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Lothian Buses and ECB Discussion

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Lothian_Bus

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Does anyone know the reason why the No44 are mostly 55 plates but occasionally are spoiled by getting a 66/67 plate?
I’m not complaining but just curious.
I'm a regular user of the 44. There haven't been many 55 plates on it recently. It mainly is made up with 08-11 plates with a few older vehicles and newer ones. It tends to always have a couple from 401-430 and 552-570 on it. Today is the first time (bus 584) a 67 plate has been on it since before 571-574 joined Lothian Country. It occasionally gets one or two Longstone B5TL's (441-465) and more recently has been getting one (or even two) Central B5TL's from the 1051-1062 batch.
 
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Auld reekie

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I'm a regular user of the 44. There haven't been many 55 plates on it recently. It mainly is made up with 08-11 plates with a few older vehicles and newer ones. It tends to always have a couple from 401-430 and 552-570 on it. Today is the first time (bus 584) a 67 plate has been on it since before 571-574 joined Lothian Country. It occasionally gets one or two Longstone B5TL's (441-465) and more recently has been getting one (or even two) Central B5TL's from the 1051-1062 batch.
Thanks for that .
 

ScotRail158725

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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.
ah ok cheers, was wondering as i seen a video of some girl on my snapchat having a piss on one of the 351-400 batch
 

ScotRail158725

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I'm a regular user of the 44. There haven't been many 55 plates on it recently. It mainly is made up with 08-11 plates with a few older vehicles and newer ones. It tends to always have a couple from 401-430 and 552-570 on it. Today is the first time (bus 584) a 67 plate has been on it since before 571-574 joined Lothian Country. It occasionally gets one or two Longstone B5TL's (441-465) and more recently has been getting one (or even two) Central B5TL's from the 1051-1062 batch.
yeah, hes right l, since april 55 plates have been rare as they get thrown in the 3 & 35 now. no complaints from me
 

ScotRail158725

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They've just bought four buses from us, straight from service. Hence the lack of yellow lines.
how is it deceided what buses go where when being sold? does the buyer choose wich specific vehicles are given, is it random or does Lothian choose what ones?
 

OmniCity999

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how is it deceided what buses go where when being sold? does the buyer choose wich specific vehicles are given, is it random or does Lothian choose what ones?

Depends on the buyer.

If they are serious buyers, if they are independents, their connection with big companies, their type of work, their distance to the company if their cash buyers etc.

Then they get the pick of the bunch. The entirety of the B7TL fleet is for sale, serious buyers get the pick of the lot. Generally smaller companies will go for buses that are still in service as they are deemed to be reliable, more reliable of course than those that have sat doing nothing for months. Other obvious choices are those that are cosmetically good or if they have extras included.
 

ScotRail158725

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Depends on the buyer.

If they are serious buyers, if they are independents, their connection with big companies, their type of work, their distance to the company if their cash buyers etc.

Then they get the pick of the bunch. The entirety of the B7TL fleet is for sale, serious buyers get the pick of the lot. Generally smaller companies will go for buses that are still in service as they are deemed to be reliable, more reliable of course than those that have sat doing nothing for months. Other obvious choices are those that are cosmetically good or if they have extras included.
Sound, thanks for the info, how many have been sold? i know of 12
 

OmniCity999

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Sound, thanks for the info, how many have been sold? i know of 12

I've not been keeping track unfortunately, although I'd be keen to know. I'm sure CT plus bought upwards of 15. Moffat & Williamson have 4, although I think they may only have two of them so far with the others still in service. I'm sure there are more sales...
 

ScotRail158725

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I've not been keeping track unfortunately, although I'd be keen to know. I'm sure CT plus bought upwards of 15. Moffat & Williamson have 4, although I think they may only have two of them so far with the others still in service. I'm sure there are more sales...
one of the buyers told me on flickr (dews, cambridgeshire) that they have 709, 720, 721, 731 & 743 with 709 looking nice in the straight lines livery but green instead of madder. 775 & 778 went to M&W last week and apparently 771 & 786 went up yesterday and monday. ive seen photos somewhere of 728, 730 & 745 with one company. will be looking at CT Plus photos for a while to see about the 15 that you mentioned. they bought tridents 669 & 690 last year. hopefully some more get sold locally
 

OmniCity999

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one of the buyers told me on flickr (dews, cambridgeshire) that they have 709, 720, 721, 731 & 743 with 709 looking nice in the straight lines livery but green instead of madder. 775 & 778 went to M&W last week and apparently 771 & 786 went up yesterday and monday. ive seen photos somewhere of 728, 730 & 745 with one company. will be looking at CT Plus photos for a while to see about the 15 that you mentioned. they bought tridents 669 & 690 last year. hopefully some more get sold locally

Any links to any photos greatly appreciated.
 

