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Post by vjaska on Jun 17, 2018 22:26:19 GMT
I have to say since riding Stagecoach Kents "The Wave" batch of E400 MMCs (107xx batch) and RATPs ADH45258-45261 that I am a big fan of the E400MMC the most out of the main types that are being delivered new to London currently. ADH45258-45261 are nice smooth vehicles and are pretty fast, I have to say I am happy whenever one of these turns up for me on the 642 as I enjoy riding these. I wish there was more E400MMCs around Edgware, I know the 79 is due some but sadly this is not a route I use, unless some of its MMCs stray onto the 642. I will also be riding some of Go Ahead South Coasts E400MMCs this summer down in the Isle of Wight, and I'm looking forward to trying them out, I will also be riding some of their classic E200s as well. I never knew the order for the 79 has been confirmed?
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Post by VWH1414 on Jun 18, 2018 15:34:19 GMT
I have to say since riding Stagecoach Kents "The Wave" batch of E400 MMCs (107xx batch) and RATPs ADH45258-45261 that I am a big fan of the E400MMC the most out of the main types that are being delivered new to London currently. ADH45258-45261 are nice smooth vehicles and are pretty fast, I have to say I am happy whenever one of these turns up for me on the 642 as I enjoy riding these. I wish there was more E400MMCs around Edgware, I know the 79 is due some but sadly this is not a route I use, unless some of its MMCs stray onto the 642. I will also be riding some of Go Ahead South Coasts E400MMCs this summer down in the Isle of Wight, and I'm looking forward to trying them out, I will also be riding some of their classic E200s as well. I never knew the order for the 79 has been confirmed? Well if it gets them then, only going by whats been mentioned by people.
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Post by lwldriver on Jun 18, 2018 18:27:25 GMT
Lets have a crack at it from my experiences;
At Abellio my favourite bus was the 484 bound 8303, which was the only dart in the garage during most of my reign from late 2015-early 2018. 8318 was also there but never got to try that one out. Those who used to use the 484 over this time when 8303 was still at WL and it was out late in the evening, chances are it was me at the wheel. The bus would be allocated in the morning and as soon as other buses were available, the poor thing would just sit there awaiting its next use, which was ideal for me as Id always choice it over the other enviros and if I got it I would keep it for the entire 5 rounders (what most of the late duties were).
Another favourite of mine was was the C10 bound 8521, it wasn't the fastest bus ever but once it got going it was alright but its suspension and drive is what makes it one of my favourites that I actually nicknamed Ronseal.
Of course, I imagine you are all waiting for me to mention the infamous little rockets that are the P13’s 8343-8347. I first started driving these from new on the P13 (when I was loaned frequently to BC) and they are lovely buses with unbelievable acceleration power, they literally did fly. The best time I had in these though was actually was I was gifted with 8347 as a sub whilst I was doing a long second half on the 433, one of my all time favourite routes of which I have driven 38 London bus routes in 3 years of continuous service driving. That shift as you can imagine was lovely. If anyone ever gets the opportunity to drive 8343-8347 dont turn them down. Unfortunally I left before I could get a chance to take one onto the 484, not without trying to do so.
Onto the double deckers, now from my past times as a driver before my Abellio stint of which I wont go into, I was addicted to driving Tridents or TA’s as they are known. As the Abellio ones go. 9817 was a nice one, I was actually the last Abellio driver to drive it before someone on Rail Replacement decided to collide with a bridge in it the next day ending its lifespan. 9823 was by far the quickest which I managed to get on the 172, 343 & 381. 9828 was also a good one, this was the refurbed one. I had it several times on the 172, 343 & 381, but my good memory of this is on the night prior to the 188 tender announcement, 8th March 2017 I believe, when I was asked to go and cover some mileage on the 188. I saw this on the fuel bay and asked the shunter if I could take it, knowing they were getting withdrawn which I was told No because they are getting withdrawn tonight. I said “I promise you ill be back by midnight” the shunter gave in and said Yes ok. This was the last time it was used in service, it was used on Rail that weekend but then disappeared. Coincidently I was called back to the garage at about 11pm and sure enough the tender result was issued the next day. 9005&15 were lovely to drive even right up until the end. I tried and failed to get the WOB blinded 9005 on the 415. 9060 this was a lovely volvo that I did actually get by pure luck on the 415 one evening.
