Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

[MPTE1955]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
4426 was on the 62 this afternoon, enviro on that would be very unusual.

[mathias]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
Was (un)fortunate enough to take a ride on 7662 (V662 DVU) DartSLF/Marshall recently.

Awful thing! Rattling rear window, rattling emergency exit lever bar, dated interior with beige headlining and uncomfortable draughts.

MTL obviously bought these things on the cheap; all that glass means they're too hot in summer (like a greenhouse) and too cold in winter (draughty and chilly).
They're always rattling and the Marshall-spec bell-press modules (grey with red button) are always failing. They get replaced with yellow ones that actually work!

7662. Cheap. Nasty

[MPTE1955]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(05/09/2012 14:49)mathias Wrote:  Was (un)fortunate enough to take a ride on 7662 (V662 DVU) DartSLF/Marshall recently.

Awful thing! Rattling rear window, rattling emergency exit lever bar, dated interior with beige headlining and uncomfortable draughts.

MTL obviously bought these things on the cheap; all that glass means they're too hot in summer (like a greenhouse) and too cold in winter (draughty and chilly).
They're always rattling and the Marshall-spec bell-press modules (grey with red button) are always failing. They get replaced with ones that actually work!

7662. Cheap. Nasty

As marshalls go that one is one of the biggest sheds of the lot, rivalled by Green Lanes 7665 & 7671, they are even worse than 7662 and that really is saying something.

[M113 YKC]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(04/09/2012 15:48)27701 Wrote:  Also, Cadet CX07 CSO (2638) was on the 345 this afternoon - on the duty that does the evening journey to Skelmersdale (via the M58), too!

I apologise; I misjudged the duty that this bus was operating yesterday! It was on the 345, but not on the duty that operates the evening Skelmersdale journey. This afternoon, DAF/ALX400 T297 FGN (4057) was on the duty that operates the evening Skelmersdale journey.

2638 was on my 53A today - needless to say, it sounded much better than it has done in the past, but it still vibrates badly when idle! Marshall V660 DVU (7660) performed well on my 311 from Skelmersdale to Aintree this afternoon, although its suspension sounded very bad - not as bad as Marshall V638 DVU (7638) yesterday, though! The 14:23 311 journey from Skelmersdale didn't show up; Plaxton Pointer 2 X235 ANC (2235) was supposed to be running it, but, strangely, that was on the 53A this afternoon! It must have been booked off during the day but put back onto the road, but whatever had replaced it remains a mystery...!

[M113 YKC]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
If anybody requires a person who has no sense, find the person who allocated Plaxton Pointer 2 T322 PNB (2322) onto a 311 duty this morning! This bus was absolutely terrible - it didn't manage to reach a speed over about 30-MPH. At the back, internally, a diesel-type-of-smell made me feel light-headed after a while. After driving the struggling bus through Westhead, the driver stopped the bus at Skelmersdale War Memorial and checked the back of the bus, which was black-ridden. He then told us, his passengers, that he couldn't carry-on his journey because the oil gasket had blown and the bus' engine was seizing-up.

I had Plaxton Pointer 2 X224 ANC (2224) on my 311 journey home - from Skelmersdale Bus Station to Aintree Retail Park. This bus spends most of its time on the 311 at the moment, so I was expecting it to be a smooth-running, fast bus. WRONG! The bus lost speed at every inclined road along the way, although it performed excellently (after a while!) on Northway - or "Ormskirk Bypass" if you're local to the area!

2322's replacement seemed to have been DAF/ALX400 T302 FGN (4062). And despite the sheds that I had to cope with today, Pulsar 2 MX09 LYJ (2947) was unusually among the buses that were allocated onto the 311 this morning.

Enviro400 MX09 LXJ (4427) started its day on the 52/52A today, so credit to that person who had no sense this morning!

[MPTE1955]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
Those T-PNB's are starting to wear badly now, whilst talking about them 2317 has been in the same place in the car park at Bootle Depot for a while now and looks like it hasnt moved for weeks.

[M113 YKC]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(06/09/2012 13:34)MPTE1955 Wrote:  Those T-PNB's are starting to wear badly now, whilst talking about them 2317 has been in the same place in the car park at Bootle Depot for a while now and looks like it hasnt moved for weeks.

2322 has always been a bad bus, whereas T821 PNB (2321) yesterday on the 53A was absolutely fantastic - definitely one of the best (if not, THE best!) Darts that I've ever been on! T323 PNB (2323) and T324 PNB (2324) aren't bad - the latter is quite sluggish and the former is quite rattly, but they're generally fine buses. T315 PNB (2315) was terrible at one point, but that's improved a lot. Overall, out of Bootle's current T-PNB batch, I'd only really consider 2322 as being bad (not just bad - effin' terrible!)...

[N271CKB]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
4082 on the 53 today

[M113 YKC]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot

(07/09/2012 11:31)N271CKB Wrote:  4082 on the 53 today

Also on the 53/53A today was T303 FGN (4063). It's not unusual to see these buses on the 53A, but it is, slightly, to see them on the 53.

The 52/52A had Marshalls V661 DVU (7661) and V667 DVU (7667) on them this afternoon.

Pulsar CX58 FZE (2923) finished its day on the 345.

[M113 YKC]

RE: Arriva North West - Bootle Depot
Yesterday, DAF/ALX400 T302 FGN (4062) and Enviro400 MX09 LXG (4425) were both on the 53. I can safely say that double-deckers on the 53 and the 53A are a daily sight and that they're not unusual to see now. (But if you want to see a photo of 4062... http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael2770...958386018/ )

Edit - The link should work now!