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Post by mkay315 on Dec 16, 2020 14:04:41 GMT
Hello All
I felt like this hasn't been discussed enough and I didn’t want to clog up other threads on here so I thought I'd make a new one here.
So my favourite bus type has to be the Northern Counties Palatine both one and two.
I loved the fact that I was privileged enough to sit on the first ever palatine 2 type to be built (K888 TKS). This vehicle holds a lot of memories for me growing up on the 123 and 296.
I was also fond of the S-LLO batch that was on the 341 in the late 90s. I loved how even though it was a palatine 1 bus they built it up to match the type 2 version interior wise and it was the first batch to sport the famous purple turquoise seats. I was even more surprised when I first sat on one bus from that batch that it was a ZF engine and not a voith that were previously at NP for the 67 and 91 respectively.
I also loved sitting on the NVs from AF for the 74 near knightsbridge for a school trip to the natural history museum and getting the NVs to New Cross from London Bridge on the 21.
What's your favourite bus bodywork and batches that you have good memories on and like.
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Post by vjaska on Dec 16, 2020 14:50:48 GMT
Hello All I felt like this hasn't been discussed as enough and I didn’t want to clog up other threads on here so I thought I'd make a new one here. So my favourite bus type has to be the Northern Counties Palatine both one and two. I loved the fact that I was privileged enough to sit on the first ever palatine 2 type to be built (K888 TKS). This vehicle holds a lot of memories for me growing up on the 123 and 296. I was also fond of the S-LLO batch that was on the 341 in the late 90s. I loved how even though it was a palatine 1 bus they built it up to match the type 2 version interior wise and it was the first batch to sport the famous purple turquoise seats. I was even more surprised when I first sat on one bus from that batch that it was a ZF engine and not a voith that were previously at NP for the 67 and 91 respectively. I also loved sitting on the NVs from AF for the 74 near knightsbridge for a school trip to the natural history museum and getting the NVs to New Cross from London Bridge on the 21. What's your favourite bus bodywork and batches that you have good memories on and like. You mean ZF gearbox, the engine would of been a Volvo engine as the Cummins option had disappeared by then I believe - I think the last Cummins examples were N or P reg from memory. I'm quite surprised to hear Capital Citybus ordered Voith boxed Olympians so decided to do a little digging - the batch for the 67 I believe were Cummins examples and one thing I learn't about Cummins examples through a book I have is you can work out what gearbox it has and how many gears through it's actual chassi name and I believe the 67 batch were 4 spd ZF's judging by it's title "YN2RV18Z4" - the last letter and digit tells you it's gearbox and number of gears. Sadly, this doesn't work for Volvo engined Olympians to my knowledge. Stagecoach & Dublin Bus I believe were the big Voith orders although Dublin Bus also ordered many ZF examples and Metroline did have some Voith AV's - the S RLE batch were a fine batch. But anyway, back to the topic in hand, I wasn't a big fan of Palatine II bodywork though found it better than the Alexander Royale bodywork, much preferred Alexander RL/RH bodywork, Palatine I and the ELC Pyoneer bodywork. I don't really have a fave bodywork but my fave types are the L, M & T types that ruled the roost between the 1980's & early 2000's - these buses are what I attribute with myself getting into the hobby (alongside the fact I collected and drew maps from about 3-4 years old) and they hold a special place. The Gardener engine gave a shouty roar when chugging uphill which sounded amazing and made them beast like and particularly on the M with the wailing Voith boxes they had made for a great combination. The interiors were simple but the lovely 1980's LT interior's brightened many cold and gloomy days - sadly the 41 refurbished L's that gained Arriva interior made cold days seem even colder and the Voith box that replaced the old semi-auto boxes made them sound like a diluted M and even at times, a little under powered.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 16, 2020 15:01:14 GMT
