Forum | Merseyside Dennis Dart Website

I had a small trip out on Sunday just to tick off some MPD's heres how it went:

37E Winsford Town Centre - Wharton, Bradbury Road
Dennis Dart MPD X215 JOF (865)
Yep, That thing! I can say it's improved since it went away for it's 6th repair since August! It's engine was rough VERY ROUGH! It didn't seem to rattle much, although when we went over a speed bump it see-sawed over it!

Walk to Winsford Depot...

Walk back to Bradbury road...

37E Wharton. Bardbury road - Kingsmead Est, TESCO.
Dennis Dart MPD Y38 TDA (878)
Bloody boiling! Soo hot this ride was! It was quite fast, but rattled a lot.

37E Kingsmead Est, TESCO. - Wharton Bradbury road.
Dennis Dart MPD X211 JOF (861)
Urghh SHED! Slow (Even though that driver is usually VERY fast!) and rattled a hell of a lot more than 878! Then driver realised he left his bag at the depot! So that delayed us by about 7-8 minutes

37E Wharton Bradbury Rd - Wharton, Road 1 roundabout.
Dennis Dart MPD X32 KON (869)
Slow and steady! and also very rattly!

Bolton and Oldham last Saturday, 17th November, so I walked to/from Heaton Chapel then:

192 to Manchester - Stagecoach Enviro400 19626
36 to Bolton - First Enviro400 33657
541 to Darwen Road - Arriva Dart-Marshall 7621
Walk to Dunscar
1 to Bolton - Lancashire United Volvo B7RLE-Eclipse 1872
582 to Leigh - First Volvo B7RLE-Eclipse 69528
126 to Trafford Centre - South Lancs Transport Scania Onmicity S400SLT
100 to Manchester - First Volvo B9TL-Gemini 37288
184 to Oldham Mumps - First Volvo B9TL-Gemini 36280
Walk to Oldham
76 to Manchester - Stagecoach Enviro400 10050
192 to Heaton Chapel - Stagecoach Enviro400 19400

Amazingly, I managed to ride post-Olympics Enviro400 and Gemini on the same day without even going to Leeds! (My next visit to Leeds should be next Spring but I am considering Bradford for December).

I made it to Bradford today as planned. My itin was

192 to/from Manchester - Stagecoach Enviro400s
Northern Rail to/from Bradford Int - Class 158s (2-car to BDI, 3-car to MCV)

256 to Brighouse - Arriva Volvo B7TL-President 694
571 to Bradford - First Volvo Olympian-Royale 30844
283 to Batley - Arriva VDL-Pulsar 2 1490
221 to Heckmondwike - Arriva DAF-EL Lowlander 1610
268 to Bradford - Arriva Enviro400 1912
72 to Bradford Moor - First Volvo B7LA-StreetCar 19002
637 to Bradford - First Volvo B7TL-ALX400 30908
645 to Grengates - First Volvo B9TL-Gemini 37093
760 to Shipley Kirkgate - Transdev Volvo B7TL-President 2714
662 to Bradford - Transdev Volvo B7RLE-Eclipse 1808

It seems nobody had reported any daytrips yet this year! So, let me bump this thread today with my itinerary from my Wigan/ St Helens jaunt.

192 to Manchester - Stagecoach E400H 12186
32 to Wigan - Stagecoach Volvo B9TL-Gemini 16950
598 to Leigh - Stagecoach Enviro300 27821
600 to Ashton-in-Makerfield - Stagecoach Enviro200 36796
320 to St Helens - Arriva VDL-Pulsar 2 2969
35 to St Helens Junction - Arriva Solo SR 713
35a to St Helens - Arriva Solo 676
34 to Leigh - Arriva Dart-Marshall 7634, but had to change at Earlestown to Volvo B10BLE-Wright 2707
X34 to Worsley Road - Stagecoach Volvo B9TL-Wright 16953
22 to Heaton Moor - First Volvo B7RLE-Eclipse 66895

The reason I chose routes 35/35a for the Solo SR was to resist the temptation later to catch a train from Manchester to St Helens Junction then a bus to St Helens. I also caught route 22 home instead of changing at Manchester to reduce duplication.

