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Post by rj131 on Jan 15, 2022 0:42:09 GMT
Did a couple of evening ends to ends tonight that I wouldn’t dream of doing in the day due to the ridiculous traffic both have to contend with.
11 - no prizes for guessing why I did this in the late evening, and did it basically so I never have to take it again. However I was very pleasantly surprised by how lovely this route is despite the wretched old LTs, and obviously when the route is actually moving of course, which it barely is during the day. Completed this route in a little over half an hour, I can imagine during the day it takes that just to get through Ludgate Circus!
65 - my ears pricked up at this when I saw it was timetabled just 39 minutes for the entire route in the evening, seemed on paper it would be quite a lively run. And my god it did not disappoint!!! WHAT A ROUTE this is too. Absolutely stunning route, up there with the 210 in terms of scenery imo, and this was just in the dark. I think the driver had a bout of road rage, flashing his lights and firing the emergency alarm for a split second at pretty much anyone, thing or cars in the road, which was also highly amusing. Those 65 drivers certainly do not hang about, I think this knocks the 111 off as my favourite end to end (which I also did in the late evening), it was that good.
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Post by Frenzie on Jan 15, 2022 0:52:39 GMT
Did a couple of evening ends to ends tonight that I wouldn’t dream of doing in the day due to the ridiculous traffic both have to contend with. 11 - no prizes for guessing why I did this in the late evening, and did it basically so I never have to take it again. However I was very pleasantly surprised by how lovely this route is despite the wretched old LTs, and obviously when the route is actually moving of course, which it barely is during the day. Completed this route in a little over half an hour, I can imagine during the day it takes that just to get through Ludgate Circus! 65 - my ears pricked up at this when I saw it was timetabled just 39 minutes for the entire route in the evening, seemed on paper it would be quite a lively run. And my god it did not disappoint!!! WHAT A ROUTE this is too. Absolutely stunning route, up there with the 210 in terms of scenery imo, and this was just in the dark. I think the driver had a bout of road rage, flashing his lights and firing the emergency alarm for a split second at pretty much anyone, thing or cars in the road, which was also highly amusing. Those 65 drivers certainly do not hang about, I think this knocks the 111 off as my favourite end to end (which I also did in the late evening), it was that good. Very pleased to hear you enjoyed the 65 as much as the 111. Two of my favourite routes in south west London. The drivers are certainly enjoying thrashing those SPs and it’s rare to have a journey where they actually sticks to the speed limit! As for the 111, recently since getting a new schedule and the less interesting LTs it’s become more mundane and chilled out, but still a lovely route to do in the middle of the night with one of the old N9 drivers!
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Post by rj131 on Jan 15, 2022 8:50:21 GMT
Did a couple of evening ends to ends tonight that I wouldn’t dream of doing in the day due to the ridiculous traffic both have to contend with. 11 - no prizes for guessing why I did this in the late evening, and did it basically so I never have to take it again. However I was very pleasantly surprised by how lovely this route is despite the wretched old LTs, and obviously when the route is actually moving of course, which it barely is during the day. Completed this route in a little over half an hour, I can imagine during the day it takes that just to get through Ludgate Circus! 65 - my ears pricked up at this when I saw it was timetabled just 39 minutes for the entire route in the evening, seemed on paper it would be quite a lively run. And my god it did not disappoint!!! WHAT A ROUTE this is too. Absolutely stunning route, up there with the 210 in terms of scenery imo, and this was just in the dark. I think the driver had a bout of road rage, flashing his lights and firing the emergency alarm for a split second at pretty much anyone, thing or cars in the road, which was also highly amusing. Those 65 drivers certainly do not hang about, I think this knocks the 111 off as my favourite end to end (which I also did in the late evening), it was that good. Very pleased to hear you enjoyed the 65 as much as the 111. Two of my favourite routes in south west London. The drivers are certainly enjoying thrashing those SPs and it’s rare to have a journey where they actually sticks to the speed limit! As for the 111, recently since getting a new schedule and the less interesting LTs it’s become more mundane and chilled out, but still a lovely route to do in the middle of the night with one of the old N9 drivers! Sadly I didn’t have the SP which I was hoping for, I had VH45166 and I didn’t fancy standing around waiting at 11:20 in the evening for the next one. But it could still shift though!!!!! And yes the speed limits definitely went to the wind on that run, pretty much the entire route is a 20mph. What worries me though is that with both the 65 and 111 soon getting electrics with ISA on them, surely the schedule will have to be lengthened hugely, especially the 65 as pretty much the whole route is a 20mph zone. Unless FW turn it off which I hear they did on some buses On a serious note though if they have to stretch the schedule like that surely it’s gonna cost a lot more money to run with more vehicles in the evening, hence why it’s timetabled the way it is. Which I’m sure isn’t in RATP, or TfL’s (or us enthusiasts too!!) interest to change.
