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First West of England (Bristol, Bath & The West)

1905 Group

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The current plan is for all to be converted, I'm keeping a very close eye on them with regular updates as I'd prefer to buy one before DDA mods as it means less work... And all of them aren't too bad mechanically, 32005's back axle is shocking and makes an awful sound, and 32017's cooling fan does jam on, but other than that they aren't bad. The seats do need some work. I'll see what I can find out about the ELC ones with FHD.
 
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TheGrandWazoo

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The current plan is for all to be converted, I'm keeping a very close eye on them with regular updates as I'd prefer to buy one before DDA mods as it means less work... And all of them aren't too bad mechanically, 32005's back axle is shocking and makes an awful sound, and 32017's cooling fan does jam on, but other than that they aren't bad. The seats do need some work. I'll see what I can find out about the ELC ones with FHD.

Which vehicles have you currently got?
 

THarris123

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Wells, Somerset
To reinstate that rail line would cost a fortune. It'll never happen - not as if the 414 is exactly busy and will doubtless lose its Saturday service after the consultation. The only reason the line is there is for Whatley Quarry and the derelict part was only to serve Writhlington and Kilmersdon Collieries and they closed in 1974.

The money for the cycle path is coming from private donations and from Sustrans so it's not diverting funds from elsewhere. The idea of being able to cycle or run into Frome without experiencing Egford Hill is quite appealing!! As for Frome having a few closed shops, I think it's in better shape than many places and is a lot better than 20 years ago when it was more brawling than bohemian!!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Could be something minor like a hose off. Think it'll be too old anyway. Expect it in Alpha Recovery in a years time

I agree that it'll be a big cost, but it does still p*ss me off and always will. :(
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Fair play to you for doing a 3 hour walk!

I jumped on the 75 from Primark to the Fountains the other day :lol:

Thanks - but as I say that's a short walk for me and I still wasn't particularly tired.
 

ValleyLines142

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Thanks - but as I say that's a short walk for me and I still wasn't particularly tired.

To be fair, the one thing I love about Bristol, and one I'm excited about when I move here, is that you can go for some really nice walks. For example, a few weeks ago I walked down from the Suspension Bridge along Portway and the Harbourside and right through to Temple Meads which isn't exactly a long walk I know but still pleasant. I also may even take a stroll from Gloucestet Road North into town!
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I agree that it'll be a big cost, but it does still p*ss me off and always will. :(
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I do understand what you say but that way, you'll never be happy. Enjoy it for what it is (a very nice walking and cycling path in some stunning countryside) rather than what it was :D There are people that would like to see it brought back into use but the cost would probably be >£100m - imagine what you could do with that money?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
To be fair, the one thing I love about Bristol, and one I'm excited about when I move here, is that you can go for some really nice walks. For example, a few weeks ago I walked down from the Suspension Bridge along Portway and the Harbourside and right through to Temple Meads which isn't exactly a long walk I know but still pleasant. I also may even take a stroll from Gloucestet Road North into town!

The best hidden walk is from Hanham via Crews Hole and along Feeder into town. Used to love to run that on a cold winters' morning.

Bristol is a great city apart from the traffic. Second in my list after Newcastle which has great scenery, nightlife, great people, fantastic countryside on the doorstep. On a transport side, it has the Metro, the Shields Ferry and 3 major bus companies and you can use them all with one ticket Explorer that covers the entire north east virtually!
 

CD

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Doesn't get reported much so here are a few snippets from BoS today.

21/21a: 40570/83/84/86/90. 32817/44/59/72/73/74. 33380. 34176. Note increased use of B6s now its winter.
Bridgwater town service 1: 32818 and 2 B6s.
Bridgwater Asda spares: 32883. 32954. 34179.
1505 28 Taunton-Minehead 23012.
54. 32947. 62245. 66745.
Taunton Depot: 62193 has joined 43821-23 and 34189 at side of depot. Possible DDA conversion for this?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Doesn't get reported much so here are a few snippets from BoS today.

21/21a: 40570/83/84/86/90. 32817/44/59/72/73/74. 33380. 34176. Note increased use of B6s now its winter.
Bridgwater town service 1: 32818 and 2 B6s.
Bridgwater Asda spares: 32883. 32954. 34179.
1505 28 Taunton-Minehead 23012.
54. 32947. 62245. 66745.
Taunton Depot: 62193 has joined 43821-23 and 34189 at side of depot. Possible DDA conversion for this?

Two Olympians still going! Use of coaches on 28 again - interesting!

Perhaps SW can confirm the plans for 62193?
 

