FoL#2 tells me they’re getting 60 of these in Bristol soon.
which also means a new electric charging depot like the one in Leicester.
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Love it when you see someone who could have inspired Wallace, I’ve seen a few recently.
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Some useful language practice for those learning French:
This video is excellent! I didn’t know that the Guy Wulfrunian was effectively the first Production vehicle to use a Drop-centre Rear Axle!This was an important innovation because it allowed lower floor heights downstairs in order to avoid the rather awkward ‘Low-bridge’ layout*
Edit I was incorrect. The Bristol Lodekka was the first:
http://classicbristolbuses.thornet.co.uk/lodekka.htm
As far as I’m aware, Independent Front Suspension- albeit with coil springs- was introduced by the Routemaster in 1954, although the Wulfrunian is likely to be the first with all round Air Suspension…
The video mentioned Leyland Titan (B15) and it definitely had IFS:
The design appears to share much more with the Routemaster; indeed that suspension design lived on in much modified form until around 2004. Ish. On Volvo Chassis like B7L; B10L and Super Olympian.
The mad idea was the retention of a Front Engine layout. I understand a lot of Fleet Managers shat themselves about the complexity of a Transverse Rear Engine and the associated Angle Drives and shit…
But it was always gonna be the future.
Oh and the Volvo Ailsa got a mention:
Note the Cab Door. On the off-side…
They were fucking horrible; our school used the services of the local Municipal operator, BoroLine and they sometimes used one of their their Ailsas for the ‘Swimming Bus’.
It was noisy and stunk of diesel fumes. Fucking awful machine. Massively unpopular!
The front mounted Volvo diesel engine was relatively small for a bus. I think it was 6.7litres. It had to work really hard compared to a plodding Gardener…
Anyhoo; the smokey screamer sat between the driver and the entrance doors, so when the Exhaust Manifold fixings broke…
Memories…
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Low bridge Bus Layout before the invention of Drop-centre Rear Axles:
Obvious ‘challenges’ for taller people!
The most popular Drop Centre Rear Axle in the world. The ZF AV 132. Note the Disc Brakes…
They’re everywhere. So Guy Motors were right after all!
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Milkfloat range:
https://www.zemo.org.uk/work-with-us/buses-coaches/low-emission-buses/certificates-hub.htm
Haven’t a fucking clue about it, so hopefully someone will be able to make sense of it!
The double decker (2nd one) does 0.67kWh/km, or 1.5km/kWh. If you run at an average of 50% capacity, then it is about 60 passenger km/kWh. For contrast, a fairly efficient car can possibly get towards 8km/kWh if driven like a granny so possibly 32 passenger km/kWh with 4 people in it (but probably less due to the extra load).
Ergo: public transport is more efficient than cars. No real surprises there.
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From a Spanish traffic police FB page:
The Police of Catalonia (Mossos d´Esquadra) is investigating the causes of the accident of a bus at the entrance of a tunnel on the C-32 between Pineda de Mar and Tordera.
edit: three serious injuries but thankfully no deaths https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/bus-accident-c32-tordera
Shit! Thoughts are with all affected by this tragic incident.
Looks like the coach mounted the crash barrier and ran up the mouth of the tunnel. Will be interested to see the results of the forthcoming investigation.
Impressed by the structural integrity of the vehicle. That will have saved many lives… Not so long ago, coaches still used wood as a structural element! 
Some Strayan Bus content for @MGOwner:
I fucking love those badges. Rare as fuck and extremely pricey… 
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I forgot, I took a photo just for you yesterday.
What a place to break down 
this is on quite an incline, just as you come up to the crest of Crystal Palace going north to south.
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Oops… They seldom “Go mechanical” in a good place…
As an aside, guess how much that bus weighs. I’ll accept answers within 500Kg because I can’t tell how long that one is…
Haha, I can judge ml of spirits by eye, but I’m hopeless at big numbers.
Umm, 10 tonnes!
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That’s close enough; you could have quoted it’s Maximum GVW which is 18 Tonnes. If it is the littlest of it’s type #(BYD K9 with Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 EV coachwork) then it weighs 12,066Kg.The 10.8 metre version weighs 12,495Kg.
#There are three main lengths in London.
** Unladen Weight.
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TfL Spec’ ADL Enviro 400 EV:
Interesting bit about Cyber security too…
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When you said they were pricey, you weren’t kidding.