77syk7
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Post by 77syk7 on Jun 8, 2013 20:08:49 GMT 1
Taking the number of Primos to?. Must have one of the largest collections in the country.
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Sept 22, 2013 19:45:56 GMT 1
16 primos.
SN57EWJ is TJ46 by the way.
MX08WCJ is TJ43, MX08WCT is TJ44. I haven't seen MX08WCK but I expect it is TJ45.
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Post by Father Dougal McGuire on Dec 2, 2013 22:53:53 GMT 1
Recently seen 2 Fiat Ducato-type Mini-buses going around possibly route learning. Unsure of the proper name for these, but they look very similar to the Ducato Van.
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Post by Father Dougal McGuire on Dec 2, 2013 23:17:41 GMT 1
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Post by glennh2 on Dec 3, 2013 0:59:45 GMT 1
Benjamin Bus was on display in Halifax when they switched the Xmas lights on on Saturday with Santa Bus displayed on the front
Not sure how long the bus was in town for thoigh
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77syk7
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Post by 77syk7 on Jan 8, 2014 10:56:37 GMT 1
The step entranced minibuses are now becoming quite rare - so although these buses are somewhat unloved by enthusiasts, maybe we should remember that they are still earning their keep for TJW!
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Jan 8, 2014 21:03:10 GMT 1
They have gained them 2 Fiat Bluebirds to replace the final batch of 16 seat R-GRN Iveco's and More Primos are rapidly replacing all the other step entrance buses in service so won't be long until they are fully low floor.
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Post by Burnside on Jan 8, 2014 23:24:25 GMT 1
Primo's...ugh!
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andy1
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Post by andy1 on Jan 9, 2014 0:48:38 GMT 1
Absolute garbage,cold, hard riding,with passenger seats like rock! The only reason Neil Walsh persists with this discredited by nearly all operators model is because its cheap and he runs the exclusive spare parts Business for the Primo.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Jan 11, 2014 0:22:43 GMT 1
I have spoke to a lot of drivers at Walsh that like driving them & think they are good buses.
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andy1
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Post by andy1 on Jan 11, 2014 19:32:44 GMT 1
Ask any fleet engineers from larger bus operators who have experience of running this model what their think! Why do no major operators run the Primo ask yourself? and only small independents are interested in them, purely because their are cheap! why would you run these when the vastly superior Solo is available! money simple as!!!
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Post by Arriva Wakefield on Jan 11, 2014 23:21:27 GMT 1
Ask any fleet engineers from larger bus operators who have experience of running this model what their think! Why do no major operators run the Primo ask yourself? and only small independents are interested in them, purely because their are cheap! why would you run these when the vastly superior Solo is available! money simple as!!! So Arriva the Shires and East Yorkshire are not larger bus operators?
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andy1
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Post by andy1 on Jan 11, 2014 23:55:10 GMT 1
I Don't wish to argue the point I am just making a general observation from comments I have received from working within the industry for many years,and actually having driven the product itself.
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Jan 12, 2014 0:41:13 GMT 1
First Essex have had a fleet of them since new and Halifax hired them for Hebden Bridge from Dawson rentals when Solo's were available as an alternative plus many other independant operators up & down UK have them running without problems so they must be something right with them.
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andy1
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Post by andy1 on Jan 12, 2014 0:57:55 GMT 1
I Drove the hired Primos and can tell you for a fact the only reason Solos were not hired was due to cost,and in the end FIRST wished their had hired Solos after having to have 2 or 3 Primos towed away from Mount Skip (above Hebden Bridge) because of insufficient steering lock to negotiate a tight right hander, and then when attempting to reverse the bus to get round the bend, up a very slight incline, the bus would not gain any traction and the wheels would spin going nowhere resulting in a showstopper!!! That's the Primo for you. New drivers to TLC will of course become Familiar with Mount Skip when they start working on the Hebden and Tod networks!!!
