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Post by londonbusboy on Jun 19, 2017 21:46:15 GMT
2 rounders down and 5 lorries later, I can now say I've done the R5/10, it's actually a lovely route to drive, passengers are nice and friendly and helpful in regard to where they want to get off, the majority of car drivers are understanding until I met an Uber driver... anyway I'm glad I've done them, I don't think I'll be on loan to Bromley much longer for a various reasons mainly being I'm now traveling from brentwood, but we will see what happens Good go away |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 20, 2017 6:41:16 GMT
2 rounders down and 5 lorries later, I can now say I've done the R5/10, it's actually a lovely route to drive, passengers are nice and friendly and helpful in regard to where they want to get off, the majority of car drivers are understanding until I met an Uber driver... anyway I'm glad I've done them, I don't think I'll be on loan to Bromley much longer for a various reasons mainly being I'm now traveling from brentwood, but we will see what happens Good go away And you wonder why I didn't wait for you the other day when I was on the 227  |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 20, 2017 10:02:08 GMT
And you wonder why I didn't wait for you the other day when I was on the 227 I see the "Bromley Garage love affair" is as strong as ever.  How was the afternoon 664 working? Any sarcy comments from the kids? |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 20, 2017 11:09:12 GMT
And you wonder why I didn't wait for you the other day when I was on the 227 I see the "Bromley Garage love affair" is as strong as ever. How was the afternoon 664 working? Any sarcy comments from the kids? They were all moany because the upstairs was like stupidly hot which I don't blame them for, this was a TA, they tried telling me to leave early from the school but I wasn't having it, other than that, it was all fine, I got snapped in 2 places as well The bus I had for my second half was overheating while running light to the school and in New addington, not really a surprise as it was the hottest day of the year, no idea how the 320's weren't dropping like flies with the amount of hills that route climbs |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 20, 2017 11:22:32 GMT
I see the "Bromley Garage love affair" is as strong as ever. How was the afternoon 664 working? Any sarcy comments from the kids? They were all moany because the upstairs was like stupidly hot which I don't blame them for, this was a TA, they tried telling me to leave early from the school but I wasn't having it, other than that, it was all fine, I got snapped in 2 places as well The bus I had for my second half was overheating while running light to the school and in New addington, not really a surprise as it was the hottest day of the year, no idea how the 320's weren't dropping like flies with the amount of hills that route climbs Ta. Are you now officially Stagecoach London's most "flexible" driver in terms of the number of garages you've worked at and routes you've driven? I assume you haven't cracked the 167, 362 and 462 yet? |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 22, 2017 6:58:42 GMT
They were all moany because the upstairs was like stupidly hot which I don't blame them for, this was a TA, they tried telling me to leave early from the school but I wasn't having it, other than that, it was all fine, I got snapped in 2 places as well The bus I had for my second half was overheating while running light to the school and in New addington, not really a surprise as it was the hottest day of the year, no idea how the 320's weren't dropping like flies with the amount of hills that route climbs Ta. Are you now officially Stagecoach London's most "flexible" driver in terms of the number of garages you've worked at and routes you've driven? I assume you haven't cracked the 167, 362 and 462 yet? I suppose you could say that, I'm currently on the Hello London course and in my group anyway I know the most routes and am the youngest out of all the groups, there is a driver that has worked for Arriva for 45 years and he only knows 9 routes I don't actually know the 362 or 462, the 167 I'd have to look over google maps before driving it as I can't remember it but have been a passenger many times when GAL ran the route |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 22, 2017 9:56:20 GMT
Ta. Are you now officially Stagecoach London's most "flexible" driver in terms of the number of garages you've worked at and routes you've driven? I assume you haven't cracked the 167, 362 and 462 yet? I suppose you could say that, I'm currently on the Hello London course and in my group anyway I know the most routes and am the youngest out of all the groups, there is a driver that has worked for Arriva for 45 years and he only knows 9 routes I don't actually know the 362 or 462, the 167 I'd have to look over google maps before driving it as I can't remember it but have been a passenger many times when GAL ran the route 362 is simply enough once you've learnt the turns. 462 is similar although longer but I haven't done the new bit through Fairlop so that may be more involved. I suspect the main issue on both is learning the hail and ride points and recognising the regular users. They're those sort of routes really. |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 22, 2017 14:20:58 GMT
Just because I'm always asked, here is a list of route I know
5,
8,
15,
48,
51,
53,
55,
56,
61,
69,
86,
96,
97,
103,
122,
146,
165,
174,
175,
177,
179,
208,
215,
227,
247,
248,
252,
256,
261,
269,
275,
277,
287,
291,
296,
336,
365,
372,
386,
496,
498,
499,
664,
R5,
R7,
R10,
N8,
N15,
N55,
N86
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Post by mondraker275 on Jun 22, 2017 20:00:06 GMT
Just because I'm always asked, here is a list of route I know 5, 8, 15, 48, 51, 53, 55, 56, 61, 69, 86, 96, 97, 103, 122, 146, 165, 174, 175, 177, 179, 208, 215, 227, 247, 248, 252, 256, 261, 269, 275, 277, 287, 291, 296, 336, 365, 372, 386, 496, 498, 499, 664, R5, R7, R10, N8, N15, N55, N86 Thats 50 routes in about 2 years I think. What is the Arriva driver thats doing 9 in 45 years? Does he only drive a route for the 5 year contract and move on? I bet something else people keep asking you, is how that list would look in order of preference. You must get that question a lot. |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 22, 2017 23:26:51 GMT
