77syk7
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Post by 77syk7 on Nov 7, 2018 10:56:58 GMT 1
It has been mentioned a few times on the forum about First finding a suitable new bus which could cope with the arduous conditions of the busy 503 route from Halifax to Huddersfield.
A brief look a the new vehicles being introduced soon include the 3 axle Volvo B8TL with the potential to accommodate 100 passengers. With a larger 350 bhp 8 litre engine plus a lighter construction, this should be able to tackle The Ainleys with some force!
I also wondered if a Scania 280 gas double decker (as in Nottingham) etc with its larger 9 litre engine might be another suitable candidate.
First will have to replace these 14 year old ageing double deckers soon on the 503 because they are looking shabby and not the required standard expected of such an important route
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WYBS
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Post by WYBS on Nov 7, 2018 12:08:20 GMT 1
It has been mentioned a few times on the forum about First finding a suitable new bus which could cope with the arduous conditions of the busy 503 route from Halifax to Huddersfield. A brief look a the new vehicles being introduced soon include the 3 axle Volvo B8TL with the potential to accommodate 100 passengers. With a larger 350 bhp 8 litre engine plus a lighter construction, this should be able to tackle The Ainleys with some force! I also wondered if a Scania 280 gas double decker (as in Nottingham) etc with its larger 9 litre engine might be another suitable candidate. First will have to replace these 14 year old ageing double deckers soon on the 503 because they are looking shabby and not the required standard expected of such an important route Bramley's Enviro 400s are supposed to be moving to Halifax once Leeds have enough Streetwrecks, (according to a Bramley Engineer). I can imagine they will be used for 503s, but there is no chance in hell that they will last long going up Ainley Top. Do First really care enough to invest in new buses for Halifax when they're running 14 year old buses on probably their busiest route? |
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Post by gledhill56 on Nov 7, 2018 13:07:17 GMT 1
The only routes to have seen any form of investment in Halifax were routes that they have competition on such as 520/1/2.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Nov 7, 2018 13:11:14 GMT 1
I doubt a bespoke bus will ever be purchased for the 503. It’ll either be a cascade of whatever is available, or if they did buy new, it’d be the standard model that First are purchasing group wide that year.
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Post by Father Dougal McGuire on Nov 7, 2018 13:48:13 GMT 1
The 54/05 Plate 325** Geminis do well up Calderdale Way. Some even quicker than the B9TL we had on trial. The 06 Plate 370** another story though. I think it will always be demanding for whatever vehicle goes onto the 503 service. The most reasonable thing to do would be to send the Gemini 2's when Hunslet get more StreetDecks… After all Halifax is practically a 90% Volvo depot on the service fleet.
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cs1
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Englands biggest depot
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Post by cs1 on Nov 7, 2018 15:09:25 GMT 1
It has been mentioned a few times on the forum about First finding a suitable new bus which could cope with the arduous conditions of the busy 503 route from Halifax to Huddersfield. A brief look a the new vehicles being introduced soon include the 3 axle Volvo B8TL with the potential to accommodate 100 passengers. With a larger 350 bhp 8 litre engine plus a lighter construction, this should be able to tackle The Ainleys with some force! I also wondered if a Scania 280 gas double decker (as in Nottingham) etc with its larger 9 litre engine might be another suitable candidate. First will have to replace these 14 year old ageing double deckers soon on the 503 because they are looking shabby and not the required standard expected of such an important route Bramley's Enviro 400s are supposed to be moving to Halifax once Leeds have enough Streetwrecks, (according to a Bramley Engineer). I can imagine they will be used for 503s, but there is no chance in hell that they will last long going up Ainley Top. Do First really care enough to invest in new buses for Halifax when they're running 14 year old buses on probably their busiest route? If the 14 plate E400 sisters to Leeds batch can cope well enough on Sheffields 51 route which has hills that make Ainley Top look like a snooker table then I'm quite sure they will be OK in Halifax, as for Gemini 2 36** its obvious they are destined for other opcos, besides which 14 plates over 12 will bring Halifax's age profile down with a bang. Did I mention the 14 plate E400s do roughly 60mph or above?. They are ultra reliable too. Apart from the door interlocks people maybe surprised. |
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Post by Father Dougal McGuire on Nov 7, 2018 15:13:57 GMT 1
Bramley's Enviro 400s are supposed to be moving to Halifax once Leeds have enough Streetwrecks, (according to a Bramley Engineer). I can imagine they will be used for 503s, but there is no chance in hell that they will last long going up Ainley Top. Do First really care enough to invest in new buses for Halifax when they're running 14 year old buses on probably their busiest route? If the 14 plate E400 sisters to Leeds batch can cope well enough on Sheffields 51 route which has hills that make Ainley Top look like a snooker table then I'm quite sure they will be OK in Halifax, as for Gemini 2 36** its obvious they are destined for other opcos, besides which 14 plates over 12 will bring Halifax's age profile down with a bang. Did I mention the 14 plate E400s do roughly 60mph or above?. They are ultra reliable too. Apart from the door interlocks people maybe surprised. I drive the 338** Enviros in Leeds regularly and don't mind them, its the door interlock that lets them down. Thing is, they are good on the route they're allocated to because they've had extra time built into the timetable. Used to get them on the 72 or 50 services quite a bit towards the end and made me realise how long that door interlock delay actually is. |
