Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

[M113 YKC]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

(15/06/2012 22:58)27701 Wrote:  Tomorrow, I'm heading out to do a bit of shopping and to look for ANW's long-lost Pulsar 2 - MX59 FFW (3018)!

I did venture out today to go shopping and ride on a few services that I don't usually ride on! Here's what I did:

52 (ANW) - Netherton, Glovers Lane > Queen Square Bus Station
Pulsar CX58 FZA (2920)
I was disappointed when I seen this bus operating my first journey of the day, however it wasn't too bad today! Rattles weren't as violent as when I last rode on it and the gearbox "hum" enhanced the ride nicely! There were quite a few rattles on-board, however the decent driver (no kickdown though) made up for that!

(Shopping...)

345 (ANW) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Walton, Walton Vale
Marshall V675 DVU (7675)
I was planning on going home before I seen this bus, of which I've been intrigued to ride on for a while now! What a disappointing bus! The engine didn't sound very good and the bus was very sluggish off the line! Rattles were Marshall-standard!

102 (HTL Buses) - Walton, Longmoor Lane > Aintree University Hospital (Broadway)
Solo YJ11 EKP (79)
This bus' ride-quality wasn't too bad, although I wasn't on it for very long. Whilst I was on it, however, the gearbox jerked violently when the was going off the line! It was worrying for a bus of ONE year old...

159 (HTL Buses) - Aintree University Hospital (Broadway) > Bootle Strand Shopping Centre
Solo YJ12 GXP (22)
This bus was a welcome sight - another example that I've been intrigued to ride on for a while! The ride-quality wasn't great for a bus of not even six months old! It seemed to be quick off the line though.

54 (ANW) - Bootle Strand Shopping Centre > Crosby, Islington
Cadet DK55 FXD (2519)
As what seems to be the up-to-date story of this service, my journey was running about 10 minutes late when it arrived at my stop! I was happy to see my favourite Cadet out of Bootle's four. Its gearbox was dodgy - when it was going off the line, there was a constant pause, along with a worryingly-extraordinary engine noise in that pause! The bus was quick though, which created a nice ride!

62 (ANW) - Crosby, Islington > Bootle Strand Shopping Centre
Pulsar CX58 FZF (2924)
As I was in a rush to try and catch sister-bus CX58 FZL (2929) on the 58 from Bootle, I decided to board this bus. The ride was fine, although there were some horrible rattles! The driver was quick - one instance of kickdown! :P

52 (ANW) - Bootle Strand Shopping Centre > Netherton, Glovers Lane
Pulsar CX58 FZK (2928)
After missing 2929, I decided to chase something else that I'd seen instead! Unfortunately, as I was in a bit of a rush, I had to board this terrible bus - not something I'd do if I wasn't in a rush! The bus was just awful - in-fact, it was in the famous "slow mode", which just topped it off as its status of Bootle's worst Pulsar (by far!). It was VERY slow off the line! There was a deafening noise after gear one, and it increased in volume up to gear three, after which the engine couldn't be heard at all! Scrap it...

(I nipped home to put my shopping in...)

55 (ANW) - Netherton, Northern Perimeter Road > Queen Square Bus Station
Pulsar 2 MX59 FFW (3018)
I was glad that this turned up, as expected - although the livery wasn't exciting (see the "Arriva North West - Bootle Depot" thread for more information on that)... The engine was fantastic, as it used to be! The ride-quality of the bus was fantastic - no rattles at all on the worst roads en-route! It's nice to have a decent bus back on the road again, although whether it's still my stalker or not is yet to be discovered (it felt like it wasn't today!)...

52A (ANW) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Netherton, Glovers Lane
Pulsar MX09 LYG (2945)
As a familiar driver was at the wheel, and as it was an 09-plated example, I decided to board it... I stood up for most of my journey because there weren't any seats - one reason why I hate this service! Rattles were bad. The bus kept kicking down badly - in the violent way. The caring driver kept putting it off (shaking his head and sighing when he was doing so - that's how repetitive it was!) as it would have caused murder with the standing scene on-board! Overall, not a bad ride!