DaveHarries

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12 Dec 2011
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England
I was in Bath today working I saw B10BLE / Wright 62238 (Y947 CSF) out on Service 18. I thought these had been withdrawn but it was good to see one working.

On another note I got a Service 5 into central Bath and saw a poster advising that the planned withdrawl, following the dropping of council support, of the evening journeys on Service 37 (Bristol - Hanham - Bath) has been reversed because the financial support has been reinstated. The journeys that were to be dropped have also been reinstated, albeit with revised timings. Timetables are currently being reprinted and should be available soon.

Dave
 
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TheGrandWazoo

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I was in Bath today working I saw B10BLE / Wright 62238 (Y947 CSF) out on Service 18. I thought these had been withdrawn but it was good to see one working.

On another note I got a Service 5 into central Bath and saw a poster advising that the planned withdrawl, following the dropping of council support, of the evening journeys on Service 37 (Bristol - Hanham - Bath) has been reversed because the financial support has been reinstated. The journeys that were to be dropped have also been reinstated, albeit with revised timings. Timetables are currently being reprinted and should be available soon.

Dave

The Y regs were built in 2001 and so were DDA compliant
 

ValleyLines142

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Gloucester
The best hidden walk is from Hanham via Crews Hole and along Feeder into town. Used to love to run that on a cold winters' morning.

Ooh that sounds great! Will look into that.

TheGrandWazoo said:
Bristol is a great city apart from the traffic. Second in my list after Newcastle which has great scenery, nightlife, great people, fantastic countryside on the doorstep. On a transport side, it has the Metro, the Shields Ferry and 3 major bus companies and you can use them all with one ticket Explorer that covers the entire north east virtually!

Indeed. For me, it's all about Manchester! It's been my dream to live there, even as I applied to go to university there. But I did still have a desire to move away from home, and Bristol is the best place for it.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Ooh that sounds great! Will look into that.



Indeed. For me, it's all about Manchester! It's been my dream to live there, even as I applied to go to university there. But I did still have a desire to move away from home, and Bristol is the best place for it.

Lived in Manchester twice - once for work, once for love! :wub: Never really liked it despite it clearly being a modern vibrant city. When I go there, I tend to go to Salford Quays (too old for Printworks or Castlefield!!) and you get a feeling of being in a proper Euro city with trams etc. A lot of green deckers too!

Still, we're getting Metrobus and it could be worse; of all the biggish English cities, my least fave is Derby (sorry anyone from there). I'd move back to Bristol in a flash but she who must be obeyed doesn't like big city life!!

It's changed a lot since I moved down, bus wise. Then, you had 22 year old deckers on 42-5 regularly (yeah, imagine L/M reg Olympians running now), step floor Darts on many routes, Marshall Darts as standard on the 8/9, Lynxes on the 6/7, and Dennis Lances on the country routes. Oh, and SGBC and Eurotaxis on the tendered routes with iffy minibuses and the like. It's a lot better now so a wry smile when people complain about 53 plate deckers!
 

CD

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Two Olympians still going! Use of coaches on 28 again - interesting!

Perhaps SW can confirm the plans for 62193?
All 3 Olympians still going strong.
34178 spare at Taunton as well, probably to do one of the two college 22s that are deckers.
Having "older" vehicles at BoS does have its advantages, 3 Olympians and 4 B10BLEs in service. Not many if any depots can match that. :lol:
 
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Two Olympians still going! Use of coaches on 28 again - interesting!

Perhaps SW can confirm the plans for 62193?

No specific plan. Potentially cannibalization if there is a need.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
All 3 Olympians still going strong.
34178 spare at Taunton as well, probably to do one of the two college 22s that are deckers.
Having "older" vehicles at BoS does have its advantages, 3 Olympians and 4 B10BLEs in service. Not many if any depots can match that. :lol:

Not for long - the 4 B7Ls from Plymouth are likely to replace the Olympians shortly!
 

TheGrandWazoo

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No specific plan. Potentially cannibalization if there is a need.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Not for long - the 4 B7Ls from Plymouth are likely to replace the Olympians shortly!

I think you'd intimated before that they may leave FSW but it was subject to confirmation. Thanks for the update (and that on 62193); I didn't foresee they'd head back to Taunton!

At least some of them have been refurbished in Plymouth so perhaps not as uncomfortable as they were on the 21/28.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I can concur with the 8 B7RLEs but not sure what the B7 is unless 60911 is still being counted as on strength? Mike R

61594 as suggested? 60911 is now repainted and working out of Lawrence Hill depot.
 

Private Baxter

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I was in Bath today working I saw B10BLE / Wright 62238 (Y947 CSF) out on Service 18. I thought these had been withdrawn but it was good to see one working.

