Just some photos

[Jeremy]

Just a couple of photos I took this morning as I liked the contrast between the old and new. This was in a small National Trust car park on the North Norfolk coast, with the passengers about to go on a boat trip to a seal and bird sanctuary

The old timer bus (a Bedford as it happens) was in immaculate condition and had a full load of passengers plus very smartly uniformed driver & conductor





Jeremy

[CrabbyMilton]

Hey thanks for posting those nice looking buses.
I can't quite make out the builder of the newer one.
For some reason, seeing that older BEDFORD reminds me of several BENNY HILL episodes when they did those outdoor skits on that program featuring that beautiful UK countryside.

[Jeremy]

The modern bus is an Irizar-bodied Scania

Jeremy

[CrabbyMilton]

Hey thanks. Now I've got some GOOGLING to do.

[Oonrahnjay]

Hey thanks. Now I've got some GOOGLING to do.  

      Hey, Milton.  Scania is the "heavy duty" manufacturer that is (was??) corporately related to Saab in Sweden.  Irizar is a Turkish body/coachwork builder;  I am pretty sure that Irizar does not build any chassis parts/frames, axles, wheels, steering gear, etc.  just assembles the factory-built chassis assemblies into finished buses.

[CrabbyMilton]

That's interesting because they have a model over here now that's of an intregal type.
I think it's the model 16 or some such thing.
The North American market preferred undivided approach so the coach builder can't try to blame an outside chassis supplier.
School buses used to be built that way where you were given several different chassis options.
Now they too are mostly proprietary based.
Both ideas have their pros and cons.

[Jeremy]

This is an illustration of a Scania bus chassis taken from Scania's website - although they themselves refer to it as a 'chassis' it's really just two sub-frames that relies almost entirely on the bus body for it's rigidity and I suspect the completed vehicle would correctly described as being 'monocoque' or 'integral'



This second image of a Volvo bus chassis illustrates the point even more clearly - no way those 'frame rails' in the middle are doing more than simply holding the front and rear ends apart for the the sake of convenience during delivery to the body builder:



Jeremy

[lvmci]

Irizar, now has an office in Las Vegas, I thought they were a Spanish company...

[Iceni John]

Jeremy, is that at Morston Quay?   It looks vaguely familiar, but it's been a while since I lived near there  -  I've lived at Holt, Little Walsingham, and plenty of other places in Norfolk, so the beautiful North Norfolk coast is still very special to me, even though I'm now thousands of miles from there.

The oldie looks like a Duple-bodied Bedford SB, in which I've been many a mile on school trips.   Noisy, slow, but charming in its own way.   Mind you, not half as noisy as a similar-bodied Commer with the TS3 opposed-piston engine that my school also sometimes used  -  after a few miles in that bus one's ears were ringing.   Wonderful!

John     

[Jeremy]

John: It is indeed Morston quay (my parents have a place at Blakeney), and it is indeed a Duple body (a Super Vega to be precise).

It was a particularly high tide at Morston when I was there a couple of days ago, and the place was busier than I've ever seen it both on water and on land.
Jeremy

[CrabbyMilton]

School buses are supposed to be loud but even as a kid, I always looked forward to riding on the skoolie for a field trip.
Now they are starting to offer 100% electric versions so the kids in the future are going to miss out on the loud bus engines that made your ears ring.

[chessie4905]

The all metal interior contributed to most of the noise, especially if engine was up front under a hood. Inboard engines, then yes they contributed more.