Hertfodshire Happiness (3) The 725

Livery Delivery - A P.S.

The four new routes currently being examined in some detail by fbb are branded in the timetable PDF tables as Connect Herts with, of course, a logo. But, as noted by Roger French, there is really no other sign of the brand. Rog pictured a departure list or two, again with no branding.

If course, there are no timetables anywhere, just departure lists; and no printed leaflets either. For short frequent routes, departure lists are just about OK, but the 725 is long so a user might want some clue as to when they might get there. Such information is on the departure list if you can be bothered to do h maths!

But on his trips out, Roger did photograph one rather uninspiring livery on a 907 ...

... complete with equally uninspiring logo.

Nothing on bus stop flags either.

Superb 725 But Not Superb Enough?

Then there is the problem of what, on the ground, "limited stop" actually means.

Here is a paste-up of the THREE routes that run between Stevenage, Knebworth and Welwyn Garden City (WGC). On the left in BLUE is the original 302, next comes the new 725 and on the right the new 908.

At a glance, you can see that the new 725 misses out some stops but follows the same route as the 302 via Digswell Park. The 908, as we saw in a previous blog, is different.

Only a local can answer fbb's next question. If the 725 omits "less used" stops, how much is gained by being limited stop. Furthermore, how frustrating will it be to see a 725 bus zooming past on the same route as the 302?

Here id a VERY MUCH summarised timetable extract of all three services between Stevenage and WGC.

Now here's an idea! Wouldn't it be easier for the public if the 908 were a short working of the 725 with both following the current 908 route and both being limited stop? Ot maybe neither running limited stop between Stevenage and WGC. 

Readers can amuse themselves by compiling a combined timetable in the opposite direction!

But; is there really enough business between Stevenage and WGC to justify FOUR buses an hour? The likelihood is that the commercial 301 on this section will become non-viable due to abstraction of traffic by 725 and 908.

So let us look at a timetable extract for the 725.

It doesn't appear on the network map so fbb will have to do a bit of investigation.

Is it reasonable to assume that from WGC the 725 follows the same route as the 724?

The 724 (above) has point times at New QEII Hospital and Hatfield Galleria. Are these served by the 725?

No to the Hospital according ti the on-line computer generated map.

And no to the Galleria ditto.

This is a pity. A simple doubling of the 724 frequency between Hatfield and Rickmansworth would be easier for the travelling public and better PR for the bus in general.

The difference in route means that 724 and 725 do not run at an even frequency. Surely it would be better if they did?

And The 721?

This is perhaps the strangest of the four. In the first place it runs ONLY on Mondays to Fridays.

Between Luton and Harpenden ...

... and between Harpenden and St Albans ...

The 721 follows the same route as part of the 321 (below).

The 721 (below) adds an extra 30 minute servicer over the top of the 321's every 30.

The running time is the same between Luton and St Albans so fbb assumes that it is not limited stop. So why 721 and not 921?

And again, is there enough business to justify FOUR buses an hour between Luton and St Albans. There are oodles of trains as well although St Albans station is less than ideal for the city centre but has good bus connection's up the hill to the town.

The St Albans to Hemel Hempstead section ...

... parallels the 302 with possibly some detailed differences at the cathedral city.

The 302 runs to Hemel Hempstead station (a recent extension) but the 721 doesn't.

Once again you might query four buses an hour between St Albans and Hemel Hempstead and the consequences of the 721 taking business from the 302.

You could end up with four journeys every hour, all non viable!

 Next Stockholm blog : Tuesday 28th November 

Sunday Variety

Why 907? Why 908? Why 721? Why 725?

Yesterday, Roger French reported on the third and fourth new routes offered by Herefordshire. The route numbers have been chosen, presumably, to reflect the ancestry of route 724 which runs from Harlow to Heathrow. Green Line does have a noble ancestry, being the long distance limited stop coach network of London Transport.

The brand is now owned by Arriva although the owning company only has a couple of routes left, namely the 755/757 from Luton and the aforementioned 724.

The others are in the hands of Reading Buses (702/703) and Carousel's 103 which may be rebranded Green Line.

The network began its inexorable declined in the 1970s but services via Stevenage had remains pretty stable over the years. But they bore no relationship to the modern 724 or to the 721 and 725 newcomers! Here is the map for the 716/717 combo in about 1960 ...

... and a timetable for the remaining hourly 716 in the mid 1970s.

More on this in tomorrow's blog.

Top Travel Tips from Transdev

It is good to see some positive promotions from this group. Extra evening buses for Christmas ...

... and a chilly open top tour in Harrogate.

There's back end posters ...

... for Harrogate on a bus in Burnley livery! But best of all ...

... there is a printed leaflet to reinforce the back-end.

A Large Wee Knitting Bus

A delightful design from the Bearded Bus Beautifier from the Bush, no doubt sticky-backed plastic but very much a gorgeous Christmas jumper!

More Electrics In Oxford

Brooks Bus beautiful? GoAhead Oxford Bus won the contract to provide buses for Oxford Brookes University (the modern academic upstart, not the proper one!).

Fir those who are really ancient, like fbb, there are TWO Semesters in an acdemic year, not the three terms of old.

Three services are operated; the 100 U5 evert 20 minutes term time ...

and evey 30 in vacation.

There is the 400 U1 (also headed Park and Ride) every 10 ...

... and every 15 as above.

And then there is the U5 (not 100 U5 - no, fbb doesn't understand!) ...

...which runs every 20 all year round.

Apparently the 400 (one of the original Park and Ride numbers) was merged with the U1 last year ...

... and the 100 is branded as part of the Oxford City network.

But quite why the 100 is also called U5 when there is a separate U5 ...

Be that as it may, Brookes Bus has some shiny new electric vehicles ...

