(28 Jul 2014, 12:30 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Given the low bridge along the route - I would assume any improvement to the X7 would be a frequency increase given there's nothing bigger in terms of single deckers available.

Where's the low bridge located? I've never done the route myself...

(28 Jul 2014, 5:55 pm)aureolin wrote Where's the low bridge located? I've never done the route myself...

Rail Bridge on the coast road between Seaham and Ryhope - measure 14ft 3in (see below, bridge is circled in Red)

The bus involve din the incident on the Felling bypass was 5168, when I came past at 1630 it was at the Felling bypass bus gate with the front blocking that outside lane eastbound and the rear blocking the outside lane westbound 2 police cars were there also one of the 1000 series vans with a fitter was in attendance.

(28 Jul 2014, 5:56 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Rail Bridge on the coast road between Seaham and Ryhope - measure 14ft 3in (see below, bridge is circled in Red)

Cheers I missed your earlier post in between Davey Bowyer trying to reallocate the entire fleet!

Does anyone know/have a list of the vehicles which still carry the old interior? I believe there's a few Lolynes and Renowns which didn't get refurbished.

(28 Jul 2014, 6:34 pm)Drifter60 wrote Does anyone know/have a list of the vehicles which still carry the old interior? I believe there's a few Lolynes and Renowns which didn't get refurbished.

4911, 4913, 4921, 4922, 4923.

(28 Jul 2014, 6:05 pm)Coppercap40 wrote The bus involve din the incident on the Felling bypass was 5168, when I came past at 1630 it was at the Felling bypass bus gate with the front blocking that outside lane eastbound and the rear blocking the outside lane westbound 2 police cars were there also one of the 1000 series vans with a fitter was in attendance.

It has been an accident waiting to happen that site.
Surprised there hasn't been nowt more serious than today, in the period it has been open.

(28 Jul 2014, 6:34 pm)Drifter60 wrote Does anyone know/have a list of the vehicles which still carry the old interior? I believe there's a few Lolynes and Renowns which didn't get refurbished.

Lolynes; 3801, 3802, 3873, 3874, 3875, 3876, 3877, 3878, 3879 and 3880

(28 Jul 2014, 7:12 pm)Marcus wrote Lolynes; 3801, 3802, 3873, 3874, 3875, 3876, 3877, 3878, 3879 and 3880

3867 hasn't either

(28 Jul 2014, 6:34 pm)Drifter60 wrote Does anyone know/have a list of the vehicles which still carry the old interior? I believe there's a few Lolynes and Renowns which didn't get refurbished.

I don't think any of the Cadets have been refurbished either?

(28 Jul 2014, 7:14 pm)Tom wrote 3867 hasn't either

Have either of the DFDS vehicles been refurbished?

Also, I can't remember, but I don't think 3890 or 3891 are internally refurbished?

(28 Jul 2014, 7:31 pm)Marcus wrote Have either of the DFDS vehicles been refurbished?

Also, I can't remember, but I don't think 3890 or 3891 are internally refurbished?

3866 has, but 3890/1 haven't.

(28 Jul 2014, 7:14 pm)Tom wrote 3867 hasn't either

3867 has had its seat re-trimmed.

(28 Jul 2014, 7:16 pm)BJ10VUS wrote I don't think any of the Cadets have been refurbished either?

8269 certainly hasn't, he says, having just decided to give 8269 a go up Old Durham Rd!

(28 Jul 2014, 5:56 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Rail Bridge on the coast road between Seaham and Ryhope - measure 14ft 3in (see below, bridge is circled in Red)

the X96 Newcastle to Seaham later extended to Peterlee used to go under this bridge, using 5101 types.

(28 Jul 2014, 7:35 pm)Dan wrote 8269 certainly hasn't, he says, having just decided to give 8269 a go up Old Durham Rd!

It was a pleasure knowing you......

(28 Jul 2014, 3:08 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote No!

http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=3972

by using the enclosed link, I came across this:

http://heretotherepublishing.com/northum.../index.htm

with other bus timetable booklets from across the UK.