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cs1
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Post by cs1 on Nov 7, 2018 15:24:35 GMT 1
I doubt a bespoke bus will ever be purchased for the 503. It’ll either be a cascade of whatever is available, or if they did buy new, it’d be the standard model that First are purchasing group wide that year. I agree, years ago you knew Fleetlines were the tool for the job in Halifax and parts of Huddersfield, same as buses set up for Sheffield were built for hills but no good screaming away on the flat in Doncaster at 40mph. Big groups now just buy stuff on manufacturer specs then put them into opcos thinking they will be OK, recent examples being Streetlites on eco settings, absolutely pathetic, when you get Wrights to set the Cummins ones up properly then they will go over 30mph on a 1-10 hill, again its down to people being bothered to ask the manufacturer to put the laptop on them and set them up. First have found out the hard way about standard spec buses such as London Tridents, lovely tootling about in the city below 20 mph. Bring them up north and the engines were on the limit all the time till it got to the point where depots got seriously short of buses while the engineering budget rocketed through major unit failures. Moving them to a flatter location made it worse as the damage was done and the engines reconditioned by a local firm were even more liable to failure. A move to Cornwall where they prefer them worked well, most failed on the way down, some terminally, and of those that made it into service 2 were recently lost to fire. The only vehicles First purchased that were tough enough to have decent uneventful lives were the Volvo Olympians, BLEs and the Scanias. Your B7/B9s are heavy duty but the engines won't do much over 500,000m without attention. If it wasn't for the gearbox wear you would have seen Tracky push National 2s and Olympians well beyond the 25 year mark while all your Darts etc were falling apart and blowing engines all around them. Basically nobody builds buses like they should anymore. |
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cs1
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Post by cs1 on Nov 7, 2018 15:27:56 GMT 1
If the 14 plate E400 sisters to Leeds batch can cope well enough on Sheffields 51 route which has hills that make Ainley Top look like a snooker table then I'm quite sure they will be OK in Halifax, as for Gemini 2 36** its obvious they are destined for other opcos, besides which 14 plates over 12 will bring Halifax's age profile down with a bang. Did I mention the 14 plate E400s do roughly 60mph or above?. They are ultra reliable too. Apart from the door interlocks people maybe surprised. I drive the 338** Enviros in Leeds regularly and don't mind them, its the door interlock that lets them down. Thing is, they are good on the route they're allocated to because they've had extra time built into the timetable. Used to get them on the 72 or 50 services quite a bit towards the end and made me realise how long that door interlock delay actually is. Yes its a real pain and the new E200/400MMCs are even worse as you have to dab the brake pedal now to release the interlock. Semi-fast limited stop work would be ideal for them rather than stopping every 300 yards all day. |
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Post by Dom on Nov 7, 2018 23:40:23 GMT 1
I drive the 338** Enviros in Leeds regularly and don't mind them, its the door interlock that lets them down. Thing is, they are good on the route they're allocated to because they've had extra time built into the timetable. Used to get them on the 72 or 50 services quite a bit towards the end and made me realise how long that door interlock delay actually is. Yes its a real pain and the new E200/400MMCs are even worse as you have to dab the brake pedal now to release the interlock. Semi-fast limited stop work would be ideal for them rather than stopping every 300 yards all day. Our 338’s at Bramley seem to have more power than the 37 Volvos on the 49/50 routes. Can get up Easterly Road a lot quicker. Our 14 plate Enviros are too cramped in the cab, the indicator stalk is in the wrong position, and likewise with the n/s mirror. Breaks are too keen, much prefer the X84 enviros |
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cs1
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Post by cs1 on Nov 8, 2018 1:53:09 GMT 1
Yes its a real pain and the new E200/400MMCs are even worse as you have to dab the brake pedal now to release the interlock. Semi-fast limited stop work would be ideal for them rather than stopping every 300 yards all day. Our 338’s at Bramley seem to have more power than the 37 Volvos on the 49/50 routes. Can get up Easterly Road a lot quicker. Our 14 plate Enviros are too cramped in the cab, the indicator stalk is in the wrong position, and likewise with the n/s mirror. Breaks are too keen, much prefer the X84 enviros You mean the retarder is much keener, try gently taking up the slack on the brake pedal and you will be amazed how many stages of the retarder you can control before the foundation brakes come in. Hear a lot of complaints re traff arm on wrong side, yet all us old school bus people remember that's how they were, GM standards, Olympians etc MCWs, Dominators and so on. It was only the Swedish invasion that moved them to the left. |
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Steve Macz403
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Post by Steve Macz403 on Nov 8, 2018 20:35:43 GMT 1
Probably has to do with Bramleys E400s being on ZF and X84 E400s are on Voith.
