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Post by VPL630 on Sept 24, 2023 10:02:54 GMT
So if, hypothetically speaking I preserve a 2008 built Enviro200 and don't intend to use it for commercial activity, I wouldn't be able to do this on a full car license and would need to get a Category D license because the bus isn't more than 30 years old? That is correct, according to my understanding of the rules. It is highly annoying for many people who preserve newer buses! My information is from here: INF52: Large vehicles you can drive using your car, bus or lorry licenceWhile it may be annoying and I'm starting to sound like an old grumpy person, I'm also sure you know from your experience days, driving a bus is not like driving a car in any way shape or form, while some people may feel they have the skills to drive a bus there are many situations that only training and actual bus driving experience will let them avoid a simple mistake or error that could potentially be life-changing for themselves or others and they will have no idea until it's too late, I've seen first hand on many occasions the mistakes that have been made by new drivers and even wanna be drivers going out for a trial drive in a van thinking they know it all but have no respect or consideration for the size and driving characteristics of that vehicle and end up coming a cropper. To some degree, this has proven it's point with Class 1 HGV new passes where many insurance companies will now refuse to insure drivers under 25 and a requirement of a minimum of 2 years of driving experience which is all well and good but really limits where you can work or even get the 2 years experience if you are 18 and a new pass. Grumpy person rant over... I think the product you are offering is a great way for people to gain an understanding of this in a safe environment.
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Post by VPL630 on Sept 15, 2023 9:39:48 GMT
Sometimes it’s just what’s out there, for example Stagecoach ordered a Batch of Citaro’s for the 227 as there simply isn’t another bus that comes close to the versatility of the Citaro and they were amazing to drive.
I believe they also only ordered Gemini bodied Volvo B5’s for PD as they couldn’t get all the ADL E400H’s they wanted in time
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 18, 2023 10:59:18 GMT
Instead of swapping a whole fleet of buses they could have just amended the height sign to a Warning rather than an Order but I’m sure someone wanted to prove a point, it was due to the air con pod that the vehicles were overheight With so many different bodies involved that would have been a bureaucratic nightmare. It was easier for Go-Ahead simply to swap the allocations over. It didn't seem to be an issue when they changed the height sign on the A206 and Chislehurst bridge from 14'6 to 14'3 overnight without telling anyone despite bus routes passing under them, I think both have been changed back now due to complaints
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 17, 2023 9:15:12 GMT
Oh yeah the 170, the StreetLites (now on the 286) were too tall. Can’t wait to see the outcome of the 170. There will certainly be no BYD order for this route if retained (and likely will be) by GAL, they’re even taller than StreetLites. The 170 didn't fail a route test though - the Streetlites could and did fit around the route without issue but the actual problem was they didn't comply with the height sign on the low bridge on Lombard Road in Battersea which mean't it was illegal for them to be running under that bridge even though not one bus actually had any issues with it. It will certainly be interesting to see what EV's end up on this route - maybe a custom design will be available by then that won't contravene any height restrictions. Instead of swapping a whole fleet of buses they could have just amended the height sign to a Warning rather than an Order but I’m sure someone wanted to prove a point, it was due to the air con pod that the vehicles were overheight
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 15, 2023 22:56:40 GMT
The short turns, such as the Forest Gate one can be tight sometimes. I'm not sure how long the Electroliners are but it could be challenging for some longer buses. I think the Forest Gate one is the only one that might be tight. However, TAs made it round the turns I’ve done that turn in a Tri Axle BCI at Ensignbus and quite a few times in TA’s at Stagecoach, if everyone has parked legally it’s no issue However I don’t see why routes are route tested after buses are ordered, TfL should just hire out buses and go over all routes to see what they deem acceptable before being ordered. The H37 was one route that I was very surprised got Optare Tempos as multiples times when I rode that route did drivers clip kerbs
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 6, 2023 10:34:16 GMT
When looking at schedules I can't help but wonder if running times from the garage to the starting point are tight even for early morning runs. A question for drivers here - do you tend to stick to the times for leaving the garage or leave a little earlier? I’d always leave a bit earlier just for good measure, some people would leave bang on the card time, others would leave later depending on the route, others would leave super early, generally you had enough time more so from about 2017 onwards at Stagecoach or whenever the duty card style changed, there were some dead run journeys on the 86 that had an additional 20-30 mins added which you might think is great but you couldn’t get into Stratford more than 5 early so would have to hide somewhere else
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Post by VPL630 on Jul 26, 2023 23:36:22 GMT
Network rail infrastructure failure that still hasn’t been fixed, caused a number of issues for both GWR/Hex and EL, but for once has absolutely nothing to do with EL other than ruining their services, looks like it will be all tomorrow morning as well despite a number of ‘experts’ trying to work out how to fix it
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Post by VPL630 on Jul 4, 2023 8:32:15 GMT
Yesterday I went in search of a Citaro, surprise surprise.