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Post by Frenzie on Jan 15, 2022 14:08:33 GMT
Very pleased to hear you enjoyed the 65 as much as the 111. Two of my favourite routes in south west London. The drivers are certainly enjoying thrashing those SPs and it’s rare to have a journey where they actually sticks to the speed limit! As for the 111, recently since getting a new schedule and the less interesting LTs it’s become more mundane and chilled out, but still a lovely route to do in the middle of the night with one of the old N9 drivers! Sadly I didn’t have the SP which I was hoping for, I had VH45166 and I didn’t fancy standing around waiting at 11:20 in the evening for the next one. But it could still shift though!!!!! And yes the speed limits definitely went to the wind on that run, pretty much the entire route is a 20mph. What worries me though is that with both the 65 and 111 soon getting electrics with ISA on them, surely the schedule will have to be lengthened hugely, especially the 65 as pretty much the whole route is a 20mph zone. Unless FW turn it off which I hear they did on some buses On a serious note though if they have to stretch the schedule like that surely it’s gonna cost a lot more money to run with more vehicles in the evening, hence why it’s timetabled the way it is. Which I’m sure isn’t in RATP, or TfL’s (or us enthusiasts too!!) interest to change. What’s interesting is the 65s evening runs have actually had time removed from them recently. I’m not sure if it was related to lockdown or not but I suspect it will receive a new schedule if the electrics prove to be an issue. I think the set up for the ISA on the electrics is the same as the VHs where the bus is limited to 30 mph on the whole route apart from the really tight bend in petersham at which point the limiter reduces to 20 mph just for the section. Also, loads of the VHs at FW and V seem to be missing it too which are the batch allocated to the 481 and around 6 of the ones allocated to 85. If the 111s buses are anything like the 482s vehicles, then the ISA won’t work. But either way, the increase in PVR should allow for plenty of running time (unfortunately). I’m looking forward to Abellio taking over. Recently the RATP operation of the route has been unsatisfactory, especially last night, with buses running ever 30 minutes at one stage due to a lack of drivers. It’s funny that you were on VH45166. I was at Kingston around 10:30 pm last night and the driver stormed past me blaring the emergency alarm at his colleague on the 85! I believe he’s one of the FW night bus drivers.
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Post by TB123 on Jan 15, 2022 14:50:39 GMT
Sadly I didn’t have the SP which I was hoping for, I had VH45166 and I didn’t fancy standing around waiting at 11:20 in the evening for the next one. But it could still shift though!!!!! And yes the speed limits definitely went to the wind on that run, pretty much the entire route is a 20mph. What worries me though is that with both the 65 and 111 soon getting electrics with ISA on them, surely the schedule will have to be lengthened hugely, especially the 65 as pretty much the whole route is a 20mph zone. Unless FW turn it off which I hear they did on some buses On a serious note though if they have to stretch the schedule like that surely it’s gonna cost a lot more money to run with more vehicles in the evening, hence why it’s timetabled the way it is. Which I’m sure isn’t in RATP, or TfL’s (or us enthusiasts too!!) interest to change. What’s interesting is the 65s evening runs have actually had time removed from them recently. I’m not sure if it was related to lockdown or not but I suspect it will receive a new schedule if the electrics prove to be an issue. I think the set up for the ISA on the electrics is the same as the VHs where the bus is limited to 30 mph on the whole route apart from the really tight bend in petersham at which point the limiter reduces to 20 mph just for the section. Also, loads of the VHs at FW and V seem to be missing it too which are the batch allocated to the 481 and around 6 of the ones allocated to 85. If the 111s buses are anything like the 482s vehicles, then the ISA won’t work. But either way, the increase in PVR should allow for plenty of running time (unfortunately). I’m looking forward to Abellio taking over. Recently the RATP operation of the route has been unsatisfactory, especially last night, with buses running ever 30 minutes at one stage due to a lack of drivers. It’s funny that you were on VH45166. I was at Kingston around 10:30 pm last night and the driver stormed past me blaring the emergency alarm at his colleague on the 85! I believe he’s one of the FW night bus drivers. The additional PVR on the 111 is to cover for charging and not additional run times.