My favourite batch of Abellio buses however were the 433 87**enviros.
Onto my current locations good buses that ive driven so far: The WVL’s (277-295) are just generally lovely buses that I dont ever turn down driving. E62 this is a good bus that Id happily take due to its good kickdown. E66, having driven this bus twice in the past couple of weeks I can assure you all that this is lovely to get a ride on and from what I understand these wont be hanging around for much longer. This bus is what I was gifted with on a night duty the other week. It actually starts its kickdown process before the pedal has been pushed flat and was leaving 18 plate EH hybrids for dust. Worth a ride out on. E99, this used to be a slow bus so when I ended uo having it on the 36 and 171 in one day, that wasnt by choice. After having it the kther week on the 436 I was shocked at its performance, it flew along nicely. WHV4 & 5 these are some of my favourite buses and so far I have managed to get these out onto the N136 & N321 as they are really nice to drive. Everyone sings praised about the ‘new’ WHV’s (42-44 & 165-167) but I prefer these. Im not sure whether any of you have realised but I do prefer an old bus and if I can get one I am one happy driver. WVL235, again this was another one that I poached for an N321 and its perfomance was amazing, drives like new and brought back memories of driving Abellio Volvos.
Hope you enjoyed the long read.
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Post by redbus on Jun 18, 2018 18:57:34 GMT
For modern double deck buses I am a fan of the ADL E400H MMCs and the City using the integral chassis with BAE Hybrid system. Nice interior layout, two seats up front as you enter giving you a good view out through the windscreen. They are proper low floor buses with the low floor through the whole lower deck until the rear seats. The lower deck has a proper full size rear window and the upper deck doesn't have huge 'A' pillars so there's a good view out from all the seats at the font of the top deck. In the case of the City I like the colour scheme and rear top deck curved window. The buses are smooth when accelerating, you don't get thrown down the stairs when the bus changes gear and the diesel engine kicks in. If I am forced to choose a favourite I'll go for the City.
I also like the BYD electric buses on the 98, despite many, many shortcomings! I like them because they are the first fully electric double deck bus in London. My son likes them because there are two seats on the right hand side in front of the stairs on the top deck.
Historically, I'll always have a soft spot for Routemasters having grown up with them. My avatar says it all, my favourite bus being RM682.
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Post by busaholic on Jul 22, 2018 22:31:51 GMT
My favourite buses:- RML3 with its Leyland engine and original front, which I much prefer to production examples. I've only travelled on it once, though. RM8, because of the huge delay in it entering passenger service and, when it did, it ended up at Sidcup and on one of my local routes! So-called prewar RTs because I saw them on tram replacement 182 as a young kid and, one day, I'll go on RT8 again, which was on the 182. Of (more) modern buses I like the Optare Spectre
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Post by 6HP502C on Jul 23, 2018 0:43:22 GMT
Lets have a crack at it from my experiences; At Abellio my favourite bus was the 484 bound 8303, which was the only dart in the garage during most of my reign from late 2015-early 2018. 8318 was also there but never got to try that one out. Those who used to use the 484 over this time when 8303 was still at WL and it was out late in the evening, chances are it was me at the wheel. The bus would be allocated in the morning and as soon as other buses were available, the poor thing would just sit there awaiting its next use, which was ideal for me as Id always choice it over the other enviros and if I got it I would keep it for the entire 5 rounders (what most of the late duties were). Another favourite of mine was was the C10 bound 8521, it wasn't the fastest bus ever but once it got going it was alright but its suspension and drive is what makes it one of my favourites that I actually nicknamed Ronseal. Of course, I imagine you are all waiting for me to mention the infamous little rockets that are the P13’s 8343-8347. I first started driving these from new on the P13 (when I was loaned frequently to BC) and they are lovely buses with unbelievable acceleration power, they literally did fly. The best time I had in these though was actually was I was gifted with 8347 