Hello All I felt like this hasn't been discussed as enough and I didn’t want to clog up other threads on here so I thought I'd make a new one here. So my favourite bus type has to be the Northern Counties Palatine both one and two. I loved the fact that I was privileged enough to sit on the first ever palatine 2 type to be built (K888 TKS). This vehicle holds a lot of memories for me growing up on the 123 and 296. I was also fond of the S-LLO batch that was on the 341 in the late 90s. I loved how even though it was a palatine 1 bus they built it up to match the type 2 version interior wise and it was the first batch to sport the famous purple turquoise seats. I was even more surprised when I first sat on one bus from that batch that it was a ZF engine and not a voith that were previously at NP for the 67 and 91 respectively. I also loved sitting on the NVs from AF for the 74 near knightsbridge for a school trip to the natural history museum and getting the NVs to New Cross from London Bridge on the 21. What's your favourite bus bodywork and batches that you have good memories on and like. You mean ZF gearbox, the engine would of been a Volvo engine as the Cummins option had disappeared by then I believe - I think the last Cummins examples were N or P reg from memory. I'm quite surprised to hear Capital Citybus ordered Voith boxed Olympians so decided to do a little digging - the batch for the 67 I believe were Cummins examples and one thing I learn't about Cummins examples through a book I have is you can work out what gearbox it has and how many gears through it's actual chassi name and I believe the 67 batch were 4 spd ZF's judging by it's title "YN2RV18Z4" - the last letter and digit tells you it's gearbox and number of gears. Sadly, this doesn't work for Volvo engined Olympians to my knowledge. Stagecoach & Dublin Bus I believe were the big Voith orders although Dublin Bus also ordered many ZF examples and Metroline did have some Voith AV's - the S RLE batch were a fine batch. But anyway, back to the topic in hand, I wasn't a big fan of Palatine II bodywork though found it better than the Alexander Royale bodywork, much preferred Alexander RL/RH bodywork, Palatine I and the ELC Pyoneer bodywork. I don't really have a fave bodywork but my fave types are the L, M & T types that ruled the roost between the 1980's & early 2000's - these buses are what I attribute with myself getting into the hobby (alongside the fact I collected and drew maps from about 3-4 years old) and they hold a special place. The Gardener engine gave a shouty roar when chugging uphill which sounded amazing and made them beast like and particularly on the M with the wailing Voith boxes they had made for a great combination. The interiors were simple but the lovely 1980's LT interior's brightened many cold and gloomy days - sadly the 41 refurbished L's that gained Arriva interior made cold days seem even colder and the Voith box that replaced the old semi-auto boxes made them sound like a diluted M and even at times, a little under powered. youtu.be/R75ZoZv5uk8That's one example of the volvo Olympian that used to be on the 91. And yes you're right with the ZF gearbox.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 16, 2020 15:10:05 GMT
The dennis dominators I didn't really gel with as much. I would always think that I'm sitting in a MCW metrobus
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2020 15:28:10 GMT
Retro one.
Northern Counties Step entrance Scanias.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 16, 2020 16:05:15 GMT
Retro one. Northern Counties Step entrance Scanias. Is it the one's that used to be at U for the 104 and 15B and at T for the 48?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2020 16:10:29 GMT
Retro one. Northern Counties Step entrance Scanias. Is it the one's that used to be at U for the 104 and 15B and at T for the 48? Yep that's the ones.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 16, 2020 16:11:53 GMT
Is it the one's that used to be at U for the 104 and 15B and at T for the 48? Yep that's the ones. Those buses were the proper workhorses. They were powerful buses I'd always see especially in Green Street and Barking Road. Do you know when they left London by any chance?