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Post by rj131 on Jan 15, 2022 18:08:25 GMT
Sadly I didn’t have the SP which I was hoping for, I had VH45166 and I didn’t fancy standing around waiting at 11:20 in the evening for the next one. But it could still shift though!!!!! And yes the speed limits definitely went to the wind on that run, pretty much the entire route is a 20mph. What worries me though is that with both the 65 and 111 soon getting electrics with ISA on them, surely the schedule will have to be lengthened hugely, especially the 65 as pretty much the whole route is a 20mph zone. Unless FW turn it off which I hear they did on some buses On a serious note though if they have to stretch the schedule like that surely it’s gonna cost a lot more money to run with more vehicles in the evening, hence why it’s timetabled the way it is. Which I’m sure isn’t in RATP, or TfL’s (or us enthusiasts too!!) interest to change. What’s interesting is the 65s evening runs have actually had time removed from them recently. I’m not sure if it was related to lockdown or not but I suspect it will receive a new schedule if the electrics prove to be an issue. I think the set up for the ISA on the electrics is the same as the VHs where the bus is limited to 30 mph on the whole route apart from the really tight bend in petersham at which point the limiter reduces to 20 mph just for the section. Also, loads of the VHs at FW and V seem to be missing it too which are the batch allocated to the 481 and around 6 of the ones allocated to 85. If the 111s buses are anything like the 482s vehicles, then the ISA won’t work. But either way, the increase in PVR should allow for plenty of running time (unfortunately). I’m looking forward to Abellio taking over. Recently the RATP operation of the route has been unsatisfactory, especially last night, with buses running ever 30 minutes at one stage due to a lack of drivers. It’s funny that you were on VH45166. I was at Kingston around 10:30 pm last night and the driver stormed past me blaring the emergency alarm at his colleague on the 85! I believe he’s one of the FW night bus drivers. That was him! The driver didn’t change at Ealing he drove it back too, I got on that bus just 50 minutes later
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Post by Busboy105 on Jan 15, 2022 18:20:31 GMT
Did the District Line's Olympia branch and the London Overground's North London Line (Richmond branch)
Piccadilly Line- Wood Green to Earls Court District Line- Earls Court to Kensington Olympia Overground- Kensington Olympia to Willesden Junction then changed at Willesden Junction for a Richmond train SP40104 (65)- Richmond Station to Ealing Broadway Station DEL2063 (112)- Haven Green/Ealing Broadway Station to Brent Cross Shopping Centre (got to the stop before Brent Cross Shopping Centre only for the service to be regulated and watched my 232 wizz past me. I beg you TFL to fix this nonsense pls.) HV185 (102)- Brent Cross Shopping Centre to Palmerston Road
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Post by YX10FFN on Jan 17, 2022 17:35:03 GMT
Last full day out before I head back to university... -Overground from Kew Gardens to Stratford -Central Line from Stratford to Loughton -549 (LX59AOF) Loughton-South Woodford. Delightful, quiet little route. Really wanted to check out why it exists to be frank. I was probably the youngest person on the bus by about 40 years! -W13 (YX17NWJ) South Woodford-Leytonstone -W15 (YX61FYC) Leytonstone-Hackney. Was supposed to catch YX61FYE but realised I'd left my wallet on the W13 Had to dash under the tracks, retrieve it and run back, with FYC not far behind. Luckily that meant it was a quieter W15 ride into Hackney, understand that route can get a little hectic. -55 (LTZ1363) Hackney-Old Street -Walk to Moorgate -733 (BU16UXX) Moorgate-Oval. I was the only person on the bus for pretty much the whole route. Driver was slightly rocky, nearly did a side swipe of a 21 by cutting in at London Bridge, the 21 driver gave him an earful when we next stopped. Saw some buses with better loads going the other way but nothing crazy. I'd hope it's much busier at the peaks. -36 (YX18KRJ) Oval-Victoria -52 (LK67ENF) Victoria-Kensington -23 (YJ21EXH) Kensington-Hammersmith -533 (LK09ENV) Hammersmith-Chalkers Corner -Walk Home
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Post by COBO on Jan 17, 2022 23:02:16 GMT
I finally got a rid on the new RTP BMEs on the 395 for my ride home the bus was BME27014. I was expecting a the usual DE but to my surprise it was a BME. It wasn’t a bad ride. To my the BMEs have USB charging to my surprise. I wonder how they will last. But the bus is a bit to quiet for my liking 😂
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Post by Busboy105 on Jan 22, 2022 18:14:21 GMT
Did the GOBLIN line today. (Only have a couple of stations north of HGL)
HV162 (141)- Nightingale Road to Harringay Green Lanes Station Overground- Harringay Green Lanes to Gospel Oak DE1160 (C11)- Gospel Oak Station to Archway Station Missed a W5 at Archway; wasn't going to wait for another one because my hopper fare was running out so I went on.. TE1313 (210)- Archway Station to Finsbury Park Station HV230 (29)- Finsbury Park/Blackstock Road to Wood Green Station (Green Lanes traffic as horrible as always)
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Post by londonbuschannel on Jan 23, 2022 22:14:31 GMT
Went out to do the rail replacements as a result of the blockade of the SWR mainline through Surbiton District to West Ham Jubilee to Canada Water LO-M to Clapham Common Northern Line to South Wimbledon 57 to Wimbledon Bus Station SWR Rep bashing begins Westbus SEL to Clapham Junction Some sort of MMC to Raynes Park CTP E200 to Wimbledon Coach to Clapham Junction TA400 to Surbiton and back to CLJ (with the wonderful The Urbanite behind the wheel) SWR to Waterloo Jubilee to West Ham C2C to Barking District to Home
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Post by rugbyref on Jan 24, 2022 14:33:30 GMT
SE290 on the R1 today. Without doubt the worst gearbox in the fleet.
