Stagecoach North West Discussion

[Dallamlad]

Never been to Lillyhall i should pop over. I never got why they got only one Versa when Lancaster got three. Seemed weird. Sorly we should have got 4 and they could have a solo or two from us lol.

Yeah our school services are quite good apart from the heaters lol il have to pester a driver to turn it up next time lol.

I was thinking how scruffy the buses thet Kirby Lonsdale coaches operate look. They have some Lancasrer routes and trhey look so bad lol.

 

[cainebj]

lillyhall got the versa for its seated capacity.
it was intended for the whitehaven - greenbank - woodhouse (no. 2) service, which was previously ran by a 40 seat dart (L119 HHV). unfortunately, was unefficient, and was swapped with a lillyhall 56reg dart (38 + wheelchair i think). the versa now does one of the routes the 56reg darts do (normally 31 / 31A unless major traffic disruptions mean buses swapping services mid route again).
i have only been on it once, and i love it! way better than anything else lillyhall depot has!
i'd like to know why lillyhall got these ex preston solos! they are hardly ever on their planned route! supposed to be for moorclose circular, but they keep appearing on south whitehaven / seaton / harrington / mirehouse(which has the 08reg solos designated for it!)

 

[mbonwick]

KLCH - "IF it runs, don't touch it"
They honestly don't care about the state of their buses, so long as they are drivable. Far better if they just stick to transporting the Ripley ****ers.

 

[cainebj]

was just looking at the period 8 fleet card. R251 NBV, R252 NBV, R253 NBV and R255 NBV are showing up as bus seated, but they are coach seated, and have been for some time! R254 NBV is actually bus seated.
K768 DAO is on there as bus seated, but is also coach seated. i think one of the other K76? DAO's are coach seated too!
N128 YRM is also coach seated, but on there as bus seated.

 

[mbonwick]

You need to remember that the list is kept/updated by a man who lives in Lancaster. Consequently, for places like Lillyhall, it can't be 100% accurate, especially if the buses have been reseated.

 

[cainebj]

i can understand about the K reg's, and the 709, but the R reg olympians have had coach seats for many years. i think they were fitted with the coach seats when they recieved route branding for 300 / 301 when they entered service at lillyhall. unfortunately, that route branding was removed around 2 years ago.
i'm suprised the 300 / 301 service hasnt had low floor buses introduced on the service! the steps on the olympians are pretty short, but 300 is a main access route for a lot of cumbria beyond maryport. it is mostly pensioners who use the 300, and for some it can take a while to climb on board. it annoys me how no-one tries to help these people. drivers just sit there and sigh!

 

[driver9000]

They arent coach seats, they look to me like the new style DP seating as fitted to some of the N registered Ribble Volvo Olympians used on the X2 in Preston, so the list is correct for showing them as being bus seated. Originally the R reg buses you mention were fitted with normal bus bench seating for 87 passengers.

mbonwick, the fleet list looks you attached a few pages ago is the official Stagecoach listing, so should be correct I remember being given them on the odd occasion when the period changed over. If its not the official one, its a damn good copy!!

 

[mbonwick]

If they're Dual-Purpose seat, then the designation should be DPH47/28F (or whatever the relevant numbers are..)

And I quote from the e-mail I received
" [FONT=&quot]Good afternoon all,

Just received the SNW Period 8 allocation card, which and am updating
my Excel version of this, which I will post sometime over the next
couple of days........"[/FONT]

 

[Dallamlad]

On the subject of seating was someone saying something about Lancaster Solo's been fitted with news seats?

Also has one of Lancaster s B10B's been converted to low riding? I think this isn't possible but I've heard it around and was just wondering plus I've seen it on the 6a route which is a low riding route.

 

[driver9000]

Its not possible to convert step entrance buses to low floor (it might be but very expensive). If a low floor bus isnt available then a step entrance bus will subsitute - happens a lot on routes 2/2A.

Yor friend must also produce his own lists too, looks very similar

 

[Dallamlad]

I diden't think it was but because the B10B's are quite low andyway and don't have a pole inbetween the steps leading in into into the bus i thought they may have played around with it. I didn't think they would bother but thought id ask anyway. They do do a lot of substituting on the 2/2a but i hardly ever see it on the 6/6a 1) because of the Versa's and 2) because they are not as regular as the 2/2a. Its very rare to see a none low rider on the 6/6a these days.

Anyway the B10B (21003) looks really neat

 

[mbonwick]

There was a Solo on a 2 to Morecambe Heyshame. First time in 5 years of commuting I've seen that.


Very very rare to see a non-low floor on the 6/6A - the dedicated Versas ahve seen to that, and there's nearly always a Solo or Trident spare to cover the extra peak time runs.

 

[driver9000]

Its always amusing to see minibuses on the 2/2A - they must be very hard up for buses if that happens. I saw a Solo about 2 weeks ago heading for Heysham Towers. I remember a week a fwe years ago when at least one diagram was a 709D for part of the day standing in for unavailable full size buses.

The one thing that has always annoyed me about step entrance substitutes on low floor routes in Lancaster is seeing a MAN or a Trident on a step entrance route such as the 55/55A.

 

[Dallamlad]

Yeah i sore a Solo doing a school run this morning which looked so odd! I'v seen a B6 do the 2 and a Versa and a Solo doing the 4 but never the 2, how strange lol.