... which look decidedly odd "under the bonnet".

Where's the engine?

And what an acedemically uninspiring livery. Didn't Brookes buses used to be blue?

Much nicer!

Back to the Future

For most of his railway modelling, fbb uses either PVA glue (usually "No More Nails" or an equivalent) for wood, paper, card and bodging OR polystyrene cement for  plastic kits. But some things don't stick using either of these.

Rarely he resorts to Cyanoacrylate (Superglue to you) but as it is very good at sticking fingers, hair and anything made of human tissue, he uses it with care and only when absolutely necessary.

And it is not very good on shiny nylon type plastic like the sleeper bases of OO gauge track. For this he uses two-part epoxy resin/

The idea of the Gorilla version is that the "two parts" are in separate tubes, expressed by a conjoined plungers then mixed together. That's the theory. But if you get the pressure wrong, or one of the nozzles is a bit blocked with old gunk, you don't get equal amounts to mix.

Which is why some bits of track did not glue down.

With memories of an old rhyming couplet which used to refer to a delicious adjunct to a savoury meal, fbb revrites the verse as:

Press and press the G'rilla bottle

First none will come and then a lottle! **

So it's back to another brand, good old Araldite. It used to be grey, smelly and really horrible to use but modern versions are now clear and almost peasant. So ...

Press each tube of Aradite

Mix it well and get it right.

Much better!

** The original was about the tomato sauce bottle before the days of squeezy plastic. It began, "shake and shake the ketchup bottle".

 Next Hertfordshire blog : Monday 27th November 

Saturday Variety

Who's Going : UNO Who!

It began as a message to fbb from Roy, a Sheffield correspondent. But Alan in Northampton did know anything. They someone repeated the rumour at a Northampton meeting nothing to do with buses. Finally it has been confirmed by a West Northamptonshire councillor.

he pink and purple UNO buses will be leaving the town after business on March 24th 2024.

18 is a park and ride service aiming to keep cars away from the new campus near the limpid waters of the River Nene. It is not well used.

The 19 links said camps with the Uni halls of residence still on the old site to the north of the town. It is not well used.

The 21 is a"normal" town service which competes in the Eastern District with Stagecoach,

59 and 60 are tendered rural services that have, over the years, been operated by almost all possible bus companies associated with the town.

It is not a cash cow - not even a cash dormouse!

Alan reports that passengers loadings on all routed are generally thin, and that recent registrations have presaged cut-backs in frequency and, in one case, withdrawal of weekend services completely.

The huge problem for West Northamptonshire council is, in a nutshell, what happen next. If UNO are going home, it seems unlikely that any other operator will take the network on. So what will the students do then, poor things? The county has no money, so a subsidy from their piggy bank is unlikely.

Will the University stump up more subsidy for a new contractor?

UNO continues to operate in Hertfordshire and for for Cranfield University.

Socks

Socks was the cat whose staff included US president Bill Clinton. Socks "passed" in 2009!

But fbb is journalistically excited by real socks, feet for the use of. And here they are.

And again here!

The pattern is intriguing. It is the same as the moquette offered as standard on the new range of ADL buses.

More Socks!

You can buy a "Tote" bag - or some coasters.

But also available in the company's moquette ...

... is a pair of socks! Also hinted at in Twitterings is a pair of similar-styled slippers - but fbb could find no illustrations of these items of clothing, ideal for an old codger like him.

These goodies are available from the Harrogate Buses "boutique".

Celebratory Floral Displays 

Famous for its five bay overall roof but not that well known outside of the East Riding of Yorkshire ...

... Hull Paragon station is a real gem.

The left hand two bays have now lost their platforms and trains in favour of a superb bus station and associated stuff.

But the station is 125 years old.

New "planters" now carry a badge to celebrate this birthday; a badge ...

... also worn by staff.

Also available (fbb knows not where or how?) are suitably branded biscuits.

Is the picture edible?

More Floral Displays

Celebrating nothing at all, fbb has been continuing his experiments to create cheap and (semi) realistic floral displays at Peterville Quarry station. fbb is sure that his readers would enjoy a look at his latest efforts. (Don't yawn too loudly!)

Thes new planters begin with toothbrush heads as before.

25p for two from Tesco!

The bristles are hacked about and painted green ...

... then plastic strip is stuck on to (a) make the planter and (b) disguise the toothbrush shape.

The next stage involves spreading "No More Nails" along the edges and in the odd holes where the tasteful curves on the brush meet (or don't meet!) the rectangle of the planter,

It looks a mess ...

... but remember this is railway modelling from the Bill Bodge and Fred Fudge book of advice and tips; an invaluable boost to fbb's skills (??).

Scatter "Grass" is sprinkled on the white glue ...

... followed by those Diamond Painting blobs as before.

Eagle eyed readers will note that the white flowers are the very rare square bloomed Castellata Monochromia Rectangulata which only grow in former chalk quarries now used as HQ for a heritage railway.

(fbb has misplaced a small bag of ROUND white blobs.)

But at the normal viewing distance and with a bit to tweaking ...

... they are almost as good as the new tubs at Hull Paragon!

Told You So!

A technology note from Down Under.

They are trying out two of them.

60 Years!

fbb did enjoy a TV broadcast (BBC4 on Thursday, last) extolling the virtues and sharing the problems of a very sophisticated transport system. 

Another technology, using induction charging from the floor, was easily defeated by the Time Travellers.

EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!!

Despite its antiquity, the story was still quite scary even though six broadcast episodes are "condensed" to just 75 glorious nostalgic minutes.

The monochrome story has, of course, been "colourised" and refettled to a much higher standard than the original.

How do they do that?

All still-extant episodes of Dr Who are on iPlayer.

 Next Variety blog : Sunday 26th November