Do you know what happens top the Roller Blind mechanisms when they are removed from the buses? I have written to Lothian asking this, but have not had a reply as I would be interested in acquiring one ( with or without blinds).
On a side issue though, I mourn the demise of roller blinds and think the LED screens are very clear and bright. However, could they not be re-arranged so that they show scrolling intermediate points as well? It looks as if there would be enough room to do it.
Most go in the skip. It's not worth it for the company to sell them on or pass them out to enthusiasts. The company want to cover themselves, if theres then an issue with it. It's such a non issue for the company so just remove the pointless issue before it happens.
If you're that interested, maybe visit Moffat & Williamson very quickly and get the kit from them, including blinds. They've just bought four buses from us, straight from service. Hence the lack of yellow lines.
Scrolling intermediates clutter the screen and as such are not used throughout the fleet. Lothian Country currently use them as they make a name for themselves, some routes may be different to what potential patrons may be used to. It's best to give as much information as possible to get their name out there. Eventually, these will be removed as they are considered to cause clutter. It's also not a decent font size and cant be deciphered from far away, so the best option, which has been decided upon was to just have the end destination showing.
Experiments with different screen fonts and layouts have taken place for things like route diversions, rugby special and express, but it was decided not to use them. The layout for express was a personal favourite of mine.
Does anyone know if the inside of the buses get their floors mopped overnight?
Mopped nightly and windows washed, among other things. Of course if a vehicle has just come from night duties it may not be in the best condition, some night duties run into early morning duties, before being removed for cleaning.
Aah - just missed omnicitys post regarding the screens.
Down south, a trial LED vehicle is in use in London on a new bus at PB. It is much higher resolution and allows the traditional London font to be used.
175 (i think) has a trial unit in it. It looks like roller blinds, but its not. It can even be set up to scroll. Cant see this being adopted as most members of the fleet are now holders of the Hannover unit. It also opens the door for more issues such as colours dying, although displaying white, they are not white LED clusters, which is what we're trying to prevent.