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Best bus driven or passenger

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scosutsut

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From a combined passenger and enthusiast point of view the rare Dennis Dorchester, in particular the Alexander TE bodied ones new to Central were great - always felt rapid and were comfortable.

Moving to more modern times the B10M/PS type combo hasn't been bettered for me.
 
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Eyersey468

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Yeah at a driver and operator point of view they were awful. But at an enthusiasts perspective I liked them, So I took that in to consideration.
They only bought them because they were what was available from stock at the time as they needed to replace very unreliable Optare Excels
 

SteveyBee131

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Here's a few favourite buses I remember from when they were in service...

I never had a bad ride on an NBC standard ECW bodied Olympian. They always gave a smooth, comfortable ride, felt solidly built and in the summer they had enough well opening windows to give good ventilation.

I also liked the SYPTE Dennis Dominators, particularly the Fastline, dual-purpose examples. The ones Doncaster depot refurbished that ended up with moquette seating upstairs were wonderful, as the brown vinyl could be a challenge to stay in one place on with certain drivers!

For a single deck, I think an Alexander Strider bodied Volvo B10B wins for me. The ones I remember had double glazing, so you could always see out the windows! And they also had very tuneful gearboxes.

I won't enter the realms of favourite preserved buses, I have far too many!
 

Swanny200

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I used to love the Atlanteans compared to the Olympians that Grampian used to have, they used to shoogle but they were nice especially upstairs. There was a ford powered Y type that Northern Scottish had that seemed to go like the clappers too I recall that I loved riding on. When I moved down south in the 90's, a lot of the stuff I was used to was the Merc breadvans that M&D used to have, but on the odd occasion I would be able to get on one of the VRT's or Dominators (which had the willowbrook body iirc) which I liked but my absolute favourite M&D bus was the coach seated Olympians that they had on the 101 for a while before they replaced them with the NC bodied Olympians. Nowadays, as long as it is warm, fairly quiet and comfy I'm happy/
 

GusB

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I used to love the Atlanteans compared to the Olympians that Grampian used to have, they used to shoogle but they were nice especially upstairs. There was a ford powered Y type that Northern Scottish had that seemed to go like the clappers too I recall that I loved riding on. When I moved down south in the 90's, a lot of the stuff I was used to was the Merc breadvans that M&D used to have, but on the odd occasion I would be able to get on one of the VRT's or Dominators (which had the willowbrook body iirc) which I liked but my absolute favourite M&D bus was the coach seated Olympians that they had on the 101 for a while before they replaced them with the NC bodied Olympians. Nowadays, as long as it is warm, fairly quiet and comfy I'm happy/
The Y-type that went like the clappers - could you possibly be referring to NA1? It had a similar front-engine layout to the Fords, but it was actually a Volvo B57 and had a reputation for being nippy. I can't imagine the same being said about the Fords, but it's possible that there were one or two that performed reasonably well. My overwhelming memory of them was "rattle and crunch" :)

I believe the Volvo has been saved.
 

Jordan Adam

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I used to love the Atlanteans compared to the Olympians that Grampian used to have, they used to shoogle but they were nice especially upstairs. There was a ford powered Y type that Northern Scottish had that seemed to go like the clappers too I recall that I loved riding on. When I moved down south in the 90's, a lot of the stuff I was used to was the Merc breadvans that M&D used to have, but on the odd occasion I would be able to get on one of the VRT's or Dominators (which had the willowbrook body iirc) which I liked but my absolute favourite M&D bus was the coach seated Olympians that they had on the 101 for a while before they replaced them with the NC bodied Olympians. Nowadays, as long as it is warm, fairly quiet and comfy I'm happy/

In terms of the Olympians the first two batches were rancid, but the E reg batch were superb.
 

RustySpoons

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As a passenger, the B10BLE with Wright Renown bodywork. More specifically the ones that Blazefield got in 2001, the Y-HRN batch for Burnley & Pendle. As a regular traveler along the Mainline back then they were comfortable, quiet, rattle free, double glazed so you could always see outside whatever the weather and always seemed to be warm. The B7RLEs that replaced them weren't really any of those things. And the Versa's that replaced them... well...

Some of that original Y-HRN batch are still in service, just as comfortable and quiet as they were new, going on for 20 years pretty much continuous service out of the same depot. Although with only one interior refurb since new they're starting to show their age slightly inside. They're completely wasted on local town services now that they're mostly unsuitable for which is a shame.
 

Swanny200

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In terms of the Olympians the first two batches were rancid, but the E reg batch were superb.
I only experienced the E reg ones once or twice before I moved, I did try out one of the Merc 405s when I came up on holiday, it was the glazing and the aircon, such a big difference from what came before and certainly nowhere near what we got down south.

