"along the Salt Road" !

Bus and Coach operations, new or changed services and timetables for First Midland Red Buses Limited or its predecessor, Midland Red West Limited.
TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by TimBrown » 08:55 Thursday 30th January 2020

DD12 wrote:
01:45 Thursday 30th January 2020
I see from the tracker that a StreetLite Max was used on a Wednesday evening 144 to and from Brum.

I think this is is a pity, as I think the green Volvos look great ( - "welcoming"), at night.

-- -- all twelve of the green Volvos were in use / available, during the day (although not necessarily all the time).

Does anyone know if a green Volvo (Euro 6 conversion) can "do" the 144 (B'ham) from early morning til late night, on one tank of fuel ??

-- or have any of our driver members ever taken them back to the garage for fuelling ??

:?:
I don't know about modern buses, but all the full sized vehicles I ever drove, up until leaving in 2004, were not fitted with fuel gauges in the cab so you had to rely on the bus being filled to the brim on arrival at end of the previous day. If it had been taken out of service for a defect the day before, the chances are that it would have been parked up on the patch un-refuelled and cause mayhem the next day by coming to a halt across a junction for lack of fuel or doing the beastly deed a long way from home base such as Gloucester, Rubery or Stratford-upon-Avon. There was always a possibility that the fuel filler cap hadn't been clicked fully in place too, so there was a good chance of the unwary spilling fuel inadvertently for miles around the town, especially in the dark when it was harder to see it splashing out of the bus flanks.

The Varios were fitted with a fuel gauge in the cab, presumably because they were a commercial van based design for general use. I took one over on a Warndon city service at lunchtime on one occasion and happened to look down at the fuel gauge driving along Brickfields Road only to see the needle showing empty! Luckily I had no passengers aboard on the return journey and called in at the garage only to find it took over 24 gallons in a 25 gallon tank (or perhaps it was over 19 gallons in a 20 gallon tank), so the bus was running on fresh air down Rainbow Hill. The next day I saw the driver who handed the bus over to me and he said he never ever looked at the fuel gauge - such are the joys of common user buses!

chason
Posts: 242
Joined: 14:24 Friday 22nd July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by chason » 14:13 Thursday 30th January 2020

I recall the CM5s on the X43/44 Worcester to Birmingham having to be refuelled in Worcester if used for all, or at least most, of the day. There was only a 10 minute rest between journeys so the WR Morris Commercial lorry was sent down to Newport St. Bus station with several large cans of fuel to replenish the tank whilst in service!

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by TimBrown » 18:05 Thursday 30th January 2020

chason wrote:
14:13 Thursday 30th January 2020
I recall the CM5s on the X43/44 Worcester to Birmingham having to be refuelled in Worcester if used for all, or at least most, of the day. There was only a 10 minute rest between journeys so the WR Morris Commercial lorry was sent down to Newport St. Bus station with several large cans of fuel to replenish the tank whilst in service!
BMMO's had very sparse instrumentation - just that tiny electric speedo - showing 50 MPH maximum for service buses and 80 MPH maximum for CM5s and CM6s.

Incidentally, when I worked part-time at Kidderminster depot in the 1990s, buses on the afternoon 192s from Hereford to Birmingham called into the Corporation Street premises at 5 pm and 6 pm approx with a full load of passengers for a change of driver and many gallons of fuel for the evening Black Country late tendered services covered from the Bull ring bus station.

DD12
Posts: 1650
Joined: 19:49 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by DD12 » 19:50 Monday 10th February 2020

DD12 wrote:
13:14 Friday 24th January 2020
https://www.firstgroup.com/worcestershi ... 27-january

I think it's appropriate to record here, some last-minute changes to the S45.

I hope the changes will lead to a double-decker being needed once again on the S45 !

:)
Please forgive me for quoting my boring self, but for the first time ( - that I've seen), the S45 has shown up on the tracker, and today it used green Volvos.

-- All I need now is confirmation that the S55 is using one of 20611/12, and / or
a seat-belted Plaxton Centro - Volvo !!

P.S. Thanks Tim and Chason for your posts above about fuelling for the B'ham services !

ALSO ! -- Who is going to be the first person to report an over-loaded single-decker on the 144 Birmingham section ?!?!!

P.P.S. -- I've suddenly remembered "this business of" operators cutting services because they are carrying too many OAPs, and not getting enough remuneration for this, -- -- is this a factor in the B'ham cut-back ??

