Trivia: Which Type of Bus Will You Miss Most When Withdrawn?

[Cambus731]

Not sure if this is exactly what the thread was intended for, but I can remember when so many towns and cities had their own distinct buses. Obviously that's still true to some degree today, but not anywhere like it was.
For example, I still can't imagine Birmingham and Wolverhampton without hordes of WMT Metrobuses.
When I visit Norwich, I miss The Eastern Counties VRTs. Likewise the Fleetlines in Southend, the distinctive Atlanteans in Nottingham. Or when I visit Maidstone I find myself missing Maidstone & District's interesting mix ofcVRTs, Atlanteans , Olympians, Metrobuses and Dominators. When I visit Cambridge I find myself missing the huge number of Cambus Bristol VRTs.
When I visited Perth in the early 1990s, there was a fascinating mix of VRTs, Routemasters, Metrobuses, etc. Now it is just another Stagecoach dominated city.

 

[Simon75]

I do miss seeing First Essex's last Dennis Dart. ie 42935. She outlasted her sisters by several weeks and did seem to be on a kind of protracted 'farewell tour' where she appeared on most routes operated by Chelmsford depot. Including inter urban routes such as the 351 to Brentwood.

Did that ever operate from the old Duke Street depot?

 

[Strathclyder]

Volvo B7TL/Wright Gemini 1 combination is probably the most comfortable service bus I've ever driven or travelled on.

Certainly one of the most refined low-floor double-deckers out there, beaten only by the B9TL with the same body. Only thing that let them down, particularly in later years as their time came to an end, were the roaring radiator fans that afflicted many a B7TL.

Not always the most reliable or best performing, but always enjoyed both driving and travelling on the Optare Solo.

The 'classic'/Mk1 examples are what I'll miss the most, particularly ones specced with Allison gearboxes or the full-size Cummins engines. Tuneful and seriously rapid respectively.

Ultimately though, I probably miss the various Mercedes Benz minibuses of the (late 1980's-)1990's the most. They cost practically peanuts for operators to run, were fairly reliable and were nimble and agile enough to operate virtually anywhere. Always enjoyed the sound of the engine/gearbox too. It's a shame they all had to go, the UK bus industry would probably be in a far better state now than it is if they had been able to hang around a bit longer.

The 709Ds/711Ds with the Alexander Sprint & Plaxton Beaver bodies are what I remember most fondly myself out of all the van-based minibuses, something I'd never thought I'd hear myself say once upon a time. The engine at idle and the whining gearbox are what I miss most quite honestly, sounds of my childhood.

 

[NewClee153]

Probably the Wright Eclipse Gemini, still plenty of the B9TL variants going strong but the B7TLs are few and far between now.

I think National Express West Mids is the largest operator of B7TL Geminis now but even they are slowly being withdrawn.

The ones (all the voith ones and some ZF) that meet the Birmingham's clean air zone still enter the city centre on routes operated out of West Bromwich garage (12/A, 13/A, 74, 80)

The National Express Enviro 400 MMCs are a major outlier for me. I absolutely adore them. The ALX400s have grown on me a bit though

I love the platinum spec ones, the seats are extremely comfortable and the extra legroom is very welcomed

I would agree with the second generation Wrightbus products - the B9TL/Gemini (the B7TL feels a bit old now particularly how loud the fans always are) and the B7RLE single deck will be missed. Both have been replaced by products that are just not as good. I think the operators see them as solid vehicles that they will get as much out of as possible.

Majestic buses, that still ride well today. Most of NXWM's examples (all but 4508-4522) have electric fans so you don’t hear them at all.

 

[Mwanesh]

VDL SB180 and SB200 are good buses and they handle perfectly.