Sadly the last of the rather nice Volvo B7RLE fleet has now left Plymouth. I am not quite sure why 69253 managed to hang around for quite a bit longer than the others but it has now left for Bristol. 
Also now back up in Bristol is Volvo B10BLE 66106 R906BOU. This had a very brief stay and has clearly found to be unsuitable for some reason, probably due to it being a different model to all the other Volvo Wright buses we have in Plymouth. I dont know what the differences are between a B6BLE and a B10BLE though! 
©Ian Kirby
42753 is back in Plymouth after a spell down in Cornwall 
Another Dart 42724 S724AFB is also presently at The Ride so may well be for Plymouth service.
UPDATE – 42724 has indeed been seen in service on the 6 yesterday!
Elsewhere on the net
- This evening a couple of film clips taken aboard the two Leyland Olympians that were on offer in Blackpool just after the Easter weekend, PTOTPA
- The Gosport & Fareham book was late and the Southampton version nearly so, but both productions are excellent examples of how to present a new network to the public. Public Transport Experience
- But a more generous seat pitch equates to fewer seats on a bus, which could lead to standing passengers at peak times. I reckon I know what the average commuter would prefer Omnibuses
- Today I finally made a start on riding the London bus routes, in numerical order. So it was off to ride the 1 from Tottenham Court Road to Canada Water and back. Worked by 16 long (10.6m) B7TL / Wright Eclipse Geminis operating out of Mandela Way they still carry London General livery. TGP
- The first of eight brand new buses for Stagecoach Cambridgeshire's The Busway services have been noted at the Wrightbus factory in Ballymena. Andys Bus Blog
- Our latest photo special from David Bell's extensive bus photo archive brings you three early shots of Eastern Counties Bristol Lodekkas... Andys Bus Blog
- Eventually we made it through to the Fen Country and the historic Hanseatic town of King's Lynn, once a stronghold not only for Baltic traders but more recently the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company. Both of those eras have passed with First recently selling the local operation to rival Norfolk Green. Transport Illustrated
- When fbb first visited the new Gosport and Fareham half-busway, things were not quite right. One anonymous commentator lambasted the corpulent correspondent for expecting everything to be working from day one Public Transport Experience
- There’s only one seat on the bus that can guarantee you a private ride, free from passengers rubbing against you or constantly standing over you. It’s one that’s relatively isolated. It’s the cab seat behind the wheel. Omnibuses
- London sightseeing operator Big Bus Tours has ordered open-top double-deck tour buses from Chinese builder Anhui Ankai Automobile Co. They will be delivered before the summer of 2012 and mark what is easily the biggest bus or coach order secured by a Chinese manufacturer in the UK. TGP
- Former Hants & Dorset, but now Crosville Motor Services early Bristol Lodekka SRU981 has now had all its bodywork completed and is ready for a full repaint in traditional Tilling green & cream. Busworks
'I dont know what the differences are between a B6BLE and a B10BLE though!'
ReplyDeleteWell, the easiest way to describe it would be that one can go up hills and makes a nice grunty noise, whereas the other can't go up hills and sounds like an over-sized hairdryer..
Also perhaps a slightly spooky coincidence, the last time First/WN operated a full size Wright of that body style way back in 1995 it was also quickly found to be 'unsuitable for use'
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/10187089@N03/4706472865/
To my surprise I found out a few months ago that it is still in service and hasn't been turned into bean cans yet. Surely it must be the most worthy WN preservation candidate out there, purely down to it's unique history?
Both are now operating out of Bath depot, 69253 has been used on the Uni service.
ReplyDeleteAs regards to M221EAF, you're to late! She's been withdrawn from Wyvern and is currently at Firsts Muller Road storage facility in Bristol awaiting scrap. I know they've been prone to vandal attacks there and buses were used as a canvas for graffiti recently.
M221 EAF has a serious chassis defect hence its withdrawal.
ReplyDeleteb6 has a 6 litre engine, b10 has the 10litre engine as used in most coaches. and b10ble is same length as b7rle
Shame, I take it the "serious chassis defect" is that common Lance issue where the whole thing ends up being held all together purely by rust. Ah well, I bet it had also gone a bit banana shaped like they all do too..
ReplyDelete