Noglastic bus models I took in London

Hey! Remember when London was buzzing with great bus types back in the day? Well I feel like it's time bring some of that back - in this post anyway. Before I start, I would like say thanks to LondonBuses72 (part of London Connected Blog) allowing permission for his photos to be used in this post.

Where should I start....

The Dennis Dart - fast, nice sounding and great Allison Gearbox

Name: Plaxton Pointer 2

Production: 1995-2006

Manufacturer: Transbus International (later Alexander Dennis)

Bulit in: Guildford, England

Chassis: Dennis Dart SLF

Engine: CumminsISBe4.5, CumminsISBe4 and Cummins6BT

Gearbox: 5-speed and 4-speed

Tranmission: Allison1000/2100/AT545 and Voith

Popularity: High

Length: 9.3m to 11.3m 

The Plaxton Pointer 2 was a revamped product of the original 1st gen Plaxton. This included changes to front, rear and more. It is a low-floor bus giving disabled people easy access while boarding. The product managed to be a success, with many orders being made due to the various lengths that could be chosen. 

Go-Ahead London

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

These Dennis Darts were on my former local route as you can see above. The company was known as Blue Triangle, before Go-Ahead decided to join in on their mini subsidiaries much later. Eventhough 364 is not really a thrashy route, the gearbox definitely sounded nice. What I really liked though was the original Blue Triangle lettering and fleet number. During that time it was the last bus to hold these which is great. This one is a 56-reg and was built by Alexander Dennis before production then ceased. Notably, the destination blinds for 364 used to be "Ilford High Road" and "Dagenham East, The Bull" though today it's been shorted to "Ilford" and "Dagenham East". The route as a whole is residential, mainly houses, parks and a few shops. Nevertheless, I remember also seeing some 51-reg Darts making some appearances too - this was the start of me getting familiar with the bus type. The seat moquette for this bus is quite interesting, grey with some little lines going across. Both of these 56-reg operated on 66 too, another memory I realised. After their stint on 364, they were transferred to South London for work on route 170. The 07-reg ADL Enviro 200s allocated to the route (SE18-36) soldiered on until October 2019, when the route got Enviro 200 MMCS.

Darts that served the route:

DP208 - SN56AYC (Blue Triangle)
DP209 - SN56AYD (Blue Triangle)
LDP191 - SN51UAD (London General skirt)
LDP193 - SN51UAF (London General skirt)
LDP194 - SN51UAG (London General skirt)
LDP198 - SN51UAL (London General skirt)
LDP203 - SN51UAS (London General skirt)

Note that this is from memory, and some information may be wrong! Just a heads up.

Stagecoach London

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Where was I? Oh yes - Stagecoach. As boxy as they look from the outside, it contains a different gearbox from the rest. It has the Allison 1000 gearbox, which sounds tunier (to me anyway). Excuse my "bus enthusiast" language, this is technical stuff we're getting into. So bare with, okay? Whenever we hear the word Stagecoach, there are quite a few bus types that pop-up; Plaxton Pointers, ALX200s, ALX400s. All these formed the Stagecoach fleet in the early days from 2000 to around about 2011 or 2012. I used to take a few rides on P4 in South London, running from Brixton to Lewisham. Usually I would alight at Brockley Rise near the Overground station, which goes towards West Croydon if I am not mistaken. The bus in total has 31 seats, though if you went inside it felt really small! Sitting down was a bit tight. I won't forget the "Stopping" sign coming up in orange whenever you press the bell, and those back doors that swing open. Allocation consisted of LX03/53 and LV52 regs. I don't really want to list all of them as to be honest, I could be mixing the allocation up with another batch so I'm not taking any chances.


I did some rides on G1 too which used one of the shorter 05-reg Dennis Darts - these can be found mainly in Plymouth.

The MCV Evolution - Once common, now unique (in London anyway)

Name: MCV Evolution

Production: 2003-2017

Manufacturer: MCV

Bulit in: Egypt

Chassis (Various but I will include the London ones only): Dennis Dart SLF, ADL Enviro 200, MAN (A66 - 14.220/14.240) (A76 - 12.220/12.240), and VDL SB120/180.

Engine: MAN D 836 LOH and CumminsISBe4.5

Gearbox: 6-speed (ZF Ecomat) 5-speed (Allison) and 4-speed (Voith)

Tranmission: ZF Ecomat, Allison2100 and Voith

Popularity: Medium (for London)

Length: 8.5m to 12.1m

The MCV Evolution was built by Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) and came in a number of chassis's when it launched. In London it was mostly the Dennis Dart SLF and ADL Enviro 200s, though there were a few 12.240s and 14.240s. The latter was with Go-Ahead, while Metroline decided to take hold of the other ones. A unique VDL SB180 chassis came to London, presumably a demonstrator of some sort and worked on routes 347 and 549. I will talk about more this below.

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

So the Evolutions I got on were mainly the EDs like this one. I saw them on 167 and W19 though it made appearances onto other routes at the time. There are also longer versions I got on route 108 and they came with a Dennis Dart SLF chassis as opposed to the normal sounding Enviro 200s. I have to admit that the bell sounds were funny but a bit repetitive after a while. One thing I regret though is sitting at the back - on the left hand side. That side has no room at all. You were better off sitting on the right hand side or the other seats for this reason. Trust me on this, I've fallen for it many times. There is still some Evolutions under Metroline that operate on 190 which seem to be sticking around for a while. I'm surprised but the more variety the better - they have an Enviro 200 gearbox by the way. I liked the Docklands Buses logo.