Using the wonderful Bustimes.org website I was quickly able to locate PC18 BUS which was on the wonderful and demanding 801 route from Moreton-in-Marsh to Cheltenham, I have great appreciation for bus times as it allows you to see what vehicles operated previous journeys and allows you to essentially work out what trips will be operated by what vehicles assuming everything goes to plan. It was more time efficient for me to catch the bus from Moreton-in-Marsh at 1050 and I was enjoying the journey as it was being expertly driven, you can probably understand my frustration when on approach to Bourton-on-the-Water I could see a Pulhams Solo parked at a bus stop, with the driver having a word with ours, then as we proceeded to a better location we were all turfed off this lovely Citaro in favour of the third oldest Optare Solo in the fleet YJ57 EGV, now a bus is a bus and I’d rather not have the journey cut but this was a downgrade and a half, typical solo idle so rough at times the driver was resting his foot on the accelerator to smooth it out, completely gutless up the many demanding hills, turned what would have been a really enjoyable journey into something that wasn’t. But anyway, Pulhams are now part of the £2 scheme
From Cheltenham I got the 94X to Gloucester, there is nothing to write about this route other than the bus was late, it was branded for University of Surrey and the USB ports didn’t work, I believe it’s the quickest way between Cheltenham and Gloucester flying down the A40
Now as much as I like MAN powered vehicles, there just aren’t that many in the UK, so I thought I’d take a ride on an ex Stagecoach Gold Spec MAN/E300 22752 GX58 MVR which has been repowered by Cummins, bit surprised it had every warning light related to the retrofit lit up, it was absolutely gutless even with kickdown being used and at the back of the Bus you could feel the heat and fumes coming though the gaps over the top of the engine, 0/10 wouldn’t recommend, the route it was operating on was the 71 to Northway but I got off at Tewkesbury just missing the 540 which was operated with a coach that wasn’t tracking on bus times, I wasn’t that bothered as the E300 behind was what I was after
The 540 operated by Astons Coaches isn’t part of the £2 scheme but a single from Tewkesbury to Evesham is the grand total of £2.50, the majority of the time it’s operated by 2 old style Transbus E300’s and an E200 but as yesterday proved you might get lucky and have a ride on a luxury coach, the route serves increasingly narrow lanes and would probably be more suited to smaller vehicles, annoyingly and without checking I also managed to get on the afternoon journey that served a school, I highly recommend avoiding this journey if you want to enjoy the route… The traffic around Evesham was terrible and we actually lost around 15-20 mins getting into the town which meant I missed the 553 to Honeybourne, so I got some food and decided to wait for the X50 operated in the form of 32645 KP54 AZJ
A B7TL still in Barbie livery along with full roaring fan, not had one of these for a while, a shame that the driver drove in such a way that made no sense to me anyway, full throttle then would slow down for no reason, other times would accelerate to the speed limit and at others crawl along at 30 in a 50, touching the brakes while going up hill at times I have no idea what was behind his mentality but he certainly wasn’t making up any time, left about 8 mins late and arrived about 10 down when a few more mins could have been shaved off if he actually had tried to properly, quick walk to Worcester Foregate Street to find out the train has been cancelled so a very fast paced walk to Shurb Hill just making it in time
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Post by VPL630 on Jul 4, 2023 7:43:38 GMT
Back up to full line speed now, looking promising
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Post by VPL630 on Jul 2, 2023 15:41:15 GMT
Yesterday due to the train running late and missing connection after connection I sort of made up what I did 1W21 1052 London Paddington to Evesham - 800312 28 - Evesham - Stratford 15676 KX10 KTF 76A - Stratford - Banbury 19082 MX56 FTZ 488 - Banbury - Chipping Norton 36931 SN63 MYD S3 - Chipping Norton - Oxford 10786 - SN66 VZH 1P34 1900 Oxford to London Paddington - 800306 The 28 I didn't do the entire route, only from the station onwards, it was a pretty nice fast run with great views at times, much better on a decker, and quite a few up and downhill sections as well but nothing compared to the 76A, I used google maps to plan the last bit, and the 76A was the quickest route at the time to Banbury, I wasn't expecting much but by the fact the upper deck windscreen was cracked, I thought I might be in for a surprise and that I was. The 76A only has 1 return journey a day and is a variation of the 76, there is also a 76X which is a more direct service. As soon as we turned off at Pillerton Priors it was apparent that trees in the area are in dire need of being cut back as we made our way through Radway and Edgehill I was honestly surprised the windscreen was surviving each impact without cracking further, got have been some of the worst