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Stagecoach North West Discussion

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mbonwick

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I personally think it's a shame about the Tridents, but at the same time I see it as a good thing. It brings them in line with the DDA and shows that they have a relatively scure future.
On a personal note, the LED screens are much easier to read than the flip-dots or blinds.
 
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Dallamlad

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I think the LED screens are a very good idea. The problem with the old blinds is they have limited destinations. For example a Trident 2 was used for the 55 service last week but diden't have the service number in the destination reel. If it was an LED it would have all the destinations in there with room for more. Plus they look a lot more modern and attractive. However its shame as theres not many old style blinds left.
 

driver9000

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odd, as I remember the Blinds having all routes on them when they were fitted - even saw a Trident showing 55 complete with via points! I suppose LED screens are the next step in the evolution of bus destination systems, shame nothing will replace the legibility of roller blinds.

Caught a glimpse of an unusual looking Stagecoach Citi bus in Preston this morning - No.33414 (might be wrong) registered PX55 ??? - looked like it was possibly MCV bodied. Anyone give any more clues - sorry it was early and I was on a trip for food!!
 

mbonwick

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33144 reg P 455 DCW. Dart SLF
East Lancs Spryte body, B31F. Identical to 33143, reg P 454 DCW
 

driver9000

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it was definitely began PX55, the registration was in the glass panel that forms the rear window, in tghe smoked lower part....
 

Dallamlad

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Yes a few do but not all of them. Plus they have a tendency to fall apart as their getting old now. I'm suprised they fitted 21003 with new LED's as thats got to be up for replacement within the next couple of years. Apparently a number of Volvo Olympians are been moved out of Newcastle and may be heading in our direction. Anyone got any info on that? Also there is word that we may get two Dennis Darts to replace our current B6's at Lancaster (would be a god send) can anyone help on this or in general anything to tell me about Lancaster or Kendal?

Thanks
 

mbonwick

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driver9000 - no idea then. The Period 8 fleetcard doesn't show up any PX55 single deckers that would match your description.


Dallamlad - the whole point of this thread is to share info/gen/sightings/speculation about SCNW - that's Preston, Lancaster, Kendal and Lillyhall.

I wouldn't have thought that the B10Bs are up for replacing any time soon. They're relatively low floor and just slightly older than the B10Ms. However I do believe they were refreshed and overhauled by SC Merseyside before they came up here, so must be in good working order.
Dart for a B6 - yeah. My friend was speculating a while ago about a Lillyhall solo or B10B being swapped for a B6. Now that the Darts are going spare, I wouldn't be surprised if a swap is on the cards. Anything to get rid of B6s!
I've not heard about the Newcastle Olympians, but I can't see why we would need any. The 142xx which moved from Morecambe to Lillyhall received a refresh, and we now have more than enough OT Titan replacements. Perhaps replacement for the H xxx WFR Leyland Olympians?

As an aside, you've probably seen me at one time or another, waiting for the 1620 Stagecoach Kendal 556 ;)
 

Dallamlad

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Hi

I think the idea was that the Volvo's replace our old Leylands. However Kendals Leyland Oly's are warmer then any other modern decker. They use them for our school services and the heating beats any other decker type hands down.

I do hope we get some darts up here at some point and your right anything to get rid of those ruddy B6's!

The B10B's seem very quick actually or thats what i get when i ride in one. An yes i think ur right seeing as they have been repainted and one has had new seats we can safely say their gona be round for a while.

I wonder if we will see any new ingle deckers next year like our MANS.

I may see you when I get the 556 now and then.

Oh and I've just thought i was walking past the Kendal debot a few weeks ago and sore one of the recently converted ex lancaster Tridents hiding in the garage. Don't they look good!
 

mbonwick

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I beg to differ about the heating. I reckon Kendal's new Tridents are far warmer than the old N reg Olympains. However Kendal appear to have turned the thermostats down slightly :(


Yes the OT Tridents do look good, however they have caused a problem for the Kendal depot manager; they are wider and longer than the Titans they have replaced, so getting everything to fit is becoming more of a problem!
 

Dallamlad

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Yes I was discussing that problem with the Tridents with a friend a while back. Do you know how many their getting?

We have both 55 plate Tridents and Leyland’s on our school route and when its 8am, -3 and ur on the top deck the Leyland’s are by far warmer. But your absolutely right Kendal may play with the heating temperature. I was on Leyland 14235 (on loan from Lancaster but may be kept by Kendal as its seating capacity is low compared to the rest of Lancaster’s deckers) and it had no heating at all. Didn’t do very well on the black ice on the car park at school but that’s another story.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Also I thought all Kendals N reg's were moved when thet got the 55 plates. i'm talking about the J, H and F reg's.
 

mbonwick

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Well originally Kendal were going to ahve 17012-6 OT'd. However, several Olympians have been sent instead after arguments with bridges. I don't think 17014 will be converted - it's in preston ATM.

