Saturday 14th November 2015 – Farewell to the B10M

Yesterday, once again, I found myself escaping the region to visit a new city, but for a good cause. In partnership with Stagecoach in Manchester; the 896 Bus Group had organised a running day dedicated to remembering the Volvo B10M/Alexander PS vehicles that have roamed the streets of Manchester for 20 years, ahead of their withdrawal. I invited Dan to tag along with me, similar to the Stagecoach Open Day at their Lillyhall facility in Cumbria.

After picking him up in Chester-le-Street at 07:30 (having caught an 06:30ish 8A from Sunderland), we drove down in my dad's car, stopping briefly at Wetherby Services to take on fuel (took the opportunity to photograph an Eddie Stobart truck), we arrived in Manchester at 10:00. My dad drove off to visit the Trafford Centre while we walked up towards Piccadilly Gardens. Dan had been rambling on about a Wetherspoons breakfast... After taking some photos at Shudehill Interchange, and then failing to find a seat in the closest Wetherspoons (''Wetherspoons Piccadilly'' it was rather appropriately named), he then insisted we walked down to another Wetherspoons; ''The Paramount''. Surprisingly; it was very quiet, and we easily located a table. I enjoyed a Traditional Breakfast (can't remember what he had), before we walked back up to Piccadilly Gardens, photographing various buses in the open bus station. Having failed to locate the stop for the 192 (which the B10Ms were operating, from Manchester to Hazel Grove, departing each location on the hour); we eventually found it elsewhere, and waited for a B10M to show.

#192 – Manchester Piccadilly to Stockport Mersey Square – (11:54 --- 12:25) – Stagecoach in Cumbria 20711 – Volvo B10M/Alexander PS – ''Schoolrunner''
It had been made perfectly clear by the 896 Bus Group that only 20982 and 20983 were scheduled to appear on the services; being the only two surviving B10Ms operating in Manchester; but, we were shocked when two B10Ms turned the corner and onto Piccadilly. Dan noticed the registration plate of the leading example was K-DAO; informing me that it was a Cumbrian example, and that we should go with that. It was 20711, registered as K711 DAO; a ''Schoolrunner'' branded B10M dedicated to operating Carlisle school services. Behind was 20983; one of the Manchester natives, with the registration R983 XVM. As we were some of the first to board 20711, we had the choice of seats. After gaining my Manchester DayRider from the driver, at the price of £4.10 (complete with a message at the bottom, saying ''Farewell to the B10M''), we sat at the back seats. One of the last passengers to board was the famous Graeme Palmer; complete with his dog... Prior to him locating a seat, we were worried that he was going to tell us to move seats because he wanted to sit there... As we pulled away, it initially felt like I was on a Volvo B10BLE, except the ZF gearbox was very prominent in this vehicle, and some of Go North East's B10BLEs do have weak gearboxes. We enjoyed a spirited run to Stockport, where we decided to alight and get some photos, however, as 20983 was only just behind us, we decided to catch that B10M down to Hazel Grove Park & Ride.

#192 – Stockport Mersey Square to Hazel Grove Park & Ride – (12:29 --- 12:45) – Stagecoach in Manchester 20983 – Volvo B10M/Alexander PS – ''Stagecoach''
We only had a few minutes to wait before 20983 came along; in that time I think Dan managed a couple of photos. A rather large loading jumped off here, meaning the bus was quite quiet when we got on. There was no difficulty in locating a seat, and again, we sat at the back. Over Facebook Messenger; Sean seemed confused as to why we were sat at the back of a mid-engined bus, but Dan used the excuse that it was for extra legroom. The padding in the seating in 20983 was excellent; and unlike on 20711, where the seating arrangement was three on one side and two on the other (to fit as many children as possible on for school duties, also sacrificing the room in the gangway) – the seating arrangement on 20983 was like on any other standard service vehicle. Another bonus was that nobody had opened the windows on 20983; on 20711, somebody had opened numerous, meaning the bus was freezing. However; 20983 had a very weak gearbox, and sounded pathetic in comparison to 20711. The fact that I knew 20983 had spent it's working life trotting around Greater Manchester, while 20711 had explored some of the most beautiful parts of Cumbria, also had an effect on my judgement. Overall; I preferred 20711 to 20983, simply because it sounded better.