roads I've been down on a decker but the route was pretty scenic, 14% gradients and a lovely Euro 3 Trident E400 powering along the road, made for a great ride, the route is one that serves villages but never really stopped to pick up or drop off anyone along the way, certainly worth doing if you're in the right place at the right time, A quick look on bus times shows that it is only the afternoon journey that is decker which then works onto the 76X so you can do both variation in one if you'd like. The 488 is another route, mostly servicing country lanes and fields, d*mn fast run on an E200 even if it really makes the whole bus rattle The S3 is quite a direct route, the bus was late on the inbound journey and left around 10 late, the route itself is mainly high-speed A roads but I wouldn't say it's best suited to a Voith E400MMC even if to Gold Spec, the poor ride quality also highlighted how poor the roads are in Oxford
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 29, 2023 16:57:06 GMT
Elizabeth line suspended due to swan on the track The line was closed this morning and still seems to be the case! If the problem is at Paddington how can the Shenfield service still run! Seems a bit odd the lines been closed all day. Unless this is a different incident to the closure in the AM peak. Originally it was closed due to signal failure at TCR, then the swan issue which took them nearly 2 hours to decide to reverse the train back into the tunnel, I also believe there was more than one swan and that one was struck by another train, all in all it’s been another bad day for the EL, the GEML service can pretty much run independent of the core sections due to driver placement and stock location, they will just terminate at Stratford or LST if there is space
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 16, 2023 17:54:53 GMT
Good news - the line reopened during the morning of Friday 9th June and some freight trains have already returned to the route. GWR has been running an hourly shuttle train service between Didcot Parkway and Oxford - it started from around 10.00 and will continue until around 20.00. Normal services will resume on GWR and Cross Country Trains through Oxford tomorrow, Saturday 10th June (as had been intended originally) and the rail replacement buses will no longer operate. There will be a further closure through Oxford between 29th July and 6th August 2023 as part of the reconstruction of Oxford Station, and a further four-day closure in August 2024 as the Botley Road bridge is replaced. So today I actually drove a train over it and to the surprise of my Instructor sitting next to me there was no noticeable dip like there was before the bridge collapse, so it seems as if they have done a good job, let’s just hope it stays that way and hopefully the speed restriction will be removed soon, still quite a bit of cleanup work required but not sure if they are planning anything more long term
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 16, 2023 7:18:34 GMT
Hopefully they will fix the rest of the early 24xx series. So many of them squeak loudly when idling like they’ve all slipped a fan belt. I did hear one of them with a screeching fan belt at West Croydon Bus Station on Saturday, think it was 2403 It’s the air con belt that does this, really common on E200/400’s, over a certain outside temperature the air con won’t turn off
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 12, 2023 22:40:22 GMT
Random thought but wonder how long before we see the first electric training buses? As we move towards 2030/4 it would become less and less relevant to train new drivers using diesel buses. I know they can still get a feel for the size of the vehicles and how to drive but eventually garages will no longer have diesel facilities. Would you get a manual or automatic licence if you passed in an electric? For many years now you would get the manual entitlement as long as you had a manual car licence
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 4, 2023 14:59:04 GMT
Just wondering if any members have a Ford EcoBoost or should I say EcoBoom 😜 engine? Recently changed my car and really unsure if I am going to get on with this car. The 1.0 engine is very nippy around town but struggles on high speed roads. I also can’t get used to the much longer gear changes! You can be up over 30 still in second gear. I had one as a courtesy car, in a Focus, but I thrashed the car like a Streetdeck bus driver and it didn't like me I was a field engineer driving all across the Shires and Essex on short SLA's (Service Level Agreements or response times), I think the engine was too small for the car, the turbo spools up quick but the engine has to work hard. Like any incoming Spurs manager, there was a lot to do to get things moving When I had mine I did wonder how long the engine would last before going Ecoboom, I know a few people that it has happened too but then it’s a tiny engine with a big turbo on it, it is quite nippy for its size but absolutely no comparison to the 3L straight 6 in the BMW 330D, best car I’ve ever owned and could easily get 55mpg on a long run at “Motorway” speeds
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