The 55 is my favourite route of all, the 227 is my favourite single deck route simply because it has the nicest buses, the N8 is the most fun nightbus, always some madness going on
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 26, 2017 7:57:04 GMT
For the last 2 days I've been on the R7, it's not a bad route, quite easy, nice fast section at one end and as with the R routes, some nice passengers, what I don't like about it is the excessive running time, the fact that on a Sunday you have more stand time than allocated break, parking in Chelsfield can be annoying, had to pass the QSI point 5 early because I couldn't park the bus anywhere and finally trying to pull away at Hewitts Roundabout in a MMC without cutting anyone up is quite hard, other than that, it was quite nice, we were curtailed at bickley aquila due to summer hill being closed until my last trip last night where they opened it just as I was about to kick all the thin air off my bus Anyway I'm back at Leyton today on the 55 which is like a world away |
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Post by snoggle on Jun 26, 2017 11:12:53 GMT
For the last 2 days I've been on the R7, it's not a bad route, quite easy, nice fast section at one end and as with the R routes, some nice passengers, what I don't like about it is the excessive running time, the fact that on a Sunday you have more stand time than allocated break, parking in Chelsfield can be annoying, had to pass the QSI point 5 early because I couldn't park the bus anywhere and finally trying to pull away at Hewitts Roundabout in a MMC without cutting anyone up is quite hard, other than that, it was quite nice, we were curtailed at bickley aquila due to summer hill being closed until my last trip last night where they opened it just as I was about to kick all the thin air off my bus Anyway I'm back at Leyton today on the 55 which is like a world away Did you ever imagine, when you started this thread, that it would run to 55 pages on your "life and times of being a Stagecoach bus driver"? Amazing how it's all gone for you.  |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 26, 2017 12:06:44 GMT
For the last 2 days I've been on the R7, it's not a bad route, quite easy, nice fast section at one end and as with the R routes, some nice passengers, what I don't like about it is the excessive running time, the fact that on a Sunday you have more stand time than allocated break, parking in Chelsfield can be annoying, had to pass the QSI point 5 early because I couldn't park the bus anywhere and finally trying to pull away at Hewitts Roundabout in a MMC without cutting anyone up is quite hard, other than that, it was quite nice, we were curtailed at bickley aquila due to summer hill being closed until my last trip last night where they opened it just as I was about to kick all the thin air off my bus Anyway I'm back at Leyton today on the 55 which is like a world away Did you ever imagine, when you started this thread, that it would run to 55 pages on your "life and times of being a Stagecoach bus driver"? Amazing how it's all gone for you. Nope, it is pretty cool, might as well make the most of my job |
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Post by mondraker275 on Jun 28, 2017 18:11:23 GMT
While I was back at Leyton I was given my BTEC folder and Certificate, just had a look through the folder and it turns out I had my driving assessed back in October on route 86 and got a box 1 (Which if you didn't know is the top mark) now I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet or say I'm a great driver, I'm more bothered by the fact that I'm only finding out about it 8 MONTHS later and not by a thank you from the company or even an acknowledgement, I just happened to stumble upon it looking through the folder, not once have I heard any mention of it from anyone, I wasn't given anything from the person assessing my driving, or had any idea it was happening. Cant quite make out but I assume it was internal assessment. Either way I am sure you would have been called in immediately if you got anything else, or had an incident on another occasion. Companies and bosses should always praise good work. I am guessing that if you had an incident this assessment would have backed you up. Forget the 1 you got as there are few other categories and some of them are serious. Its the comments that stand out for me. Well Done. Thats the sort of things I notice as a passenger. |
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Post by VPL630 on Jun 28, 2017 21:19:31 GMT
While I was back at Leyton I was given my BTEC folder and Certificate, just had a look through the folder and it turns out I had my driving assessed back in October on route 86 and got a box 1 (Which if you didn't know is the top mark) now I'm not trying to blow my own trumpet or say I'm a great driver, I'm more bothered by the fact that I'm only finding out about it 8 MONTHS later and not by a thank you from the company or even an acknowledgement, I just happened to stumble upon it looking through the folder, not once have I heard any mention of it from anyone, I wasn't given anything from the person assessing my driving, or had any idea it was happening. Cant quite make out but I assume it was internal assessment. Either way I am sure you would have been called in immediately if you got anything else, or had an incident on another occasion. Companies and bosses should always praise good work. I am guessing that if you had an incident this assessment would have backed you up. Forget the 1 you got as there are few other categories and some of them are serious. Its the comments that stand out for me. Well Done. Thats the sort of things I notice as a passenger. Yes it was an internal assessment, I've had the reasons explained to me why I heard nothing about it, it's still kinda annoying, I heard nothing about it, as you say if it wasn't perfect I'm sure I would have heard about it |
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