"Colin McKenzie" wrote in message
...
Aidan Stanger wrote:


The only valid reason for withdrawing RMs now is if they are falling
apart. Actually some may be, but all of them?

Colin McKenzie

--
The great advantage of not trusting statistics is that
it leaves you free to believe the damned lies instead!


Apparently the scrap men don't like buying up the Routemasters simply
because they are so difficult to break up. They take about 12 hours per
vehicle compared to other buses that take about 3 hours. (figures based on
something that someone said a few months ago so they may be innaccurat...
but you get the gist?)

Nick

Apparently the scrap men don't like buying up the Routemasters simply
because they are so difficult to break up. They take about 12 hours per
vehicle compared to other buses that take about 3 hours. (figures based on
something that someone said a few months ago so they may be innaccurat...
but you get the gist?)

Nick


Good - the thought of a Routemaster being scrapped fills me with the same sort
of revulsion as infanticide or gang-rape.

Marc.

(Mait001) wrote the following in:


Apparently the scrap men don't like buying up the Routemasters
simply because they are so difficult to break up. They take about
12 hours per vehicle compared to other buses that take about 3
hours. (figures based on something that someone said a few months
ago so they may be innaccurat... but you get the gist?)

Nick


Good - the thought of a Routemaster being scrapped fills me with
the same sort of revulsion as infanticide or gang-rape.

None of them will go for scrap anyway, they'll all be sold on to other
operators.

--
message by the incredible Robin May.
"The British don't like successful people" - said by British failures

Who is Abi Titmuss? What is she? Why is she famous?
http://robinmay.fotopic.net

On 23 Aug 2004 14:21:29 GMT, Robin May
wrote:

None of them will go for scrap anyway, they'll all be sold on to other
operators.

You sure? Unlike other second-hand ex-London buses, which are the
mainstay of many local operators around the country, Routemasters
require crew operation and are therefore too expensive.

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
To e-mail use neil at the above domain

(Neil Williams) wrote the following
in:

On 23 Aug 2004 14:21:29 GMT, Robin May
wrote:

None of them will go for scrap anyway, they'll all be sold on to
other operators.

You sure?

Yes. I've read things about them being bought up after routes are
converted, saying that demand exceeds supply.

Unlike other second-hand ex-London buses, which are the
mainstay of many local operators around the country, Routemasters
require crew operation and are therefore too expensive.

They aren't generally bought for operating normal services. They're for
private hi things like weddings where a nice bright, shiny
Routemaster - the traditional and iconic London bus - will suit the
occasion a lot better than other kinds of bus.

--
message by the incredible Robin May.
"The British don't like successful people" - said by British failures

Who is Abi Titmuss? What is she? Why is she famous?
http://robinmay.fotopic.net

On 23 Aug 2004 20:26:35 GMT, Robin May
wrote:



They aren't generally bought for operating normal services. They're for
private hi things like weddings where a nice bright, shiny
Routemaster - the traditional and iconic London bus - will suit the
occasion a lot better than other kinds of bus.

Some months ago there was an article in the Financial Times weekend
section, under the general heading of 'collectibles' about
opportunities to buy a Routemaster. I seem to remember that potential
purchasers might be asked to demonstrate that they had somewhere to
park the bus once they'd bought it.

Presumably low scrap metal prices have the same effect for buses as
for cars, and if you really want to scrap a bus you need to pay to
dispose of it. This would make the economics of withdrawing
Routemasters look very different if the intention was to scrap a
significant number. Somewhere (it might have been the same FT
article) I've seen the range £2000-£15,000 quoted for a Routemaster
depending on condition.

On a different subject, but prompted by the remarks above about
private hire, does any of the disability legislation apply to tourist
coaches? I only travel on private-hire coaches once in a very blue
moon, but one of these occasions was last week, when I had a couple of
rides in a coach, complete with orange curtains and brown seating
fabric right out of the 1970s, and a tiny cupboard marked 'toilet'
which was surely only for extremely urgent visits...