as a sub whilst I was doing a long second half on the 433, one of my all time favourite routes of which I have driven 38 London bus routes in 3 years of continuous service driving. That shift as you can imagine was lovely. If anyone ever gets the opportunity to drive 8343-8347 dont turn them down. Unfortunally I left before I could get a chance to take one onto the 484, not without trying to do so. Onto the double deckers, now from my past times as a driver before my Abellio stint of which I wont go into, I was addicted to driving Tridents or TA’s as they are known. As the Abellio ones go. 9817 was a nice one, I was actually the last Abellio driver to drive it before someone on Rail Replacement decided to collide with a bridge in it the next day ending its lifespan. 9823 was by far the quickest which I managed to get on the 172, 343 & 381. 9828 was also a good one, this was the refurbed one. I had it several times on the 172, 343 & 381, but my good memory of this is on the night prior to the 188 tender announcement, 8th March 2017 I believe, when I was asked to go and cover some mileage on the 188. I saw this on the fuel bay and asked the shunter if I could take it, knowing they were getting withdrawn which I was told No because they are getting withdrawn tonight. I said “I promise you ill be back by midnight” the shunter gave in and said Yes ok. This was the last time it was used in service, it was used on Rail that weekend but then disappeared. Coincidently I was called back to the garage at about 11pm and sure enough the tender result was issued the next day. 9005&15 were lovely to drive even right up until the end. I tried and failed to get the WOB blinded 9005 on the 415. 9060 this was a lovely volvo that I did actually get by pure luck on the 415 one evening. My favourite batch of Abellio buses however were the 433 87**enviros. Onto my current locations good buses that ive driven so far: The WVL’s (277-295) are just generally lovely buses that I dont ever turn down driving. E62 this is a good bus that Id happily take due to its good kickdown. E66, having driven this bus twice in the past couple of weeks I can assure you all that this is lovely to get a ride on and from what I understand these wont be hanging around for much longer. This bus is what I was gifted with on a night duty the other week. It actually starts its kickdown process before the pedal has been pushed flat and was leaving 18 plate EH hybrids for dust. Worth a ride out on. E99, this used to be a slow bus so when I ended uo having it on the 36 and 171 in one day, that wasnt by choice. After having it the kther week on the 436 I was shocked at its performance, it flew along nicely. WHV4 & 5 these are some of my favourite buses and so far I have managed to get these out onto the N136 & N321 as they are really nice to drive. Everyone sings praised about the ‘new’ WHV’s (42-44 & 165-167) but I prefer these. Im not sure whether any of you have realised but I do prefer an old bus and if I can get one I am one happy driver. WVL235, again this was another one that I poached for an N321 and its perfomance was amazing, drives like new and brought back memories of driving Abellio Volvos. Hope you enjoyed the long read. What do you think of the 12 and 62 plate Es at NX? I see the P13's MMCs on the 484 regularly during late evenings now - I suspect drivers take them by choice like you did with 8303. They are indeed well worth having a go on, I'm surprised they haven't been tuned down yet! I was planning to take one out on the 108 tube strike extra but that got cancelled! I miss the TAs. It did feel like they were run into the ground but some were phenomenal. I'll never, ever forget 9826 which right at the end of its service life didn't even have the standard factory fuel pump restriction up to 5mph. The thing was already wide open before you could get the pedal down to the metal! Even I wouldn't push the pedal down more than 25% until around 10mph when passengers were on board. Beyond that speed you could feel the vibrations from the sheer power of the engine from up front. There were a lot of fast TAs but that one was off the chart. That said it had a mind of its own as other times during that day the fuel pump played up and it couldn't top 20mph! Although I had no love for the ex Armchair Tridents, they did something to 9843 before withdrawal. It's like the basket case engine it had for years was binned and replaced with a new one with a weird but wonderful variant of the ZF gearbox. It drove like no other Trident did. After having that on a late shift I was sad to see it go. My favourite to drive now would be 9532 - lovely in all situations.