The Y-type that went like the clappers - could you possibly be referring to NA1? It had a similar front-engine layout to the Fords, but it was actually a Volvo B57 and had a reputation for being nippy. I can't imagine the same being said about the Fords, but it's possible that there were one or two that performed reasonably well. My overwhelming memory of them was "rattle and crunch" :)

I believe the Volvo has been saved.

The B58, could have been, I wasn't even a teenager when I left, all I can remember is the huge lump in the front covered in a sort of brown plastic between you and the driver.
 

GusB

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The B58, could have been, I wasn't even a teenager when I left, all I can remember is the huge lump in the front covered in a sort of brown plastic between you and the driver.
The Fords would have been long gone by then, so it must have been the B57. Although it was a one-off, it survived the cull of "non-standard" stuff that happened quite early on in Stagecoach days.

I had a soft-spot for its sister vehicle (XSA4Y) which was a Y-type Dennis Lancet, along with the P-type batch that followed. Their Perkins V8 engines had a very distinctive sound and they were also quite nippy. All six were latterly based in Elgin, and disappeared fairly soon after Northern Scottish was taken over. A506FSS has been preserved, and there are quite a few videos of it on YouTube.
 

Busaholic

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As a driver a mark 2 Leyland National with a 680 in the back, as a passenger an RCL class long coach Routemaster in coach spec, as an enthusiast (why no 3rd category) a London Transport RTW class Leyland Titan of which RTW 75 really floats my boat...
I couldn't comment as a driver, but, as a passenger, totally agree with the RCL (for personal preference, on the 705) and RTWs were great Central London buses: I'd have it on the 11 out of Dalston, surrounded by other members of the class on the same route playing leapfrog all the way from Liverpool Street to the Chelsea end of the Kings Road in all its sixties glory.
 

ChilternTurbo

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From a passenger perspective, I have always had a soft spot for the Citaro. Better ride quality than anything else, they seem very well put together and powerful too. The Cardiff Bus examples, in particular, are a step above anything else in their fleet.
I also like a Citaro but I do think the interior layout is very compromised/weird at the back which I understand is due to modifying a left hand drive design for a right hand drive market like the UK.
 
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Possibly nostalgia getting the better of me but as I passenger I always liked an ECW-kitted Leyland Fleetline, circa 1981.
 

Great_Western

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I also like a Citaro but I do think the interior layout is very compromised/weird at the back which I understand is due to modifying a left hand drive design for a right hand drive market like the UK.
I certainly do take your point on that, but it does come in handy when your traveling in a group, and the rear seats at varying heights help feel like there's a bit more space when the bus is full and your sat next to someone.

The worst offender for rear layout goes to the MAN A69/Wright Meridian combo (or at least the ones with my local operator), though with them being as rare as hens teeth, that's not a problem most will ever have.
 

Jordan Adam

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The worst offender for rear layout goes to the MAN A69/Wright Meridian combo (or at least the ones with my local operator), though with them being as rare as hens teeth, that's not a problem most will ever have.

You forgot about the N94UD/Omnidekka... A shoddily put together design with an extra row of seats crammed in where it shouldn't have been.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I remember when we first got these https://www.flickr.com/photos/nedbasher/6947559405 would do 70mph uphill on the A1(M) until they changed the route to the A19. Regular occurrence was them running out of fuel on Stockton High Street on the last trip of the day. X10 was extended to Redcar on a Sunday during the summer.

They weren't on the X1/X10 for long before these came along https://www.flickr.com/photos/16314...mad-jnFV1V-gvwUbp-gvxuAV-kseJRb-s4daHs-a8kbBt They quickly moved to Stanley depot (and poss Consett) for the X11/X12 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcd48...bo-or7oi1-oa14Fq-8uwbYK-pNYypJ-2g2b3CH-D5WHEB

United used Olympians but they were more sedate Gardner engined ones. Think in later years, some Northern ECWs did return to the X10.
 

shopbford

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They weren't on the X1/X10 for long before these came along https://www.flickr.com/photos/16314...mad-jnFV1V-gvwUbp-gvxuAV-kseJRb-s4daHs-a8kbBt They quickly moved to Stanley depot (and poss Consett) for the X11/X12 https://www.flickr.com/photos/tcd48...bo-or7oi1-oa14Fq-8uwbYK-pNYypJ-2g2b3CH-D5WHEB

United used Olympians but they were more sedate Gardner engined ones. Think in later years, some Northern ECWs did return to the X10.