In any case, one of my fellow-passengers was a bit under 2 years old,
so we were quite conscious of accessibility issues. Which turned out
to be appalling. The floor was much higher than on any urban bus that
I've encountered, with I think 5 or 6 steps up from the entrance.
Thanks perhaps to rather bulkier seats than a city bus, the central
aisle would barely have accommodated the most compact push-chair, let
alone an adult wheelchair. There was no luggage space within the bus,
unless you count some overhead racks with very limited capacity, so we
had to prop up the folded pushchair against an empty seat.

But once on the move, the views from the elevated position were great
as the bus was expertly driven along some rather narrow country roads.

Martin

Martin Rich wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 25 Aug 2004:

In any case, one of my fellow-passengers was a bit under 2 years old,
so we were quite conscious of accessibility issues. Which turned out
to be appalling. The floor was much higher than on any urban bus that
I've encountered, with I think 5 or 6 steps up from the entrance.
Thanks perhaps to rather bulkier seats than a city bus, the central
aisle would barely have accommodated the most compact push-chair, let
alone an adult wheelchair. There was no luggage space within the bus,
unless you count some overhead racks with very limited capacity, so we
had to prop up the folded pushchair against an empty seat.

Normally such coaches have luggage space underneath, and the pushchair
would have been expected to go there, with the child carried on to the
bus in its parents' arms. What is done about wheelchair users, I don't
now.

On a side note, has anybody else noticed how much *bigger* pushchairs
have got now that you don't have to fold them on buses any more? They'll
be back to the full-sized perambulators of the 1950s and earlier any
minute....
--
Annabel - "Mrs Redboots"
(trying out a new .sig to reflect the personality I use in online forums)

As someone who spends a lot of his professional life on "tourist
coaches" I thought I'd "chip in" here.....

In message , Martin Rich
writes
On a different subject, but prompted by the remarks above about
private hire, does any of the disability legislation apply to tourist
coaches?
Not yet although I have heard rumblings that it will eventually. This
will have considerable implications for the views people get from on
board, too.

I only travel on private-hire coaches once in a very blue
moon, but one of these occasions was last week, when I had a couple of
rides in a coach, complete with orange curtains and brown seating
fabric right out of the 1970s, and a tiny cupboard marked 'toilet'
which was surely only for extremely urgent visits...
They are indeed for "urgent" visits only (if only more people realised
this). The bane of my life is people who try to use them when a vehicle
is stationary, as an alternative to finding a "proper" public one.
They are the same people that then complain later in the tour if the
aforesaid loo is full or smelly or both.

How large a loo would you have liked, by the way? :-)) (Any bigger
than they are now and you lose yet more seats.)

In any case, one of my fellow-passengers was a bit under 2 years old,
so we were quite conscious of accessibility issues. Which turned out
to be appalling. The floor was much higher than on any urban bus that
I've encountered, with I think 5 or 6 steps up from the entrance.
This is the case for two reasons. Firstly, it gives space for large
amounts of luggage (which usually accompany people on such vehicles)
underneath and secondly it gives a much higher and better view.

Thanks perhaps to rather bulkier seats than a city bus,
"Bulkier" meaning much more comfortable, especially on longer journeys
which, again, these vehicles are intended to operate.

the central
aisle would barely have accommodated the most compact push-chair, let
alone an adult wheelchair.
Neither of those things is intended to go along that aisle. Both,
where appropriate, should have been stowed in the luggage hold
underneath.

There was no luggage space within the bus,
unless you count some overhead racks with very limited capacity,
Well, that's what coaches have. Again, anything bulkier goes "below".

so we
had to prop up the folded pushchair against an empty seat.
Now *that* plays havoc with safety issues. Such an object unsecured
could either block exit in the case of an emergency or else move around
an injure someone. I'm surprised at a coach driver for allowing it.

But once on the move, the views from the elevated position were great
as the bus was expertly driven along some rather narrow country roads.
And there you have it: higher up = better view.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk