Stagecoach North West Discussion

[mbonwick]

It never was a depot per se, as I understand it, it was never big enough to be a proper depot and was not really much more than a covered stabling point.
That housing development is so pointless, who's going to pay to live in the midddle of a roundabout??

47021 may be going MOT or something - I saw a Solo coming along the A683 the other day, "dead" so it may have just come off the motorway.

 

[Dallamlad]

Yeah MOT most probs.

Are Lancaster still holding those solos?

 

[cainebj]

33167 on Moorclose Circular 51.
33169 on Moorclose Circular 50.
47061 was on Harrington & Seaton, but was sitting in bus station turned off when i was on my way home. 40028 was on annexe and had just been started up. driver was doing the quick inspection.
another 04 reg solo and a 51 reg solo on Harrington & Seaton.
20129, 20753 and 20757 were all on the annexe.
either 20761 or 20768 is on 300, so out of 6 Volvo Oly's with digital tachos, only a maximum of 3 are out in service. brilliant.

 

[K768 DAO]

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[mbonwick]

MOT time maybe? One of the Lancaster Solos was seen on the motorway heading that way as well..........

 

[cainebj]

just thinking. there was no real point updating displays on 25225 with it leaving soon. seems pretty pointless.
its going when the ALX300's go down to Preston from Fife area

 

[Dallamlad]

Do Preston currently have any MANS? I'm sure I spotted one in Preston bus station Thursday night.

So 25225 ready for the move get the tissues out Cainebj :cry:

 

[K768 DAO]

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[Dallamlad]

If Mbonwick means 47021, the solo I saw last night heading for the motorway it wont be for repaint as it was done when it was transferred to Morecambe.

 

[K768 DAO]

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[Dallamlad]

Well who knows lol it may not have been 47021 that was spotted because mbonwick didn't get a number.

Was talking to a nice old lady at a bus stop (as you do lol) and she was saying how much she liked the Lakes green livery on the OT deckers. I thought it would be good t apply the lively to other vehicles like the 555 Tridents.

 

[mbonwick]

It would be nice IMHO to give the Tridents their own special 555 livery like back in the Olympian days....it is a bit of a celebrity route all in all.

 

[Dallamlad]

Lol I think the Lakes think livery would work well as it is a Lakes link lol.

 

[KendalKing]

It would be nice IMHO to give the Tridents their own special 555 livery like back in the Olympian days....it is a bit of a celebrity route all in all.

I could not agree more, i do miss the Lakes link livery

16332, 16335, 18278 on X35's
16660 was on the 755 this morning.
20776 on 564's.
33164, 34213, 34217, 47057 on Kendal town services.

 

[driver9000]

Preston Bus liveried 47759 was in Lancaster yesterday afternoon working the 89 for Knott End. 20463 was also in town yesterday and it didnt look recently repainted, so I dont think it will have been the one seen on the M6....

Drivers popping the horn reversing out of stands on Lancaster Bus Station? sounds like a good idea to me, I can confirm visibility isnt the best esepcially when bringing say a MAN out from next to another bus, interestingly the popping of the horn before reversing was always an instruction to drivers when I worked on London Transport routes, and it was something I always did when I came to Lancaster as was running around with my headlights on regardless of time of day. Probably a coincidence but if it saves having buses damaged when two try to leave stands together and cant see the other reversing.

 

[Dallamlad]

Lets set up a petition for lakes livery going lol.

Haven't seen much today at all so no observations.

 

[KendalKing]

Drivers popping the horn reversing out of stands on Lancaster Bus Station? sounds like a good idea to me, I can confirm visibility isnt the best esepcially when bringing say a MAN out from next to another bus, interestingly the popping of the horn before reversing was always an instruction to drivers when I worked on London Transport routes, and it was something I always did when I came to Lancaster as was running around with my headlights on regardless of time of day. Probably a coincidence but if it saves having buses damaged when two try to leave stands together and cant see the other reversing.

When i worked for Go-Ahead London in 2001, it was a discipline offence, if a driver reversed with-out using hazard warning lights and sounding the horn. Something which i still do to this day.

 

[mbonwick]

Ah, OK. Must have been wrong about 20463...it was going the other way and my view was obscured by a caravan.

I've always wondered why it's taken this long to instruct drivers to bip the horn before reversing at Lancaster.....

 

[driver9000]

When i worked for Go-Ahead London in 2001, it was a discipline offence, if a driver reversed with-out using hazard warning lights and sounding the horn. Something which i still do to this day.

Were you at Central or General? I was at General working out of Stockwell in 2001, Ive still got a copy of the LT 'rulebook' with that clause in it. It was ingrained into us to use hazards - I remember an inspector trying to book me at Peckham for not using hazards until I pointed out that Metrobuses didnt have them!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The 'old bus depot' development was the old Lancaster Corporation Kingsway depot from the days before Morecambe & Heysham corpn was abolished, it was a full sized working depot and some of the older drivers I worked with started their days at Kingsway depot before it was closed and the LCT operation concentrated on the Heysham Road site with Ribble having County Garage (Netto) and Skerton depots (where the bus gate is with flats opposite) I dont think calling it the old bus depot conveys a particularly great image given the general perception of bus travel, but at least its past has been acknowledged.

 

[KendalKing]

Were you at Central or General? I was at General working out of Stockwell in 2001, Ive still got a copy of the LT 'rulebook' with that clause in it. It was ingrained into us to use hazards - I remember an inspector trying to book me at Peckham for not using hazards until I pointed out that Metrobuses didnt have them!

I used to work out of Merton Garage as a driver, and lived in a company house in Morden. So there a good chance that our paths have crossed at some point either in London or Lancaster, as i also worked for KLCH for a spell. Before i joined Princess Coaches, as the Transport Manager.

 

[Stonesourscotty]

Alexander PS-type bodied Volvo B10M's; 20965/6 (R965/6 XVM) should be withdrawn tonight ready for cascade to Stagecoach North West.

That's a couple of days old and should be coming imminently.

 

[Dallamlad]

Where they going do we know?

 

[mbonwick]

Lillyhall or Barrow I expect, would be nice for Lancaster to get them though and store 20790. Then there wouldn'r be anything older than P reg on the B10M side...

 

[pickles]

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[cainebj]

would make sense for them to go to Barrow or somewhere, cos Lillyhall has enough B10Ms, but saying that, Lillyhall's new bus route starts on 15th june or something, X58 (i think haha), so it could be that Lillyhall gets them to run that.

 

[Stonesourscotty]

They are heading to where ever the K Reg B10M's are according to Stagecoach as direct replacements But this makes me wonder if in fact they may go to Merseyside as Merseyside has the 15 Years rule on buses using Bus stations and a few of their b10m's are a little shot at.

 

[K768 DAO]

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[Dallamlad]

Well either way destination Cumbria most likely as Lancaster don't really have a need for them. What else are Manchester going to get rid of this year?

 

[mbonwick]

As I understand it, the Dennis Dragons are going, as they'll be replaced by Volvo Olympians which have been displaced from within Manchester by the new E400/Trident cascades.
The last 2 old Darts will be scrapped/sold on from reserve, and it would make sense to see 40660 and the 2 Varios leave as well.

 

[Dallamlad]

Thought it would all be moved around in Manchester. Are they set for any new orders this year or will it be 2010 before a big batch is put through?