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Post by vjaska on Oct 17, 2022 2:56:41 GMT
Gemini 2 B5LHs have to be up there for buses with the worst passenger experience! The rattling on the BN examples is crazy. They are quite nippy and the engines don’t sound bad but sitting on one when idle, especially in traffic, is quite irritating. A friend of mine once sat at the back downstairs of a packed pre-electric 319 between Clapham Junction and Tooting Bec. Safe to say he regretted it! Gemini 2 B5LHs are rattly for sure, but not THAT bad outside a select few (HV89 comes to mind). I can’t speak for ride quality on BNs HVs, but do notice I never or rarely see their engines cut out when idle in comparison to other batches (from what I see in vacuity of routes 50 and 133). Maybe they are running limp on diesel? which does make rattling worse. That saying there are more tartly stuff out there. SW7 was one of the most rattly buses out there, along with Metroline’s Enviro 400Hs MMCs (nice acceleration, but awful boneshaking). BN's HV's are pretty decent all things considered, but the idle on Euro V B5LH's from numerous garages is very prevalent compared to Euro VI examples where the idle is far less noisy
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Post by greenboy on Oct 17, 2022 16:04:00 GMT
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Post by greenboy on Oct 17, 2022 22:16:31 GMT
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Post by richard on Oct 19, 2022 14:13:32 GMT
Sorry to use the "C" word but LIDL have already started putting Christmas stuff on their shelves this is way too early I mean Halloween isn't even here yet.
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Post by lonmark on Oct 19, 2022 14:50:14 GMT
Sorry to use the "C" word but LIDL have already started putting Christmas stuff on their shelves this is way too early I mean Halloween isn't even here yet. you will find it everywhere now in supermarkets.
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Post by mkay315 on Oct 25, 2022 8:23:46 GMT
Folks I thought I'd share this. So when I was younger and myself and my family would wait for some buses to get us to our destination we would purposely wait at the first bus stop to get a seat. A prime example was whenever we'd have to go to Ilford Lane. We would purposely wait for the 369 (I miss that short and reliable bus, EL1 is NOT the same) over the 169 and the 25 over the 86. The only time I could think of growing up I'd have to get the packed bus was when I had to get the 69 to Walthamstow from Stratford as I did NOT want to go through Leytonstone through the 257.
Then we had the ghost bus 551 that used to come all the way from Basildon to go to Walthamstow. The one time I tried to wait for that bus it didn't come so we ended up getting the 123 to Forest Road and hopping on the 275 instead.
I forgot to ask. Would anyone else like to share their stories?
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Oct 25, 2022 19:14:25 GMT
Folks I thought I'd share this. So when I was younger and myself and my family would wait for some buses to get us to our destination we would purposely wait at the first bus stop to get a seat. A prime example was whenever we'd have to go to Ilford Lane. We would purposely wait for the 369 (I miss that short and reliable bus, EL1 is NOT the same) over the 169 and the 25 over the 86. The only time I could think of growing up I'd have to get the packed bus was when I had to get the 69 to Walthamstow from Stratford as I did NOT want to go through Leytonstone through the 257. Then we had the ghost bus 551 that used to come all the way from Basildon to go to Walthamstow. The one time I tried to wait for that bus it didn't come so we ended up getting the 123 to Forest Road and hopping on the 275 instead. I forgot to ask. Would anyone else like to share their stories? I do remember the 369, the EL1 has just become a monster of a route and doesn't make it to Hainault Street the way the 369 did once upon a time. I'm not sure if you remember back when the 145, 169, 179, 366 and 369 would all stop at a stop for buses heading towards Barking where Pioneer Point is now located. Obviously since then the stop towards Barking has become Chapel Road, with the stop going east of Hainault Street became the Pioneer Point stop. A weird anomaly in all of this is how the 145 and 366 have managed to reach a point where neither stop at Chapel Road or Pioneer Point. All of this when the 25 would be around with its bendies, still remember when those bendies were new as well and it was the first time I'd ever seen anything like them. Seeing Stagecoach on the 25 again in 2020 really did feel like the route had come back full circle. Stagecoach back then also had all routes down the Romford Road corridor except for one, the W19 at the time. Since which Stagecoach managed to lose all the routes except the 86 but the 25 has come back and the W19 is now with them, leaving the 147 as the only non-Stagecoach route there effectively bringing that full circle too. Something I do miss is when the 262 terminated around the corner from my house at Showcase Cinema, up until the cut to Gallions Reach the stop at Stratford still showed the 262 going to Showcase. It got cut back due to roadworks one day and never actually got restored. Now the route has been cut back even further to Gallions Reach, and Showcase Cinema itself is no more.
