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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2015 19:48:38 GMT
I see the allocations on the 56 are becoming a bit more relaxed again after the Ex 15 Hybrids moved onto the route - Is this because refurbishments are gathering pace? a fair number of Scania on the route. Leyton are quite short of fit buses and drivers, it's all good warranty work being taken out but they don't give you a spare bus while yours is being fixed, the allocations are only slack because of this, but then again I don't know when it will improve, it is nice to have something different I suppose, a hybird even made the 215 this morning! Aww I see - I actually like when Hybrids make it out to east London / Essex. Thanks for the update. |
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Post by greeny253 on Aug 12, 2015 21:23:53 GMT
another thing I really detest about Enviro's is the fact you can't lower the bus with the doors open, this not only increases stop dwell time but also can be embarrassing for passengers that have asked for the step to be lowered and even after you have explained what you are doing they never look happy when you close the doors on them to lower bus  Lower bus first then open doors  doesn't even have to go all the way down. You'll find a method that works for you eventually. Anyway I was happy driving this bus on the route, all was good util I had to come back from my break to be met with 12142, I don't know what it was about this bus but I couldn't get comfortable, it just didn't feel right, the bus it self drove fine but I just didn't feel right driving it and because of this I was taking everything cautiously , no idea why, probably just me, the bus just didn't fill me with confidence. Those Hybrids take some getting used to. Thing that used to annoy me was being able to get comfortable in one, have your break then spend the whole second spell of duty adjusting absolutely everything more than once in an attempt to get comfortable! First time I had one of those was on an 8, on loan from RM with no type training. Loved it! |
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Post by YY13VKP on Aug 13, 2015 6:09:06 GMT
Well it's official, I passed my driving test in 17397 this morning  Probably a bit late but Congratulations! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2015 19:04:25 GMT
Give it long enough and you'll get out of that lowering the bus habit. Stop close enough and you should never need to, keep you're foot on the brake even after applying the handbrake and you'll find the front end usually stays down as well. And for those who ask you just say you already have. It's nice and easy at the mo due to half term but believe me once that's over you won't have time to be lowering buses. wvl's can be a pain for not coming back up as well and won't release till they are level so you waste time up, down, up down, stamp accelerator etc.
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Post by stubag on Aug 13, 2015 19:57:36 GMT
It's nice and easy at the mo due to half term but believe me once that's over you won't have time to be lowering buses. wvl's can be a pain for not coming back up as well and won't release till they are level so you waste time up, down, up down, stamp accelerator etc. There's always time for lowering and levelling..... Except on the run when your on your break of finishing... The journeys in between take your time if your late you'll get a turn....That's what Ibus is for..there not allowed to tell you to "hurry up/put ya foot down" REMEMBER THE DUTY CARD IS A GUIDE. Only the break and finish times are important |
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 13, 2015 20:43:54 GMT
It's nice and easy at the mo due to half term but believe me once that's over you won't have time to be lowering buses. wvl's can be a pain for not coming back up as well and won't release till they are level so you waste time up, down, up down, stamp accelerator etc. There's always time for lowering and levelling..... Except on the run when your on your break of finishing... The journeys in between take your time if your late you'll get a turn....That's what Ibus is for..there not allowed to tell you to "hurry up/put ya foot down" REMEMBER THE DUTY CARD IS A GUIDE. Only the break and finish times are important If I'm late, I'm late, not my problem, I don't rush about contrary to what I might post on here about buses being fast ect, there is a time and a place, just in our scania's you can kneel them while moving, and TA's you can kneel with the doors open. haven't really paid much attention to my duty cards anyway as headway looks fine so carry on ect, I've not yet had the need to talk to iBus but they did feel the need to send me about 6/7 messages yesterday along the lines of "Please maintain headway driver" |
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Post by stubag on Aug 13, 2015 20:47:23 GMT
Just ignore it. As long as your not early. Not 1 excuse for early running. millions for being late.
