Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

[CX54 DKD (Moderator)]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Went out yesterday with no particular destinations set so it ended up just being a case of jumping on what looked good at the time! The aim had been to get a few photos whilst out and whilst I did, it also turned into a day of experimenting with camera settings having not read up on what the effect of each was before leaving... Can't say it ended amazingly well! There will be a trickle of photos making their way onto my Flickr if anyone wants to take a look but unfortunately, a lot taken yesterday went to pot thanks to my inordinate fiddling!

Northern Rail Class 156, 156425 (Home - Liverpool Lime Street)
This is one of Northern's refurbished 156 examples and I have to say, even without a refurbishment, these remain my firm favourites on the Liverpool - Wigan line. The 142s and 150s simply don't have a patch on them. This was a very nice 156 with, as mentioned, a refurbished interior and good ride quality. Notably, the interior was also in a very good condition and build quality seemed good compared to some others with a strong sounding engine proving good acceleration and speed where the line allowed.

52A - Peoplesbus Optare Tempo, V1 BUS (Sir Thomas Street to Bootle Strand)
This was my first time on Peoplesbus' Tempo and I was very impressed. I was amazed initially at the complete lack of any sort of vibration at idle. Had the engine not been making a sound, it'd have felt like it was switched off! Very impressive. The high spec interior with LED lighting is also excellent and makes the vehicle a real credit to the company. It doesn't lack in speed either. The poor roads on the way out of Liverpool did it no favours but I've had much worse vehicles over the same stretch. In summary, a commendable vehicle for Peoplesbus.

47 - Arriva North West Pulsar 2 3035, MX10 BZU (Bootle Strand to Southport)
I always enjoy catching vehicles based out of Southport as they always seem to be superior in quality and the way they are kept when compared to other garages. 3035 is no exception as it turned up spotless internally with a friendly female driver. One thing I enjoy about this route is the run down the Formby by-pass which really lets the driver push the vehicle and this lady was no exception. The vehicle was pushed up to the limiter in the inside lane overtaking numerous cars down the stretch. It really shows how powerful the Pulsars can be in the correct configuration with the correct driver. As with most of Southport's Pulsars, this also had a distinct lack of rattles making it an enjoyable ride. If only the slower sections of the route, sat in traffic were non-existent!

Merseyrail Class 507, 507024 (Southport to Bootle Strand)
After some time spent in Southport for lunch and some photographs, we jumped on one of Merseyrail's services back to Bootle to save on time. Whilst I have nothing against the 507s, whenever I've tried them, they've seemed to have notable jerking during initial acceleration. As I say though, I don't mind them but I wouldn't say I love them either. I'll still take a DMU over these EMUs personally!

58C - Cumfybus Optare Solo, YS02 UCD (Bootle Strand to Netherton Magdalene Square)
Just a quick stint on one of Cumfybus' Solos not having tried a huge number of them. This particular one looked tired inside but was still suitably comfortable. It featured an annoying, but not unbearable, squeaking at the front of the vehicle but other than that, there were no huge rattling or vibration issues. The gearbox was loud but to be honest, I found that quite nice. The engine wasn't up to much however and was sluggish through gears 1 and 2. Ride quality on the other hand, was excellent.

56 - Arriva North West Plaxton Pointer 2 2218, X218 ANC (Netherton Magdalene Square to Queen Square)
I had been looking for a Bootle X-ANC to see how bad they were however, it seems that whenever there are complaints about a certain vehicle allocation at a garage and I go out to try some of the worst, I end up with the best! This was an excellent vehicle with a great turn of speed with the driver at the wheel really pushing it. It has been fully treated under the P&P programme and I found the Urban 90s comfortable for the duration of the journey. No rattles, no vibrations and a strong engine - absolutely excellent. I'll have to try and see how bad these can be at some other stage!

Northern Rail Class 156, 156468 (Liverpool Lime Street to Liverpool South Parkway)
Then we went off for a quick stint to South Parkway to photograph some of the through workings from First Trans Pennine, London Midland and Northern. We also had the opportunity to photograph some of the bus service from HTL, Arriva and Stagecoach. Unfortunately for me, these were probably some of my worst photographs of the day - my own fault for messing around with settings non-educationally though! Back to the DMU though, this was a non-refurbished example and so looked considerably tired internally. It'd be great if Northern could increase the rate at which they refurbish these units because, once done, they look excellent. Ride quality was good and the engine was strong though.

Northern Rail Class 156, 156? (Liverpool South Parkway to Liverpool Lime Street)
Much the same as the above however the engine did not sound anywhere near as strong on this example and whined painfully the whole way.

10 - Arriva North West Pulsar 2 2967, MX09 OOV (Liverpool Queen Square to Home)
Having been a painfully slow example for a long time with no power coming from an engine which revved to high levels, 2967 finally had some work done at the start of the year to rectify its problems. Now, it's an excellent example with good power from the engine giving a quick ride. The driver was also excellent pushing the vehicle at every opportunity. Ride quality is good with minimal crashing and rattles over some of the worse roads down the route and no idle vibrations from the back shelf. A lovely ride to end the day on what was a surprisingly quiet 10 working.