Didn't like them as much as the Leylands as thought they were under powered for the work they were doing. Originally the X10 via the A1M gave us an hour to travel but they extended this by 5 minutes when they switched to the A19 as they had included extra stops and if memory serves me right it was all to do with how much the company got as there was xx miles between stops - but I could be hazy on that. At that time we mostly had Bristols at Chester le Street and they used to take some hammer on some of the longer routes.
 

jp4712

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As a passenger, an MCW-Scania Metropolitan so long as you didn't sit at the front upstairs where the air suspension could induce nausea! As a driver it would have to be a Bristol RE, or perhaps an AEC Reliance with 760 under the floor and ZF six-speed box.
 

matchmaker

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Royal Tiger Worldmaster. Glasgow had a fleet of them. An O680 in a single decker when Atlanteans only had an O600. Went like sh!t off a stainless steel shovel!
 

CM

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Despite being from Glasgow and having grown up surrounded by the things I've never ever been a fan of the native Atlanteans and thought they were far too slow and generally just crap, however, the later GM Standard Atlanteans showed me that Atlanteans CAN be decent buses. I only found this out after having to change High Schools and the operator of my School Bus at the time(Doig's) had an ex-GMS Atlantean that could go at a fair speed.

Another firm favourite is the Volvo B10M-50(not D10M as there is no such thing). CityBus with Alexander RV body, again, spent all of my childhood and teenage years travelling on them and nothing has come along to better them and I doubt anything ever will.
 

Bletchleyite

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I also like a Citaro but I do think the interior layout is very compromised/weird at the back which I understand is due to modifying a left hand drive design for a right hand drive market like the UK.

No, it's weird on the German ones as well. The Citaro is a bizarrely designed bus when compared with its predecessor, the O405N, which had a much more sensible layout.

Not half as weird as the Dutch-built centre engined buses, though (I forget the manufacturer; the bodies *might* be Van Hool). It looks with those like they actively tried to minimise forward facing seating.
 

TRAX

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No, it's weird on the German ones as well. The Citaro is a bizarrely designed bus when compared with its predecessor, the O405N, which had a much more sensible layout.

Not half as weird as the Dutch-built centre engined buses, though (I forget the manufacturer; the bodies *might* be Van Hool). It looks with those like they actively tried to minimise forward facing seating.

All the emission-reducing equipment that manufacturers have to integrate in their low-floor designs does have to fit somewhere doesn’t it ?

And you’re thinking of the Belgian-built Van Hools (and not only the body is VH).
 

beermaddavep

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United used Olympians but they were more sedate Gardner engined ones. Think in later years, some Northern ECWs did return to the X10.

O/T They certainly did, as late as 1999 a superb batch (3?) of L10 engined models C66x LJR with coach seats and dedicated livery worked the X10 . Then the fantastic Volvo Palatine olympians that lasted until 2005 when it went all low floor. There was a period of Optare Spectra use too.

Back on topic, those Northern Metrobuses fitted with the 6LXDT were the most comfortable buses I've ever ridden before or since, the seats were better than home sofas!
My all time favourite is still the DP ECW RELH though, ticks every box- fast, warm, comfy, sounds superb.
 

AM9

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I couldn't comment as a driver, but, as a passenger, totally agree with the RCL (for personal preference, on the 705) and RTWs were great Central London buses: I'd have it on the 11 out of Dalston, surrounded by other members of the class on the same route playing leapfrog all the way from Liverpool Street to the Chelsea end of the Kings Road in all its sixties glory.
Hear hear, the RTs (and RTLs/RTWs) were pretty good to ride in (even by modern day standards), and although not as fast accelerating as the RMs and more modern buses, the govenors would hold them at 45mph when the Gardner engine seemed quite happy. The firm ride was better than the RMs wallowing and they had more legroom. The RT is also the only bus that I have ever driven but technically it was fun, (I was 10 years old and on a visit to the LT Chiswick Training School, courtesty of a grandfather who persuaded them to let me have a Saturday morning visit there.
 

deanmachine

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No, it's weird on the German ones as well. The Citaro is a bizarrely designed bus when compared with its predecessor, the O405N, which had a much more sensible layout.

They also have the worst brake pedals of any bus I've driven, a normal "car" pedal rather than the usual large floor hinged pedal you normally find on buses, always makes them difficult to be smooth to stop. Citaros can be good buses but the ones my company have are starting to show their age (2006-2013), some days I'd rather have a streetlite.
 
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They also have the worst brake pedals of any bus I've driven, a normal "car" pedal rather than the usual large floor hinged pedal you normally find on buses, always makes them difficult to be smooth to stop.
It's stuff like this that makes me wonder if manufacturers ever sit with someone who has driven a bus for considerable periods or if it's just a bunch of engineers and managers that decide.
 
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