Shopping and spotting on Saturday
Jul. 5th, 2008 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
suzyscottdotcomWell, yesterday, Mr UPS didn’t show up – yet. I don’t have a label (tracking) number to view it online, so I’m assuming it’s on the way.
Anyway, today, we were going out to visit the open day at Metroline Potters Bar bus garage, and then shopping and a movie into the afternoon.
The event was also raising funds for Breast and Prostate Cancer Awareness, the two company charities for the year. PB currently have a peak vehicle requirement (on weekdays during school terms) of 113, with 320 drivers, 21 engineering staff, and 25 management staff. It was unique in years gone by for being a central (red) bus garage in a country (green) area, but many things have changed since then. In fact, the majority of work at PB is undertaken for TfL, plus Services 84 and 242 in Hertfordshire. The latter are currently receiving a new batch of Enviro 200 bodied Dart SLF's.
We were having a look around – yes, that’s Caroline watching how the engine works!
Many modern and older vehicles were to be seen, including this 60 year old AEC Regal/Mann Egerton T792 – the first T-series vehicles!
As we were passing open-top RM664, Caroline thought it was getting a bit hot…
As I was lining up to take a pic of this almost-new Dart/Enviro200 for the Herts routes 84/242, C started discussing vehicles with a mechanic, and ended up talking about engines, then onto AdBlue. (I did explain later that, yes, just like something else, it really does come from animal… erm… sources).
Many wheelchair-user areas on DDA compliant buses have a vertical pole – now, this is a requirement, but, you can also have a folding pole. As these buses will not be used on TfL work, Metroline have decided to go for a space-saving folding arm…
… the driver has to pull up a black knob from behind the bulkhead to pull down the arm. The arm has to be folded down when the space is being used by a wheelchair user…
... then, the ticket machine. Now, it looks like the standard TfL spec Wayfarer…
… but, where’s the Oyster reader? Like I said, this bus is one of a very new batch for non-TfL work, so they are not required. Also worth noting is that they have LED destination displays.
Anwyay, I was browsing several stalls, bumped into Ian J (who I’d not seen in a long time!) around, and was also spotted by two David’s from the Anglia Bus Forum, who recognised me from the avatar! A couple of books, some leaflets, no model buses – but I did get a cardboard construction kit replica of Wood Green bus/trolleybus garage, done rather nicely by John Howe. Out of them all, this one struck me, being North London, and having passed this many times during the day on a 121 or night N91 back to Southgate!
On the way out, a look around the outdoor parking area – the one on the left of the shot is another new 84/242 Enviro200. They are certainly more than your standard TfL spec vehicle, and the company appears to have thought out the specification for it’s own purposes (outside London), rather than defaulting to that laid down by TfL.
So, we crossed over to The Coffee Lounge in Potters Bar High Street for coffee and nibbles, before continuing back to the car. We then continued via the back road to The Galleria. We had a look around, and I first went to the tailoring/alterations store, tucked away in the top floor, with the intention of having a button replaced on the jacket I had out last Tuesday – lost the middle one while running around, and no spare. They didn’t have any buttons at all in stock, but could stitch them if I could get them, and he suggested John Lewis (might pop into Cambridge next week).
Stopped at a few stores, including The Body Shop (where we were talked into buying a discount card, which actually saved us quite a bit on the first shop alone!), and of course, I went into The Paper Mill Shop. I was after some A3 card at their branch at Braintree Freeport, but they said that they didn’t have the space to stock it. Now, the branch at The Galleria is much smaller, and manages to find the space! Only thing is, I wasn’t the only one, so all the A3 boxes had been used. So, they allowed me to make my mix, then placed it onto the table along side an A4 box, to gauge the thickness (paper is pick-and-mix, sold by the box!) I did that, filled a bag full of that, and a special on premixed A4 papers and card. Added a few extra bits, and also found a flier about Trimcraft, has anyone heard of this crafters social networking site?lips_of_tragedy? Anyone?
So, after all that, we went to the Odeon cinema at the back of The Galleria (we’d prebooked this after arriving) to watch Hancock. Some rather dynamic special effects, and an interesting twist to the plot!
After this, we got home, and started unpacking the shopping. One of mine was a couple of the W9 destination blind inserts, added to the PB single deck bus destination blinds when the W9 was won from First in February 2000, and of course, the W9 starts and ends at Southgate Station, not far from where I lived. So, you can perhaps guess… (excuse the toe!)
