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Post by redexpress on Dec 17, 2020 21:21:50 GMT
Why did the 195 get a 6 year contract that time? Usually routes get 5 or 7 year contracts, so why was this one excluded? Did Ealing Community Transport no longer want the route? The reason why ECT had a 9 year contract is because apparently TfL did not like how they were running things and had to quickly take the 195 off there hands and give them to First. The original contract was 5 years then it gained a 2 year extension but in 2009 TfL had to quickly step in take the 195 of there hands because TfL didn’t like how they running things and give the 195 to First on a 1 year emergency contract. Well that’s what I have heard. But according to Wikipedia ECT wanted to stop trading as a bus operator and ECT had to surrender the 195 and TFL had to step and give the 195 on a emergency 1 year contract. I don't think the reasons for ECT's withdrawal from the 195 were ever made public. At the time it was presented as ECT's decision to pull out of the route. There was no mention of TfL being dissatisfied with ECT - if there had been any such issues with the operation surely ECT wouldn't have been given a 2-year extension.
Of course we don't know what was going on behind the scenes to influence the decision to withdraw with only 1 year left. And I suppose we'll never know either.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 17, 2020 21:29:20 GMT
Scania OmniCity Caetano Nimbus Wrightbus Gemini 3 With the Wrightbus Gemini 3 is that the smiley face version or frog face or both?
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Post by redexpress on Dec 17, 2020 21:32:28 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. I'd agree with all of those choices!
The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses.
There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
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Post by COBO on Dec 17, 2020 21:44:46 GMT
The reason why ECT had a 9 year contract is because apparently TfL did not like how they were running things and had to quickly take the 195 off there hands and give them to First. The original contract was 5 years then it gained a 2 year extension but in 2009 TfL had to quickly step in take the 195 of there hands because TfL didn’t like how they running things and give the 195 to First on a 1 year emergency contract. Well that’s what I have heard. But according to Wikipedia ECT wanted to stop trading as a bus operator and ECT had to surrender the 195 and TFL had to step and give the 195 on a emergency 1 year contract. I don't think the reasons for ECT's withdrawal from the 195 were ever made public. At the time it was presented as ECT's decision to pull out of the route. There was no mention of TfL being dissatisfied with ECT - if there had been any such issues with the operation surely ECT wouldn't have been given a 2-year extension.
Of course we don't know what was going on behind the scenes to influence the decision to withdraw with only 1 year left. And I suppose we'll never know either.
I suppose your right. I just remember what I was told on a website years ago.
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Post by paulo on Dec 17, 2020 22:52:41 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. I'd agree with all of those choices! The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses. There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
Well said that man
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 17, 2020 23:06:34 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. I'd agree with all of those choices!
The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses.
There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
Ah yessss. I do remember the Paladin buses. First capital had some for a while for the 396 and W19. It does hurt me that I was not able to get on the lances that were on the 113 and 302 as much when they were around for a short time.
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Post by vjaska on Dec 17, 2020 23:27:17 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. I'd agree with all of those choices! The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses. There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
The B10BLE with a Renown body were great - managed to get a ride on a Brighton example before they were withdrawn. Single decker wise, I'd probably say a toss up between the Pointer II, Wright collection of bodies & the Lynx although in terms of an entire batch, it's either the SPD's on the 227 or the G1's DP's under Connex for entirely different reasons. A special mention to the ELC Scania Cityzen - London never got any of these though did receive other N113DRB's but the Brighton example's were well liked by drivers and I bagged a ride on the 21 in Brighton not long before they're withdrawal
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Post by busman on Dec 17, 2020 23:31:31 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. I'd agree with all of those choices!
The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses.
There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
Now you mention single deckers, I would have to go for the Wright Pathfinder on the Dennis Lance Chassis. I lived in West London when these kneeling low floor buses were first introduced on the 120 and 222. They were revolutionary at the time and very spacious inside compared to other single decks. The curves on the bodywork were quite unique and striking on a single deck. They really stood out compared to the Wright bodied Renault S75’s I was used to riding. Those were the days when Wright produced attractive bodywork. Wrightbus peaked with the Gemini Eclipse imho.