Which school run are you then? D6 I guess??
14235 is actually a Kendal machine, loaned to Lancaster for a while. I guess the heating may have been isolated for some reason. I was on 20750 I think it was, going to school on a cold morning in 2006. The driver asked if the heat was on and I said, "no it isn't"
So he stopped and went to turn it up (the thermostat is under the first row of seats on B10Ms) and he found the the fitters had kindly welded a plate over it!


You're absolutely right, Kendal no longer has any N regs. I only drew that comparsion because all I've ever been on is the 555/6 which has always been N regs/55 plate Tridents/the odd B10M.

I guess the heating has been turned down to reduce costs - when a trident came up from Manchester for a trial run i November last year, the heat was up so high I was sweating! Also I think part of the problem is drivers not knowing how to switch the heat on - all the controls are in-cab on Tridents. Warm air can be blown through the vents at floor level towards the rear of the lower deck, but these are always switched off (and I'm 99% sure which switch it is that operates them)


Another problem Tridents seem to have is condensation forming on the roof upstairs!
 

driver9000

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I cant see any reason why the 21xxx B10Bs would be moved on, they were brought in to replace the Javelin/Duples (another sad loss) the Titans were much, much older! The heating system in the Leylands controlled slightly differently to the Volvos, in the cab of the Leyland is a on/off and individual thermostats in the saloons (o/s lower deck, n/s upper deck) where as the Volvos have a stop-cock style valve in the cab and the system is controlled without thermostats. The G & H registered Leylands had extra heaters under the back seats controlled from switches on the o/s shelf in the cab, I always found the Leyland warmer than a Volvo. The 170xx Tridents have the heater next to the rear o/s wheel arch, under the raised seats - the lower deck was always toasty warm the upper deck hot in the summer!. Remeber though that traditionally double decks never had upper saloon heaters (right up to the C reg 21xx Olympians) they relied on the principle of heat rising and passengers body heat. There is no extra cost in using the heaters as they use waste heat from the engine and use the hot coolant as it passes between engine and header tank (also has the benefit of cooling the water). As far as I recall the saloon heater on 170xx Tridents is bottom left of the switch panel.

B10Ms have the saloon stop valve in the cab at floor level.

Darts have been long talked about coming to Cumberland, ever since I worked there but nothing ever happened, except for the Carlisle ones. I drove Prestons 04 regs when new and found the build wasnt as good as when they were Dennis/Plaxton. Personally I think its more likely we will see more Versas coming into stock to replace B6
 
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Dallamlad

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Lancaster must have had 14235 for a while as it has Stagecoach in Lancaster on the side. I think it just moves between Kendal and lancaster when needed. Yes ur right i am on D6 but D1A and D1 share are allocation list and they tend to rotate around all three services. The school runners are a nightmare seating wise, just no leg room lol.

Yes i think all deckers could be wormer but it all depends dosn't it :)

To be honest i would profer Versa's rather then darts. Iv only ever been on a versa ones but it was such a smooth ride i was very impressed.
 

driver9000

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In my day 1035 was a Lancaster machine, I got to take her to Carlisle for repainting into swoops in bare metal, nice bus to drive. I think she is spending her twighlight years in a tug-of-war between Lancaster & Kendal :)
 

Dallamlad

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Yes i think your right. She moved up to kendal in September. I think this may have been because there wern't enough deckers to deal with school services. 14199 was living at Lancaster while she had an interior refit and the Dallam D6 service was upgraded from a B10M to deckers. 14235 is a short Volvo Oly compared to Lancasters group so its likely Kendal will keep her as Lancaster is only really interested in high capacity vehicles but we shall see!
 

driver9000

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14235 is a Leyland Olympian - one of the last Leylands!

14xxx Leyland Olympian (not GMPTE standards)
16xxx Volvo Olympian
 

Dallamlad

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Lol yes very good although Leylands are dam noisy lol. Lancaster Volvo's are alright most of the time. I'm desperate to know if anything is happening with Lancaster in the new year. I need a job at Stagecoach NW head office lol.
 

driver9000

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Lol yes very good although Leylands are dam noisy lol. Lancaster Volvo's are alright most of the time. I'm desperate to know if anything is happening with Lancaster in the new year. I need a job at Stagecoach NW head office lol.

You should have tried the Bristol VRT! Dont know if anything is happening major in the new year outside of internal work on the buses - remoquetting seats etc, unfortunately Im a bit out of touch with the happenings at Lancaster these days its been a few years since I worked there.....
 