ScotRail158725

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I'm guessing this is the vehicle in question - https://flic.kr/p/2haAa2Q
indeed, looks like 722s original straight lines livery.
Any links to any photos greatly appreciated.
i have seen a picture off 778 at M&W on facebook just after it arrived but thats it. if i do find anymore or find out where others have went i’ll post here. i want to track where 708 goes but just now its still in service
 

Driver362

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Hi omnicity999 I was driving 959 the other night and got to thinking witch group of buses single and double were fitted with voith gearboxes. What was the thinking over ZF. And roughly what buses with voith boxes still remain?. Also on the subject of voith boxes. Why are they so ferrous on initial application of brakes compared to ZF? A lot of questions I know, but figured if anyone would know it would be you
 

scotrail158713

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I was just wondering if there was a system to how buses are allocated to ECB routes from Musselburgh? I ask as I notice the 113 seems to have received more B5TL’s - apologies if I’ve got the bus type wrong :) - than it has before. Not that I’m complaining though - they’re nice buses.
 

OmniCity999

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Hi omnicity999 I was driving 959 the other night and got to thinking witch group of buses single and double were fitted with voith gearboxes. What was the thinking over ZF. And roughly what buses with voith boxes still remain?. Also on the subject of voith boxes. Why are they so ferrous on initial application of brakes compared to ZF? A lot of questions I know, but figured if anyone would know it would be you

My friends old fleetlist (https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/eb788a_007ecde4cd464e90933956b526fef021.pdf) details the gearbox configurations, it's VERY out of date though! Voith was the choice of old management, then when the B5TL came out, it was cheaper to spec with ZF so they were bought as such. The new management prefer ZF's so they have continued with them.
 

Weemidi135

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I was just wondering if there was a system to how buses are allocated to ECB routes from Musselburgh? I ask as I notice the 113 seems to have received more B5TL’s - apologies if I’ve got the bus type wrong :) - than it has before. Not that I’m complaining though - they’re nice buses.

some running boards have a specific vehicle allocation which the gateman has to follow but otherwise would depends where buses are parked at night for the next mornings run out so it’s just luck of the draw really
 

Lothian_Bus

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Does anyone know the reason why the No44 are mostly 55 plates but occasionally are spoiled by getting a 66/67 plate?
I’m not complaining but just curious.

I was just wondering if there was a system to how buses are allocated to ECB routes from Musselburgh? I ask as I notice the 113 seems to have received more B5TL’s - apologies if I’ve got the bus type wrong :) - than it has before. Not that I’m complaining though - they’re nice buses.

I have noticed that the 113 has had one or two B5TL's on it over the last couple of weeks. Seems a deliberate decision.

Also, look at the allocation on route 44 today. The newest it has had in a long time.

https://lvf.io/#LRT|44
 

Gingerbus1991

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ScotRail158725

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I've only noticed that change recently, was a flotilla of 55 then 56 plate B7s until the last month or so.

It does feel it's gone from a fixed allocation, to any random vehicle!
the 3 really gets most of the 55 plate B7s now along with some 56s, same with the 35 thanks to the 33 taking some of its B5s, but its a change im very happy with
 

Auld reekie

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I've only noticed that change recently, was a flotilla of 55 then 56 plate B7s until the last month or so.

It does feel it's gone from a fixed allocation, to any random vehicle!
I have noticed over the last few days that the No44 has had newer buses.
 

scosutsut

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Can anyone explain the Gemini models to me in the context of Lothian's fleet?

I think I can tell 1/2/3 apart mainly from the front end but the B7 Mk1s seem to have a different rear end to the B9 variants - the B9s seem to have Mk2 rears almost.

