At Last We Know Where Buses Go (2)

Don't Rush, Folks

Once upon a time, a bus operator had to submit its service registrations to the Traffic Commissioner six weeks before a change was to be implemented. This was extended to eight weeks and then further extended to ten weeks. The main reason was that it took much longer to update electronic systems like Traveline rather than in the good old days of using pen and paper.

Utter nonsense, of course, but that is the crazy and inconsequential world in which bus management lives. For all fbb knows, the ten weeks may have been extended to two months as technology is now more universally used!

The 10 week schedule means that First Bus would have prepared its new timetables to be implemented on 1st September sometime during June at the latest. (see above screenshot)

So the timetables appeared on or about 25th August and left Sheffielders hot and bothered with confusion and frustration.

First offers timetables in two forms; here are their HTML on-line timetables ...

... which are OK, but involve oodles of scrolling up and down and side to side. There is also too much blank space making it easy to make mistakes if you are trying to use the fastest finger first method.

As an alterative you can download a PDF timetable ...

... which includes the amazingly useful nine digit stop codes, beloved of all the old folk travelling to and from Walkley.

The above pages are for the new 95a and 95b but there are separate tables for the 95.

The PTE timetables are better; they can be printed out page by page and they do spread a bit more confidence; although how anyone manages without those nine digit codes, fbb simply cannot fathom.

Heres is an extract from the PTE 95/95a ...

... and for the 95.

Have out timetablular adept readers spotted what's' missing?

Correct! There is no combined timetable for the leg from Walkley to City using the 95, 95a and 95b and perhaps even the 95s (?).

And, just to be helpful, you need to find the 73 timetable, NOT cross referenced from the 95 on-line non-leaflet. (Why would you want to bother with than?) This is needed for later evening Monday to Saturday journeys to Rotherham and for the two hourly Sunday service.

fbb can think of no good reason (apart from administrative apathy) why these could not have been part of the 95 timetable (95E?) although they do follow a different route leaving Sheffield.

Daft innit?

(P.S. The 73 has to run via Heeley Green to partially cover another bit of inconsequential re-routeing by First)

Daft innit?

Then, far too late, maps appeared.

fbb will refrain from commenting too much on the PTE maps as regular readers will know how awful they are.

What's wrong with a generic "Walkley" label and simple stop names; Tinker Lane, South Road and Commonside?

Maybe the University should get a mention?

A generic "Sheffield" would leave a bit more space for a better explanation of the convoluted route and stops madness in the city centre.

Apparently Arundel Gate is the only stop where you might find other buses; but you can shop there AND in High Street - although the 95 doesn't stop in High Street!

We know what the problem is, don't we? The maps are generated from computer data and not under the direct control of a real human being with local Sheffield knowledge.

Computers are essentially mindless and moronic and need telling very clearly what they need to know. Of course, if AI were ever to be "a thing", the computers could send our robots to help them out. Far better than live people, we are told!

By comparison, First's on-line maps are almost very good.

Shock horror!

The 95 route (BLUE) to Rotherham is paralleled by the aforementioned 73 (PURPLE).

The 95a and 95b are both the same colour as the 95 ...

... but it is, at least, clear what goes where. These, readers may remember, are completely new dishes on the First Bus menu. The 95a offers additional journeys to the hourly X5 but serves different bits of Swallownest and Aston (NOT marked on map) and barely reaches Aughton which IS marked.

Here we go again ...

Passing pedantic point; why do bus companies publish maps which do not match their timetable?

But it is routes into the city that are the most convoluted.

Reading from top to bottom:-

The 95 runs via Parkway Industry (NOT marked on map) which used to be Parkway wholesale fruit and veg market back in the good old days.

The 95a/95b run non stop between Handsworth and city, NOT explained on the map.

The 73 runs via Heeley Green (NOT mentioned on map) except when it doesn't. Then it joins the 95s which runs via City Road.

All four 95s follow the same route to Walkley. Thankfully!

But see Passing Pedantic Point above! Commonside is on Firsts timetable but not on the map. The University is on the map but not on the timetable. The PTE call Commonside Barber Road.

And one final ghastliness with this change "bringing better bus services to South Yorkshire".

On Sundays, when the bit to Rotherham is a two hourly 73 and the new 95a/95b do not run at all, the poor residents of Walkley get a bus every ...

... 45 minutes. That's just one bus plodding its weary way between City and Walkley, hoping to find the occasional passenger who can compute "every 45 minutes".

Crackpot - again!

How is it all going?

In last Wednesday's blog we saw the initial reaction to the changes; and it was not at all good. Then this week this appeared in fbb's in-box. It looks very much like an attempt by First to explain where the 95a/95b buses go.

The text is small on-line so fbb has downloaded the words.

Did you know our new 95a and 95b services can take you to Crystal Peaks? Even more of an excuse to enjoy a little retail therapy…

95a/95b: what’s the difference?

🚌  95a: Serving Walkley to Arundel Gate via Commonside and University of Sheffield. From Sheffield Centre, buses will continue via Handsworth to Swallownest, Aston, Beighton and Crystal Peaks.

