Stagecoach North West Discussion

[cainebj]

as far as i am aware, most lillyhall bus routes were back to "normal" today, apart from 300! R reg olympian on school special again! and a N reg olympian on 300.
all other buses on their designated routes where applicable (PO51 WLP and PO51 WLR on Moorclose Circular, PX08 FMP and PX08 FMU on Mirehouse Circular)

 

[mbonwick]

I don't suppose with the Olympians it makes much difference - AFAIK the R regs have bus style seats and the N regs Dual purpose...so the R regs will have extra seats.

 

[driver9000]

Yes the R registered are bus seated and also long wheelbase, the N registered examples are dual-purpose and short are wheelbase.

 

[cainebj]

4 of the 5 R reg examples at lillyhall are coach seated (R251, R252, R253 and R255) and R254 NBV has bus seats. the coach seated ones have the same seated capacity as the bus seated example. The coach seats in these are the blue one, same as some of the K reg B10m's. the N reg olympians have grey coach seats with lower backs, same with the K reg olympians. the H reg's are still bus seated, and generally school only these days, but have been seen on a few services through the day (mostly on routes near the schools they serve)

 

[mbonwick]

47159 failed while working a 16xx service to Vale. 47021 was called in as a replacement

 

[cainebj]

few little changes up at lillyhall today.
PX08FMU, 47617, was on the annexe, and replaced whatever was running moorclose 50.
this morning, 47023 and 47024 ran the moorclose circular, but only 47023 was around later on!
L119 HHV was on the 47 to seaton! normally ran by one of the many 709d's.
VRR 447 was running a day tour, rather than RBZ 5459. my favourite driver was driving it too!

 

[mbonwick]

One of the Schoolrunners (20710-2, I didn't see which) failed at Borwick roundabout, low amps by the look of it....very dim indicators and lights.

 

[cainebj]

disruptions to lillyhall routes again, mostly 30 and 31.
buses were running so late, extra buses brought onto the services, and buses changed routes too. one of the 56reg darts went to workington from frizington on the 31, but left workington on the 30 to maryport, rather than 31 to maryport. the versa was caught up on all of this, swapping between 31 (its new planned route) and the 30 (normally enviro 300 or K reg Alexander PS if needed)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
for some weird reason, N733 LTN running moorclose circular this afternoon!!! while PO51 WLP sat on the annexe at workington

 

[mbonwick]

Lillyhall's 709D replacements are now apparently to be Marshall bodied Darts from Kendal. What will replace these at the latter I don't know. The date for the move is rumoured to be January 2009

 

[driver9000]

Could be more Optare Versa coming into the fleet for Kendal maybe? or Enviros maybe?

 

[mbonwick]

Versas possibly I guess...might even be the S reg Solos from Morecambe in a 2 stage cascade sort of thing.

 

[cainebj]

one of lillyhall solo's disappeared from service again. this time PO51 WLP (47023).
today, well saturday 29 november, 20768 and 47616 ran moorclose circular, while 47024 and 47617 ran mirehouse circular.
N358 MPN was on 300 whitehaven - carlisle, along with 4 of the R reg olympians.
one of the enviro 300's didnt sound too good! sounded like my dads car starting up on a cold morning! (an 11 year old peugeot)

 

[mbonwick]

47023 is one of the ex-Preston Solos, I believe they were/are in a diabolical state.

Just another thought I had: Lillyhall has plenty of ex-Merseyside Darts hanging about. Could it be these that are to replace the venerable 709Ds, or replace those at Kendal which are rumoured to be 709D replacements.

 

[mbonwick]

The ex-Preston Darts are going to move to Kendal, and the Kendal Darts will move to Lillyhall. This has come from a source within Stagecoach.

I assume this is because the Preston examples are 40 seats, whereas the Kendal Darts are 28/36 seats. Kendal needs extra capacity on its town routes, which would be provided with the extra seats in the ex-Preston Darts.

Also, the Kendal Darts are closer capacity wise to the 709Ds they will replace.

 

[driver9000]

Are the Preston Darts for Kendal the 04 reg ones working on Citi 3 at the moment? I drove them when they were brand new - lovely machines, although not as good as the 'proper' Dennis/Plaxton models I drove in London

The Preston Solos werent in the best of health when I drove them a few years ago, but then I found most of Prestons fleet to be inferior to Lancaster & Cumberlands fleets.

You may recall I mentioned a while ago about J208HFR being painted in a bright yellow livery as Lancasters 'Chamber of commerce' bus. I knew Id seen a photograph on Fotopic and I finally found it:

http://stagecoachnorthwest.fotopic.net/p766856.html

 

[cainebj]

47023 is back! and running moorclose circular 51. The ex-Preston solo's didnt seem too bad when they were put into service at lillyhall. they went straight into service too. i seen them being driven towards the depot from keswick area (so guessing they had just came from preston).
one of the K reg alexander PS' running 31 frizington - maryport again!
R254 NBV was on the annexe at Workington, along with L119 HHV, which later left on BNG Contract.

 

[cainebj]

one of the 56 reg darts at lillyhall has disappeared. one of my friends said a stagecoach bus got into a skid on some black ice and ended up in someones garden (in Arlecdon), but he isnt sure which bus it was. the 31 / 31A services start in Arlecdon in the mornings, before going to Frizington, so i'm guessing it was the missing dart that ended up in a garden!