Trip round my local area from yesterday

- 324B To Huddersfield,Kline YJ55WTD
- 901 To Hebden Bridge,Kline MX55BYK
- 500 To Keighley,Transdev K&d Y151HRN
- 729 To Bingley,TLC Travel MX12DYN
- 623 To Shipley,First Bradford YJ06XMG (First time ive ever seen a Wright Gemini/B7TL On these sets of routes)
- 660 To Five Lane Ends,TLC Travel MX12DZJ
- 640 To Buttershaw,First Bradford YJ08 GVK
- 645 To Odsal Top,First Bradford YJ08 GWG
- 268 To Dewsbury District Hospital,Arriva Yorkshire YJ58 FHN
- 214 To Dewsbury Bus Stn,Tates Travel YX11HNV
- 262 To Huddersfield,Huddersfield Bus Company/Centrebus AE55VGD
- 354 To South Crosland,Stotts N266JUG
(20 Mins Walk To Helme Church)
- 388 To Meltham Morrisons,Stotts X164NWR
- 933 To Broadlands,Kline YJ57UFH

i was shocked at the built quality between a 2011 & 2012 Enviro 200 & I Was glad to get what could be my final trip on a Merc Minibus as Stotts are buying some more second hand solos,They served Huddersfield well both under Yorkshire Rider & Stotts,Lets hope one or two can be preserved.still dont get the point of firstbus repainting buses but leaving the insides untouched & carnt See tates travel lasting on the Batley - Dewsbury part of 214,Despite arriva being 2 mins behind it was still carrying better loads

Did any of you have a day out on the buses over Easter? I went to central London on Easter Monday, and rode the following:

Virgin Trains Stockport - London Euston and back again, class 390

Northen Line to Camden Town - 1995 stock
274 to Islington - Metroline DE1329
38 to Dalston - Arriva LT2
243 to Goswell Street - Arriva DW425
153 to Moorgate - CT+ DA7
141 to Mildmay Park - Arriva T267
30 to St Pancras - First DN33636
214 to Mornington Crescent - Metroline DLD700
253 to Euston - Arriva VLW194
390 to Marble Arch - Metroline VPL584
82 to Finchley Road - Metroline TE1435
Jubilee Line to West Hampstead - 1996 stock
139 to Baker Street - Metorline TEH1107
27 to Paddington - London United ADH32
159 to Paddington Basin - Arriva DW72
Walk to Paddington via the canal
23 to Ladbroke Grove - First DNH39124
52 to Hyde Park Corner - Metroline VWH1418
9 to Trafalgar Square - First RM1913
Walk down Whitehall
24 to Tottenham Court Road - Metroline VW1271
19 to Green Park - Go-Ahead WVH18
Victoria Line to Euston - 2009 stock

(06/04/2013 20:24)Metroline1511 Wrote: [ -> ]Did any of you have a day out on the buses over Easter?

I did a trip to Preston and Blackpool on the 5th:

My first bus was Arriva North West Marshall 7649 on the 58 from Glovers Lane in Netherton to Queen Square Bus Station. I was hoping for a Plaxton Pointer 2 or ALX200, however I wasn't too disappointed about getting a Marshall because, after all, they'll be gone soon (just not one on the way to college on the 311!)... If I'm honest, I enjoyed this journey! I sat at the back and found the ride comfortable, although there were a few rattles. The bus wasn't too sluggish off of the line and, in my opinion, it sounded quite nice.

After meeting with a friend, my next bus was Stagecoach Enviro400 15468 on the X2/2X to Preston Bus Station. Uncomfortable, rough, rattly and boring. Then, from Preston, ALX400 18354 took us to Blackpool on the 61 - albeit with a faulty front destination unit (which made us miss its departure in the bus station and have to run across the town centre to catch it and inform the driver, who wasn't particularly bothered, about the fault). An enjoyable ride, until a strange and annoying clicking and hissing noise (heaters?) came into place mid-journey...