Dave
They are the only B10BLEs left working in our region. Imagine they'll survive a few more years.
Been in Leicester's northern suburbs this morning - former FWoE 69435/52/53 all passed me at various times. Still in Barbie colours
Thanks for the report. Always good to catch up with former vehicles. Was wondering if any had been painted, I guess it's not a priority up there either. One out of the fourteen in FSA has been painted so far.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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They are the only B10BLEs left working in our region. Imagine they'll survive a few more years.

Thanks for the report. Always good to catch up with former vehicles. Was wondering if any had been painted, I guess it's not a priority up there either. One out of the fourteen in FSA has been painted so far.

Remember that 69459/60 were repainted whilst at Weston. The ones I saw today looked in reasonable nick.

If I happen to be in Stoke (as sometimes happens), I'll keep an eye out for 42552-4; however, I'm not going to Clacton or Lowestoft any time soon (An aside - one of the Leicester B7TLs that wasn't scheduled for WoE (32092) was still also still working). As for former fleet members, I remember seeing a former Bristol Olympian L-SEU sat at Balfron depot a few years ago - blast from the past!!

B10BLEs - those Y reg ones were built in 2001 and were compliant. It's the X regs at Taunton that were modified. There was some talk that 62194 might be modified in Aberdeen but I think that's been shelved.
 
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ValleyLines142

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Still, we're getting Metrobus and it could be worse; of all the biggish English cities, my least fave is Derby (sorry anyone from there). I'd move back to Bristol in a flash but she who must be obeyed doesn't like big city life!!

It's changed a lot since I moved down, bus wise. Then, you had 22 year old deckers on 42-5 regularly (yeah, imagine L/M reg Olympians running now), step floor Darts on many routes, Marshall Darts as standard on the 8/9, Lynxes on the 6/7, and Dennis Lances on the country routes. Oh, and SGBC and Eurotaxis on the tendered routes with iffy minibuses and the like. It's a lot better now so a wry smile when people complain about 53 plate deckers!

A fair shout actually.

I think Metrobus will be good for Bristol.

I was gutted to have missed out on a K-reg Olympian on city routes :(
 

Robertj21a

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Remember that 69459/60 were repainted whilst at Weston. The ones I saw today looked in reasonable nick.

If I happen to be in Stoke (as sometimes happens), I'll keep an eye out for 42552-4; however, I'm not going to Clacton or Lowestoft any time soon (An aside - one of the Leicester B7TLs that wasn't scheduled for WoE (32092) was still also still working). As for former fleet members, I remember seeing a former Bristol Olympian L-SEU sat at Balfron depot a few years ago - blast from the past!!

B10BLEs - those Y reg ones were built in 2001 and were compliant. It's the X regs at Taunton that were modified. There was some talk that 62194 might be modified in Aberdeen but I think that's been shelved.


First Leicester hasn't painted any of those received from WoE - as you say, 69459/60 were repainted down there. Two ALX400s remain - 32082 and 32092 (supposedly going to Potteries and Basildon resp).
 

TheGrandWazoo

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And Roe bodied Olympians on 41.

Or we could go back to mid 80s when it was VRs,REs and Leyland Nationals.
Now they were the days. :D

....and Bristol LHs on country runs ;) TBF, my formative years were in the North so I never saw Bristol in the BOC days.

I visited regularly from the early 90s though more focussed on Badgerline rather than the city services so never experienced VRs on city routes :( Guess I'll have to console myself with memories of D10Ms on the Weston route, Lynxes on the 376, and BadgerSulis Cummins Olympians on the X3/X39!

Oh, and REs from Wells to Weston and Bridgwater :)
 

CD

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....and Bristol LHs on country runs ;) TBF, my formative years were in the North so I never saw Bristol in the BOC days.

I visited regularly from the early 90s though more focussed on Badgerline rather than the city services so never experienced VRs on city routes :( Guess I'll have to console myself with memories of D10Ms on the Weston route, Lynxes on the 376, and BadgerSulis Cummins Olympians on the X3/X39!

Oh, and REs from Wells to Weston and Bridgwater :)

DP Bristol REs on 376 when I moved to Somerset in 1977, much better than the Lynxes.

Think we are both showing our age?
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Think we are both showing our age?

CAN YOU SPEAK UP DEAR? I CAN'T HEAR YOU ;)

However, for every RE in Wells, there were two Transits! The excitement of one of those on the 161!

I was brought up with DP REs but poppy red not leaf green!!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

When I moved down, there were still Roe bodied Olympians on the 41/43-5, the 70, and the X67!! It wasn't that long ago.
 
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