Norwich Streetdeck Review

As promised today I ventured to Norwich to sample the new Wright Streetdecks on the Pink Line, which entered service last week. I decided not to copy everyone else by camping in Norwich taking pictures but to travel to Wroxham in the heart of the Broads to picture them there. This time last year I was in Brighton to sample the Streetdecks down there and my conclusions were rather inconclusive, so I was hoping to form a more clear cut assessment today. My first Streedeck was 35196, and first impressions weren't great when I got thrown down the bus by it surging away from the stop. However I got upstairs and settled down.

35196 SK16 GVV at Wroxham

First things first the seats are comfortable, the ride is smooth enough and the engine quiet. The WiFi wasn't working, which seemed to surprise First so there must be some gremlins in the system. I have to say the view from my usual seat at the front nearside upstairs is restricted by those unnecessarily large pillars. Thinking back to the RM I went on Saturday and the superb views out the same seat this is definitely a black mark against the Streetdeck. The plastic, like the E400's has a very, very cheap feel about it too and doesn't do much to promote any quality in the build.

Looking straight ahead from the front top deack.

Just like the Streetlites I take issue with the brakes. They sound like a 1980 Metrobus and are just as rough as the retarder on the Metrobuses used to be. The driver needs to have a very delicate foot - not something most bus drivers are blessed with! I was also underwhelmed by the apparent top speed on the lovely stretch between Sprowston and Wroxham. Seemed at least 10mph too slow and it was noticeable that nothing arrived into Wroxham on time. However Wroxham is a picturesque place, even if it was very nippy there today.

35193 SK16 GVX passes the Broads Information Centre

One more and that would be enough, so I found a new location, waited patiently and this turned up...

Funny looking Streetdeck!

That was enough to convince me to wait a further 20 mins and I was rewarded with 35195 for my return journey to Norwich.

35195 SK16 GVU

So my verdict? Is it anymore conclusive than last year? Unfortunately no. There is nothing about the Streetdeck that fills me with excitement or great enthusiasm. There is equally nothing hideously wrong with them either. Yes the brakes are sharp, the view from my favourite seat is poor, and the air chill situated at the rear of the top deck is hardly silent but none of those are enough to convince me to be ultra critical. I think they are definitely town buses not suitable for routes like the X1, which I thought last year but all in all they are ok. Nothing more nothing less. If the Streetdeck underwent a Litmus test it would score a perfect 7.

So I decided to compare it with a Volvo B9tl Gemini 1. I went to Beccles and back on the X2 and I would still take a B9 over a Streetdeck with no hesitation. Will the Streetdecks be as good in 8 years time as the B9's are now? I seriously doubt it, and that really says it all. Did I feel I was traveling on £228,000 worth of bus? Erm don't think so.

On to other things and Anglian have welcoed back an old friend. Dennis Trident ALX400 740 V161 MEV has returned from Hedingham and was out on the 88's today. I didn't get to ride it as hoped as the carlines have changed, but a driver who had driven it said it was "like driving a shed"! However I think she still looks pretty good for her age. I assume 740's arrival is the reason Konect 513, seen on the right, which did nothing all day, has returned to Dereham

Anglian 740 back home.

Last week I praised the improvements in Anglian's ex Metrobus Scanias. I had 555 today on my inward journey to Norwich and yet another surprise awaited me. I made a plea last week for the long standing air leak on the door lock mechanism to be fixed and blow me down it has been! No idea if it was the post which prompted the repair but frankly I don't care - it made the journey even better, so for the second week on the trot well done Anglian. Let's hope the tide is finally turning.

True Heaven Is A Place In Essex

There you go, Belinda Carlisle, I can narrow it down for you. Heaven, indeed is in Essex. If the number of the beast is 666, then the number of its opposite is 339. Let me explain.