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Post by bn12cny on Jan 25, 2022 9:43:46 GMT
Today I drove to Buzheng Subway Station (Ningbo China to catch new line 5 to try out)
When I arrived at the station it’s in the middle of nowhere, farms everywhere and the subway station, (the subway station is at least 3km from the main road with no public transport to or from the main road)
Anyway jumped on Line 5 and these trains are special, they have no drivers on at all, the front and back you can clearly see outside, spacious and fast and all underground, (however no seats at the front or back) really good ride and the assistant on board can’t manually operate the train...(check on google if there are any images of these trains)
Anyway got of Haiyan North Road and went to the new Japanese Shopping Mall, this is where the super rich shop, for example one slice of Frozen Steak cost £90 6 kiwis £40...seriously I would expect something really special for this . Then I got Line 1 from Haiyan North Road to Xiapu this journey went through the mountains and some stops took around 10 minutes to reach to the other.
Got of at the end of the Line then took special line bus 1 to Daxie Island on a King Long small wheelbase singledecker bus, the journey was only 2 stops but the distance was over 25km and the journey took around 18 minutes, pedal to the metal.
Looked around the island and had some noodles, the shop was speechless a foreigner was there (in my part of China you hardly see a foreigner) and managed to order then it was time to go home so bus back to Xiapu station Line 1 which I caught to Gulou (City Center) at Gulou Station you can walk underneath to Tianyi Square Station (5 minutes but next stop up and same line) however on this underpass it’s good heaven and is known as DG Line, look this up on Google, I found Paris Baguette and got some Bread to take home, walked through Tianyi Square, the Old Bund to Ningbo Railway Station as I wanted to walk around the city for a bit, line 2 from Ningbo Railway Station to Shiqi interchange to line 5 and 3 stops to Buzheng on line 5 then 20 minutes drive home, very enjoyable day.
Now cost: Buzheng to Xiapu via Haiyan North Road 40p (distance of 60km) Xiapu to Daxie Island by bus 10p each way Xiapu to Gulou 30p Ningbo Railway Station to Buzheng 30p (minimum date for subway)
Total cost: £1.20 for over 80km each way
Card Daily cost limit £1.50
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Post by Busboy105 on Jan 28, 2022 19:13:16 GMT
Did the Lee Valley line Cheshunt branch today. (Only had Southbury-Cheshunt to do. Luckily for me Southbury isn't too far from my work and considering its Friday, why not?)
Overground- Southbury to Cheshunt Took a short walk to the main road. 6471 (310)- Cheshunt Police Station to Waltham Cross Bus Station (seems like Arriva will paint any bus into Sapphire colours these days. Can't exactly call a 08 reg E400 premium) VWH2538 (317)- Waltham Cross Bus Station to Enfield Town Station (decided to take the first TFL bus from Waltham Cross bar the 327 and this came up first) T265 (329)- Enfield Town/Genotin Road to Arcadian Gardens
Finishing the Lea Valley line as a whole on Sunday with the Chingford branch. Already done the Enfield Town branch years back
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Post by Busboy105 on Jan 30, 2022 16:01:34 GMT
Finishing the Lea Valley line as a whole on Sunday with the Chingford branch. Already done the Enfield Town branch years back And that I did. Walked to Wood Green Station Piccadilly Line- Wood Green to Finsbury Park Victoria Line- Finsbury Park to Highbury & Islington Overground (NLL)- Highbury and Islington to Hackney Central (this was before a train pulled up, everyone got on only to found out it was actually terminating at Highbury & Islington) Overground (LVL)- Hackney Downs to Chingford 15042 (97)- Chingford Station to Crooked Billet Roundabout HV266 (34)- Crooked Billet Roundabout to Green Lanes Short walk home Wrapping up the Overground with the Watford DC Line next week. Then all I'll have left is the DLR, Trams and TFL Rail West in that order
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