Your bang on with the 6a if there isn't a Versa then there's a Solo, no solo a MAN, no MAN a trident and then they turn to step buses so was very odd, very odd indeed!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The one thing that has always annoyed me about step entrance substitutes on low floor routes in Lancaster is seeing a MAN or a Trident on a step entrance route such as the 55/55A.

Yes I agree it is really annoying to see an Olympian for example on the 2a and then seeing a Trident on the 40 route. Wheres the logic lol.

 

[driver9000]

Im not sure if it still stands today but there were some no-go areas for some types of bus, these included:

MAN: 5 (Draycombe Ct, Windermere Rd), 6/6A (Gringley Rd, ASDA), 7, 10, 49, 80, 81
B6/B10: 10, 49 (Norfolk St)
Olympian: Anything using a saloon or mini!
709D: most conventional routes (1 journey on X41 to Preston, 41 back was a 709D)

A minibus used to be allocated to the 81B Ripley-Melling school service.

Ive noticed this has slipped a bit recently as Ive seen B6 buses turning into Norfolk St, I beleive the Versa cant go down into Salt Ayre because they ground on the ramp.

 

[mbonwick]

Don't forget thoguh that the 40 is allocated Tridents as well as the 2 now.

22805 was on the 89A school run this afternoon - I thought that was odd, it's normally on of the B10s. A Solo could easily deputise though - it's not a very busy school service, only about 25 people use it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
MANs are definitley OK on the 5 and 49, funnily enough I saw one on both of these on Friday.

B10s have been seen on both 7 and 49 - just not very often.

 

[Dallamlad]

Iv seen MANS on most of the services you mentioned including the 80/81/81B, 49,7,10. A man also does the 6a in the morning on its way to Lancaster.

Obv we don't have any 709D's anymore but that sounds write and B10's are used a lot on the morning Ripley services.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
PS:

The 2/2a are priority low riding routes but the 40/41/41 are not. There fore the 2/2a should take priority.

Also the B10's are now regularly seen on the 7 service but as you say not so much on the 49.

 

[mbonwick]

You're absolutely right about the morning 6A - I don't know how I could forget it! Several friends catch that service, as well as my ex-girlfriend.


The reason behind using B10Ms on school services - the kids don't complain about the steps are are perfectly capable of climbing them!

The 49 is mainly Solos - except for peak time when it's either a B10 or other full length bus, or a double decker

 

[driver9000]

The 81B was the odd one out in being a Merc, the rest were B10M or Javelins. They must have widened the Ridge traffic calming if MANs have been up there as they were too narrow for Lo-Liners (8' 4") they were only just wide enough to fit a decker through to get up to Central High. B10Ms are quite often seen on the 7. It ised to be the case that the no-go areas were impassable for midi/ full sized buses due to tight turns and parked cars - things really have come a long way!

Is a double deck still used on the 07:30 6A from Morecambe, that used to be a very busy service, with a double deck return in the evening.

 

[Dallamlad]

Yes my school bus goes past it near the collage.

The B10M's are used a lot but really on one of the 55 routes in the morning shouldn't be ad they are so over packed. I observed one in the bus station tis morning and it was like a Tardis. the people just kept on coming lol.

Yeah the 49 is run by solos most of the time but like you say have other vehicles at peak times such as the school run Olympian in the morning.

 

[driver9000]

The B10M's are used a lot but really on one of the 55 routes in the morning shouldn't be ad they are so over packed. I observed one in the bus station tis morning and it was like a Tardis. the people just kept on coming lol.

Always was, some divert via Whalley Rd at Beaumont to avoid the traffic on Slyne Rd - its amazing how many can squeeze into a B10!!

 

[Dallamlad]

I know they just keep on coming lol should really be a decker!

 

[driver9000]

I know they just keep on coming lol should really be a decker!

Low bridge near Millhead precludes the use of double decks, unless you want a convertible most of the buses on that route come from Warton/Silverdale in the mornings - The services from Windermere Rd are double decks though, the kids used to switch to the DD at New St in Carnforth.

 

[mbonwick]

It's daft though. Seriously.

You don't need all these single deckers coming in from Warton. I bet you could fit all the people from the Warton side of Carnforth on to on B10M, which IMHO should be the last bus of all. All the Double Decks should go before it - that's plenty of 55As to Ripley and the 556 to the Bus Station.

In the evening, the 1547 should really be a double deck, terminating a Carnforth - demand is so great. I notice that the 1610 changed to a double when the 1600 school service was abolished.

 

[Dallamlad]

I have just seen 20898 for the first time in Lancaster out of service at the bus station. Has CCTV but looks a bit scruffy paint wise.

 

[mbonwick]

20898....that's a new one on me. Never seen it before, if fact I didn't even know it existed. I suspect it is being prepared for movement elsewhere.

 

[John_158]

Noticed today that Stagecoach Merseyside Gillmoss Depot has a Tri Axle Volvo B10 Alexander bodied as a Majic Bus .

Is there only one of theese or are there a few of them here i seem to rember theese as Megga Buses.

 

[Dallamlad]

Yeah 20898 is new to me 2 but after i sore it in Lancaster i sore it running the X1 service so it may be hear to stay or as you say just with use while its between depots.

 

[driver9000]

20898 is a former Merseyside B10M, not sure where it started life though.

As far as Im aware there were no tri-axle B10Ms built. Its possibly a former Hong-Kong Volvo Olympian as they are popular for use on MagicBus and MegaBus duties.

 

[mbonwick]

20898 is shown as being at Chorley, so I bet it has been swapped with one of Lancaster's R reg B10s, like was supposed to happen in the summer.