Yesterday Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, aka Steve and Tim ventured on an expedition to the rather confusingly name Epping & Ongar Railway. Now it is true the last time I travelled that line it was still part of the Central Line and indeed went from Epping to Ongar throught some really lovely countryside. Nowadays it should really be called the "100 yards from Epping & Ongar Railway" as trains no longer actually go to Epping station, but stop 100 yards from it, then go back without any opportunity to alight. So a top and tail train is needed. Yesterday providing the shuttle from North Weald in between the diesel loco hauled trains was former Southern Region thumper 205205, looking superb in NSE livery and sounding amazing. I travelled regularly on these little diesels and it's great to see one still in such great order.

Thumper 205205 arrives at North Weald

The main attractions on show were Class 31 31438 a visiting Class 20 D8059, A very impressive looking 37, D6729 and to sum up how monotonously slow the line is, a Class 08 shunter. I confess the 20 was the main reason for my attendance as those English Electric engines are just music to my ears. It didn't let me down although more opportunities for decent engine noise would have been appreciated.

The quirky yet magnificent Class 20

However the trains were overshadowed, eclipsed, hit for 6 by the other element of the day, which was completely unexpected. We knew that there was a heritage bus transfer from Shenfield Station to Ongar. What we were not aware of this is a registered bus service, numbered 339, which is available to anyone, not just users of the E&O Railway. The service runs everyday the railway does, so almost all weekends and all school holidays, including half terms. It offers local fares and accepts all bus passes including concessionary passes. A round trip from Shenfield to Epping will take over two hours so it's not just a short hop. And the fleet on this service? Well let's just say it's not E200's. At precisely 1050 at Shenfield Station this rolled up.

You're kidding right?

No y friends, your eyes do not deceive you. Let me introduce RT 3871, operating on a registered bus route in Essex. I think you can imagine the pleasing element of this. And so we boarded, not realising just how long the run to Ongar was. Now do you remember those old black and white movies featuring such vehicles that seemed to be speeded up, showing the buses racing around the streets? They weren't speeded up. That amazing old bus flew round the Essex countryside driven with incredible expertise by our driver. It was simply incredible, and guess what - no rattles! It really didn't matter what happened the rest of the day as  nothing could spoil that experience.

RT 3871 at Ongar Station

The London Bus Company, part of the heritage group running the E&O Railway operates a fleet of red and green RT's, and also a couple of RM's, including RM1993 which is the only one not pictured.

RM1966 and RT3238 on North Weald concourse

 We were going to catch the train back to Ongar to get the bus back to Shenfield, but realising we had covered all bases on the rails, a prolonged ride on an RM via Epping was too tempting to resist. The last RM I went on nearly made me cry - it had a Dart engine which in my view is deserving of a long stretch in prison. RM1066 though has an original RM engine and massaged my eardrums to a state of ecstasy. Like the RT it flew around the Essex streets, and even our lady clippie was straight out the golden age, taking no nonsense from a group of kids trying to cause trouble.

RM1966 at Shenfield Station

In all honesty the railway was disappointing. The rolling stock seemed in relatively poor condition and it is a much better place to photograph rather than travel. But the buses, well! The fact it's a registered service that takes all tickets and passes makes it a must do again. I'd recommend it to anyone and if you don't get on and off grinning from ear to ear then I'm not sure what will make you!

You can see details of the days and times of operation this year by clicking here and if you're wondering about DDA, well just like the trains because it's a registered heritage route DDA does not apply. Thanks, Tim for your company yesterday, and here's to the next outing! Not sure it will beat Heaven though!

The Good, Bad, & OMG Not Them Again

I think it would be nice to start with something positive, and there will be some of you in need of medical help when you see where this positive news comes from.