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Jan 12, 2014 21:27:11 GMT 1
New drivers to TLC will of course become Familiar with Mount Skip when they start working on the Hebden and Tod networks!!! I sure will
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Jan 13, 2014 9:40:49 GMT 1
Ask any fleet engineers from larger bus operators who have experience of running this model what their think! Why do no major operators run the Primo ask yourself? and only small independents are interested in them, purely because their are cheap! why would you run these when the vastly superior Solo is available! money simple as!!! When the Primo was introduced there were found to be issues with the unusual 'Z'-Drive layout which resulted in poor reliability, there has been a major programme to rebuild all the vehicles to rectify the problem and reports are that it has had reasonable success. Unfortunately, as is the way of things in the bus industry, the initial teething problems have effectively killed off any chance of establishing the model as many operators do buy on reputation and won't take the risk on a questionable model, big operators with their centralised engineering are less likely to take the risk whilst smaller operators with a smaller engineering team the ability to give all their vehicles vehicles a bit of extra TLC can cope with more unusual/rarer vehicles much better. It was the same problem Optare had with the Excel, the intial models were not the most reliable of beasts and whilst Optare fixed most of the problems with the facelifted mark 2 model the reputation of the earlier vehicles limited sales severely, and with the purchase of Plaxton by ADL it was felt best to concentrate on the better established Enviro 200 rather than put further effort into the Primo. The big thing going for the Primo is that it is the only low-floor bus to get close to matching the old van-derived minibuses in size & capacity, the Solo is either a metre longer (as is the shortest Enviro 200) with a longer wheelbase or about 6 seats less whilst the Primo gives you 28-seats in a vehicle 7.8 metres long which is about what you could get in a Vario (slightly more if you squeezed them in). Smaller independents, like TJ Walsh, are also more likely to be running those sort of local minibus services which run down small residential roads where the small size of a Primo means a vehicle can be got round that a bigger vehicle can't - the big groups have moved away from a lot of this work, particularly since the move to low-floor and the increase in operating costs that often make these services more marginal than they are happy coping with.
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Post by Jamie on Jan 13, 2014 17:20:22 GMT 1
Now the Optare series of SE/SR's on the M710 have filled the gap on the small minibus market!
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Post by westyorkshirebus on Jan 13, 2014 20:16:24 GMT 1
Although all of TJ Walsh's routes are paralleled by First using full sizes buses, so size isn't the reason they've purchased them.
It's always been TJ Walsh's uniqueness, using unusual strange looking small buses, so it wouldn't be right them buying Solos like everyone else!
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Post by Burnside on Jan 13, 2014 23:09:12 GMT 1
There is that!
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Post by dwarfer1979 on Jan 14, 2014 9:53:13 GMT 1
Now the Optare series of SE/SR's on the M710 have filled the gap on the small minibus market! As I said around 6-seats less, the short 7.8 & 7.1m SE Solos seat 21-23 passengers, a 7.8m Primo seats 28, a 7.8m Vario seats 29-33. It may not seem like much but when dealing with making small local routes like this commercially viable, to quote the hackneyed marketing phrase, "every little helps". I thought a couple of Walsh's services did deviate slightly from the normal First routes at their outer ends (certainly the Elland bus I caught a while back seemed to disappear off round the back of the town centre as it came in that was a little tight with parked cars), it only takes one short piece of road to justify it and just having the flexibility to offer some difference may be worth it if you can source it. Also the alternatives aren't as black & white on reliability or quality as they would seem, both ADL & Optare have had quality issues (and seating is about the specification of the original purchaser both ADL & Optare have supplied vehicles with similar hard seats if asked - it may have been more standard on the Primo partly due to many being bought through Dawsonrentals who specify the Urban 90 seat normally on most of their vehicles) and it is about picking the one that you can live with - if TJ Walsh can get on with the Primo (as they clearly can) then you get a modern vehicle for much less than you would have to pay to get the equivalent ADL or Optare which, with all the warranty modifications done, is with time proving a handy little machine for the right operator.
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Post by Dom on May 31, 2014 16:23:52 GMT 1
Did anyone else see TJ Walsh's primo on Happy Valley, TJ45 I think it was, on the 595 to Blackshaw Head (tlc route?)
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Post by Dom on May 31, 2014 16:25:47 GMT 1
Did anyone else see TJ Walsh's primo on Happy Valley, TJ45 I think it was, on the 595 to Blackshaw Head (tlc route?)
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A1YBG
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METRO Here to get you there. Arriva Buses Here to get you there. Arriva need to get original slogans
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Post by A1YBG on May 31, 2014 16:43:04 GMT 1
Did anyone else see TJ Walsh's primo on Happy Valley, TJ45 I think it was, on the 595 to Blackshaw Head (tlc route?) Yes we did. Sent from my GT-N7100 using proboards
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Matty
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Post by Matty on Jun 1, 2014 19:38:13 GMT 1
Yes and it said 595 Hebden Bridge & when they were filming in centre of Hebden Bridge the bus was driving around with 595 on the desti and a few drivers were ringing up the depot asking why
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