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Post by vjaska on Jul 23, 2018 0:45:49 GMT
My favourite buses:- RML3 with its Leyland engine and original front, which I much prefer to production examples. I've only travelled on it once, though. RM8, because of the huge delay in it entering passenger service and, when it did, it ended up at Sidcup and on one of my local routes! So-called prewar RTs because I saw them on tram replacement 182 as a young kid and, one day, I'll go on RT8 again, which was on the 182. Of (more) modern buses I like the Optare Spectre Never really had favourite RM's and the type is neither in my good or bad books but I've always had a soft spot for RM5 given it was at BN for many years, was the lowest numbered production example and ended up gold for the Golden Jubilee (sadly it's red again). The Scania ones on the 36 were quite nice as well - they sound much deeper than the AEC's.
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Post by galwhv69 on Jul 23, 2018 5:24:06 GMT
Optare Solo (Non Facelifted) VLA56 & VLA57 at N
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Post by lwldriver on Jul 23, 2018 13:55:53 GMT
Lets have a crack at it from my experiences; At Abellio my favourite bus was the 484 bound 8303, which was the only dart in the garage during most of my reign from late 2015-early 2018. 8318 was also there but never got to try that one out. Those who used to use the 484 over this time when 8303 was still at WL and it was out late in the evening, chances are it was me at the wheel. The bus would be allocated in the morning and as soon as other buses were available, the poor thing would just sit there awaiting its next use, which was ideal for me as Id always choice it over the other enviros and if I got it I would keep it for the entire 5 rounders (what most of the late duties were). Another favourite of mine was was the C10 bound 8521, it wasn't the fastest bus ever but once it got going it was alright but its suspension and drive is what makes it one of my favourites that I actually nicknamed Ronseal. Of course, I imagine you are all waiting for me to mention the infamous little rockets that are the P13’s 8343-8347. I first started driving these from new on the P13 (when I was loaned frequently to BC) and they are lovely buses with unbelievable acceleration power, they literally did fly. The best time I had in these though was actually was I was gifted with 8347 as a sub whilst I was doing a long second half on the 433, one of my all time favourite routes of which I have driven 38 London bus routes in 3 years of continuous service driving. That shift as you can imagine was lovely. If anyone ever gets the opportunity to drive 8343-8347 dont turn them down. Unfortunally I left before I could get a chance to take one onto the 484, not without trying to do so. Onto the double deckers, now from my past times as a driver before my Abellio stint of which I wont go into, I was addicted to driving Tridents or TA’s as they are known. As the Abellio ones go. 9817 was a nice one, I was actually the last Abellio driver to drive it before someone on Rail Replacement decided to collide with a bridge in it the next day ending its lifespan. 9823 was by far the quickest which I managed to get on the 172, 343 & 381. 9828 was also a good one, this was the refurbed one. I had it several times on the 172, 343 & 381, but my good memory of this is on the night prior to the 188 tender announcement, 8th March 2017 I believe, when I was asked to go and cover some mileage on the 188. I saw this on the fuel bay and asked the shunter if I could take it, knowing they were getting withdrawn which I was told No because they are getting withdrawn tonight. I said “I promise you ill be back by midnight” the shunter gave in and said Yes ok. This was the last time it was used in service, it was used on Rail that weekend but then disappeared. Coincidently I was called back to the garage at about 11pm and sure enough the tender result was issued the next day. 9005&15 were lovely to drive even right up until the end. I tried and failed to get the WOB blinded 9005 on the 415. 