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Post by vjaska on Dec 18, 2020 1:44:23 GMT
I'd agree with all of those choices! The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses. There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
Now you mention single deckers, I would have to go for the Wright Pathfinder on the Dennis Lance Chassis. I lived in West London when these kneeling low floor buses were first introduced on the 120 and 222. They were revolutionary at the time and very spacious inside compared to other single decks. The curves on the bodywork were quite unique and striking on a single deck. They really stood out compared to the Wright bodied Renault S75’s I was used to riding. Those were the days when Wright produced attractive bodywork. Wrightbus peaked with the Gemini Eclipse imho. I loved the fact they had a different name for every Wright single decker body going - definitely good looking buses even if I was more a Plaxton or Alexander man myself. How times change
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Post by thesquirrels on Dec 18, 2020 8:06:47 GMT
Another vote for the MCW Metrobus here. The stylistic finishes applied by London General to their fleet (dark skirt, nearside front numberplate) are my favourite, and Capital Citybus did a great job with the ones they bought and did 80% red conversions on. Conversely some of the MTL examples were looking (and sounding) very ropy by the time their service in London was up. The variety in what was notionally a uniform fleet was what captured my interest.
I have a fondness for NC bodies on Olympians - ZF or Voith, former made a more characterful ride but latter sounded better.
Honourable mention for the Caetano Nimbus which grew on me as the years went by, even if they rarely aged well themselves!
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Post by bertrell on Dec 18, 2020 8:37:50 GMT
I've a book by Stuart brown, the title covers London bus purchases from 1946-1994, full colour pictures 164 pages and the price is £24! Published last yr.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 18, 2020 9:54:14 GMT
Another vote for the MCW Metrobus here. The stylistic finishes applied by London General to their fleet (dark skirt, nearside front numberplate) are my favourite, and Capital Citybus did a great job with the ones they bought and did 80% red conversions on. Conversely some of the MTL examples were looking (and sounding) very ropy by the time their service in London was up. The variety in what was notionally a uniform fleet was what captured my interest. I have a fondness for NC bodies on Olympians - ZF or Voith, former made a more characterful ride but latter sounded better. Honourable mention for the Caetano Nimbus which grew on me as the years went by, even if they rarely aged well themselves! A good list you have there.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 18, 2020 9:55:42 GMT
I'd agree with all of those choices!
The Scania / Olympus combo was my favourite bus of the time. It's just a shame that the combination of poor build quality and stiff Scania suspension meant that they didn't age well at all. The Metroline SELs were particularly poor examples but the short-lived London United SOs were lovely buses.
There's not been much mention of single-deckers but I did like the Paladin body that Northern Counties fitted to step-entrance Darts, particularly if you saw one next to a Palatine II for the family resemblance. For bigger single-deckers the earlier Wright bodies - e.g. the Renown body fitted to a Volvo B10BLE - were pretty good. I remember Sovereign had some nicely-specced examples on their Herts routes.
Still none of these can beat the Metrobus, which remains my all-time favourite.
Now you mention single deckers, I would have to go for the Wright Pathfinder on the Dennis Lance Chassis. I lived in West London when these kneeling low floor buses were first introduced on the 120 and 222. They were revolutionary at the time and very spacious inside compared to other single decks. The curves on the bodywork were quite unique and striking on a single deck. They really stood out compared to the Wright bodied Renault S75’s I was used to riding. Those were the days when Wright produced attractive bodywork. Wrightbus peaked with the Gemini Eclipse imho. I'm liking this post. How could I forget about the wrightbus pathfinders. I always remembered seeing them at East Ham High Street on the 101.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2020 10:03:20 GMT
Now you mention single deckers, I would have to go for the Wright Pathfinder on the Dennis Lance Chassis. I lived in West London when these kneeling low floor buses were first introduced on the 120 and 222. They were revolutionary at the time and very spacious inside compared to other single decks. The curves on the bodywork were quite unique and striking on a single deck. They really stood out compared to the Wright bodied Renault S75’s I was used to riding. Those were the days when Wright produced attractive bodywork. Wrightbus peaked with the Gemini Eclipse imho. I'm liking this post. How could I forget about the wrightbus pathfinders. I always remembered seeing them at East Ham High Street on the 101. These were proper bone shacking rattle buses. Remember the smart blinds were very problematic (Understandable as very new tech in the 90s) Also these buses had a very early type of audio stop announcement.
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Post by mkay315 on Dec 18, 2020 10:24:06 GMT
I'm liking this post. How could I forget about the wrightbus pathfinders. I always remembered seeing them at East Ham High Street on the 101. These were proper bone shacking rattle buses. Remember the smart blinds were very problematic (Understandable as very new tech in the 90s) Also these buses had a very early type of audio stop announcement. Funny enough when some of them received the current stagecoach moquette I didn’t feel like it rattled as much. Though those blinds were indeed a problem. If one didn't know that part of London well, whenever you'd see that bus with just the 101 on it but no destination showing you'd be confused as to where it would stop. I did see it a few times floating with no blinds hahaha.
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