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Post by vjaska on Oct 2, 2015 12:58:30 GMT
I do kinda sorta remember those AVs. Do you know their registration convention? I remember the early NVs too. I always thought it was strange how they were single door, and I definitely remember them sounding different. Here's AV1 courtesy of Ian's Bus Stop page View AttachmentWrong type of AV though lol.
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Post by John tuthill on Oct 2, 2015 13:13:58 GMT
Wrong type of AV though lol. OOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPs
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2015 13:25:01 GMT
Yeah, I definitely don't remember London Central/General having any Alexander R buses. One would probably look pretty good in their livery though.
According to Ian's Bus Stop, they bought 9 AVs. Searching Google Images, I found photos of (M81 MYM)-(M87 MYM) but not (M88 MYM) or (M89 MYM). Do those two have different registrations? I wonder if they've been scrapped. By the way, Google Images will give you a nice surprise when you search for M89 MYM, it's not safe for work though!
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Post by vjaska on Oct 2, 2015 13:26:50 GMT
Yeah, I definitely don't remember London Central/General having any Alexander R buses. One would probably look pretty good in their livery though. According to Ian's Bus Stop, they bought 9 AVs. Searching Google Images, I found photos of (M81 MYM)-(M87 MYM) but not (M88 MYM) or (M89 MYM). Do those two have different registrations? I wonder if they've been scrapped. By the way, Google Images will give you a nice surprise when you search for M89 MYM, it's not safe for work though! M89 MYM was re-registered later on its life from memory.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2015 13:32:48 GMT
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Post by M1104 on Oct 2, 2015 14:51:26 GMT
Yeah, I definitely don't remember London Central/General having any Alexander R buses. One would probably look pretty good in their livery though. Hopefully this may jog one's memory. London United bought similar buses for the Airbus to 'sadly' replace their Metros londonbusesbyadam.zenfolio.com/p772470861/h21FDF254
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Post by rmz19 on Oct 2, 2015 15:16:21 GMT
Yeah, I definitely don't remember London Central/General having any Alexander R buses. One would probably look pretty good in their livery though. Hopefully this may jog one's memory. London United bought similar buses for the Airbus to 'sadly' replace their Metros londonbusesbyadam.zenfolio.com/p772470861/h21FDF254This certainly brings back memories! I remember when I was little living in Baker Street I would regularly see them on the A2 I would always promise myself to get on them one day but that never happened
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Post by 6HP502C on Oct 2, 2015 15:29:27 GMT
I remember the NVs quite vividly, even though I was young when they were new. I love the way the Volvo Olympian sounds. It sorta "woos" all over the place, along with the "waaah!" from the gear changes, and let's not forget the occasional big clash sound from something (brake cylinders?). The idle sound is nice too. Such a nice deep engine note. I hear you there. The sound of the Volvo Olympian is what got me into buses. The shrieking whine as they pulled away in first, plus the sound of the cooling fans as the bus cruised and slowed to a stop. Not sure why I liked that sound, maybe subconsciously I associated it with the fast acceleration, but I can't say I really notice such things at the time, by the time I was 10 they were largely phased out from my local area. I always saw it as a treat when the Palatine 1 Olympians showed up on the 40 and 185 instead of the more common Titans. When East Thames Buses came about with the ex Harris Bus R-DJN Olympians on the 185, I quite enjoyed riding on them after school and can still remember a few lively rides on them. As I got a bit older I noticed that different bus types shared the same "frequency" of engine rev sounds - I'd later discover this was down to most of them having the same gearbox, either being on 3 speed Voith or 4 speed ZF. And later still, discovering the concept of a "kickdown", which has the effect of making the engine more enjoyable to listen to. I suppose this connection is reminiscent of a number of rides I enjoyed on Olympians as a child. But yes, Olympians are brilliant buses. Luckily I still get to drive them around London. There seemed to be various 4 speed ZF gearbox settings. The N and R reg Olys I drive at London United behave differently - the N platers have slightly longer gear ratios and upshift at higher revs. The R platers deliver power more quickly when pulling away, but upshift and max out at lower revs. The N platers sound better. The M-MYM AVs and N-JBV NVs had a different variant of the ZF box - characterised by the loud whine producing even if the bus wasn't being floored. I'm sure there are some videos on Youtube. If ever I'm in a position to preserve a bus, I'd like a ZF Olympian. Also a 6 speed ZF B7TL which is perhaps three generations of Volvo engine lumps down the line.
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Post by LX09FBJ on Oct 2, 2015 16:20:38 GMT
This certainly brings back memories! I remember when I was little living in Baker Street I would regularly see them on the A2 I would always promise myself to get on them one day but that never happened I think First in Devon and/or Cornwall have a couple knocking around but I stand to be corrected I remember the RHs LU had too, on various routes such as the 281 and latterly the 406/418 and 411. I was lucky enough to catch one on a 285 extra during the tube strike. I have vague memories of seeing a few NVs on the 343 I think it was (was around Southwark/City Hall area) around 2005, soon before the route was lost to Travel London. Never managed to catch one but would like to.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2015 19:02:34 GMT
I went searching for some AV videos on YouTube. There definitely are some, and they sound good too! The Volvo Olympian introduced me to bus enthusiasm too. I'm trying to imagine what an AV would look like in the AVL style livery with the black vinyl in between the windows, as well as the yellow cheatline. I think good. What was the idea behind buying buses with only a single doorway? Considering that their existing Titans had dual doorways. Image source: www.londonbuses.co.uk/_routes/current/343.htmlThat's NV58 in the brilliant Golden Jubilee livery, with the same high-backed seats as a Palatine 2 NV! I wonder how it got those.
