I've never really experienced any major problems with the Lolynes. Last year, when I used the scholars services back from school (used to get the 21 there), the 885 or 887 (both went from the lower site to the upper site in Chester-le-Street, where I would alight) were often allocated Lolynes. I grew quite fond of them, don't know why. The damp smell prevalent on most of the unrefurbished examples (seems to be a lot less noticeable on the refurbished Tridents) was gradually a smell that became synonymous with the scholars. Don't know if it was all the memories of picking up the Metro papers and helping the other Year 8s defend the back seats downstairs from the little Year 7s, by smashing them to pieces of paper against their heads, but I'll not deny that now I do enjoy it when a Lolyne is kicked up on any service I use.
However, I do know that that are something of trouble-makers mechanically. I'll never forget the time our bus (3875 iirc) came in extremely late, and most of the other buses were about to leave, so once it had pulled into the site, the others were off - as we pulled out: the engine conked out. We were stranded until a replacement came, which was luckily a newly repainted (blue) OmniCity that had just arrived for the 50 from Percy Main (to give you an idea of when this was!). 3875 was always something of a dodgy one, as was 3872 (M-Ticket) and 3878. On the other hand, 3877 and 3879 were also regulars, and were fantastic in my opinion. 3865, a refurbished Lolyne, was another that would appear at least twice a week, making it another that I became a fan of. So, in conclusion, while there was a breakdown at least once a month on any of the 4 scholars services, the Lolynes didn't do so bad for the demanding task of ferrying school children that are trying to break the bus in half with a plank of wood...
I suppose anything made by East Lancs is like marmite; you either love it or you hate it.
RE: Go North East: Latest News & Discussion - April 2015