 is still around, it was howling its way to Preston early this afternoon on a 40.
21003 is pretending to be a Lo-liner on a 3 in Scotforth heading to the University. Has the Quality bus contract expired for the 3 & 4? There was a requirement that all 3 & 4 services were low floor unless impossible to provide a MAN, there seems to be a lack of logical allocating with low floors operating on step entrance routes when step entrance buses are running around on low floor routes!

 

[mbonwick]

I dunno about the Quality Bus contract, however I do know that this never applied to the 4 as such, only the 3. The 3, as you said should be a MAN unless impossible, however the 4 is only a "priority low floor route"

 

[driver9000]

I dunno about the Quality Bus contract, however I do know that this never applied to the 4 as such, only the 3. The 3, as you said should be a MAN unless impossible, however the 4 is only a "priority low floor route"

The 3 & 4 were designed to be forever linked together, buses swap routes at the University ie a 3 arriving at the University departs as a 4 to Heysham. I was told the 4 was included in the contract too as the routes were already linked this enabled all routes through Bare to become low floor.

 

[Dallamlad]

It isn't MOT time is it lol and all the MANS are getting a going over. Your absolutely right they do have to provide a low riding vehicle for both routes as it is listed officially as a low riding route. So they must have been desperate to put a B10 on there. Is bus allocation does my a computer system or is the depot manager who does it. If its a comp system then we can see why there may be issues but if its a member of staff doing it there's not excuse for having, for example, an Oly on the 2A and a Dennis Trident on the 40. The 2A should take priority every time. Anyway who knows there seems to have been a lot of B10's and B10B's on the 3/4 routes lately.

I read today that in the whole of the Northwest Lancaster's B6's are the only non reserve B6's left in fully service operation. the rest have either been scrapped, sold or put in the reserve fleet. I do hope we loose them soon!

 

[driver9000]

Buses are allocated manually by an Allocator. In the foyer at Morecambe there is a big wall chart with hooks on it, all buse in the fleet have a tag and all running numbers have a hook which the buses peg is placed on so you end up with for example DD1 having 14204s tag next to it means 14201 is working DD1 diagram. A pre printed piece of paper also repeats the wall chart for initial allocating.

There is another wall chart in the engineering department for their own purposes, buses having red/green tags.

 

[Dallamlad]

Well then surely they ran out of MAN tags and had to put a B10 on is that how it works? So whats happened if for example a Versa ends up on the 4? Iv seen this happen and always wondered as that must have been the peak of desperation seeing as its branded. Very interesting to know how it works. Also can you tell me what a depot manager actually does? I know we have Stephie Barber at Lancaster and I'm not entirely sure if I'm honest what she does? Is it people relations, finance, paperwork that sought of thing? Or in fact is it routes because I know Trevor Pennington looks over routes at Kendal, doesn't do it very well but does it all the same.

 

[mbonwick]

Bit harsh about Trev, is it not?
I'm sure he does his best with the available resources - not like he turns out a Dart on the 555 or vice versa!


I'd assume a depot manager looks over allocations and organises stuff, eg. CPC training. I suppose they also chase up people, eg. the engineers for stuff.


You're absolutly right about about Lancaster's B6s, though I can't imagine they'll survive much longer with all these Darts arriving.

 

[cainebj]

it sounds to me that routes advertised as low floor actually get low floor buses down there!
lillyhall advertised 2, 3, 4, 30, 31, 31A, 50 and 51 as low floor. the only ones that are fully low floor are 2, 3 and 4. the rest always end up with step entrance buses, even though low floors are available! they usually shove low floors onto other routes! for example, today one of moorclose circular routes (50 / 51) had a step entrance, while seaton 47 (not advertised as low floor) got an ex preston solo. moorclose will have had a 709, L119HHV (last remaining step entrance dart in service i think), a B10m or an olympian that is usually school work only!
chances are a B10m will have appeared on 30 / 31 / 31A at some point today! most likely 31A.