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Post by mkay315 on Oct 25, 2022 20:10:48 GMT
Folks I thought I'd share this. So when I was younger and myself and my family would wait for some buses to get us to our destination we would purposely wait at the first bus stop to get a seat. A prime example was whenever we'd have to go to Ilford Lane. We would purposely wait for the 369 (I miss that short and reliable bus, EL1 is NOT the same) over the 169 and the 25 over the 86. The only time I could think of growing up I'd have to get the packed bus was when I had to get the 69 to Walthamstow from Stratford as I did NOT want to go through Leytonstone through the 257. Then we had the ghost bus 551 that used to come all the way from Basildon to go to Walthamstow. The one time I tried to wait for that bus it didn't come so we ended up getting the 123 to Forest Road and hopping on the 275 instead. I forgot to ask. Would anyone else like to share their stories? I do remember the 369, the EL1 has just become a monster of a route and doesn't make it to Hainault Street the way the 369 did once upon a time. I'm not sure if you remember back when the 145, 169, 179, 366 and 369 would all stop at a stop for buses heading towards Barking where Pioneer Point is now located. Obviously since then the stop towards Barking has become Chapel Road, with the stop going east of Hainault Street became the Pioneer Point stop. A weird anomaly in all of this is how the 145 and 366 have managed to reach a point where neither stop at Chapel Road or Pioneer Point. All of this when the 25 would be around with its bendies, still remember when those bendies were new as well and it was the first time I'd ever seen anything like them. Seeing Stagecoach on the 25 again in 2020 really did feel like the route had come back full circle. Stagecoach back then also had all routes down the Romford Road corridor except for one, the W19 at the time. Since which Stagecoach managed to lose all the routes except the 86 but the 25 has come back and the W19 is now with them, leaving the 147 as the only non-Stagecoach route there effectively bringing that full circle too. Something I do miss is when the 262 terminated around the corner from my house at Showcase Cinema, up until the cut to Gallions Reach the stop at Stratford still showed the 262 going to Showcase. It got cut back due to roadworks one day and never actually got restored. Now the route has been cut back even further to Gallions Reach, and Showcase Cinema itself is no more. I do remember the Pioneer point. That actually used to be a indoor marketplace. Good Times good times. As for the 262 I did wonder why it got cut back to the sainsbury's back around 2008
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Post by enviroPB on Oct 25, 2022 20:39:54 GMT
Folks I thought I'd share this. So when I was younger and myself and my family would wait for some buses to get us to our destination we would purposely wait at the first bus stop to get a seat. A prime example was whenever we'd have to go to Ilford Lane. We would purposely wait for the 369 (I miss that short and reliable bus, EL1 is NOT the same) over the 169 and the 25 over the 86. The only time I could think of growing up I'd have to get the packed bus was when I had to get the 69 to Walthamstow from Stratford as I did NOT want to go through Leytonstone through the 257. Then we had the ghost bus 551 that used to come all the way from Basildon to go to Walthamstow. The one time I tried to wait for that bus it didn't come so we ended up getting the 123 to Forest Road and hopping on the 275 instead. I forgot to ask. Would anyone else like to share their stories? I do remember the 369, the EL1 has just become a monster of a route and doesn't make it to Hainault Street the way the 369 did once upon a time. I'm not sure if you remember back when the 145, 169, 179, 366 and 369 would all stop at a stop for buses heading towards Barking where Pioneer Point is now located. Obviously since then the stop towards Barking has become Chapel Road, with the stop going east of Hainault Street became the Pioneer Point stop. A weird anomaly in all of this is how the 145 and 366 have managed to reach a point where neither stop at Chapel Road or Pioneer Point. All of this when the 25 would be around with its bendies, still remember when those bendies were new as well and it was the first time I'd ever seen anything like them. Seeing Stagecoach on the 25 again in 2020 really did feel like the route had come back full circle. Stagecoach back then also had all routes down the Romford Road corridor except for one, the W19 at the time. Since which Stagecoach managed