🚌 95b: Serving Walkley to Arundel Gate via Commonside and University of Sheffield. From Sheffield centre, buses will continue via Handsworth, Woodhouse village, Beighton to Crystal Peaks.

So there you have it, even more places to explore on two exciting new routes across South Yorkshire.

Exciting?

Below the text is a link to the "timetable" which doesn't  link to the 95a/95b timetable. It leads to the First Bus full timetable list and you have to scroll'n'search again

This on-line page smacks of desperation because 95a/95b buses are largely running empty.

Well done First?

In summary, the whole change is a mess, badly advertised (not advertised at all?) and badly explained throughout. 

Of course, IF First Bus had produced ...

An attractive printed timetable leaflet 

With full timetables

With good maps and

A summary of all buses to Walkley

Plus route 73

... maybe people might use the new services.

 Next Wantage Weekend blog : Saturday 12th Oct 

Cheating On The Corners (mini-blog)

Let Us Now Praise Unknown Men?

Above is a drawing of an LNER pacific loco (e.g. Flying Scotsman). It shows a side view of a four wheel bogie at the front, followed by ...

... six driving wheels; followed by this ...

... which might be a two-wheeled bogie, usually known as a "pony truck".

But it isn't.

As is clearly obvious from the above picture of a loco under construction, the mainframe is very solid indeed at the back; there is no bogie or pony truck. So how would the wheels get round the corners?

It was Francis James Cartazzi, an engineer with the Great Northern Railway, who had a jackpot idea. It is called a Cartazzi axle; and please don't ask fbb how it works. In very simple terms, it allows the fixed axle to be a bit less fixed and move from side to side and thus cope with the curves of the track.

fbb can find no photos on-line of this genius engineer.

But a normal OO model loco would simply not be able to go round the corners if the back axle section were solid.  "Toy" model railway corners were very sharp!

The solution was easy peasy, make it a pony truck anyway; no one will notice.

See the two wheel "bogie" dangle. So standard was this modelling procedure that fbb always thought that the real 12-inches-to-the-foot A4 actually had a pony truck at the rear!

How ignorant can you get?

But modern collectors of expensive  locomotive models would not tolerate such a bodge. The frame needs to be solid all the way. So on Hornby's model of the LNER "Hush Hush" W1 4-6-4 class loco, the rear 4 wheels  are part of a solid frame.

So, how does it go round corners?

Horny cheats in a different way. Although the boxed model is equipped with prototypical flanged wheels, on pictures of many models those rear four wheels do not have any flanges. You can see the effect below ...

The driving wheels have flanges but the back "4" do not; so they are not constrained by the rails. On sharp curves and viewed from directly above, those wheels would hang out over the rail.

Thus, if you want to use your loco on tight model curves, you buy a set of flangeless wheels as below.

But there's more complexity to this problem. Here is a model of a British Railways standard class 9F 2-10-0.

And the centre driving wheels have no flanges. This helps the model go round the corners. But it's no cheat because here is the centre driving wheel of ....

... the full size 2-10-0 92220 Evening Star, the very last steam loco built by British Railways.

And it has no flanges; which helps it go round the corners!

So even the real locos use a "cheat"!

This now leaves the question of fbb's six wheel coach models and their cornering capabilities.

And there was something quite strange in Paris.

Miss Prince

fbb has been known to make the occasional miss steak in his blagging

The November edition of Railway Modeller popped through the letter box at fbb mansions yesterday.

It contains an advert for Peco Streamline Code 75 OO railway track. It is track for real modellers, whereas much of fbb's assorted but "coarse" rolling stock would not run well on Code 75.  He uses Code 100.

Here is the advert.

And here is the enlargement!

The labels are ALL wrong, misplaced and, just plain silly as displayed!

Whoops!

 Next Route 95 blog : Friday 11th Oct 

At Last We Know Where Buses Go (1)

A Bit Of Bus Background

For almost as long as there has been any, public transport in Sheffield ran from Walkley (map above top left) to Intake (bottom right) via the city centre, almost a straight line from north west to south east.

First there were single deck trams ...

... because the tight curves and steep hills at Walkley were considered unsafe for "big" trams. Note the very short-lived destination letter - guess what the "W" stands for? As the design of trams and, importantly, their brakes improved so Walkley became a double deck route.

In 1956 (?) brand new AEC double deck buses replaced the trams ...

... to be superseded by long wheelbase vehicles ...

... But they still ran from Walkley to Intake.

A Lot Of Bus Bewilderment

But we live in an age of bus route tinkering and the poor 95 has been mucked about on several occasions in recent years. Under First Bus it was one of the few city buses to terminate at the bus station ...

... having lost its Intake end. Most recently, until the 1st September changes, buses ran to Firth Park and Meadowhell; a scandalous removal of a long standing traditional route. On the Firth Park side it replaced former route 3!

But that was not to last under the confusing and unnecessary necromancy of First Bus network planners.

So it was that from just over a month ago that the 95 to Walkley, recently every 10 minutes, then reduced to every 15 minutes (Monday to Saturday) has been further chopped to every 20 minutes on Saturdays, which is a policy unadvertised, but clearly designed to encourage Saturday shoppers on to the bus. Or maybe not!