Evolutions that served (Dennis Dart SLFs) route 108:

ED1 - AE06HCA
ED2 - AE06HCC
ED3 - AE06HCD
ED4 - AE06HCF
ED5 - AE06HCG
ED6 - AE06HCH
ED7 - AE06HCJ
ED8 - AE06HCK


Evolutions (ADL Enviro 200s) that served route 167 and W19 as well as other routes:

167

ED18 - LX07BYJ
ED19 - LX07BYK
ED20 - LX07BYL
ED21 - LX07BYM
ED22 - LX07BYN
ED23 - LX07BYO
ED24 - LX07BYP
ED25 - LX07BYR
ED26 - LX07BYS
ED27 - LX07BYT
ED28 - LX07BYU

W19

ED9 - AE56OUH
ED10 - AE56OUJ
ED11 - AE56OUK
ED12 - AE56OUL
ED13 - AE56OUM
ED14 - AE56OUN
ED15 - AE56OUO
ED16 - AE56OUP
ED17 - AE56OUS


MDL1, The Unique Evolution
Now this bus was slightly different to all the other Evolutions. The length was longer (10.3m) with a large air conditioning unit at the top near the driver. The number of seats still stayed as 29 but no emergency door was seen on the offside, instead it was at the back. What made the bus stand out more is the chassis; VDL SB180. This makes it sound like a Wright Pulsar 2 (double decker - mainly with Arriva) and shares rattling problems too. Lol. It uses a Voith gearbox which is all too common nowdays... After being with Arriva for routes 233, Go-Ahead managed to gain it in September 2013 for 347 but worked the 549. The bus has joined Go-Ahead's commercial fleet now with a charcoal and gold skirt.

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Wright Cadet - The Dennis Dart Competitor

Name: Wright Cadet

Production: 2000-2006

Manufacturer: DAF/VAL

Bulit in: Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Chassis:  VDL SB120

Engine: CumminsISBe4.5

Gearbox: 5-speed 

Tranmission: Allison2100 

Popularity: Medium (in London)

Length: 9.4m to 10.8m

The Wright Cadet was competing against the Dennis Dart SLF which was selling well at the time. Arriva unsurprisingly got quite a few orders of this type, already having models under the DAF/VDL chassis. Go-Ahead (East Thames Buses at the time) also purchased some too. The Euro 2 ones got withdrawn early, while some of the Euro 3s from Arriva survived until September 2018.

Go-Ahead London

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

These things. I've had quite a lot of rides on the 108 and it consisted of full route journeys. The route goes from Lewisham to Stratford International. However, before the reroute in October 2016 it went to Stratford Bus Station via Bromley-by-Bow. That meant opportunities for thrash! Drivers would often go fast along the A12 and in the Blackwall Tunnel. I really loved the sound of the engine. That said, this route gets busy and the Cadets are small (has 30 seats) meaning that they're not really suitable. It's replacement (thankfully) consisted of Mercedes Benz Citaros. I liked the skirt though. While I sort of miss these I actually prefer the Citaros, due to it's ability to accelerate off the mark and at the same time give a comfortable ride. At the time of post, they are the only Euro 4 Citaros left in London. I recommend to catch one if you can before their departure. The last Cadets were with Arriva the Shires for routes 288, 303 and 305 but was no more after the 1st September 2018. Garston depot also came to end and is now defunct. Otherwise yeah. Good route. Better allocation to suit the passengers. Happy days.

Wright Cadets that served the route:

DWL17 - FJ54ZDR
DWL18 - FJ54ZDP
DWL19 - FJ54ZDT
DWL20 - FJ54ZDU
DWL21 - FJ54ZDV
DWL22 - FJ54ZDW
DWL23 - FJ54ZDX
DWL24 - FJ54ZDY
DWL25 - FJ54ZDZ
DWL26 - FJ54ZFA
DWL27 - FJ54ZTV
DWL28 - FJ54ZTW
DWL29 - FJ54ZTX
DWL30 - FJ54ZTY
DWL31 - FJ54ZTZ
DWL32 - FJ54ZUA
DWL33 - FJ54ZUC
DWL34 - FJ54ZUD
DWL35 - FJ54ZVA
DWL36 - FJ54ZVB
DWL37 - FJ54ZDC

The Wright Eclipse B7TL Gemini - "Wright" for the job. Noglastia included.

Name: Wright Eclipse Gemini

Production: 2001-2007

Manufacturer: Wrightbus

Bulit in: Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Chassis:  Volvo B7TL

Engine: Volvo D7C

Gearbox: 6-speed and 3/4-speed

Tranmission: ZF Ecomat and Voith 

Popularity: High

Length: 9.4m to 10.8m

The Wright Gemini was a fairly popular product, with Go-Ahead, Arriva and First taking many orders with the Volvo B7TL chassis. Other companies such as Abellio London and London United made a few too. A facelift to the model was done in 2006, mainly to the rear. This lead to the Wright Gemini 2 being made in 2008 - it's replacement.

Go-Ahead London

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Wright Geminis are pretty good vehicles - the reason being it's gearbox. I have only ever experienced rides on 257 and 333, both of which in the past was operated by Go-Ahead London. Most of the batch consisted of a Voith gearbox, essentially making it sound like the Plaxton Presidents. You can say that it was one of the flagship vehicles for Go-Ahead London, as I always used to see these around in Stratford and Central London. On one bus I got (route 257 an LX05 reg), I was sitting on the upper deck and I looked at the CCTV camera at the front - it showed a first person view of the road! I'm not sure what happened, but it remained that way for the whole journey which was funny. Don't ask me for the fleet number I don't have it. All I know is the 05-reg were originally from Putney depot for London Bus Route 85. As for the 333 batch, a fairly younger batch consisting of 02-reg from Stockwell depot. Most buses survived into 2016 and some even going into 2018! Therefore I refer to them as strong vehicles. The First London examples operated on route 150 and 179, (55-reg) and became the first examples of Wright Geminis that I saw. I didn't ride them but I'm glad I saw it whilst I could. Good job Wrightbus - you definitely did something "wright!" (I had to sorry XD)


Marshall Capital - that AT545 whine.