A rather nice day, and you can see all the pics here. Since arriving, we’ve had the Tesco delivery in, had pizza, and now slouching around with the laptops.
The event was also raising funds for Breast and Prostate Cancer Awareness, the two company charities for the year. PB currently have a peak vehicle requirement (on weekdays during school terms) of 113, with 320 drivers, 21 engineering staff, and 25 management staff. It was unique in years gone by for being a central (red) bus garage in a country (green) area, but many things have changed since then. In fact, the majority of work at PB is undertaken for TfL, plus Services 84 and 242 in Hertfordshire. The latter are currently receiving a new batch of Enviro 200 bodied Dart SLF's.
We were having a look around – yes, that’s Caroline watching how the engine works!
Many modern and older vehicles were to be seen, including this 60 year old AEC Regal/Mann Egerton T792 – the first T-series vehicles!
As we were passing open-top RM664, Caroline thought it was getting a bit hot…
As I was lining up to take a pic of this almost-new Dart/Enviro200 for the Herts routes 84/242, C started discussing vehicles with a mechanic, and ended up talking about engines, then onto AdBlue. (I did explain later that, yes, just like something else, it really does come from animal… erm… sources).
Many wheelchair-user areas on DDA compliant buses have a vertical pole – now, this is a requirement, but, you can also have a folding pole. As these buses will not be used on TfL work, Metroline have decided to go for a space-saving folding arm…
… the driver has to pull up a black knob from behind the bulkhead to pull down the arm. The arm has to be folded down when the space is being used by a wheelchair user…
... then, the ticket machine. Now, it looks like the standard TfL spec Wayfarer…
… but, where’s the Oyster reader? Like I said, this bus is one of a very new batch for non-TfL work, so they are not required. Also worth noting is that they have LED destination displays.
Anwyay, I was browsing several stalls, bumped into Ian J (who I’d not seen in a long time!) around, and was also spotted by two David’s from the Anglia Bus Forum, who recognised me from the avatar! A couple of books, some leaflets, no model buses – but I did get a cardboard construction kit replica of Wood Green bus/trolleybus garage, done rather nicely by John Howe. Out of them all, this one struck me, being North London, and having passed this many times during the day on a 121 or night N91 back to Southgate!
On the way out, a look around the outdoor parking area – the one on the left of the shot is another new 84/242 Enviro200. They are certainly more than your standard TfL spec vehicle, and the company appears to have thought out the specification for it’s own purposes (outside London), rather than defaulting to that laid down by TfL.
So, we crossed over to The Coffee Lounge in Potters Bar High Street for coffee and nibbles, before continuing back to the car. We then continued via the back road to The Galleria. We had a look around, and I first went to the tailoring/alterations store, tucked away in the top floor, with the intention of having a button replaced on the jacket I had out last Tuesday – lost the middle one while running around, and no spare. They didn’t have any buttons at all in stock, but could stitch them if I could get them, and he suggested John Lewis (might pop into Cambridge next week).
Stopped at a few stores, including The Body Shop (where we were talked into buying a discount card, which actually saved us quite a bit on the first shop alone!), and of course, I went into The Paper Mill Shop. I was after some A3 card at their branch at Braintree Freeport, but they said that they didn’t have the space to stock it. Now, the branch at The Galleria is much smaller, and manages to find the space! Only thing is, I wasn’t the only one, so all the A3 boxes had been used. So, they allowed me to make my mix, then placed it onto the table along side an A4 box, to gauge the thickness (paper is pick-and-mix, sold by the box!) I did that, filled a bag full of that, and a special on premixed A4 papers and card. Added a few extra bits, and also found a flier about Trimcraft, has anyone heard of this crafters social networking site?
lips_of_tragedy? Anyone?So, after all that, we went to the Odeon cinema at the back of The Galleria (we’d prebooked this after arriving) to watch Hancock. Some rather dynamic special effects, and an interesting twist to the plot!
After this, we got home, and started unpacking the shopping. One of mine was a couple of the W9 destination blind inserts, added to the PB single deck bus destination blinds when the W9 was won from First in February 2000, and of course, the W9 starts and ends at Southgate Station, not far from where I lived. So, you can perhaps guess… (excuse the toe!)
A rather nice day, and you can see all the pics here. Since arriving, we’ve had the Tesco delivery in, had pizza, and now slouching around with the laptops.