Helpfully (?), First told us about the changes a couple of weeks in advance, but in text only. As usual this was in "bus-operator-ese" and not really the language of the user.

Service 95

The service will operate between Walkley, City Centre, Parkway Markets, Handsworth, Waverley, Treeton, Catcliffe, Brinsworth, Canklow and Rotherham - partly replacing services 73 and X54.

Service 85a/95b

Services will run from Walkley to Arundel gate in Sheffield City Centre via Commonside, and University of Sheffield.

From City Centre, buses will continue to Crystal Peaks, running via Sheffield Parkway, Asda in Handsworth, Richmond Park Rd.

95a will continue via Orgreave, Swallownest, Aston and Beighton to Crystal Peaks

95b will continue via Woodhouse Village, Beighton to Crystal Peaks - both services will operate approx. hourly.

To add to the mix, there was a service 95s and the old unchanged (in route) service 73 but now with two different routes into the city from way out east.

There were no maps and, until a very few days before the change, there were no timetables.

The public's reaction was understandable as reported by the local press.

Passengers left confused

The Better Buses South Yorkshire (BBSY) campaign group ...

... is not impressed, claiming the scale of the changes to routes and timetables has created ‘chaos and confusion on the buses’. It said the changes appeared to have largely been made ‘for the operators’ convenience, not the passengers’.

“Passengers will be left confused by these big changes to our local bus networks, especially as they are being introduced with very little advance warning and sometimes wrong or misleading information” said Fran Postlethwaite, convenor of the BBSY campaign.

What made matters worse was that the 95a and 95b were completely new routes, an uncharacteristic venture by First into the realm of improving services in Sheffield.

Surely not?

Yes, surely.

As an aside the BBSY group seems to be a one campaign organisation ...

... which should be thrilled that this week's Mega Mayor, Oliver Coppard ...

... has told his fellow South Yorkshiremen (and women) that he will have a Manchester-style franchised network in place by the end of 2025.

All together now ...

"Oh no, he won't."

An fbb Confession - because the ancient blogger of Seaton Town struggled with understanding the 95, 95a, 95b, 95s and 73 proposals, then understood them even less when the timetables appeared, he chickened out and decided to report when the maps appeared.

So, in preparation for part 2  (which will appear  on Friday ) readers may like to study the PTE version of the maps for 95/95s ...

... and 95a/95b.

Click on the maps for an enlargement.

So that's everything sorted, then?

In the unlikely event (?) that some of fbb's readers have not fully grasped the new 95 network, fbb will explain all in the next maxi blog.

≈================

to a  blog near you

Thurs 10 Oct

(mini) Cheating on the corners

Fri 11 Oct

(maxi) First Bus 95 conclusion

Sat 12 Oct

Sun 13 Oct

(mini) Seaton to Wantage excursion 

e & o e

================

 Next corner cheating mini blog : Thurs 10th Oct 

Stripes, Spots & Leaves (mini blog)

California Crossing Confuses

Whilst no one condones bad behaviour towards construction staff, it is clear that the work on the California road junction did arouse considerable ire! 

A physical assault took place on Wednesday morning (14 February) when a driver intentionally hit a road worker using their vehicle, before fleeing the scene. The car’s registration number has been submitted to police for investigation.

The workers are equipped with body cameras to capture any incidents and supply to police for prosecution.

Before moving on, the above picture shows yellow railings installed in an attempt to "control" pedestrians at the pre-improved junction.

But how has it gone down after the improvements?

But the unveiling was received poorly by many residents – with hundreds expressing concern over road safety.

Some commented that it ‘looked like a playground’, while other said it would confuse drivers and was an ‘accident waiting to happen’.

Addressing these concerns, Wokingham Borough councillor Paul Fishwick, executive member for active travel, transport and highways said: “All roads can be described as ‘accidents waiting to happen’, because accidents happen on all roads.

Mr Fishwick's response seems a tad on the cynical side.

The original junction was two linked mini roundabouts with very faded road painting. The new junction is ...

... very strange!  The mini roundabouts have been replaced with coloured leaves on a black background and no blob round about which to drive roundabout.

The areas designated for crossing pedestrians, once with yellow railings ...

... now have "walkways" with white leaves.

They don't look much like pedestrian cossings ...

... because they aren't pedestrian crossings; they have no legal status whatsoever. Combine this with the free-for-all replacement for the mini roundabouts and it is no wonder that the locals are uneasy.

However, since residents became aware of the changes many have expressed their extreme outrage saying that the new markings pose a dangerous and confusing threat to drivers. 

The service 125, on its way to Wokingham, approaches from bottom right, turns across the field of small coloured leaves, and exits top right. The service 3 to Reading approaches from top right and leaves via top left having (possibly) negotiated the botttom side of the island in the middle.

It looks like several accidents waiting to happen.

Snippet

Thanks to correspondent Andrew, we can spot a third California, this time in Ipswich

The locality is served by Ipswich Buses' route 5 and associated services.

How many more California's are there?

 Next First Bus (maxi) blog : Weds 9th Oct