9060 this was a lovely volvo that I did actually get by pure luck on the 415 one evening. My favourite batch of Abellio buses however were the 433 87**enviros. Onto my current locations good buses that ive driven so far: The WVL’s (277-295) are just generally lovely buses that I dont ever turn down driving. E62 this is a good bus that Id happily take due to its good kickdown. E66, having driven this bus twice in the past couple of weeks I can assure you all that this is lovely to get a ride on and from what I understand these wont be hanging around for much longer. This bus is what I was gifted with on a night duty the other week. It actually starts its kickdown process before the pedal has been pushed flat and was leaving 18 plate EH hybrids for dust. Worth a ride out on. E99, this used to be a slow bus so when I ended uo having it on the 36 and 171 in one day, that wasnt by choice. After having it the kther week on the 436 I was shocked at its performance, it flew along nicely. WHV4 & 5 these are some of my favourite buses and so far I have managed to get these out onto the N136 & N321 as they are really nice to drive. Everyone sings praised about the ‘new’ WHV’s (42-44 & 165-167) but I prefer these. Im not sure whether any of you have realised but I do prefer an old bus and if I can get one I am one happy driver. WVL235, again this was another one that I poached for an N321 and its perfomance was amazing, drives like new and brought back memories of driving Abellio Volvos. Hope you enjoyed the long read. What do you think of the 12 and 62 plate Es at NX? I see the P13's MMCs on the 484 regularly during late evenings now - I suspect drivers take them by choice like you did with 8303. They are indeed well worth having a go on, I'm surprised they haven't been tuned down yet! I was planning to take one out on the 108 tube strike extra but that got cancelled! I miss the TAs. It did feel like they were run into the ground but some were phenomenal. I'll never, ever forget 9826 which right at the end of its service life didn't even have the standard factory fuel pump restriction up to 5mph. The thing was already wide open before you could get the pedal down to the metal! Even I wouldn't push the pedal down more than 25% until around 10mph when passengers were on board. Beyond that speed you could feel the vibrations from the sheer power of the engine from up front. There were a lot of fast TAs but that one was off the chart. That said it had a mind of its own as other times during that day the fuel pump played up and it couldn't top 20mph! Although I had no love for the ex Armchair Tridents, they did something to 9843 before withdrawal. It's like the basket case engine it had for years was binned and replaced with a new one with a weird but wonderful variant of the ZF gearbox. It drove like no other Trident did. After having that on a late shift I was sad to see it go. My favourite to drive now would be 9532 - lovely in all situations. To be quite honest, I used to drive the 12 & 62 reg E’s often when I firsr started at NX and generally they were much nicer than the Abellio examples I drove at WL. I had more favourites from the 12 reg but then I tended to drive them more on the 36, 171 and 436. The 62 reg are ok but I havent driven that many of these to compare but one that stands out for me is E269. Strangely enough I havent had one on the 321 yet. Ive had every other type of bus from NX on the 321 yet but not a newer E. I am determined to take one out on it before they disappear completely, Ive had 06 reg WVL235, a 57 & 08 reg E, a 59 reg WVL, an 11 reg WVL, a 61 reg WHV, a 61reg EH, a 15 reg WHV, a 66reg EH and an 18reg EH. Just need a 62reg E to complete it.
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Post by hwfan on Aug 10, 2018 6:52:41 GMT
Routemasters, particularly the 80s showbuses, RM8, 704/770 and RML2760 being favourites. All the special liveries eg. Shillibeer, Shoplinker. Titans, Metrobuses, ECW Olympians : did like tramways L136. Have a soft spot for the much maligned DMS. Yes, I'm old. Don't laugh lol. When I was at SW, we had an M, 323, what a beautiful bus. Everything about it was perfect with the exception of leaking like a sieve in the wet, some wag even put an i beside the number in the cab. Absolute beauty of a bus. RM8, I am friends of one of the owners of this beautiful, grand lady, now she truly is a good bus. DMS's were shocking! But saying that, they have their place in my heart, flying up and down on the 155, 44.
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Post by mbs474 on Aug 17, 2018 23:40:34 GMT
As my nome de plume suggests, I’m quite a fan of the MB family as well as their SM brethren. The DMS, AN, MD, T and M types all score highly as well. Coach wise the original batches of RS’s, BTL’s and LRC’s were great plus if you can call them coaches I’m a bit partial to a modernised RF. I’m a bit meh when it comes to Routemaster’s but I loved the RCL’s, in particular during their red period from EM and SF. In the modern era, the DT Darts, DA and SP Optare Delta and Spectra types were very attractive and in the really modern era the Enviro’s are probably the most appealing but I can’t say I’m much of a bus user nowadays. Despite being well before my time I’m also fascinated by the 1930’s and in particular love the scooter and bluebird LT’s, the 2RT2’s, roofbox and “leaning back” STL’s and the stunning 10T10’s.
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