In the last few weeks I have travelled on two Anglian deckers that in my view, and those driving them, have improved almost beyond recognition. When the 3 Scania Omnidekkas arrived from Metrobus last year although they looked great I was less than enthusiastic about most other things. They were extremely rattly, slow, unreliable to the point of it being laughable, and all in all not the greatest of additions to the fleet. Their whole set up was designed for town 28mph work and not Acle Straight/Poringland - Bungay type work. But now 555 and 556 feel like different buses. The most noticeable difference is the speed, which is much improved and they now show traditional Scania power. The ride is considerably better too, which suggests the suspension has been tackled, and even less rattles. A really pleasant surprise and since I'm going to be using the 88 again for a bit quite a relief. Just one thing guys - 555 arrived with a really annoying air leak on the door lock mechanism which produces a loud hiss the moment the bus does over 4mph. A year on and it's still there so please can you get it sorted!  Cheers!

The much improved 555 YN55 PZR seen somewhere last year! No idea where!

Anyone know what the what the Chinese word "lingchi" originally meant? Apparently it described "the difficulty in travelling in a horse-drawn carriage on mountainous terrain." However the meaning soon changed and it became the word for the form of torture/execution known to us as the "death of a thousand cuts". Without going into too much graphic detail this involved flesh being removed a little bit at a time as it was considered unless the body was whole on death the spirit could never be free.

How ironic that the term derived from the difficulties of using transport. It should be mentioned that Lingchi was made illegal in China in 1905. However it is alive and kicking in rural England as bus services are suffering the death of a thousand cuts. Council cuts to be precise, although instead of human blood being spilled it's the lifeblood of communities. This week it hit very close to home again. Today saw the last day of operation of the 196, the little village service between Saxmundham and Leiston, which also incorporates a single 521 journey between Saxmundham and Dunwich. I have often mentioned this bus, as it was my only regular link to the outside world that didn't involve pre-booking, albeit only one journey 4 days a week. It is no major surprise it has gone. In this age of shopping trolleys, buggies and easy access providing a 14 seater slide your own door open Transit minibus with no marketing or publicity whatsoever isn't going to achieve much. But it had its uses and I was indeed going to be using it to get to Leiston tomorrow. Now you wouldn't believe how difficult that journey's going to be.

The rather blurred 196 last October

The thing is if I hadn't wanted to check the time it arrived in Leiston I would have been waiting at my local bus stop like a lemon for hours and missed my appointment. There is no roadside timetable at the stop, and unlike most changes to bus services it was not announced on the council website Suffolk On Board. I had heard rumours about the route's demise but no date. It was by sheer fortune I stumbled across a letter from SSC to Darsham Village Council while searching for the timetable that revealed today as the last date of service. After I made vociferous complaints to Suffolk On Board it was finally put up on the website - less than 48 hours before the route ceased to be. No changes for May have been announced yet, and I know there are some coming so get your act together please Suffolk On Board. People are increasingly relying on online information so make sure it's up there please.

I also asked for information regarding the changes to Demand Responsive Transport serving my village - they said it was good news for me - but was only told to attend one of the launch events taking place in Woodbriidge less than a week before the changes are implemented. Firstly it would take hours to get to Woodbridge and back, especially as the DRT bus is getting increasingly difficult to book for that area, and secondly a week's notice when I know for a fact the minibus I use the most is no longer going to serve my village is not long to make other arrangements. It seems the news isn't good enough to let people know what's happening before its too late to protest. I have asked for maps of the new areas but no response yet. That's bad. Very bad. The cuts are beginning to fester and gangrene is setting in.

Now unless you've been in a cave this week you'll have heard whispers of some new strawberry milkshake coloured thingamajigs (you wouldn't believe my obviously American spell check has flagged up "coloured" but not "thingamajigs") have arrived in Norwich. I attended the launch event yesterday in Norwich mixing with the great and the good of the blogging world and taking a look at the new buses. Now you know how I do these things by now - it only really matters what happens when the wheels start moving and so in due course I'll take a trip on some of the new Streetdecks and do a review. However I'm not setting the bar too high as someone from First told me yesterday he had  been on one of them and it was already rattling. Sounds like I'll just be reproducing my post from Scotland last November which wasn't too complimentary about the Wright body. However I can tell you the seats are comfortable, there are no chargers or USB points, there's plenty of room for buggies to clog up the lower deck, the branding looks ok, and First could rent out the excess space in the engine bay which is enough for a fitter to lie down in comfort while tinkering with the Mercedes engine. They will certainly turn heads as they go pass. But I'm not going to post any pictures of them until I do my review next week as I have seen many comments from people saying they are sick of the sight of them already, so here s something far more spring like that I saw on the Isle of Harris last May - cuter than a Streetdeck too and mercifully not nearly as pink! But the event yesterday was good so a big hi to Roy, Zak, Dave, Simon, Cameron, Colin, Steve, John and Dan, but sadly no Chris, who for the first time in living memory missed an opportnity to get his face in the papers!