There are Wright badged (ex London) and unbadged front end Mk2s (original to Lothian) but otherwise these are fairly easy to spot with the cluster headlights.

Mk3s are fairly distinctive with the staircase windows but what are the 64 plates with the led 'dot' lighting on the lower front panel they don't quite conform! Look more like 3s with a modified 2 front end?
 
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Jordan Adam

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Can anyone explain the Gemini models to me in the context of Lothian's fleet?

I think I can tell 1/2/3 apart mainly from the front end but the B7 Mk1s seem to have a different rear end to the B9 variants - the B9s seem to have Mk2 rears almost.

There are Wright badged (ex London) and unbadged front end Mk2s (original to Lothian) but otherwise these are fairly easy to spot with the cluster headlights.

Mk3s are fairly distinctive with the staircase windows but what are the 64 plates with the led 'dot' lighting on the lower front panel they don't quite conform! Look more like 3s with a modified 2 front end?

The The MK1 and MK2 are in short the exact same body with a different front bumper and other very minor adjustments, the MK1 and MK2 B9TLs have the exact same rear end.

The 64 plates are the original Gemini 3 body using the "Wright Millennium" design that the MK1 and MK2 are based on, however on the original MK3 there was major changes to the interior design along with shallower upper deck windows. Around a year later Wright came out with a facelifted version ditching the Millennium design known as the "Stealth". Additionally in 2017 they facelifted the Eclipse 3 with the new Stealth design, however outside of the initial batch for EastCoastBuses Wright have only been able to sell 1 (yes one) Stealth Eclipse 3.

*For reference the "Wright Millennium Design" is the collective name for all the Wright bodies with the distinctive U shape windscreen.
 

OmniCity999

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Can anyone explain the Gemini models to me in the context of Lothian's fleet?

I think I can tell 1/2/3 apart mainly from the front end but the B7 Mk1s seem to have a different rear end to the B9 variants - the B9s seem to have Mk2 rears almost.

There are Wright badged (ex London) and unbadged front end Mk2s (original to Lothian) but otherwise these are fairly easy to spot with the cluster headlights.

Mk3s are fairly distinctive with the staircase windows but what are the 64 plates with the led 'dot' lighting on the lower front panel they don't quite conform! Look more like 3s with a modified 2 front end?

Our Wright Gemini's (not mk1) - just known as Gemini's are known by their flat rear end and generally roller blinds, these are on B7TL chassis. These were delivered on 55/56 plates. With curvy cab doors etc. 701-825.

Then, Wright released a facelift for the B9TL chassis, which included a curved rear end and updated interior, flat cab door etc. These were delivered on 07 plates upwards. So 826+ and Lothian stopped receiving new deliveries of these in 2009, when the Gemini 2 came out, these have the same interior styling as the facelifted Gemini's but a facelifted front end. Examples include all of the London second hand stuff, 20937-20950 etc.

Lothian stopped receiving Gemini 2's in 2011 and ordered its first batch of Gemini 3's in 2014. There only 25 in the following configuration. Curvy front end as per the Gemini 2 with LED lighting. Essentially these look like a dysfunctional adult version of the Gemini 2. 401-425.

Lothian received the facelifted Gemini 3 which has a more angled design and this is what we had been receiving between 2015 and 2018.

Lack of Wright logo was previous managements style choice. It was thought to be sleeker. But the nee management like having all the right logos in all the right places. So all of Lothians Gemini's, Gemini 2's (And Gemini 3's between 2014-2015). Arrived badgeless OR these were removed shortly after arrival.

301- 400 - Gemini 2
401- 425 - Gemini 3
425 - 510 - Gemini 3 Facelift With Badge
551 - 590 - Gemini 3 Facelift Wirh badge
701 - 825 - Gemini
825 - 926 - Gemini Facelift
927 - 960 - Gemini 2
1001 - 1050 - Gemini 2 London with Badge
1141 - 1153 - Gemini 2 London With Badge

During reprints, buses are recovering vinyl logos.

Some fleet numbers may be wrong. I just fix the things, I dont count the rivets.
 

route101

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64 plates , theres not many of them , kind like bridge to the B5TLs are they not?
 
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