(28 Jul 2014, 8:00 pm)cbma06 wrote the X96 Newcastle to Seaham later extended to Peterlee used to go under this bridge, using 5101 types.

And were they taller than 14ft 3ins? Put it this way, the B9s won't fit under there as they are 14ft 5ins

(28 Jul 2014, 8:08 pm)Kuyoyo wrote And were they taller than 14ft 3ins? Put it this way, the B9s won't fit under there as they are 14ft 5ins

no double deckers be able to go underneath that bridge

(28 Jul 2014, 7:35 pm)Dan wrote 8269 certainly hasn't, he says, having just decided to give 8269 a go up Old Durham Rd!

It's been an hour or so... have you reached the QE yet?

(28 Jul 2014, 8:24 pm)BJ10VUS wrote It's been an hour or so... have you reached the QE yet?

Hey, you'd be surprised! Had some power that little Cadet! Obviously didn't compare to a B9TL, but gave the Solars a run for their money.

I thought that one used to be awful, unless I've mistaken it for 8268 or indeed it has had work done to it...

Do you think that 6116 / 6117 will be kept red until spares are found or will they repaint them after coming back from Glasgow? And with regards to the 310, unless the 309 was laying over in Haymarket for 14 minutes, then the 310 must still be the same as now? The only thing for spares that I can see happening is Deptford losing 1 Gemini to Percy Main with both using
older deckers as a last resort. I think that both services should be alright with 1 spare until something more
permanant crops up but towards Christmas or if the roadworks at Nissan continue to cause problems, then I think that Percy Main would have to fall back on the Lolynes.

(28 Jul 2014, 9:22 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Do you think that 6116 / 6117 will be kept red until spares are found or will they repaint them after coming back from Glasgow? And with regards to the 310, unless the 309 was laying over in Haymarket for 14 minutes, then the 310 must still be the same as now? The only thing for spares that I can see happening is Deptford losing 1 Gemini to Percy Main with both using
older deckers as a last resort. I think that both services should be alright with 1 spare until something more
permanant crops up but towards Christmas or if the roadworks at Nissan continue to cause problems, then I think that Percy Main would have to fall back on the Lolynes.

Let's face it, nobody knows the answer to any of the questions that have been asked today with regards to the Cobalt Clipper - and quite frankly that's down to the fact we haven't got a timetable for the 310. Once we do have the timetable for the 310, we may be able to piece together information with greater ease.

I really do think we've discussed the Cobalt Clipper at length today and the discussion up to now has been nothing but speculation and assumptions.

First and forthmost, the repainting of 6116/17 five months after entering service is highly unlikely. I'd say it's almost unheard of for new buses to be repainted before they've seen five years of service. That said, if the PVR was to increase to 17 as has been suggested (which, as far as I'm concerned, is unlikely), these buses would have to be repainted. This would leave the Cobalt Clipper with no spare Volvo B9TL vehicles, and all of those catchy marketing lines you came up with before would be irrelevant, because we'd regularly see vehicles which don't have free Wi-Fi and power socket facilities being allocated.

On that note, it is highly unlikely that any new buses, regardless of colour, will transfer to a different depot. 6084-6100 were purchased for the Fab56, and GNE's bid to Go-Ahead would have included details for the payback time based on revenue being generated by the Fab56. The cost for 6100 was worked out for it being allocated to Deptford, and not to Percy Main - so the chances of any of these vehicles moving are incredibly slim. Despite this, why should the Fab56 suffer because of a change made to the Cobalt Clipper?

I've made my views clear on what I think will happen, but I have been wrong in the past and I will admit it should I be wrong about this, too. The same PVR (based on rough estimations) can be achieved with a 15 minute frequency on the 309 and a 30 minute frequency on the 310 - and you'd simply be plugging your readily available resources into the area which needs them most (partly down to competition, although existing passenger numbers would have reflected the decisions made too).