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Post by greeny253 on Aug 13, 2015 20:56:40 GMT
Give it long enough and you'll get out of that lowering the bus habit Gotta disagree with you here mate. Did the job for 6 years and the only time I didn't lower a bus was when I had a Dart on the 370 where it didn't work - even working out of Bow in the city I still made time to lower the bus. Totally relate to dodgy buses though - had one of GY's Cadets sitting in Upminster bouncing when it came back up once! Had a TA on the 277 come back up too high once too..... Good bit of mechanical mileage that! REMEMBER THE DUTY CARD IS A GUIDE Agreed. Only the break and finish times are important Going to have to disagree with this. If there's no chance of making relief/finish on time then rushing won't help. Ok you might get both on time one day but something could happen the next meaning you won't. Keep the ticket and put in an overtime docket. 15's during the Olympics you could fill out most of both late relief and late finish sections on an overtime docket on your first half! Not attacking any posts here chaps by the way. |
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Post by greeny253 on Aug 13, 2015 21:02:34 GMT
If I'm late, I'm late, not my problem, I don't rush about contrary to what I might post on here about buses being fast ect, there is a time and a place, just in our scania's you can kneel them while moving, and TA's you can kneel with the doors open. haven't really paid much attention to my duty cards anyway as headway looks fine so carry on ect, I've not yet had the need to talk to iBus but they did feel the need to send me about 6/7 messages yesterday along the lines of "Please maintain headway driver" Exactly. Radio rooms problem. If you're late that's why they are there. Go by the headway display - if you're too early a call along the lines of "I know you've got a good headway but could you hold a couple of minutes please" will come along somewhen. Kneeling the Scania as you're pulling in is alright but watch the kerb |
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 15, 2015 18:57:08 GMT
So Friday, I finally got to drive a TA in the form of 17813, it's a screamer that's for sure. The running time on the 48 seems very excessive M-F and we were all being told to hold back to card time which was painful, for me and the passengers, 13 mins to do 6 stops just praying for every light to turn red, stopping at every stop and doing everything humanly possible to lose time and still ending up being early what made it worse was we instructed under no circumstances to be more than 2 mins early into Walthamstow, it was a painful slow day to say the least. The TA on the other hand was to my surprise about 100times nicer to drive than the ones in training, Great power when you need it, Kickdown that actually works, smooth easy to use brakes as they have proper pedals and quick doors plus they sound good and you just get a better overall feel for the bus unlike in an Enviro, only really downside is the pedals are harder to push and after 5 hours of driving my right leg was defiantly feeling it You get the sense you could throw the TA's about more so than any other bus, at Leyton anyway. Unintentionally taking off slowly in first and waiting for it to drop into second then flooring it back into first provides a much faster take off than just flooring it from a stop, You can do the same with 2nd, 3rd then back into 2nd again, Would need a fast road to find out if you could do the same with 3rd, 4th, 3rd. It was nice to drive and I thought it was good until I got to drive 17811 today which was even better and didn't scream. My second bus Friday was 15141 and it was slow but with the amount of running time given, it didn't matter, They are nice to drive but not really suited to city work also wish the air con was more powerful, it's about as good as an asthmatic man coughing on you... Today I had 17813 again on the 48's, much tighter running times which made it bearable, I got swamped on my last trip of my first half to Walthamstow and overtaken on Lea Bridge Road, after my break I had the joy of 17811 This was much nicer bus, pedals didn't feel as hard to push, air con worked great, brakes were better than 17813 but there was an annoying issue with the front doors that sometimes they wouldn't close after pressing the button then a buzzer would go off and they would finally close, this was causing me to lose time and by Walthamstow I was 10 late having left London bridge 5 early (Working to instruction) I got snapped leaving Walthamstow on my last trip today scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/t31.0-8/11879216_879503012136091_6902044185598258435_o.jpgI'm out solo on 56's tomorrow between 9 and 6, really hope I get a Scania, hybrids are boring to drive, Monday I've got a lovely duty with a nice dead run, St Barts to Leyton but I haven't got a clue of where I'm going yet and finally, still not lost any mileage |
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Post by greeny253 on Aug 15, 2015 20:14:33 GMT
The running time on the 48 seems very excessive M-F and we were all being told to hold back to card time which was painful, for me and the passengers, 13 mins to do 6 stops just praying for every light to turn red, stopping at every stop and doing everything humanly possible to lose time and still ending up being early what made it worse was we instructed under no circumstances to be more than 2 mins early into Walthamstow, it was a painful slow day to say the least Glad to hear all is going well for you. You'll find that the running times on anything that goes through the city will feel a tad loose when everyone is at work... Come 17:00 Monday to Friday however, it's a different story! The TA on the other hand was to my surprise about 100times nicer to drive than the ones in training Training buses are fitted with air throttles whereas the service fleet being younger are likely fly-by-wire - nice to drive but you'll notice the difference. Which leads neatly onto..... only really downside is the pedals are harder to push and after 5 hours of driving my right leg was defiantly feeling it Seat either too high, too low or too far forward mate Unintentionally taking off slowly in first and waiting for it to drop into second then