Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

[M113 YKC]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

(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/