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Post by rmz19 on Oct 2, 2015 19:30:56 GMT
This certainly brings back memories! I remember when I was little living in Baker Street I would regularly see them on the A2 I would always promise myself to get on them one day but that never happened I think First in Devon and/or Cornwall have a couple knocking around but I stand to be corrected I remember the RHs LU had too, on various routes such as the 281 and latterly the 406/418 and 411. I was lucky enough to catch one on a 285 extra during the tube strike. I have vague memories of seeing a few NVs on the 343 I think it was (was around Southwark/City Hall area) around 2005, soon before the route was lost to Travel London. Never managed to catch one but would like to. Ah I just remembered, NX had a few examples which popped up on the 36 occasionally for some time. I used to get on them when I moved from Baker Street although It's a very vague memory. A couple of things I remember was I used to get excited when I'd see one on the 36 as I wasn't fond of the RMs, and that deep and smooth engine sound, similarly with the NV Olympians which would pop up on the route too.
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Post by thesquirrels on Oct 2, 2015 19:36:10 GMT
I went searching for some AV videos on YouTube. There definitely are some, and they sound good too! The Volvo Olympian introduced me to bus enthusiasm too. I'm trying to imagine what an AV would look like in the AVL style livery with the black vinyl in between the windows, as well as the yellow cheatline. I think good. What was the idea behind buying buses with only a single doorway? Considering that their existing Titans had dual doorways. Image source: www.londonbuses.co.uk/_routes/current/343.htmlThat's NV58 in the brilliant Golden Jubilee livery, with the same high-backed seats as a Palatine 2 NV! I wonder how it got those. There was a bit of a thing in the 1990s for buying in single-doorway buses and putting them out on intensive routes..the Spectras on the 3 springs to mind immediately with London Central, but also Armchair's Olympians on the 237 and 260, Metroline's Olympians on the 140, Capital Citybus and their single door Olympians/Arrows/Metros on a plethora of services across East London, some busier (123, 97) than others (215) but often mixed on many routes with dual door vehicles e.g. Dominators. Never really understood what the driving force was behind that phase. Maintenance costs? Additional capacity?
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Post by vjaska on Oct 2, 2015 19:55:27 GMT
I went searching for some AV videos on YouTube. There definitely are some, and they sound good too! The Volvo Olympian introduced me to bus enthusiasm too. I'm trying to imagine what an AV would look like in the AVL style livery with the black vinyl in between the windows, as well as the yellow cheatline. I think good. What was the idea behind buying buses with only a single doorway? Considering that their existing Titans had dual doorways. Image source: www.londonbuses.co.uk/_routes/current/343.htmlThat's NV58 in the brilliant Golden Jubilee livery, with the same high-backed seats as a Palatine 2 NV! I wonder how it got those. There was a bit of a thing in the 1990s for buying in single-doorway buses and putting them out on intensive routes..the Spectras on the 3 springs to mind immediately with London Central, but also Armchair's Olympians on the 237 and 260, Metroline's Olympians on the 140, Capital Citybus and their single door Olympians/Arrows/Metros on a plethora of services across East London, some busier (123, 97) than others (215) but often mixed on many routes with dual door vehicles e.g. Dominators. Never really understood what the driving force was behind that phase. Maintenance costs? Additional capacity? I can only presume it was some sort of capacity boost but even then, at the time, the network was in a dreadful decline so it seems like a contradiction. Maintenance costs seems quite plausible I guess? The SP's on the 3 are another example of single door buses mixing in with dual door buses as T's & NV's did pop onto the 3 with SP's making a few appearances on the 35 & 45 alongside T's & NV's.
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Post by vjaska on Oct 2, 2015 20:00:00 GMT
I think First in Devon and/or Cornwall have a couple knocking around but I stand to be corrected I remember the RHs LU had too, on various routes such as the 281 and latterly the 406/418 and 411. I was lucky enough to catch one on a 285 extra during the tube strike. I have vague memories of seeing a few NVs on the 343 I think it was (was around Southwark/City Hall area) around 2005, soon before the route was lost to Travel London. Never managed to catch one but would like to. Ah I just remembered, NX had a few examples which popped up on the 36 occasionally for some time. I used to get on them when I moved from Baker Street although It's a very vague memory. A couple of things I remember was I used to get excited when I'd see one on the 36 as I wasn't fond of the RMs, and that deep and smooth engine sound, similarly with the NV Olympians which would pop up on the route too. The 36 indeed did see NV's mixed in within the RM's as I rode a yellow handrail example on the route. I did enjoy riding it's RM's as they had different engines to the AEC engined ones on the 137 & 159. The Dartmasters were ok too but nothing to shout about.
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Post by astock5000 on Oct 2, 2015 23:58:29 GMT
I don't remember the NVs in London, but Mullany's Coaches operate several on school routes and I used to travel on them quite often on my way home from school. The first three were NV58, the only Palatine I in Mullany's fleet, and NV169 and 172, both of which were in blue livery from when Go-Ahead used them as trainers (they remained in that livery longer than the others, but all were repainted white after a couple of years). Those three were bought by Mullany's in 2005, and a year later NV166 / 167 / 177 arrived. Often we would have a regular bus for several weeks or more, and although it would be more varied sometimes I don't remember travelling on NV58 after the Palatine IIs started to be used on the route. One time an NV was used for a school trip and I remember being on the lower deck as the bus passed through Hatfield tunnel with all interior lights turned off.
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