Name: Marshall Capital 

Production: 1996-2003

Manufacturer: Marshall Bus

Bulit in: Cambridge, England

Chassis: Dennis Dart SLF

Engine: CumminsISBe4.5

Gearbox: 4-speed 

Tranmission: Allison AT545

Popularity: High 

Length: 8.9m to 10.2m

The Marshall Capital has been very popular in with First Group in London and around the UK, with the Dennis Dart SLF chassis. Dual and single door variants were available to purchase with the product.

First London (then Go-Ahead London)

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Let me tell you if it wasn't for that AT545 whine, these buses probably wouldn't have been liked that much. Anyway, these Marshall Capitals stood strong in London from beginning to end. Arguably they did seem a bit worn out, after it's stretch which is understandable - it's an old vehicle after all. The 193 bus route had quite a few of these, and that's where I discovered why people loved them. In all honesty the gear changes are a bit fast and confusing, but you don't even need to go fast for the whine to kick in. I quite liked them and the ex-First interior too - none of them got a refurbished interior. Maintenance was questionable, they were managed at River Road depot in Barking - we will leave it at that. Pressing the bell also gives you a touch of noglastia. The drivers were nice and kind when I alighted, so overall a great bus that will be remembered for sure!

Interior:

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Transbus ALX400 - Favorite. Double. Decker. Bus. Ever. Built.

Name: Transbus ALX400 

Production: 1997-2006

Manufacturer: Transbus International

Bulit in: Guildford, England

Chassis: Dennis Trident

Engine: CumminsISCe

Gearbox: 4-speed 

Tranmission: Voith

Popularity: High 

Length: 9.9m to 11.0m

The ALX400 was a popular model which was facing the Plaxton President - it's rival. Most companies in London made orders for this type, but Stagecoach London orders proved to be very popular mainly going with Voith and a few ZF Ecomats. Arriva had a fair few too!

Stagecoach London

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Listen, this bus right here is what got me into transport. All of those journeys in East London I made on many routes, with the lovely sounding Voith gearbox. I adjusted to the LX03s, LX53s, LX04s, LX55s, LX05s - each one was different (in terms of engine). Hearing the roars and kickdowns really made them sound like a beast. A proper one. It was pretty refreshing to be on a bus you liked, just makes your day so much better. I loved everything about this bus from the bodywork, seats, blinds - yeah you probably get what I mean. I've had some pretty fast rides on route 247 which runs from Barkingside - Romford Station. This thing even had a mirror. A mirror? On the top deck? You could basically pretend to be driving the bus, that's what I used to do back then. If I'm honest, I didn't expect them to go into 2019, that's pretty impressive given their age. Speaking about that, these didn't receive much refurbishment at all. I like the Stagecoach interior though. I mean I could ramble about this for ages but considering that this post is long, I better cut it short.

Here is my personal favourite reg for the ALX400S:

17791 - LX03BWE
17858 - LX03NFC
18201 - LX04FWL
18451 - LX05LLO
18478 - LX55ESG

Interior (Upper deck):

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Interior (Lower deck):

©LondonBuses72 - don't use without permission.

Bus models missed out on:

Plaxton President (Metroline and Go-Ahead)
ADL Enviro 400s 1st generation (Metroline and Go-Ahead)
MAN MCV Evolutions (Metroline and Go-Ahead)
Optare Tempos (London United)
Optare Olympus (Metroline)

Other bus models ridden on but not included here:

ALX200s (Stagecoach)
Mercedes Benz Citaro G (Stagecoach)
ALX400s (Arriva and Abellio)
Caetano Nimbus (Abellio)
Optare Olympus (Go-Ahead)

Thought it would be a nice post for once - something that I will look back over for many years to come. I had great journeys on amazing bus types over the past decade. Maybe you have (or will) too in the years to come! I hope this post passed the time and if you're bored read it again if you want - I don't mind, as long as I have done my job 😂

Thanks for reading!

Take care and happy riding! :)

By the way, if you want to check out London Connected Blog and LondonBuses72's photos, here are the links if you are interested:

Link: https://thewestlondonbusblog.blogspot.com/

LondonBuses72

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/londonbuses72/

My first bus ride since Lockdown began

Hey! This blog is going to be a bit different. So lets get into it.

2020 has been a strange year so far, I never would have imagined a virus coming into the UK, forcing us to be in lockdown all of a sudden. I expected much more since it's 2020. A new decade you know?
Was actually hyped.  Anyways, here are my thoughts.

Thoughts on Lockdown

I find it odd to stay at home continuously I will be honest. The thing is I wish it happened a few weeks before, that's my only complaint. I have been busy, it's not like being in the summer holidays where you have all that freedom around you. At most it has been hard, because working at home is a completely different environment than school for example. Nonetheless the new "normal" has taken some time to get used to, though I have been finding other ways to keep myself occupied. One of these include drawing, which I decided to do one time and the end result came out pretty well - it was a bus.  

Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC

I managed to draw an Enviro 400 MMC, a product that has proved to be very popular around the UK. This one in particular is a smart hybrid variant however, in my drawing I didn't add the smart cameras - let's just say it was faulty and the cameras had problems seeing the road. Technology is always reliable. Proudest drawing I have ever done, looks so realistic to the end product.

Lets move over the main topic now!

Public transport (Buses)

In the beginning of April, bus trials were going ahead on some South London bus routes. It includes people to board at the middle door, instead of being at the front. This managed to be a success, meaning by the 20th April most double and single decker routes converted - except those routes that had single door buses (you had to not tap at the card reader). Even some double decker buses were provided on single decker routes to help with social distancing. The aim was to minimize as much contact between passengers and drivers as much as possible. While that's good there came a downside; TFL ended up being low on money due to the number of people not tapping in during this time. Wait hang on. How did TFL manage to be in this situation? They had like £10 billion at the start of the year then come May they were almost bankrupt? Would have been screwed there to be honest. For now, the Government was generous to give out £1.6 billion as part of emergency funding until at least September.