The main thing that led us to Blackpool was ClassicBus North West. ALX200 T145 AUA took us to Cleveleys. I loved this journey - friendly and cheery driver and a lovely, comfortable, fast and nice-sounding bus! Certainly a great first impression of the company to me! Next, Olympain N324 NHG took us back into Blackpool on the 12 - again, nice driver and a lovely bus! With about an hour to spare until our connection (61) back to Preston, we decided to have a few more rides of ClassicBus... ALX200 T143 AUA took us just out of Blackpool on the 22. Compared to T143, this was quite a shed - rattly, awful-sounding and quite sluggish! Also, the driver wasn't as great as the others that we had. We nearly missed the 22 back into Blackpool, but we ran and caught it - V163 MVX was quite squeaky, but fast and operated by another friendly driver!

To out surprise, Versa 25230 (IIRC) took us back to Preston on the 61 - after leaving Blackpool SEVEN minutes early! Lucky that we made that 22... This was rattle-free, comfortable, warm and fast - better than the ALX400 on the way to Blackpool. The 2X/X2 was operated by Enviro400 15474 - its annoyingly-loud heaters blew cold air all the way to Liverpool, which ruined the ride for us.

Back in Liverpool, we rode on Ace's MPD 727 on the 241 to Old Roan - another friendly driver at the wheel and rattle-free, but quite sluggish and rough-sounding. Finally, Enviro200 762 took me home to Netherton on the 130 - no problems with that.

Photos taken on the day can be seen here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael2770...626184646/

Me and a friend did a trip to Southport yesterday. The weather was warm, although the sky was dull!

My first bus from Netherton to Liverpool was Marshall 7649 again! Same as what it was like last time, although an alarm was going off for the majority of my journey.

After meeting-up with my friend, Pulsar 2 3033 took us to Southport on the 48A. The bus sounded great and it didn't rattle much. The driver couldn't get to a decent speed on the Thornton > Formby part of the by-pass due to roadworks, however a decent run was had between Formby and Woodvale!

Palatine 2 3310 took us from Eastbank Street to near Canning Road as we'd forgotten that the 43 didn't go to the depot! A nice ride, but not smooth. After a brief look in the Arriva and Cumfybus depots, Plaxton Pointer 2 2343 took us back to Eastbank Street. This was quite nice, although ignorant kids on-board who had music playing loud on their phones ruined the ride...

After a trip around Southport, we did a trip to the depot and back with my mate (driver) on Marshall SHED 7643. It vibrated awfully whilst idle and rattled a lot. It was fast off of the line, though - albeit not smooth...! My mate wanted to swap it at the depot, however only equally-awful 7648 was sitting in the depot in view!

Renown 2724 took us from Southport Railway Station to Bootle. I absolutely despised of this ride. It was uncomfortable and rough and the bus sounded bad. As I've said elsewhere on the forum, I think that the Renowns are UNSUITABLE for the 300 - partly because the service covers a large area where people don't tend to alight and have to put up with unsuitable seats for that part of their journey. My back ached after this journey...

Enviro400 4417 was our bus from Bootle to Liverpool - a surprise. Sluggish and rattly on the top deck, although of interest and a good ride, in general. A brief ride on a hybrid Gemini 2 to Birkenhead and Pulsar 2 3000 on the 423 on the way back killed some time, before I boarded Ace Travel MPD 701 on the 130. This was sluggish and it sounded quite different, however it was warm and quite smooth.

Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael2770...637935537/

i will post my outing to bolton on saturday!

edit:: reason behind it is i want a few photos of tender changes and a ride on arrivas 714 service.

Day trip to Bangor, Llandudno and Rhyl yesterday (27/04/13) is here http://north-west-public-transport-blog.blogspot.co.uk/