#192 – Hazel Grove Park & Ride to Stockport Mersey Square – (12:57 --- 13:20) – Stagecoach in Manchester 12190 – Alexander Dennis E40D/Alexander Dennis Enviro400 – ''Hybrid''
As we arrived at Hazel Grove; I noticed the line-up of Volvo B10Ms in the car park. In the middle was the famous 896, now preserved, along with a few Stagecoach B10Ms from around the Cumbria (one from Merseyside and South Lancashire, and another one from Cumbria), as well as a John Fishwick and Sons Leyland National Mk1. Both 20711 and 20983 were still waiting at Hazel Grove when we were finished taking photos; so we walked through the Park & Ride centre, picking up some leaflets as went through, which celebrated the event and the backstory of the B10M buses. For the sake variety; Dan suggested we boarded the Hybrid Enviro400 that was waiting. I caught the fleet number as 12190 as I boarded; showing my DayRider to the driver, and then making my way upstairs to join Dan; who had commandeered the nearside front seats. A man was sat opposite us, with a pen and notepad, jotting down fleet numbers as we went along the route. Two young enthusiasts were sat towards the back; talking endlessly about their ''winners'' and ''haulages''. It was a short journey back to Stockport; despite some of the traffic, and by now, it was raining badly. 

#192 – Stockport Mersey Square to Manchester Piccadilly – (14:10 --- 14:55) – Stagecoach in Manchester 12192 – Alexander Dennis E40D/Alexander Dennis Enviro400 – ''Hybrid''
We walked down into Stockport Bus Station; staying under shelter for about ten minutes and photographing stuff entering and leaving. After this, we had a wander down to Stockport depot, handily adjacent to the bus station. A few ALX300s and Enviro300s were present in what appeared to be a separate compound to the main garage; which had a wide front entrance. An ALX300 was preparing to leave, and I think Dan managed to get a photograph of it leaving beneath the Stagecoach sign. After our business in Stockport was done; we tried to work out the best bus we could get back to Manchester for 15:00, when we had arranged to meet my dad again. We decided the 192 was the best option, and headed back up to Mersey Square to catch one. 12192 rolled to a halt, and after a driver changeover, we departed at 14:10. This journey felt like it took forever; stopping at pretty much every single stop along the busy and traffic-filled road into Manchester. Nevertheless, we arrived back at Piccadilly for just before 15:00. I've never been particularly keen on the Hybrid Enviro400s that Stagecoach have; I prefer the standard diesel engined examples that hold a key place in Stagecoach fleet. As we were walking back; Dan noticed SN04 EGF; the Enviro300 that used to be owned by Go North East as 4977, now with Stagecoach as 27598.

After getting back to the place that my dad dropped us off at, we left Manchester, and dropped Dan back off in Chester-le-Street at 18:05. He then caught the 18:14 ''Coast & Country'' 8 back to Sunderland. It was a great day out, and I can now say I have visited Manchester for buses. I think the day would have been much better had the weather been on our side, but you can't have everything. I may consider returning to Manchester at some point in 2016; preferably to try out some of the ''Magic Bus'' ALX400s (sounded amazing) and some of the still-relatively new Enviro400MMCs that roam the streets. Was a great outing for some Volvo B10Ms though, and I have to congratulate the 896 Bus Group on organising such a brilliant event. They raised £900 for charity, which again, is commendable. My photos from yesterday are viewable in the following album; https://www.flickr.com/photos/127739730@...1179194042. Thanks for reading.

Marcus