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 16, 2020 16:13:57 GMT
Hello All I felt like this hasn't been discussed as enough and I didn’t want to clog up other threads on here so I thought I'd make a new one here. So my favourite bus type has to be the Northern Counties Palatine both one and two. I loved the fact that I was privileged enough to sit on the first ever palatine 2 type to be built (K888 TKS). This vehicle holds a lot of memories for me growing up on the 123 and 296. I was also fond of the S-LLO batch that was on the 341 in the late 90s. I loved how even though it was a palatine 1 bus they built it up to match the type 2 version interior wise and it was the first batch to sport the famous purple turquoise seats. I was even more surprised when I first sat on one bus from that batch that it was a ZF engine and not a voith that were previously at NP for the 67 and 91 respectively. I also loved sitting on the NVs from AF for the 74 near knightsbridge for a school trip to the natural history museum and getting the NVs to New Cross from London Bridge on the 21. What's your favourite bus bodywork and batches that you have good memories on and like. You mean ZF gearbox, the engine would of been a Volvo engine as the Cummins option had disappeared by then I believe - I think the last Cummins examples were N or P reg from memory. I'm quite surprised to hear Capital Citybus ordered Voith boxed Olympians so decided to do a little digging - the batch for the 67 I believe were Cummins examples and one thing I learn't about Cummins examples through a book I have is you can work out what gearbox it has and how many gears through it's actual chassi name and I believe the 67 batch were 4 spd ZF's judging by it's title "YN2RV18Z4" - the last letter and digit tells you it's gearbox and number of gears. Sadly, this doesn't work for Volvo engined Olympians to my knowledge. Stagecoach & Dublin Bus I believe were the big Voith orders although Dublin Bus also ordered many ZF examples and Metroline did have some Voith AV's - the S RLE batch were a fine batch. But anyway, back to the topic in hand, I wasn't a big fan of Palatine II bodywork though found it better than the Alexander Royale bodywork, much preferred Alexander RL/RH bodywork, Palatine I and the ELC Pyoneer bodywork. I don't really have a fave bodywork but my fave types are the L, M & T types that ruled the roost between the 1980's & early 2000's - these buses are what I attribute with myself getting into the hobby (alongside the fact I collected and drew maps from about 3-4 years old) and they hold a special place. The Gardener engine gave a shouty roar when chugging uphill which sounded amazing and made them beast like and particularly on the M with the wailing Voith boxes they had made for a great combination. The interiors were simple but the lovely 1980's LT interior's brightened many cold and gloomy days - sadly the 41 refurbished L's that gained Arriva interior made cold days seem even colder and the Voith box that replaced the old semi-auto boxes made them sound like a diluted M and even at times, a little under powered. But capital citybus did have some voith examples. Only the 296 and 341 had the ZF gearboxes. Whereas the 67 volvo buses (N and P reg northern counties palatine) and the 91 volvo buses (Alexander royale) were voith
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 17, 2020 12:06:14 GMT
Oh yes. I also forgot. The dennis arrows that used to be on the 259 and 369. My goodness those buses used to fly. Those legendary East Lancs Pyoneer buses. That's what my display picture is based on
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Post by M1104 on Dec 17, 2020 15:20:44 GMT
What's your favourite bus bodywork and batches that you have good memories on and like. If i really had to narrow it down it would be the Cummin engined mk1 Metrobus batch¹ originally based at BN in which i first saw on the 118. Will never forget the first time i heard those engines and thought there was an issue with the engine/exhaust, this being after years of hearing the Gardener units on the model. It wasn't until the second or third time among the batch that i then realised they were different engines....a bit reminisant of how the early DMSs (with the headlights closer to the middle) sounded a bit different to the slightly later ones that followed with the headlights further apart....the earlier examples to me sounding more like the Leyland Titans in that they were 'deeper' sounding. I've loved the Metros from day one with their then unusual gear changes, to me then reminisant of the Fishbowl² buses in the USA, plus their air suspension which was a relatively new concept on British buses. Like the DMS the engine sounds from the early Ms differed from later variants, the early ones having a bit of a background hum. The axle whines was also different throughout London Transport's 1440 mk1 Metros. From around M680 (give or take liberally) the whines were higher pitched a lot sooner during acceleration, ie 3rd