Dallamlad

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Yeah i try to get what i can but its hard and i like to know lol. I think interior revamps are high on the agenda for Lancaster atm which is good! I'm just waiting for those B6's t go lol and for us to get some more low riding single deckers.
 

mbonwick

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I doubt anything major will happen Lancaster wise, but 2009 will be a big year for Lillyhall. They will withdraw the last of the many 709Ds from service, as will Carlisle probably.

On a different note, I just read somewhere that Stagecoach spent £2.5m in 1993 on Lillyhall depot.


Dallamlad, your mention of the D6 brings me onto another point. IMHO, there are far to many Dallam School buses and too much replication.

D1 - Morecambe
D1A - Bolton-le-Sands
D2 - Lancaster
D3 - ???
D4 - ???
D5 - Hest Bank
D6 - Lancaster

To me it would make more sense to make the D2 into a double decker and integrate the D5 into it - after all, STl operate double decks over exactly the same route AFAIK.
 

Dallamlad

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D2 is a stupid route. It comes to the bus station and picks nowone up every morning and drops nowone off at night. It would make more sense to start this route in Skerton where its first pick up is. D6 is new and is working well. intergrating D2 and D5 wouldent cover all the bases. D5 starts in Slyne and runs from there to Milnthorpe. D2 covers th kellets and Halton. This hyear sore a big shake up in Dallam Bus services. Beofre i began to complain D2, D1A,D5 and D6 wen around the Crag Bank area in Carnforth. However now only D5 and D6 does this.

D1-Carlisle Bridge, lancaster through Morecamb to Milnthorpe.
D1A-Bolton lee sands via Carnforth.
D2-From Lancaster bus station, Halton, the Kellets and Carnforth
D3 Arnside area,
D4-The 530 to Grange.
D5-Slyne through crag Bank, Carnforth and on to Milnthorpe.
D6-Lancaster bus station, down broadway in Morecambe,the prom, Crag Bank, Carnforth and onto Milnthorpe.
 

mbonwick

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Ah, the way you explain it makes much more sense now.

I still think people in Carnforth are spoiled for choice though - all those school buses and the 555
 

Dallamlad

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You have a point but all the buses if not usin th motoway must pass through Carnforth anyway and the buses we have are fully booked up. We may see a change wit D2 in the new year as we all get new bus passes o we shall se. However the route manager is a pain so it may not happen.
 

mbonwick

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Yeah I know - was rather a tongue-in-cheek comment on my part.

Who knows what 2009 wil bring? Almost certainly the end of OT Titans and Lillyhall's 709Ds
Perhaps ex-Newcastle Olympians coming into stock? Incidentally, IMHO it would make sense to move one to Preston and move 17014 back to Lancaster.
The end of F/G reg Leyland Olympians? I guess it depends on how many (if any) Olympians actually turn up from Newcastle.
 

Dallamlad

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If I'm honest i doubt we'll get any new Oly's.However i think they may begin to faze out our old Leylands and defo get rid of the rest of the old Titans as well as those bloody 709D's. I hope Lancaster is set for something but to be fair they must just concentrate on revamping what they have. Yes seeing 17014 back with the rest of the pack would be good minus the open top ones of course lol.
 

cainebj

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I doubt anything major will happen Lancaster wise, but 2009 will be a big year for Lillyhall. They will withdraw the last of the many 709Ds from service, as will Carlisle probably.

On a different note, I just read somewhere that Stagecoach spent £2.5m in 1993 on Lillyhall depot.

the large investment at lillyhall in 1993 was mostly the B10m's. had loads of the things! then there were the 2 olympians, and a few 709's.

also just thought i'd mention carlisle has no 709s in service! carlisle only has 4 minibuses in service i think it is, all 814s. the Carlisle Citi taken over a lot of them! the route where my dad lives is all carlisle citi these days. it used to be 709s or the 814s.

the school services you's get sounds a lot better to what i get at sixth form! ours are mostly local coach hire companies! i'm with J B Pickthall this year. last year was Ladybird Travel, but they went bankrupt in march, then stagecoach taken over! we got 20107 (now in service in carlisle) and a premiere 350 (unless they were both on other jobs, then we'd get whatever was lying around the depot, mostly one of the B10m's, but one day we got R252NBV)
 

mbonwick

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the large investment at lillyhall in 1993 was mostly the B10m's. had loads of the things! then there were the 2 olympians, and a few 709's.

I was actually meaning on the depot alone! They spend 1.something million on the site and then another million concreting and putting up building/inspection pits etc
 

cainebj

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that wreck of a building is only 15 years old!!! i'm in shock! i knew that workington bus station was mostly rebuilt around 1993, but i wouldnt have personally expected it to cost that much on the depot! only good thing about the depot is the size! it is massive! not suprised there are so many reserve and storage vehicles there!
 
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