£227,960 cheaper than a Streetdeck and a lot prettier! Probably less rattly too.

Screenshot Competition

I appear to have started a new fad - railcam screen-shotting. After the post I published a couple of weeks ago sharing some of the stills I'd captured from the highly addictive Railcam.uk cameras it seems other armchair anoraks have caught the bug. Yesterday I was having a friendly exchange of pics with an esteemed photographer from another place and had the idea for a competition to see who can come up with the best rail related screen-shot.

The rules are simple;

1. The image MUST be a screen-shot taken by yourself from a live webcam which is clearly identified in the image, so credit and links can be given, and not reproduced from the website's gallery. The webcam may be anywhere in the world.

2. The webcam must be focused on a railway, but the image doesn't have to be of a train. It could be anything the cam has captured eg wildlife.

3.  No individual who can be identified should be in the images unless you have their permission (I don't want to be sued for breaking privacy laws)

4. Extra points will be awarded for the uniqueness of the subject, eg rare loco or working, new paint job, dramatic weather etc. The editor's (me) decision is final.

5. There are no prizes as I'm skint. This is purely for fun and the enjoyment of sharing your efforts with others. The competition will close midnight next Sunday 24th April

That's just about it, so get screen-shotting. Send your efforts to me at busandtrainpage@gmail.com and if you don't want your name published make it clear in the email. If you're not sure how to take a screen-shot (I've only recently discovered) it's the PrtSc button which on my laptop is next to the F12 button. To start us off here's another one I took last Sunday on a crazy day in Dawlish

Lovely day!!        pic taken from dawlishbeach.com

London Transport Museum Appeal & 34110 Update

A couple of days ago I received an email from a fund raising fellow at London Transport Museum, asking me to publicise their latest venture, which is an ambitious project to preserve 3 buses dating from 1908, 1914 and 1924. I am more than happy to do so, and so publish the information below.

 

Leyland Buses Appeal

London Transport Museum needs your help to safeguard the future of three rare survivors of a bygone age

The Leyland buses appeal is one of the most significant heritage acquisitions ever made by London Transport Museum. All three motorbuses represent important milestones in the Capital’s history that are not yet held in the London Transport Museum collection.

·         1908 London Central X2 type

·         1914 LNWR Torpedo charabanc

·         1924 LB5 Chocolate Express

London Transport Museum Friends have generously kick-started the appeal but your donation is crucial in helping us tell London’s transport story, giving people of all ages and backgrounds the chance to see and enjoy these buses as parts of the Museum’s publicly accessible collection.

To donate please visit our website or phone 02075657451.

To learn more about London Transport Museum Friends please click here.

The picture below is of a 1924 LB5 Chocolate Express, from the Mike Sutcliffe Collection.

A 1920's Leyland LB5 Chocolate Express      (c) Mike Sutcliffe Collection

You may remember that thanks to the sterling effort of many people the very last Volvo Olympian to be built, Yarmouth's 34110 was saved for preservation and moved to a new home in Essex. Well as it turns out it's going to be a far more complicated job returning her to her former glory than first thought. East Norfolk Bus Blog has published an extensive update on what has already been done and what needs to be done to the Ollie and you can read that by clicking here. Suffice it to say it looks like a good couple of years and many gold coins before she emerges reborn.