Hi All

[dave47549]

About time i said hello!

Dave Francis, 41, Birmingham uk. Been into railways for 30 years & Buses since i was big enough to climb onto one!

In the past I've worked for BR, been a contractor to Vi**in Trains for two different companies & worked for National Express. I'd say i was mostly into modern traction but that dates me really as anything introduced since privatisation just leaves me cold. Quite a fan of steam but happiest when riding behind a class 47 (Brush type 4). I'm also into modelling (see post about mainline class 03) & have long been saying I'm going to model Birmingham Moor St. station...

My main current interest is National Express coaches, I have recently compiled a fleet book for the GBBG/HB Publications & run an online picture & fleetlist site at http://nationalexpresscoaches.fotopic.net (sorry if that's off-topic) I have a companion site which can be reached from the above which has some railway pics & more importantly pics of pubs worthy of a visit!

Feel free to say hi if visiting my fotopic pages or to my email at dave47549 @ hotmail.com (delete the spaces). I'm happy to help if i can.

Cheers,

Dave.

[locojoe]

Hello Dave welcome to the forum, I'm not really into buses but I was a bus driver years ago for London Transport.
Alan Locojoe.

[martin adamson]

Hi Dave47549 and welcome to the forum. On the subject of national express coaches I am planning on travelling onboard a National Express coach for the first time next week . I am looking forward to this as it is a change to what I usually do, its not a long distance trip but I thought i would try them and see what it is like in contrast to rail and buses. I don't know if you know Manchester that well with regards to coaches but I am going from Manchester Airport, I am guessing the National Express coaches arriva and depart from the drop off point near the railway station near terminal one. Do you know if this is where they go?

[swisstrains]

Hello Dave and welcome to the forum. It's good to have another "modern" enthusiast on board.

[dave47549]

Originally Posted by David A Hicks

I don't know if you know Manchester that well with regards to coaches but I am going from Manchester Airport, I am guessing the National Express coaches arriva and depart from the drop off point near the railway station near terminal one. Do you know if this is where they go?

That's right, close to the railway station (to your right if you're arriving by train). There's a manned desk & the nearest 2-3 bays are where NX Coaches depart from. Going anywhere nice?
Let me know your service number & times & i'll try & find out which operator & type of coach you'll get!

Dave

[dave47549]

Originally Posted by locojoe

Hello Dave welcome to the forum, I'm not really into buses but I was a bus driver years ago for London Transport.
Alan Locojoe.

Hi Joe, My Dad was a Bus /Coach/Lorry driver. That might explain a few things....

Dave

[martin adamson]

Originally Posted by dave47549

That's right, close to the railway station (to your right if you're arriving by train). There's a manned desk & the nearest 2-3 bays are where NX Coaches depart from. Going anywhere nice?
Let me know your service number & times & i'll try & find out which operator & type of coach you'll get!

Dave

Just a local trip to from the Airport to Manchester a week today, I am going up next week after my exams finish to renew my YP Ralcard and pick up tickets for my next railway adventure (to be revealed later), usually I woul go on the bus costing me 4 pounds, but I have discovered that I could go on the train down to the Airport and get an NX coach from there for around the same price. So I thought I would do this for a change.

I will be on services NX538 (dept 10:05) and NX325 (arr 13:20)

[dave47549]

Originally Posted by David A Hicks

I will be on services NX538 (dept 10:05) and NX325 (arr 13:20)

Outward journey is the 538 0800 Birmingham-Edinburgh. Coach provided by Goode's of West Bromwich. Note that as this is a 'dated' service, don't miss it by looking for something in NX livery. You'll be looking out for something like this:
http://nationalexpresscoaches.fotopi...p42391690.html

Return journey is the 325 1250 Manchester-Birmingham. Coach provided by Veolia, Birmingham (You might know Veolia better by their previous name of Connex - I'm ducking now to avoid any objects being thrown by forum members south of the Thames ). They currently have 25 identical Scanias with Irizar PB bodywork:
http://nationalexpresscoaches.fotopi...p42386257.html

I don't know if you are aware of this, but NX 'funfare tickets' are available from Manchester. Similar to the Megabus concept, single fares from £1 are available to Birmingham & London, more details on the NX website http://www.nationalexpress.com/ That should save you a few quid to use on train trips elsewhere in the country

dave

[Lee H.]

Hi mate welcome to the forum.

My sister used to work for Nat Exp on the buses doing the Leeds - Brum run and on the booking desk.

Lee

[DSY011]

Hi Dave and welcome, like you I was also a bus driver. I spent 8 years with Bristol Omnibus and my badge No was HH41208. Like Alan Locojoe, I was also on the footplate, but in my case on the Rhodesian Railways. I'm also into model railways and have an 'N' gauge layout and am starting to build a '00' layout.
Syd