TimBrown
Posts: 1280
Joined: 05:59 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Worcester

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by TimBrown » 10:56 Tuesday 11th February 2020

DD12 wrote:
13:14 Friday 24th January 2020

P.P.S. -- I've suddenly remembered "this business of" operators cutting services because they are carrying too many OAPs, and not getting enough remuneration for this, -- -- is this a factor in the B'ham cut-back ??
I am not entirely convinced by the argument that services are cut because operators are carrying too many OAPs, I can see some logic on the long distance routes if concessionary pass holders are making say a 27 mile journey from Worcester to Birmingham, but we must remember that there will be those making short journeys maybe Catshill to Rubery or Longbridge to Selly Oak with many permutations. I feel that most services cannot survive without the pensioners travelling, but is there a case to charge say £1 per journey outside the issuing authority's boundaries?

We have it on good authority that First currently receive £1-14 for every trip that a pensioner takes and records on the ticket machine, I then ask how and why the company charges £2-90 single for most City journeys above approx 1 mile and then promotes an i-phone only 10 trip city ticket at £15 or £1-50 single. Also we are only able to have a £4-70 'return ticket' for City use which is branded an 'all day ticket.' If I travel from home to the hospital early in the morning on one of these and use it on the return journey it means using 4 buses so each would net £1-175, very close to above mentioned £1-14 County Council concessionary subsidy. If I then go out on the bus a bit later in the day I will make 6 journeys which will only net each bus just over 78 pence, make it 8 journeys and it reduces to just under 59 pence per journey!

I am not an accountant but had some involvement in manufacturing cost control many years ago and reckon that the above figures would indicate that the basic city single fare system is rather overpriced compared with yield per journey the company expects, and could be a reason why so many potential passengers walk relatively long distances into town even where there is a 10 minute frequency service such as the 35 'Nimrod' bus. Other contributors to this forum will probably have good reason to contradict this assumption, so please elaborate!

chason
Posts: 242
Joined: 14:24 Friday 22nd July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by chason » 12:50 Tuesday 11th February 2020

Strange letter in The Times today from a lady in Dorset who says that she would be prepared to pay her bus fare but has been told by the local bus company that it would be illegal to collect fares from concessionary pass holders. Sounds like a bit of an excuse to me as who is to know whether she has a pass or not?
On Tim's point, as a pass holder myself, I would certainly be prepared to pay an amount for every journey I make but recognise that some would find that difficult. Hopefully, some of the money being made available will enable local authorities to increase the amount per journey they compensate operators for concessionary fares. I always understood when it was introduced, although no doubt seen as a vote winner for the then government, it was also intended to be a convenient way of subsidising loss making bus services.

ANDREW
Posts: 765
Joined: 00:38 Monday 4th July 2016
Location: Bromsgrove.

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by ANDREW » 11:35 Thursday 13th February 2020

Just an off the cuff comment , the Salt Road buses certainly lived up to their branding yesterday , they were plastered in it !! :lol: ;) :!: :?

DD12
Posts: 1650
Joined: 19:49 Monday 4th July 2016

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by DD12 » 11:18 Monday 17th February 2020

Rather ironically, a StreetDeck is on the "full" 144 to B'ham this morning, - no doubt due to absolute chaos on the roads, -- -- flooding and roadworks !!

bmmoboy
Posts: 549
Joined: 20:02 Tuesday 5th July 2016

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by bmmoboy » 14:00 Monday 17th February 2020

Possibly because the bottom of the bus station has had some aggregate deposited because the area is flooded and so Deckers cannot get through. The 144 is running from St Nicholas Street, as are most services on the East side of the City. I can only assume that a Streetdeck was used as it was in the right place at the wrong moment. Luckily, I don't go back to work until Thursday so I am missing all the fun!

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SEVERNLINK
Posts: 112
Joined: 14:44 Thursday 27th October 2016
Location: Bromsgrove

Re: "along the Salt Road" !

Post by SEVERNLINK » 06:46 Tuesday 18th February 2020

DD12 wrote:
11:18 Monday 17th February 2020
Rather ironically, a StreetDeck is on the "full" 144 to B'ham this morning, - no doubt due to absolute chaos on the roads, -- -- flooding and roadworks !!
And was still on it in the evening as I saw it working the 18:15 to Birmingham.According the tracker 35157 was on 144 all day :)

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