(First) N232 KAE (Read 595 times)

[dave72122]

This bus was seen today with rotherham destinations on, on service 4 towards ravenfield, as 08:05 in rotherham interchange this morning, it looked ok, but saw inside, and the seats looked really tacky.

Hope it won't bve staying at rotherham for too long, after it is leaving rotherham will it be going back to doncaster or will it be going to PVS?

Cheers, Dave

[manontheinside]

Yes/no/don't know. Seriously.

All the Darts look a bit poor now and i'd only be too happy to wave bye-bye, but we'll have to wait and see. I think they are not long for this world though.

[lapike]

yes glad it gone to rotherham, a tatty bus.

[metromadman]

I think that they would be good buses if they had new livery applied and have a refurbishment, because they are not that old, they have good engins and all that needs to be done to solve everyones missery instead of scrapping usfull buses that still have a few more years work left in them is just do a refurbishment to the interior.

[22438]

Well remember N-reg buses are still 11/12 years old, and as its a Dart its obviously inferior to B10Ms, and its also non-standard and high floor. So there are plenty of reasons why these buses could be soon to leave, especially considering all the new Geminis that will arrive. IMO a refurbishment would be a waste of money at this stage in the vehicle's life.

[lapike]

yea because it still won't be low floor, and thats what people want these days!

[manontheinside]

Low floor or not, it makes little difference. Why on earth would spending vast sums of money on repaints, refurbishments etc be of any use to anyone. Clearly these buses are past their best and are nearing the end of their useful lives. You refurbish buses at half life, not end of life.

What certain people, especially Bobby, need to realise is that buses don't all work the same, don't have the same life expectancy etc etc. A 15-year life on a bus is usual, but - at least in accounting terms - minibuses and midibuses are often expected to last 10-12 years.

But even so, this is irrelevant as even if they were 8 years old, the fact that they are expected to be removed from service within a short period of time, would mean that no money would sensibly be spent 'upgrading' them.

Bobby - It is solely your opinion that the engines and body's are good (see YTCs comments on the YT J-XHL Darts withdrawn for his views on the bodies) and i would not necessarily agree. I can absolutely assure you that no buses are scrapped purely because a refurbishment would cost money. Its hard enough to get new passengers on buses without leaving old buses out there unecessarily just because they aint collapsed yet!

And age is relative. People replace cars after a few years commonly these days. Unfortunately therefore people judge the same thing on buses often. An old bus is an old bus when compared regardless of refurbishment. Put a Dart next to a Gemini and see which has the 'wow' factor - then consider whether a coat of paint would make any difference!

[donnytom]

Maybe not in comparing how old and new buses compare, but it can improve the appearance of an individual bus considerably...

alvin.fotopic.net/p808025.html
first-group-fans.fotopic.net/p30290454.html


Likewise the switch from B2 to B3 can improve a bus, though probably won't make it look better than a new one!

[22438]

Yes, I remember when I first saw one of Sheffield's Plaxton B6s newly repainted, it looked almost like a new bus, or like one of the A1 darts. The Dominator picture provided, however, still looks aged and battered in B3 liverery, although it does look smarter for it.

[manontheinside]

Do you know cjm, thats the irony. That is one of the few situations where i would say it made the buses look younger by some margin. Maybe it was the novelty value having seen them in yellow/red for 15 years, but i thought they really looked better for it.

I still believe that the proper Alexander RH-type bodies are amongst the most modern looking vehicles around.

[22438]

I agree with you about the RH bodywork - compare it to the Palatine 1 body and I don't think its that obvious which is the older one! It looks years ahead of other buses of the time such a Mass's Titans.

However, the particular example photographed still looked slightly worse for wear on the roof, although the new livery does go some way to improve it.

[donnytom]

An example with better paintwork:

jimmyshengukbuses2.fotopic.net/p20071669.html

Even when a little battered, it can still look more modern than a well-restored bus but with an older style of paint:

stephen500.fotopic.net/p35900293.html

[wilkos1259]

30507 does look good in that First livery, however the front grill spoils it a bit.

[manontheinside]

30507, what can i say. Good old Doncaster!

Both buses in the photos above could pass for modern vehicles. If the general man in the street was confronted with one of them with a false regsitration plate i doubt they'd know its real age. The only giveaway's i suppose are the internal fitments (seating etc) and the lack of a low floor.

[lapike]

yea the front grill spolis it a lot.