Back into the outside world

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

Saturday 16th May 2020. It had been coming up to the second month in lockdown, though I needed to get something in Ilford so I took the 86 bus route. When the bus arrived at the stop, I immediately noticed those changes that I discussed above; it felt really weird boarding through the back since I am very much used to using my oyster card. The front seats were taped off, presumably to protect drivers.  As we progressed the bus started to became a bit full, which felt rather odd since at the time lockdown wasn't even fully eased. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of these stickers at the time but EastLondonBusEnthusiast has allowed these to be used in this post which I appreciate alot! 

 

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

Arriving at Ilford I noticed the town centre felt deserted - almost like a ghost town! Most buses I saw were basically carrying air, with majority of shops being closed even inside the Exchange shopping mall. It's amazing how being outdoors, can notice to appreciate the little things that have been happening behind the scenes, especially in a situation like this! Once I got what I needed then I walked home to soak up some Vitamin D by the sun. I really needed it. 

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

On the 29th May, TFL announced that they will be bringing back front door boarding onto all routes (124 were converted the day after). A few weeks later (Sunday 7th June 2020), I needed to go out for some shopping at ASDA so, I decided to use a bus since it was a while. I saw a brief preview of the stickers on routes 62, 86 and 362 while I was waiting. An ADL Enviro 400 (T72) 59-reg on route 173 managed to be my bus, this is known for the ridiculous stop bells that are placed inside. I should have taken a photo - oh well! The queue at ASDA seemed long but went fairly quickly than I thought. Again social distancing had to be done while queuing, with the yellow markers on the ground indicating the 2m distance. Eventhough stickers were put on the floor, inside the rule didn't seem to be applied so that's a bit worrying in my opinion... 

           

©ELBE's photo - don't use without permission.

On the way back I going to walk home however, the rain and wind were preventing me so I decided to not take any chances and just get the bus back. While I was waiting I saw T199 (ADL Enviro 400 SN08-reg) with a pretty outdated "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie advert heading to Beckton stating the cinema release date of February 14. Just goes to show that advertising companies are also struggling too. After about 10 mins my bus came (T74 - 59 reg on the same bus type towards King George Hospital). Again there were changes to the front of the bus, including the oyster reader and drivers cab being covered off for the passengers. Hopefully the drivers are safe now. The front seats are still out of use at present, though it may return much later on.








Interior photos

The last three photos are mine - I managed to take some!

Managed to pull this off well - the bus was moving too!

Exterior shot

Here you can see (almost) all of the stickers. 

While I was inside the bus, I saw some stickers for social distancing, number of people that can board at the drivers cab door and face coverings - the latter has already become compulsory on public transport from 15th June. While the bus roared away (like all E400s do) with it's engine towards King George Hospital, I considered to walk home instead of waiting again. So has this worked out? At the moment yes. People are keeping the distance on buses and going upstairs, incase seats have been occupied on the bottom deck. When I was walking back I saw an 86 bus with a slipboard saying "BUS FULL" at the front, eventhough it looks a bit empty. Is this how buses are going to be in the future? That's a question yet to be answered.


It's safe to say that the online market has dominated since March, noting the amount of delivery vehicles I have seen each day. Some shops have opened this week to the public, so that they can start their spree once again. One thing I do fear is of the queues, as most people would have had to go through over the past few months. Lockdown has started to ease down now, with more rules being put in place so I guess most of you can't wait to get outside again. In the meantime, I've been reading some blogs just so that can find my rhythm as it's been so long! Either way most of us will remember these times whether it's staying at home, the panic buying, or just witnessing life unfold day by day. Getting back to normal won't be easy, but remember there is hope - we can do it! :)

Either way I hope you liked the different layout of this post, it's different than to how I normally write so I wanted to try it out. Also at the time of writing it is the first day of summer, and today marked the longest day of the year!

As always - thanks for viewing the blog and staying safe, writing hasn't been easy. Thanks for sticking around and reading I really appreciate it. If you liked the post leave a comment below!

Thank you for reading!

Happy riding! :) (essentially of course - at the time of publish)

ELBE's links:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoK0-Ux-ad0bePnrQGiuRHw
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/151611131@N05/

Rail Replacement + my experience

Hi there! A question. Have you noticed something different on your road? Like a bus type for example that you've been meaning to catch for ages and appears on the weekend randomly? If the answer is yes, then it could be to do with "rail replacement". Yes. Rail replacement.

Rail Replacement

The role of rail replacement, is to replace a section of the route on the railway that is closed or for other reasons. This would mean that bus companies has to source out their own fleet, as using the current buses on route can be difficult, especially if they have a schedule to bring the next day. That's why private operators come in sometimes, since some are used commercially and not daily. Of course it happens within the UK, though I am more familiar with it in London. In some cases though, desperate times call for desperate measures so if something tragic has happened on a line, then emergency rail replacement is deployed. This took place on London Overground earlier this year, where a freight train managed to derail between Leyton Midland Road and Walthamstow Queens Road (Gospel Oak to Barking Line a.k.a GOBLIN) causing severe damage to the track. Derailments aside, I would like to talk about the route I took to reach Central London. I will start off with the past route I used to take.

Thing of the past

Once upon a time, Summer 2017. It marks the longest holiday of the year in August (7 weeks - more if you are doing educational studies etc) a perfect time to take a break and relaxxxx..... though if you have commitments then there's not much else to do. I mainly come from East London so I use TFL Rail but it didn't really cause too many issues. When it hit November I had an issue. Full closure. Just what I wanted to happen. During this time, I was skeptical on taking rail replacement since I thought you had to pay. I avoided it for that reason. Instead I decided to take London bus route 86, getting off at Ilford to board another bus - 123, 128, 150 or 179 towards Gants Hill.

Gants Hill tube station is served by the Central Line, using 1992 tube stocks coming frequently within a matter of 2-3 minutes. I managed to bag a seat, since it's so empty from the station prior, during early weekend mornings - Newbury Park. Coming back, I alight at Stratford to get my local route home, since I didn't want to go the same way as buses around Gants Hill, are a bit hit and miss on occasions. 86 is an important route in East London, since it goes from Stratford to Romford via majority of the stations on GEML (Great Eastern Main Line) so there was no surprise, that many people were waiting and I managed to end up on a packed commute.