 

[driver9000]

not strictly Stagecoach related, but has anyone noticed the ancient Ford Cortina advert on the end of George Street on the side of the old Gala bingo/Regal cinema building? Seems they have removed the advert frame and this remarkably well preserved advert has been revealed, albeit slightly torn

 

[mbonwick]

No I haven't, but I will ask a mate who gets a bus from George St. to get a photo for me.

 

[driver9000]

No I haven't, but I will ask a mate who gets a bus from George St. to get a photo for me.

If he doesnt manage to get one, I have taken one on my phone - I will send it to my computer when I next transfer photos, including this weeks snow

 

[cainebj]

not a good week so far for stagecoach lillyhall!
yesterday, the A595 was closed to all traffic, meaning disruptions for 30 / 31 services. all traffic was diverted through the dreaded "Lowca Road" which meant Lakes College and Distington being totally missed out! it was fun watching one of the many 709's doing a turn in the road! and it was also amusing watching H115 SAO go through a traffic calming device (give way / priority).
Moorclose Circular (both 50 and 51) has been covered by 709s only! rather than the ex preston solo's which were brought to lillyhall for those routes!

 

[mbonwick]

30377 ran the 1550 Halton service today, very unusual given that this is always packed standing on a B10M.

Supposedly, a B6 will be deputising for a B10M on the Vale/Rail Stn/Marsh routes all weekend, as 20*** is in for new tyres/MOT.


According to a source at STL, he doesn't expect Lillyhall's versa to last more than 5 years before suffering a major failure.

 

[driver9000]

I spied 21003 has been treated to a shiny new LED destination screen today. It was out on the 42 service.

 

[mbonwick]

It wouldn't surprise me if it had - It's been running around for nearly 2 weeks with a non-operational display!

 

[cainebj]

i personally think 5 years for 25225 is a bit much! i was on it last week. it seemed okay, but with the way the drivers are treating it, 2 or 3 years sounds more realistic!
L119 HHV was doing Thornhill 30 yesterday afternoon, after running Moorclose Circular 51 that morning. Today, Thornhill 30 had a 56reg dart on it! full obviously!
lillyhall keep swapping buses around! this morning, Moorclose Circular 51 was PX08 FMP and 50 was PO51 WLP. this afternoon, PX08 FMP was still on 51, but PO51WLP got put onto Seaton 47 whilst the 709 off Seaton 47 went onto moorclose 50.
pointless information, but that is how much free time I have!

 

[mbonwick]

Period 8 Fleetcard attached.

Movements this month;

• 3 ex-Merseyside Darts have entered service at Carlisle, 33161/2 and 34048
• 1 Dart, ex-Merseyside, each for; Chorley (33174), Preston (34079) and Kendal (34213)
• Kendal's Dart has enabled oddball B6LE, 30342 to be placed in reserve
• Volvo Olympian 16635 and Solo 47474, both Preston, have been placed in store following accidents. A man was killed in the incident involving the Oly.
• Olympians 16669/16670 have moved from Preston to Chorley, releasing the ex-Lancaster Tridents.
• 17013 has gone for open topping and 17014 has moved to Preston to cover for an Olympian (16635 one assumes)
• ex-Bullocks L 10 BUL has been reregistered as L 829 LNE and has received no. 14853 and is at Lillyhall for, yup you guessed it, open topping.

• 20752 has moved from Carlisle to Lillyhall
• ex-Kendal B6 30460 has finally been sold (!), after being raided of just about everything; engine, seats, lights etc etc
• Several 709Ds have been entered for disposal, 40004, 40012, 40023, 40328, 40396, 40441, 40455, 40649. All bar 2 were in the reserve fleet

I am surprised to see that 20775 is still showing as being in reserve at Kendal. I suppose it's being raided for parts, but it's a write off!

 

[driver9000]

Nice to see the last 709D being up for disposal, it removes a threat of them coming back to haunt the streets!!

What happened to the Lancaster Solo that has a smashed up front end? it looks like one of the S registered ones.....

 

[mbonwick]

The 709Ds have not gone by any means! There was one that was reinstated from Reserve -> Barrow, and Lillyhall still has quite a large allocation of them, as does Carlisle.


As for the Solo - I've no idea. I'll get a friend to have a look....

 

[Dallamlad]

Hi everyone

I take a very keen interest in anything to do with STL and know quite a lot about what’s going on through contacts like Gez. Does anyone have any news on vehicle movement for Lancaster? I’m always interested to know what Lancaster may be getting. One of our B10B’s (21003) has been repainted and fitted with an LED screen and so looks very smart. This was mentioned earlier in the thread but thought I’d mention it anyway.

Trident 2 17020 is set to back on the road early next year with CCTV and LED screen as well as a new interior. 17023 has been fitted with CCTV but no new screen as yet.

I can’t wait for our B6’s to disappear. They look so scruffy with at least one of them not having a working screen at one time. Could really do with some new solos or a pair of darts to make our midi bus fleet completely low riding.

If anyone has any new info on Lancaster I would really appreciate it. Also if anyone has any questions concerning Lancaster let me know and I just might have the answer.

Many thanks.

 

[driver9000]

Welcome to the discussion Dallamlad, I am a former Lancaster driver and know only too well your woes about the B6 I never liked them from day one!! I still think its a shame the ex-London Tridents are losing their LT style blinds, glad to see TA20 will be returned to service.