Oh but you are all wrong. According to some crackpot standing outside Buchanan Street Bus Station today. 6099/100/116/117 are now owned by First and are going to be repainted in First colours. Only because one of them was going around with First on the blind.

Bloody idiots I tell you. And I almost went for an old guy who whinged at me for having one foot off a kerb whilst photoing at the entrance to the bus station.

Is 3818 based at Deptford?

(29 Jul 2014, 8:08 am)Tom wrote Is 3818 based at Deptford?

No - Riverside.
Operated the 99 at the airshow on Saturday but that was it.

(29 Jul 2014, 12:16 am)GMitchelhill wrote Oh but you are all wrong. According to some crackpot standing outside Buchanan Street Bus Station today. 6099/100/116/117 are now owned by First and are going to be repainted in First colours. Only because one of them was going around with First on the blind.

Bloody idiots I tell you. And I almost went for an old guy who whinged at me for having one foot off a kerb whilst photoing at the entrance to the bus station.

Those Weegies kna nowt a tell ya...There all wasted on Buckfast

Right. Im confused with the whole 'Cadet' business.

I assume that 8242-8252 are all DAF SB120s because of their 'block' lights at the front, resembling a renown.
I therefore assume that 8253-8260 and 8267-8273 are VDL SB120s because of their circular lights on the front (apart from the indicators).
And i believe that 8261-8266 are Volvo SB120 Wright Merits.

However, what confuses me is that now, im been told that what i thought were VDL SB120s are actually DAFs and 8261-8266 are VDL but still Merits. I could have sworn that, at one point on the Go North East fleet list 8261-66 were started as been Volvo, not VDL. Could somebody at least try and get me 'unconfused' (just made up a word there )

(29 Jul 2014, 9:08 am)Robert wrote Right. Im confused with the whole 'Cadet' business.

I assume that 8242-8252 are all DAF SB120s because of their 'block' lights at the front, resembling a renown.
I therefore assume that 8253-8260 and 8267-8273 are VDL SB120s because of their circular lights on the front (apart from the indicators).
And i believe that 8261-8266 are Volvo SB120 Wright Merits.

However, what confuses me is that now, im been told that what i thought were VDL SB120s are actually DAFs and 8261-8266 are VDL but still Merits. I could have sworn that, at one point on the Go North East fleet list 8261-66 were started as been Volvo, not VDL. Could somebody at least try and get me 'unconfused' (just made up a word there )

See our fleet list for the chassis variations.

DAF SB120/Wright Cadet
VDL SB120/Wright Merit

They look similar to Renowns because of the Wright bodywork, which is what those vehicles have in common with Volvo B10BLEs.

There are variations in the bodywork because they were manufactured at different times. A similar example that you should be familiar with (living in the Stanley area) would be the rear lights on the Venture Solos compared to all the others in the fleet which were new in 2011/12 - the bodywork has been altered slightly this year but Optare hasn't manufactured them as a different product as they are pretty much the same.

When they first arrived, GNE listed them as Volvos, yes. Reason why is explained on the Wiki article for the VDL SB120: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDL_SB120

The Merits were purchased from Volvo dealer stock, whereas, so far as I know, the Cadets were ordered directly from Wrights.

(29 Jul 2014, 9:13 am)Dan wrote See our fleet list for the chassis variations.

DAF SB120/Wright Cadet
VDL SB120/Wright Merit

They look similar to Renowns because of the Wright bodywork, which is what those vehicles have in common with Volvo B10BLEs.

When they first arrived, GNE listed them as Volvos, yes. Reason why is explained on the Wiki article for the VDL SB120: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDL_SB120

The Merits were purchased from Volvo dealer stock, whereas, so far as I know, the Cadets were ordered directly from Wrights.

I'll be honest here mate, when I was new to the enthusiast community a few years back, I thought the Cadets and Merits were 'Mini Renowns' - I probably got it from SPDs and MPDs, like