London Bus Route 25, was the #1 busiest route in London back then, going from Ilford to Oxford Circus meaning every bus came rammed. Though in today's times, the route at present goes to City Thameslink so buses aren't as full as it was anymore, which is a shame because I found it very useful. Another bus route; 425 became extended from Stratford to Ilford in September 2018, helping out with the Romford Road corridor. Honestly I feel it was the right call, since there were many people travelling along that section so I'm thankful. Basically, that is what I've been doing over a year. Though something come to mind.... I know, I know. I missed the Wright Eclipse Gemini and ALX400 workings (older and endangered buses at the time). That's the thing of the past now.

First Ride!

I thought - why don't I try rail replacement? So in November 2018 I ventured to the bus stop. When I arrived I saw people waiting, as well as a member of train assistance staff. Makes sense. Their job is  to look out for the next rail replacement bus coming and give assistance to passengers. One of the things I had to do is keep an eye on the mini slipboard at the front of bus, as it was showing the destination that it was going to. I needed to get to Stratford, thankfully it wasn't long before I saw a rail replacement bus arriving at the stop. It was an Enviro 400 MMC double decker powered by hybrid, as I noted with the "Hybrid Cleaner Air For London" sticker towards the back. It was an 18 reg new for route 196 which was gained in May that year, by Abellio London. Once I boarded the bus we set off. This MMC had speed and overtook many buses during the journey - it's like being on a train! Unfortunately the Romford Road section near Manor Park, did contain bad traffic levels leading to long wait times. The bus started to become packed until Stratford station where most people got off. I decided to go Stratford City since that's where it terminated. The route is basically an X86 for most of the way.

In 2019, I also did the Newbury Park to Shenfield and it felt fast too with the buses allocated. Though if they don't come on time, then I usually take 396 then 173. Still works well for me. I've only been as far as Chadwell Heath on this route, sometimes it can be a bit packed during the evening.  Now I will show the route allocation for them both.

Route Allocation

Route: Stratford to Romford (UL16)

Operator: Abellio London

Garages: Walworth (WL), Hayes (WS) and Battersea (QB)

Vehicles: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400H MMC, Alexander Dennis Enviro 400/H, New Routemasters
Bulit in: Gulidford, England/Falkirk, Scotland and Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Chassis: E40H (MMC and Enviro 400), Dennis Trident 2 & E40D, Wright NBFL

Engine: CumminsISBe4.5, CumminsISBe6.7 

Gearbox: 1 speed, 5 speed & 6 speed 

Tranmission: Hybrid, ZF Ecomat and ZF Ecolife

My preferred bus to ride on: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (Dennis Trident 2 and E40H) 

Reasons why I chose that bus

Dennis Trident 2 (ADL Enviro 400)

• Dennis Trident 2s can have a good sounding gearbox
• Despite their age, it could provide you with a good ride
• Comfortable seats

E40H (ADL Enviro 400 and MMC)

• Quick acceleration
• Nice motor sound when the bus goes into neutral
• Seats are comfortable 
• Has a nice whine before the engine turns on 

Route: Newbury Park to Shenfield (UL51)

Operator: Sullivan Buses

Garage: South Mimms (SM)

Vehicles: Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 and Scania Ommicity
Bulit in: Gulidford, England and Slupsk, Poland

Chassis: Dennis Trident & E40D,  Scania N230UD

Engine: CumminISBe6.7, ScaniaDC9

Gearbox: 6 speed and 5 speed

Tranmission: ZF Ecolife and ZF Ecomat

My preferred bus to ride on: Scania Ommicity (though I don't mind the Enviro 400s)

Reasons why I chose that bus

• Quick once it starts moving through the gears 
• Suits the fast paced route
• Love hearing the ZF and revs

What can I say? It was a good experience in general and provided a quicker link! It's free too! To this day I use it and is honestly a great way to travel, rather than enduring your usual start-stop route since it will take more time.

This was my review on rail replacement. Hope you enjoyed!


With a new threat that arrived in the UK causing lockdown near the end of March, staying at home has been a bit weird to adjust - hence I haven't been posting blogs recently. On double decker buses in London, both doors contained stickers encouraging to people not to tap in or board at the front. The front section was blocked off with tape. Instead you would need to board at the back, this applied to single deckers too though those routes that use one door, simply had a sticker saying not to tap on the reader. I might do a blog on it soon.


Thanks for reading!

Happy riding - essentially of course! (at the time of publish)

(1 Year Special) The Great Eastern Mainline Old and New Stock

Hello there and welcome to another blog.

Before I start, I would like to say thank you for keeping up to date with my blogs. It marks the first year and honestly didn't think of doing something so.... interesting. Inspiration from other blogs is what made me to write my own.

Anyways, I am going to talk about the Great Eastern Main Line in it's old and new form in terms of train stock since it will change very soon. Since this is my local route, expect me to go into detail here.

Great Eastern Main Line (what you need to know)
The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML), runs from London Liverpool Street to Norwich via many stations/destinations with a total of 184km and 27 stations that are served. Now, it's a fairly long distance relying on a working fleet of trains, transporting people to places that they need to go. The line is part of 7 main railway lines in the UK. It opened in 1862, operated by Network Rail with operators such as Greater Anglia and TFL Rail mainly doing the route. There are various branches on the route, that go towards alternative directions such as Chingford, Barking, Clacton, Southend and more.


The Past...

London North and Eastern Railway (this is the past so ignore the current one for this post), began operation from 1923 to 1947. During this time, the flyover near Ilford was formed in order to allow interchange onto the Central Line at Stratford and to test Liverpool Street's west platforms without having to do it much closer to the station.