flooring it back into first provides a much faster take off than just flooring it from a stop, You can do the same with 2nd, 3rd then back into 2nd again I rather hope you haven't been instructed to plant your boot moving off. It won't score well on driver assessments that aren't conducted by Stagecoach. Gentle squeeze of the throttle to get it moving. Gradual acceleration is better for both vehicle and passengers. Today I had 17813 again on the 48's, much tighter running times which made it bearable, I got swamped on my last trip of my first half to Walthamstow and overtaken on Lea Bridge Road, after my break I had the joy of 17811 This was much nicer bus, pedals didn't feel as hard to push, air con worked great, brakes were better than 17813 but there was an annoying issue with the front doors that sometimes they wouldn't close after pressing the button then a buzzer would go off and they would finally close, this was causing me to lose time and by Walthamstow I was 10 late having left London bridge 5 early (Working to instruction) Saturday running times are a little tighter because (as you're well aware!) PVR is lower. If you think it was tight today, you wait until Sunday mate! There was a duty on the 174 at Rainham that gave a mere 40 minutes from Harold Hill to New Road on the trip where the shops are opening and people are coming out of their homes. Walked into the garage 25+ late on that one once! Also, if it's a hot day and you have freedom of choice, take a TA every time. From experience the air con was always ice cold in them things! Get used to that! I'm out solo on 56's tomorrow between 9 and 6, really hope I get a Scania, hybrids are boring to drive, Monday I've got a lovely duty with a nice dead run, St Barts to Leyton but I haven't got a clue of where I'm going yet Hope everything goes alright for you mate. Are you out solo on Monday? I can only think of one way from Bart's to Leyton but there is likely a shorter route! Let me know which way you go! |
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Post by VPL630 on Aug 15, 2015 20:32:20 GMT
Could you quote any more individual post's mike  , I'm fully aware of what an AA DriveTech assessor is looking for as there happened to be one in the garage earlier  Nope, gentle throttle all the way Freedom of choice in Leyton, you must be dreaming, lucky enough if you actually get allocated a bus in the morning without finding the GS, I would love a TA on the 179 if they would update the blinds but seeing as they are going soon I can't see it happening Yes I'm out solo Monday, There are various ways I could go but I don't really know any of them, Think I'm going to head for Shoreditch and then 48 route back |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2015 20:39:39 GMT
Could you quote any more individual post's mike , I'm fully aware of what an AA DriveTech assessor is looking for as there happened to be one in the garage earlier Nope, gentle throttle all the way Freedom of choice in Leyton, you must be dreaming, lucky enough if you actually get allocated a bus in the morning without finding the GS, I would love a TA on the 179 if they would update the blinds but seeing as they are going soon I can't see it happening Yes I'm out solo Monday, There are various ways I could go but I don't really know any of them, Think I'm going to head for Shoreditch and then 48 route back Interesting re the Tridents going. What will replace them? I know the 275 uses them for its increased PVR since the contract started. Thanks! |
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Post by greeny253 on Aug 15, 2015 21:25:43 GMT
Could you quote any more individual post's mike , I'm fully aware of what an AA DriveTech assessor is looking for as there happened to be one in the garage earlier Nope, gentle throttle all the way Freedom of choice in Leyton, you must be dreaming, lucky enough if you actually get allocated a bus in the morning without finding the GS, I would love a TA on the 179 if they would update the blinds but seeing as they are going soon I can't see it happening Yes I'm out solo Monday, There are various ways I could go but I don't really know any of them, Think I'm going to head for Shoreditch and then 48 route back I found that way easier to make many points from one post  One thing I would suggest if you end up with a TA on Monday is to blank off the route number at the front. Way less hassle that way! Do you know your way to the A12 from Shoreditch? I don't recall where you come off for Leyton but that strikes me as the way with less traffic! Unless it's after 16:30... In which case it makes sod all difference which way you go! |
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Post by snoggle on Aug 15, 2015 21:57:38 GMT
Could you quote any more individual post's mike , I'm fully aware of what an AA DriveTech assessor is looking for as there happened to be one in the garage earlier Nope, gentle throttle all the way Freedom of choice in Leyton, you must be dreaming, lucky enough if you actually get allocated a bus in the morning without finding the GS, I would love a TA on the 179 if they would update the blinds but seeing as they are going soon I can't see it happening Yes I'm out solo Monday, There are various ways I could go but I don't really know any of them, Think I'm going to head for Shoreditch and then 48 route back I found that way easier to make many points from one post One thing I would suggest if you end up with a TA on Monday is to blank off the route number at the front. Way less hassle that way! Do you know your way to the A12 from Shoreditch? I don't recall where you come off for Leyton but that strikes me as the way with less traffic! Unless it's after 16:30... In which case it makes sod all difference which way you go! You come off the A12 at the Green Man Roundabout then Whipps Cross Rd, Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton Green Road. Only problem with trying to find the A12 is the morass that is Aldgate and then the A11. I wouldn't waste my time trying to get through that lot. |
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doesn't even have to go all the way down. You'll find a method that works for you eventually.
, I'm fully aware of what an AA DriveTech assessor is looking for as there happened to be one in the garage earlier 
