Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

[M113 YKC]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Today, me and my friend went out with no plan (again!). As a result of many interesting allocations around Merseyside, however, our day progressed nicely - we managed to sample many interesting buses. The weather was great, too. Here's how it went:

52 (ANW) - Netherton, Glovers Lane > Queen Square Bus Station
Pulsar 2 MX59 JJO (3027)
This bus was a welcome surprise; I don't manage to ride on it a lot, sadly, and it's always been a good bus, in my opinion. Anyway... It was excellent today, as usual! Its' tidy interior was free from vandalism and its' exterior was also in a good condition. The bus didn't rattle much whilst in motion, especially on the worst roads of the route. It sounded fantastic; the friendly, fast driver created a fantastic journey!

(I met my friend in Queen Square Bus Station.)

18 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > Croxteth, Oak Lane
Pulsar 2 MX09 JHL (2956)
This wasn't the bus that we wanted to ride on; Pulsar CX58 EWT (2904) went through Queen Square Bus Station on the 18 without stopping because 2956 was loading at the bus stop, so we decided to board 2956 to try and catch 2904! The driver of 2956 was slow, which made our plan impossible... Anyway! This bus featured a vandalised interior and it rattled a lot for the majority of our journey. The "slow-moded" bus sounded excellent, however the driver was, again, sluggish.

18 (ANW) - Croxteth, Oak Lane > Queen Square Bus Station
Pulsar CX58 EWT (2904)
We managed to catch this bus, however the best part of the route had been missed, sadly... This bus was poor, anyway. It's interior was a disgrace and the ride-quality was awful - strange clanging noises came from inside the "shelf" and rattles and vibrations were horrible. It was in the famous "slow mode", however I'm 75% sure that it featured the "sensitive kickdown" issue because the woman driver kicked down every time - even in awkward places! The bus sounded nice, however it also sounded tired.

472 (FC&W) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Birkenhead Bus Station
Volvo/Gemini YJ04 FZB (34254)
My friend wanted to sit on the top deck, so this wasn't an ideal journey for me to judge one of these "local newbies" (again...). The first driver was slow through the Queensway Tunnel; the second driver was fast, however we only sampled his driving for a minute or two (the remainder of our journey). From what I could judge on the top deck, the bus rattled a lot. I couldn't hear it, either.

409 (ANW) - Birkenhead Bus Station > Seacombe Interchange (Bus Station)
DAF/ALX300 V404 ENC (2404)
This was a surprise! I didn't enjoy this journey, though. The bus wasn't nice. It vibrated badly when idle and its' interior was poor at the back - the back row was very uncomfortable to sit on and one "normal" seat was so dusty that it marked my hand when I touched it! The driver was a bit slow, however the bus sounded nice.

411 (ANW) - Seacombe Interchange (Bus Station) > Birkenhead, Conway Street
DAF/Cadet X436 HJA (2436)
The 409 (the bus that we were waiting for) didn't appear and this journey was very late - over 10 minutes, which wasn't pleasant for us and other people who were also waiting for either the 409 or the 411 to get to Birkenhead. Anyway... The driver of this nice bus was very fast. The bus itself was quite fast off the line and it sounded excellent - it featured a very nice gearbox! I'm starting to become very interested in this type of bus, now that I've rode on a few good examples...!

437 (ANW) - Birkenhead Bus Station > Liverpool, Whitechapel
Pulsar 2 MX59 ABF (3010)
This was another surprise - and, surprisingly, it featured a quiet load on-board! The bus was great - it rattled a bit, however it sounded nice and powerful and it was fast off the line! The driver was very fast!

311 (ANW) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Skelmersdale Bus Station
Pulsar 2 MX09 LYF (2944)
As expected, this bus appeared - but about 20 minutes late (which led to the 311, the 345 and the 350 all travelling through Walton together...). We were waiting for the bus on Sir Thomas Street for about 25 minutes in total, so the two elderly women who told us to join the "queue" when the bus appeared really annoyed us... Other people in the "queue" were completely against what they said - the people behind them kindly invited us into the "queue" straight away! And this "queue" wasn't very evident, anyway - people came out of the bus stop and gathered together when the bus was spotted... ANYWAY! Overall, this journey was disappointing. The driver was quite fast - kickdown was applied regularly - however the bus was absolutely awful! It didn't feel very fast off the line and it rattled violently all the way! It didn't sound very good, either.

311 (ANW) - Skelmersdale Bus Station > Aintree, Ormskirk Road
Pulsar 2 MX09 LYG (2945)
Again, this was another disappointing ride. The driver was very, very slow all the way, which was a shame because the bus sounded very nice! The bus' interior wasn't nice - heavy vandalism was evident at the back of the bus. The bus rattled, however not as bad as 2944.

350 (ANW) - Aintree, Ormskirk Road > Queen Square Bus Station
Marshall V639 DVU (7639)
My last ride on this bus was horrific, to be honest. It wasn't too bad today, although it was quite rattly. It sounded fine and it was quite fast off the line, though. The driver was fast, which was very pleasant after our last journey.

13 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > Liverpool, Lord Street
Pulsar CX58 EWO (2900)
Once again, this bus was in the famous "slow mode", it rattled quite a lot and its' interior wasn't very nice, although it sounded great!

(I left my friend on Sir Thomas Street in Liverpool.)

52 (ANW) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Netherton, Glovers Lane
Pulsar 2 MX09 LYA (2941)
I was happy with the first driver that was driving this "slow-moded" bus - he was quite fast. The second driver, however, was absolutely fantastic! He seemed to know how to get the bus moving! The interior of the bus wasn't very nice and, strangely, it only had four opening windows - six are the usual amount! Anyway, this was a fantastic journey to end the day with!