In 1950, British Railways opened a new service (Liverpool Street-Clacton).Within that period, electrication on the line had to be managed in order to meet the standards. So it was done even if it's slightly lower. Incase you don't understand, this is the overhead lines where on most trains, have a pantograph which can sometimes cause sparks. The 1980s. Signalling felt too outdated here and a proposal was written to the Department of Transport. 5 years later, the first electric train (Class 305) came into Ipswich station on the 9th April being used for crew training. A week after that, a passenger service was born as the Class 309 operating the Clacton service seen today. It was known as the Clacton Express.


The Present...

In 1997, privatisation came around leading to services being handed over to First Great Eastern and Anglia Railways. Class 90s, Class 321s, Class 360s and other train types had go through this phase before being called National Express East Anglia. During this period it became the start of my first ever sights of trains seen on rail. :) A proud moment. From 2012 the company became known as Abellio Greater Anglia seen today. TFL Rail began the Shenfield Metro operation (Liverpool Street-Shenfield) in May 2015. Most of the Class 315s, were repainted into white with blue being the skirt supporting the livery. 2 years later, Class 345s became introduced to prepare for the upcoming Crossrail. Heh. We all know how well that went...


Not so distant Future...

The future (which is now haha), will see many trains being replaced by newer and up to date stock for passengers. Part of phase, has started already with the Class 345s and Class 745s (replacing the Class 90s slowly at the time of publish), making their way on track. Class 720s are also being built to replace the Class 321s and Class 360s. Somewhere along 2021, they all should be in service which is shame but its all to do with regulation standards, so you cannot really complain. Greater Anglia better not screw this order up, since London Overground did with the Class 710s - mind you I would be pretty annoyed if I was on that line. Well, least they could get a months worth of free travel. Wait. This is part of - Ah. Okay well I'm out of options then. Hopefully it doesn't go to that extent though...


Let me list the trains here...

Greater Anglia Fleet (at the time of publish)

British Rail Class 90

Built in: Crewe
Constructed between: 1987-1990
Entered public service in: 1990
Stock replaced: Class 81/82/83/84 and 85s
Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited
Maximum speed: 110mph
Lines served: British Rail, DB Cargo UK, Greater Anglia and Freightliner
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 50
Formed of: 10 coaches (not sure)
Type: Intercity express train (very fast service)

British Rail Class 170

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 1998-2005
Entered public service in: 1998
Stock replaced: Class 142, Class 144, Class 150, Class 153, Class 156, Class 158, Class 205 and Class 207
Manufacturer: Adtranz (known today as Bombardier Transportation)
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Abellio ScotRail, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Northern, South West Trains, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Trains
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 139 (9 was converted to Class 168s for Chiltern Railways whlist 11 were for Class 171s)
Formed of: 2/3 coaches
Type: Stopping service train

British Rail Class 317

Built in: York and Derby
Constructed between: 1981-1987
Entered public service in: 1981
Stock replaced: Class 127, Class 310 and Class 312
Manufacturer: British Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: First Capital Connect, Greater Anglia and London Overground
Last refurbishment: 2006-07 (FCC) 2013-15 (GA) and 2015-18 (LO)
Total built: 72
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast train

British Rail Class 321

Built in: York
Constructed between: 1988-1991
Entered public service in: 1988
Stock replaced: Class 305, Class 308, Class 309, Class 312 and Class 317
Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: First Capital Connect, Greater Anglia, Sliverlink
Last refurbishment: 30 units for Greater Anglia were part of Renatus project
Total built: 117 originally - 12 got converted to Class 320s
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Fast, non-stopping train

British Rail Class 360

Built in: Krefeld, Germany
Constructed between: 2002-2005
Entered public service in: 2003
Stock replaced: Class 312
Manufacturer: Siemens Mobility
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 26
Formed of: 4/5 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast type train

British Rail Class 379

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2010-2011
Entered public service in: 2011
Stock replaced: Class 317
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 100mph
Line served: Greater Anglia (part of Stansted Express)
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 30
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Fast, non stop train

British Rail Class 745

Built in: Bussang, Switzerland
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2020
Stock replaced: Class 90, (in progress) Class 379 (soon but no date released)
Manufacturer: Stadler Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built:  20 - ongoing
Formed of: 12 coaches
Type: Fast, non stop train

British Rail Class 755

Built in: Bussang, Switzerland and Siedice, Poland
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2019
Stock replaced: Class 37, Class 153, Class 156 and Class 170
Manufacturer: Stadler Rail
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 38 - ongoing
Formed of: 3/4 coaches
Type: Stopping service train

Coming soon.....

British Rail Class 720

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2018-present
Entered public service in: 2021 (planned year)
Stock replaced: Class 317, Class 321, Class 360, Class 379 and Class 387 (soon)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: C2C, Greater Anglia
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 665 planned to built
Formed of: 5 and 10 coaches
Type: Stopping/semi fast type train

TFL Rail Fleet (at the time of publish)

British Rail Class 315

Built in: York
Constructed between: 1980-1981
Entered public service in: 1980
Stock replaced: Class 306
Manufacturer: BREL York
Maximum speed: 75mph
Lines served: London Overground, Greater Anglia and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: 2015-2016
Total built: 61
Formed of: 4 coaches
Type: Stopping service train

British Rail Class 345

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2015-2019
Entered public service in: 2017
Stock replaced: Class 315 and Class 360 (both in progress)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 90mph
Lines served: TFL Rail (to be Crossrail)
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 70 are planned
Formed of: 7 coaches at present (when Crossrail is close to opening then it will be extended to 9 cars)
Type: Stopping service train

British Rail Class 360

Built in: Krefeld, Germany
Constructed between: 2002-2005
Entered public service in: 2003
Stock replaced: Class 312
Manufacturer: Siemens Mobility
Maximum speed: 100mph
Lines served: Greater Anglia, Heathrow Connect and TFL Rail
Last refurbishment: n/a
Total built: 26
Formed of: 4/5 coaches
Type: Stopping service train


London Overground Fleet (at the time of publish)

Class 315 and Class 317s specifications are listed above.

British Rail Class 710

Built in: Derby
Constructed between: 2017-present
Entered public service in: 2019
Stock replaced: Class 172, Class 315, Class 317 and Class 378 (all in progress)
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation
Maximum speed: 75mph
Lines served: London Overground
Last refurbishment: n/a as they are still being built
Total built: 54 are planned
Formed of: 4/5 coaches to fit within the tight platform spaces
Type: Stopping service train

Some Facts...

There is only one tunnel on the line and it is named Stoke tunnel. It's 330m in length built by Peter Bruff for Ipswich and Bury Railway back in the day. Various animal fossils were discovered and later became vital for climate change when Ice Age began...

The Great Eastern Main Line is among one of the busiest railway lines in the UK containing many uses for daily passengers and those that wish to take a visit to the seaside. Maximum speed for the line is 100mph. Though the Class 90 surpasses that - 110mph. I know what you are probably thinking. "Why not make it 125mph!" Okay. Firstly, the train is not a Pendolino (Class 390 - yep those). Secondly, it doesn't have the tilting capabilities to do all that magic. Finally, it could cause derailments onto the track. 100mph is as good as it gets. Funnily enough, Virgin Trains operated a "Pretendlino" livery on a Class 90! The result was due to a derailment. Click here for more information.

Ilford Depot was where the Fairlop Loop became accessible at the time. It connected freight and passenger stock from Seven Kings onto the Woodford and Ongar branch. The line opened on the 20 April 1903 to freight. Before a few weeks later (1st May) allowed passenger usage. Today it is renamed as Hainault Loop mainly in use for Central Line services going towards Woodford and Central London.

Summary

• The GEML opened in 1862
• Part of 7 major lines in the UK
• It had to be upgraded to meet the current railway standards e.g. signal boxes, overhead wires
• Plays a role today for passenger and freight stock
• Greater Anglia to bring stock suiting the passengers needs
• Fairlop Loop was formed near Ilford Depot
• The future will see modern trains on the GEML

Well would you believe it, you reached the end! Thank you once again for reading my blogs. I will continue posting whenever I can.

P.S. I will miss the old stock on the line. The Class 360s are not even that old. Either way as a passenger, I'm sure you will appreciate this in the years to come. Sooner or later.

Thank you for reading!

Happy riding! :)

A first review at the Class 321!

Good day or evening. I thought I should do a post on one of these trains on the Great Eastern Main Line since they are becoming endangered.

Sitting comfortably?


Then I shall begin!

British Rail Class 321

Built in: York 

Constructed between: 1988-1991

Entered public service in: 1988

Stock replaced: Class 305, Class 308, Class 309, Class 312, Class 317

Manufacturer: British Rail Engineering Limited 

Maximum speed: 100mph

Lines served: Greater Anglia (at the time of publish) and Northern

Last refurbishment: 30 units for Greater Anglia were part of the Renatus project 

Total built: 117 originally - 12 got converted to Class 320s

Formed of: 4 cars

Type: Fast, non-stopping train

The design

Back then, slam door trains were trendy like the latest product, as you would see them on long distance journeys. Not anymore. You would have be to lucky to catch one on a running day, or more specifically, a rarely used bit of track. In this case, British Rail (the designers) decided to incorporate a new train that would meet needs of passengers. The end result was the Class 321. Companies were fairly happy with the model, so British Rail developed Class 320 and Class 322 as a result. One by one they started building 117 of them - essentially like building estate houses.

Let me put this in a scenario. If you're trying to build multiple houses on one road then you would need to think about these:

• Type of material
• Length of each house
• How many rooms there would be 
• Electrical and plumbing (that's always "fun")
• Additional features of your choice

I could go on but between you and me, I ain't no constructor or designer so lets just stick with transport. Possibly an easier example could have been- that's for another day. 

Impressions...

Admittedly, the train did look a bit weird at first sight. After a while of seeing them going past to this present day, I started to like the train - so much that I wanted to ride it. It's funny how there are still some running around in the Great Northern livery (Purple and pink) - those were the days.... Annoyingly, it wasn't one of those TFL Rail services that stop at every single station, so I have had little chance of riding this train. Another problem is the colour. White. I mean don't get me wrong, the train does look good even so - but White? Once its dirty then it will need a trip to the "train-wash," making it clean as football boots do when you have played a game. Otherwise, that is how it starts to look old and stuff..

First Ride...

On the 2nd of February, TFL Rail had a part closure between Liverpool Street and Ilford due to Crossrail works. With this in mind I came up with an idea; take a TFL Rail to Romford then Greater Anglia to Stratford. Going by what Citymapper said, I decided to go through and see whether it actually was quicker.

Upon arrival at Romford, I needed to switch platforms. On Sundays, there is a 30mins Greater Anglia service that runs to Shenfield calling at Stratford, Romford, Harold Wood, Brentwood and Shenfield. Waiting was a bit of a burden so I played a game on my phone to pass up the time.

25 mins later...

A train arrives! 

Class 321 is here at Stratford with one more stop to go. What a ride!

To get a Class 321 was great. But in the Renatus livery was even better!! Stepping in felt like being in showroom. Bright lights, slick interior, just feels so modern. Probably similar to how some of Tesla  car models are. Seats are actually comfy (good job Eversholt!) with other features including: onboard wifi, charging sockets, toilets, storage for bicycles (maximum of 2) and air conditioning. Riding this train, was superb and I enjoyed the non-stop experience, especially with the Vossloh Kiepe motor sounds. A link about the Renatus project can be clicked here. Annoucements do work in their own time. Such a shame these will be going soon though...

Interior

I just noticed, that I got one of the last trains to be completely revamped. How lucky! On acceleration, I would say it sounds similar to a Class 458. Anyway, this was a nice treat as the stock will be slowly no more on the GEML. Might want to ride the older Class 321s first when I get a chance...

Train Rating: 8/10

Thanks for reading this blog!