to lose all the routes except the 86 but the 25 has come back and the W19 is now with them, leaving the 147 as the only non-Stagecoach route there effectively bringing that full circle too. Something I do miss is when the 262 terminated around the corner from my house at Showcase Cinema, up until the cut to Gallions Reach the stop at Stratford still showed the 262 going to Showcase. It got cut back due to roadworks one day and never actually got restored. Now the route has been cut back even further to Gallions Reach, and Showcase Cinema itself is no more. I hate to bring this up but the 325 also trundles down Romford Road and stopped being a Stagecoach route in March 2010. I know you know but cannot let that small omission slide on a very nostalgic but accurate post.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Oct 25, 2022 22:19:25 GMT
Folks I thought I'd share this. So when I was younger and myself and my family would wait for some buses to get us to our destination we would purposely wait at the first bus stop to get a seat. A prime example was whenever we'd have to go to Ilford Lane. We would purposely wait for the 369 (I miss that short and reliable bus, EL1 is NOT the same) over the 169 and the 25 over the 86. The only time I could think of growing up I'd have to get the packed bus was when I had to get the 69 to Walthamstow from Stratford as I did NOT want to go through Leytonstone through the 257. Then we had the ghost bus 551 that used to come all the way from Basildon to go to Walthamstow. The one time I tried to wait for that bus it didn't come so we ended up getting the 123 to Forest Road and hopping on the 275 instead. I forgot to ask. Would anyone else like to share their stories? I did not use the 551 that much. i used the 251 more though, I do miss it, it used to be near bang on time. I also used to use the service 2 which was limited stop for part of it. The route run from Walthamstow Central to Southend. It was fast, rapid and had some very nice Leyland Lynx.
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Post by mkay315 on Oct 26, 2022 6:29:20 GMT
Another nostalgic memory I had was those Dennis Arrows along Seven Sisters Road on the 259 flying down from Finsbury Park to Tottenham back in the late 90s with those red dot matrix bus stopping signs. It's a shame the low floor revolution (although understandable) was coming swiftly around that time so it didn't spend a long time in London.
I was also privileged enough to have some other buses on the 296 and 123 especially when on the 296 we had some arrows off the 179 and 369 flying down Eastern Avenue and the NCR on the 123
One thing I did ask myself was whether the T-reg Plaxton Presidents had the 296 on it's blinds. I know it had the 179, 123 and 369 but I wasn't sure about the Romford routes as well
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Post by mondraker275 on Oct 26, 2022 14:49:42 GMT
There seems to be so much temporary traffic lights all over the place over the past few weeks, it is starting to get pathetic. Many of them are not needed and just adding further congestion to places. Not to mention the constant failures of them with the lights stuck on red in all directions due to batteries not charged up. This has led to so much bus routes being turned over the past few weeks. I was just about to rant about this. My 38/56 journeys have been extended by 30-40 minutes. I have given up and will take the tube now. It just takes one competent person from TfL to go out to these sites (particular major or long term works) to make things work more efficiently. Sometimes when temporary lights are not installed/required, normal lights are not being adjusted to account for works. This is why the TCR waterworks are a pain. The lights at the junction with Southampton Row have not been amended. The North-South traffic is getting an eternity of time while the effected East traffic is getting a shorter time when there are fewer lanes. Then you have another temporary set of lights down a bit on Theobalds Road!!! Then Essex Road roadworks are simply a joke. No temporary lights needed. Separately, and slightly related, when do pedestrians need 20 minutes to cross a road. The crossing timings are way too generous. I think this is the heart of the issues at Aldwych for example. New layout but has anyone looked again at the timings? The time for people to cross is excessive and then even when the countdown hits zero, there is still time before the green lights get going. Everyone has crossed after 5 seconds and yet it goes on for more than twice that time and you end up with people crossing that were not even waiting originally.