gear whine pitch in the later Ms sounded like 2nd gear whine pitch in the earlier Ms. Loved the general bodywork of the Ms. Although they're just as boxy-looking as the DMS i loved how for example their rear lower deck windows were located further back, the top of the engine bay effectively inside the bus. The original front grill look was especially an eye catcher in general exterior cosmetics, which was a shame that never remained over the years that followed upon repaints and local in-house redesigns. I was never really keen on London General's 1990's variant regarding that but got use to it. The Cummins ones i especially loved for their more aggressive sounds, even though performance-wise they weren't much different to their Gardner sisters. In fact i found that it's the B reg models regardless of engines that were the nippiest of the batch, particularly on pullaway. This would be from personal experience of me driving M1125, M1177, M1180 and M1196.which were some of the favourites with Stockwell's night drivers. M1104 however was supped up with unbelievable acceleration for a bus built in the 80s, literally able to leave the average car still standing at the just-turned-green lights...the driver temporarily stuck in a daze of 'scooby-doo sound' confusion as M1104's already well ahead along the A23. I emmensly enjoyed riding that bus in the day and was the one bus i often would track down during my occasion one day bus rides. It's only a pity we didn't have the internet back then where examples of her performances would've surely been on YouTube. Ah well, still got the memories. EDIT: I just remember either M205 or M214 having a temporarily fitted experimental turbo fitted which made this Gardner unit bus a lot more faster and powerful over the other Metros, though still not quite as much as M1104, which eventually got toned down herself towards the end of her (and her sister's) London days...by then based at TC. ¹ - M1084 to M1105 ² - the model used in the 1994 movie Speed, except that would've more likely been Allison boxed as they were capable of about 70mph
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Post by vjaska on Dec 17, 2020 15:50:21 GMT
You mean ZF gearbox, the engine would of been a Volvo engine as the Cummins option had disappeared by then I believe - I think the last Cummins examples were N or P reg from memory. I'm quite surprised to hear Capital Citybus ordered Voith boxed Olympians so decided to do a little digging - the batch for the 67 I believe were Cummins examples and one thing I learn't about Cummins examples through a book I have is you can work out what gearbox it has and how many gears through it's actual chassi name and I believe the 67 batch were 4 spd ZF's judging by it's title "YN2RV18Z4" - the last letter and digit tells you it's gearbox and number of gears. Sadly, this doesn't work for Volvo engined Olympians to my knowledge. Stagecoach & Dublin Bus I believe were the big Voith orders although Dublin Bus also ordered many ZF examples and Metroline did have some Voith AV's - the S RLE batch were a fine batch. But anyway, back to the topic in hand, I wasn't a big fan of Palatine II bodywork though found it better than the Alexander Royale bodywork, much preferred Alexander RL/RH bodywork, Palatine I and the ELC Pyoneer bodywork. I don't really have a fave bodywork but my fave types are the L, M & T types that ruled the roost between the 1980's & early 2000's - these buses are what I attribute with myself getting into the hobby (alongside the fact I collected and drew maps from about 3-4 years old) and they hold a special place. The Gardener engine gave a shouty roar when chugging uphill which sounded amazing and made them beast like and particularly on the M with the wailing Voith boxes they had made for a great combination. The interiors were simple but the lovely 1980's LT interior's brightened many cold and gloomy days - sadly the 41 refurbished L's that gained Arriva interior made cold days seem even colder and the Voith box that replaced the old semi-auto boxes made them sound like a diluted M and even at times, a little under powered. But capital citybus did have some voith examples. Only the 296 and 341 had the ZF gearboxes. Whereas the 67 volvo buses (N and P reg northern counties palatine) and the 91 volvo buses (Alexander royale) were voith Someone must of made an error somewhere because the chassis designation marks them as having a ZF box but having listened to two different examples, they are indeed Voith boxed examples. The rest of the designation is correct in that they are Volvo Olympians with 2 axles, right hand drive & a Volvo engine
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 17, 2020 16:26:21 GMT
