First South West (Kernow & Buses of Somerset)

Goldfish62 · 4 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
Solo 53701 repaired and returned to service which enables at least some services to serve Mousehole Harbour. Scrap man removed Trident 32762 from Truro on Monday.

And Sprinter 54114 is off the road today. Hopefully just a scheduled PMI (Planned Maintenance Inspection) rather than yet another problem.

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richw · 4 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
Solo 53701 repaired and returned to service which enables at least some services to serve Mousehole Harbour.

Complete with a recon gearbox supplied by Allison suggesting longetivity, but as it’s First it’ll probably be scrapped next week.

Citistar · 4 Oct 2023

richw said:
Complete with a recon gearbox supplied by Allison suggesting longetivity, but as it’s First it’ll probably be scrapped next week.

(Apologies to non operational/maintenance staff - skip this comment)
They actually managed to get Mitchells to come and fit a gearbox?!? What witchcraft is this??

Volvo142 · 5 Oct 2023

Citistar said:
What witchcraft is this??

Well it is page 666 of this thread.....

richw · 5 Oct 2023

Citistar said:
(Apologies to non operational/maintenance staff - skip this comment)
They actually managed to get Mitchells to come and fit a gearbox?!? What witchcraft is this??

Probably the threat of paying over the odds maybe in 3-4 months time if they’re lucky that did it

83G/84D · 5 Oct 2023

Goldfish62 said:
And Sprinter 54114 is off the road today. Hopefully just a scheduled PMI (Planned Maintenance Inspection) rather than yet another problem.

It seems that you were correct as 54114 is back in use today.

Goldfish62 · 5 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
It seems that you were correct as 54114 is back in use today.

Ah good.

83G/84D · 5 Oct 2023

Seems like an age since we had two Solos on the Mousehole, 53505 & 53701 come to the rescue today!

Snozzel · 7 Oct 2023

Not relevant to anything but i thought i would add a test print from the printer menu. Someone had time on their hands!

83G/84D · 22 Oct 2023

Sprinter 54112 has returned to service in recent days after a period of inaction. Two of the type are now available for Mousehole services.

Busaholic · 22 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
Sprinter 54112 has returned to service in recent days after a period of inaction. Two of the type are now available for Mousehole services.

Wow - riches :smile:

JD2168 · 22 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
Sprinter 54112 has returned to service in recent days after a period of inaction. Two of the type are now available for Mousehole services.

Given the issues that First are having with the Sprinters & Stagecoach are buying Diesel Solos again, it makes me wonder if the should have gone back to Switch/Optare for more Solos.

I still find it odd with the amount of issues that other operators with Sprinters seem to run them comfortably each day.

richw · 23 Oct 2023

JD2168 said:
I still find it odd with the amount of issues that other operators with Sprinters seem to run them comfortably each day.

All of the big groups seem to have had difficulties nationally with sprinters. Yet independents seem to find them bullet proof. It’s very odd.

OptareOlympus · 23 Oct 2023

Seems the same regardless of the type. Small operators seem able to run 20 year B7TLs for months on end without problems but groups struggle to have them last a day without failing.

Goldfish62 · 23 Oct 2023

JD2168 said:
Given the issues that First are having with the Sprinters & Stagecoach are buying Diesel Solos again, it makes me wonder if the should have gone back to Switch/Optare for more Solos.

The order would have undoubtedly been for Solo SRs had they passed the route test conducted a few years ago, but they failed. A 7.9m white demonstrator was tested.

83G/84D · 23 Oct 2023

JD2168 said:
Given the issues that First are having with the Sprinters & Stagecoach are buying Diesel Solos again, it makes me wonder if the should have gone back to Switch/Optare for more Solos.

I still find it odd with the amount of issues that other operators with Sprinters seem to run them comfortably each day.

I believe they have stopped producing new diesel buses. Sprinters were the only other buses available of the right size to negotiate the route to the harbour.

Goldfish62 · 23 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
I believe they have stopped producing new diesel buses. Sprinters were the only other buses available of the right size to negotiate the route to the harbour.

They have just restarted production - Stagecoach have ordered 60 diesel Solos.

83G/84D · 24 Oct 2023

Goldfish62 said:
They have just restarted production - Stagecoach have ordered 60 diesel Solos.

Oh that is surprising, thanks.

Goldfish62 · 24 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
Oh that is surprising, thanks.

Hopefully this reopens the market to independents, who were effectively cast aside with Switch's premature move to exclusively EV.

MasterSpenny · 24 Oct 2023

Goldfish62 said:
Hopefully this reopens the market to independents, who were effectively cast aside with Switch's premature move to exclusively EV.

And also bring the demand of Alexander Dennis down.

cnjb8 · 24 Oct 2023

MasterSpenny said:
And also bring the demand of Alexander Dennis down.

To be fair, if you want a smaller buses with the wheel in front of the door, your only choice seems to be Optare or a Sprinter conversion.

richw · 24 Oct 2023

Goldfish62 said:
Hopefully this reopens the market to independents, who were effectively cast aside with Switch's premature move to exclusively EV.

An Independent somewhere had a small order prior to stagecoach. Forgotten who and exactly how many.

Goldfish62 · 25 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
Sprinter 54112 has returned to service in recent days after a period of inaction. Two of the type are now available for Mousehole services.

Didn't last long. Hasn't been seen since late last week.

Darklord8899 · 26 Oct 2023

Goldfish62 said:
Didn't last long. Hasn't been seen since late last week.

Maybe it has fallen down a Mousehole :lol:

....I'll get my coat.... lol

co-tr-paul · 27 Oct 2023

Maybe it was the cat ...... ?

83G/84D · 27 Oct 2023

I have not seen it recently, guessing it’s at Penzance depot.

Goldfish62 · 27 Oct 2023

83G/84D said:
I have not seen it recently, guessing it’s at Penzance depot.

It's back out today!

OptareOlympus · 27 Oct 2023

Surely FSW will now place an order for new Solos given production has restarted. The Stagecoach order is for 60 slimline versions, so you'd think they could also probably still build some puddle jumpers for Mousehole.

Citistar · 27 Oct 2023

OptareOlympus said:
Surely FSW will now place an order for new Solos given production has restarted. The Stagecoach order is for 60 slimline versions, so you'd think they could also probably still build some puddle jumpers for Mousehole.

As has been mentioned many times on this thread, a 7.9m Solo SR was route tested and found to be unsuitable. The last original shape ones were built circa 2012.

richw · 27 Oct 2023

Citistar said:
As has been mentioned many times on this thread, a 7.9m Solo SR was route tested and found to be unsuitable. The last original shape ones were built circa 2012.

They did a 7.1m SR, I suspect they’d fit?

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