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Post by redbus on Oct 26, 2022 15:00:33 GMT
It is still 50 from Colney Hatch to Henlys Corner and from there its 40 all the way to Stonebridge Park. Wasn’t it 50 at least in front of Brent Cross shopping centre? I think you might be confusing the North Circular (A406) with the A41 at Brent Cross. The North Circular at Brent Cross has been 40 mph as far back as I can remember, but the A41 at Brent Cross did used to be 50 mph and was reduced to 40 mph a number of years ago for no apparent reason.
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Post by abellion on Oct 26, 2022 15:23:00 GMT
There seems to be so much temporary traffic lights all over the place over the past few weeks, it is starting to get pathetic. Many of them are not needed and just adding further congestion to places. Not to mention the constant failures of them with the lights stuck on red in all directions due to batteries not charged up. This has led to so much bus routes being turned over the past few weeks. I was just about to rant about this. My 38/56 journeys have been extended by 30-40 minutes. I have given up and will take the tube now. It just takes one competent person from TfL to go out to these sites (particular major or long term works) to make things work more efficiently. Sometimes when temporary lights are not installed/required, normal lights are not being adjusted to account for works. This is why the TCR waterworks are a pain. The lights at the junction with Southampton Row have not been amended. The North-South traffic is getting an eternity of time while the effected East traffic is getting a shorter time when there are fewer lanes. Then you have another temporary set of lights down a bit on Theobalds Road!!! Then Essex Road roadworks are simply a joke. No temporary lights needed. Separately, and slightly related, when do pedestrians need 20 minutes to cross a road. The crossing timings are way too generous. I think this is the heart of the issues at Aldwych for example. New layout but has anyone looked again at the timings? The time for people to cross is excessive and then even when the countdown hits zero, there is still time before the green lights get going. Everyone has crossed after 5 seconds and yet it goes on for more than twice that time and you end up with people crossing that were not even waiting originally. Outside of the morning there is really no good reason to take the bus in Central London, better to take a rammed train for 10 minutes than sit around in traffic for an hour. After riding the 26 from Waterloo to Bank at 5pm on a Saturday I can see why the W&C Line exists! More lines like the W&C or Victoria would’ve been lovely. Large distances covered in little time.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Oct 26, 2022 19:10:09 GMT
I was just about to rant about this. My 38/56 journeys have been extended by 30-40 minutes. I have given up and will take the tube now. It just takes one competent person from TfL to go out to these sites (particular major or long term works) to make things work more efficiently. Sometimes when temporary lights are not installed/required, normal lights are not being adjusted to account for works. This is why the TCR waterworks are a pain. The lights at the junction with Southampton Row have not been amended. The North-South traffic is getting an eternity of time while the effected East traffic is getting a shorter time when there are fewer lanes. Then you have another temporary set of lights down a bit on Theobalds Road!!! Then Essex Road roadworks are simply a joke. No temporary lights needed. Separately, and slightly related, when do pedestrians need 20 minutes to cross a road. The crossing timings are way too generous. I think this is the heart of the issues at Aldwych for example. New layout but has anyone looked again at the timings? The time for people to cross is excessive and then even when the countdown hits zero, there is still time before the green lights get going. Everyone has crossed after 5 seconds and yet it goes on for more than twice that time and you end up with people crossing that were not even waiting originally. Outside of the morning there is really no good reason to take the bus in Central London, better to take a rammed train for 10 minutes than sit around in traffic for an hour. After riding the 26 from Waterloo to Bank at 5pm on a Saturday I can see why the W&C Line exists! More lines like the W&C or Victoria would’ve been lovely. Large distances covered in little time. The Central Line, Jubilee Line and Elizabeth Line are quite good for that too. People would rather be somewhere quicker if it means being uncomfortable rather than being more comfortable and not getting somewhere for ages.
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