What's your favourite bus bodywork and batches that you have good memories on and like. If i really had to narrow it down it would be the Cummin engined mk1 Metrobus batch¹ originally based at BN in which i first saw on the 118. Will never forget the first time i heard those engines and thought there was an issue with the engine/exhaust, this being after years of hearing the Gardener units on the model. It wasn't until the second or third time among the batch that i then realised they were different engines....a bit reminisant of how the early DMSs (with the headlights closer to the middle) sounded a bit different to the slightly later ones that followed with the headlights further apart....the earlier examples to me sounding more like the Leyland Titans in that they were 'deeper' sounding. I've loved the Metros from day one with their then unusual gear changes, to me then reminisant of the Fishbowl² buses in the USA, plus their air suspension which was a relatively new concept on British buses. Like the DMS the engine sounds from the early Ms differed from later variants, the early ones having a bit of a background hum. The axle whines was also different throughout London Transport's 1440 mk1 Metros. From around M680 (give or take liberally) the whines were higher pitched a lot sooner during acceleration, ie 3rd gear whine pitch in the later Ms sounded like 2nd gear whine pitch in the earlier Ms. Loved the general bodywork of the Ms. Although they're just as boxy-looking as the DMS i loved how for example their rear lower deck windows were located further back, the top of the engine bay effectively inside the bus. The original front grill look was especially an eye catcher in general exterior cosmetics, which was a shame that never remained over the years that followed upon repaints and local in-house redesigns. I was never really keen on London General's 1990's variant regarding that but got use to it. The Cummins ones i especially loved for their more aggressive sounds, even though performance-wise they weren't much different to their Gardner sisters. In fact i found that it's the B reg models regardless of engines that were the nippiest of the batch, particularly on pullaway. This would be from personal experience of me driving M1125, M1177, M1180 and M1196.which were some of the favourites with Stockwell's night drivers. M1104 however was supped up with unbelievable acceleration for a bus built in the 80s, literally able to leave the average car still standing at the just-turned-green lights...the driver temporarily stuck in a daze of 'scooby-doo sound' confusion as M1104's already well ahead along the A23. I emmensly enjoyed riding that bus in the day and was the one bus i often would track down during my occasion one day bus rides. It's only a pity we didn't have the internet back then where examples of her performances would've surely been on YouTube. Ah well, still got the memories. EDIT: I just remember either M205 or M214 having a temporarily fitted experimental turbo fitted which made this Gardner unit bus a lot more faster and powerful over the other Metros, though still not quite as much as M1104, which eventually got toned down herself towards the end of her (and her sister's) London days...by then based at TC. ¹ - M1084 to M1105 ² - the model used in the 1994 movie Speed, except that would've more likely been Allison boxed as they were capable of about 70mph The metrobuses were decent vehicles. They did sound similar to the dennis dominators. I remembered being in Rainham getting the 165 and it used to be a double decker those times and boy did it used to move especially around the Elm Park area. Another area I remembered that was dominated by MCW Metrobuses was Tottenham. Bar the 123, 230 and 318 pretty much every bus in that area was a metrobus. Sitting on the 41 from West Green Road to Crouch End on was my fondest memory of a metrobus.
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Post by busman on Dec 17, 2020 16:27:26 GMT
Going on aesthetics, pretty much anything by ELC/Darwen. Hard choice, but I would choose an Olympus body on a Scania chassis. I find ELC/Darwen bodywork becomes very rattly after a few years, but they do look great. Northern Counties deserve a shout as well. The Palatine I body is a timeless classic. That front grill screams of power and dominance. My current favourite is ADL’s E400 MMC.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 17, 2020 16:31:34 GMT
But capital citybus did have some voith examples. Only the 296 and 341 had the ZF gearboxes. Whereas the 67 volvo buses (N and P reg northern counties palatine) and the 91 volvo buses (Alexander royale) were voith Someone must of made an error somewhere because the chassis designation marks them as having a ZF box but having listened to two different examples, they are indeed Voith boxed examples. The rest of the designation is correct in that they are Volvo Olympians with 2 axles, right hand drive & a Volvo engine They do that at times. Kinda similar to Metroline TP30. Those early TPs were mostly Voith apart from TP30 which happened to be a ZF. I believe this may have been during the time that first capital was making their orders for the 1 and 25 in 1999 and so Plaxton was building their buses simultaneously.
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