If anything the 503 could get a Volvo B5TL decker. Coastliner and 36 have them. The 503 should be able to cope along up to Ainley Top.
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cs1
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Post by cs1 on Nov 8, 2018 21:23:41 GMT 1
Probably has to do with Bramleys E400s being on ZF and X84 E400s are on Voith. If anything the 503 could get a Volvo B5TL decker. Coastliner and 36 have them. The 503 should be able to cope along up to Ainley Top. Only time you'll see First buy B5s is for Vantage work. No better than Streetdecks. E400s are Euro 5, E400MMC Euro 6 and mechanically totally different, and as Stagecoach Gold drivers already know-very slow. |
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Danny
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Post by Danny on Nov 12, 2018 22:23:58 GMT 1
The “Zest” buses are very tired now. I drove 32526 & 32527 on Saturday all day. Nice buses but the 503 needs an upgrade.
When we had the Streetdeck on test, Voith tried different gear change times and got it right in the end. Allowing more RPM before engaging next gear, but I can’t see the group ordering anything specific for the 503.
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cs1
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Post by cs1 on Nov 13, 2018 0:51:03 GMT 1
The “Zest” buses are very tired now. I drove 32526 & 32527 on Saturday all day. Nice buses but the 503 needs an upgrade. When we had the Streetdeck on test, Voith tried different gear change times and got it right in the end. Allowing more RPM before engaging next gear, but I can’t see the group ordering anything specific for the 503. 35102?. A lifetime of grief at FSY after. EGR/DPF Camshafts and so on. When Mercedes came in all they said was which one is it, CSF or CSO. When it was finally sorted and all the red lights cleared it was a nice drive. |
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Post by zago91 on Apr 12, 2019 23:12:30 GMT 1
Interesting thread. I’ve noticed some odd allocations on the 503 lately. Strangely, noticed a lot of single decks appearing on there at peak times. They’re branded for Calder Connect, even saw a B9 from Hudds on there the other week, I presume covering for a breakdown? Also Noticed a few extra air vents appearing on the engine covers of some of the older B7’s.
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Post by sidthesexist on Apr 13, 2019 19:32:24 GMT 1
Interesting thread. I’ve noticed some odd allocations on the 503 lately. Strangely, noticed a lot of single decks appearing on there at peak times. They’re branded for Calder Connect, even saw a B9 from Hudds on there the other week, I presume covering for a breakdown? Also Noticed a few extra air vents appearing on the engine covers of some of the older B7’s. Buses with Wi-Fi? |
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Post by Father Dougal McGuire on Apr 13, 2019 19:59:33 GMT 1
Interesting thread. I’ve noticed some odd allocations on the 503 lately. Strangely, noticed a lot of single decks appearing on there at peak times. They’re branded for Calder Connect, even saw a B9 from Hudds on there the other week, I presume covering for a breakdown? Also Noticed a few extra air vents appearing on the engine covers of some of the older B7’s. Peak boards come out of the depot between 1500-1630 so can be anything that is there or what's been released from engineering. I was asked to cover the 1730 Halifax to Huddersfield the other day, I was on two round trips to Todmorden on the 592. However I was running late due to Mytholmroyd roadworks aswell as an incident at Tuel Lane top which caused a tail back. The 1730 was covered by something else. No extra vents on any buses. The 06 plate B7 Geminis have a slightly different rear engine cover grille lay out as well as a vent on either corner of the rear end. 32523 has 32692's rear engine over and vice-versa. |
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