Happy riding! :)


Here's London Connected opinion on the Class 321:
https://thewestlondonbusblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/project-renatus.html

396 - It's progress so far with Go-Ahead

Hello and welcome to another blog.

How are you? Good? Bad? Whatever you are feeling today another post is ready to be read. By me of course.

Today I am going to talk about route 396 which operates on the East side of London.

It has almost been a year, since the route has been taken over by Go-Ahead and I aim to talk about my initial reaction to the route, as well as a comparison between the recent operator.

So grab a snack or drink and enjoy! If you have any....

First Impressions

When I heard that the route was lost to Go-Ahead I was like "Ah, no!" I felt this way because Go-Ahead London, is such a big company and with their allocations, I thought there wouldn't be any double decker workings. I did use the route, quite regularly under Stagecoach London so hearing that made me feel a bit mixed honestly... 

The route, at present goes from King George Hospital to Ilford Broadway (technically Sainsburys) via Newbury Park and Gants Hill, being that way since the route was born in 1994. It's rather short, being 7km in length making it to be among the shortest routes in London. 

Places of interest: 

Aldborough Hatch - There is a stop near William Torbitt Primary School called Aldborough Road North and there's a road opposite which is ultimately under the same name - Aldborough Road South (if you walk back towards the subway then take a right). Staying on this road for a short time, a park will appear on the left hand side (Seven Kings Park). Things, such as a tennis court, slides and certain gym exercise equipment (I don't go gym, don't judge me) are situated here. However, there is much more further to explore up ahead - just requires a walk if you're interested. Those of you who want to know, I did play tennis and goodness me, it was really tough! I am still a beginner, as I only started training for the first time last summer. I ain't going to be the next Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, unless I train as mad as a headless chicken. But that is not gonna happen so I will continue doing it for fun. Look how much training they have to do. Do you think I will be able to match that? Anyway this isn't a tennis blog - it's a transport blog so lets get back down to Earth lol. 

Newbury Park - This is the section of the route where people mainly get off ideally to get Central Line services towards London. Not to mention, there is this massive dome-shaped bus shelter that buses go under to serve the station which I find rather awesome! Can also be useful when mother nature decides to play nasty. On certain occasions when TFL Rail is closed, rail replacement buses normally go to Newbury Park so on weekends it is rather busy! 

Gants Hill - Gants Hill is the busiest station on the Central Line (Hainault Loop) meaning quite a few buses serve the area. In the morning though, there may be traffic so if you want to access Central Line quickly then getting off at Newbury Park would be more ideal. The station design is similar to stations that are operated in Moscow. A rather cool design by Charles Holden. Good on you fine chap. 

Valentines Park (near Ilford) - Funfair events take place here eventhough I never been to it. If you ever get a double decker on 396, you are able to see a pond near The Drive, close to the traffic lights. Splendid. Sometimes cricket matches also take place at this park. Notably, it is one of the biggest parks in the London Borough of Redbridge so to speak.

One more note: There is an Ilford Exchange if you want to do shopping. Not really a shopping fan myself but for those hardcore enthusiasts take your pick.

Those are the places of interest. Up next the comparisons!

Stagecoach London vs Go Ahead London

Stagecoach used Dennis Darts when it was handed over (2002) before getting Optare Versas 7 years later. Annoyingly, these buses did have loud ratting problems so that was a headache for me. If you were lucky then during the cold seasons, the driver would switch on the heating. This was mostly great since you don't want to come onboard a bus and feel like you're in the North Pole. No one wants that. In that case, hot chocolate and biscuits would be provided. Never mind who am I kidding it's a public bus! That said, other double and single decker vehicles did have to come in forming part of the allocation due to the Versas being untrustworthy. The frequency felt a like hit and miss overall with some buses coming on time or just taking ages to come. Apart from that though, Stagecoach London managed to give passengers a good service and handed over the baton to Go-Ahead.

Go Ahead also decided to follow suit with the allocation. ADL Enviro 200s (Allison gearbox) is the original allocation. However ADL Enviro 400s (Tridents - mainly 56 reg and 57 reg), Optare Esteem (sometimes) and if you're lucky 60 or 61 reg E40Ds although these tend to stay confined onto the 147 bus route. One time I managed to get thrash on E69 (LX57 reg - Enviro 400) and reached near to 47-48mph. If you're a London enthusiast, then you would know that thrash is very hard to get nowdays. That is why, people tend to go outside London in order to search for their much loved childhood buses. Having been on this route under Go-Ahead operation, I can say they are doing a good job. Frequency may not be perfect, but it's there when I need it to be so I appreciate that, since I need it sometimes to get alternative bus routes.

Tip: On single decker Enviro 200s, there is a air-conditioning/heat unit just before the back (third seat on the left hand side). Certain drivers enable this function to give passengers the best comfort. Hence, I'm saying aim to sit there since whatever season, it can really be better or worse. Trust me, I go to that seat and one time the driver switched on the heating unit. Jackpot!

Okay. Decision time.

Which operation do I prefer it under?

I would say.........................



Stagecoach.


Not trying to say Go-Ahead is bad, but I felt like there was more variety under Stagecoach. Including ALX400s which are my prime favorites! If Go-Ahead had alike types of buses e.g. Optare Olympus or Wright Eclipse Geminis in their garage then maybe........ maybe I could have changed my mind. Unforunately though in this day and age - rather unlikely.

Summary on Route 396

1. 7km route going from King George Hospital - Ilford Broadway (Sainsburys)
2. Allocation consists of single deckers and double deckers can make an appearance too
3. Passes through some places of interest including Valentines Park, Aldborough Hatch, The Exchange (Ilford shopping mall)
4. Frequency has improved under Go-Ahead operation - amount of vehicles allocated stays the same though
5. Handy (at the right time) if you need to make quick links

Generally, I feel like 396 is doing great based on what I discussed here. I wish the best for this company as they continue to dominate once again.

Hopefully I made your day/night slightly brighter or better than how it is going. 

Thanks for reading this blog! 

Take care and happy reading! :)