SuperTram Mk II?

Lilysmum · Post by **Lilysmum** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 9:51 am

BLAKEY wrote: Si wrote: Not at all, Blakey. Your posts are always interesting. Thank you kindly Si for that reassurance. Every time I pass the Kwikfit place in Bondgate, which used to be the second largest of the five Samuel Ledgard depots, I dream of the happy times I had there in the job I wanted above all others, and of the variety of magnificent well designed , long lasting and 100% reliable vehicles which provided a top class service in the area for around forty years - a service which any senior person in the town and around will confirm has been sorely missed ever since. Hi Blakey,I used to travel on Sammy Ledgard buses as a child.Did the bus conductress who dressed as a man work for Ledgards originally? I can remember being puzzled by her and asking my mum why the man had a lady's name(and a large chest) and being given the answer "never you mind" I also remember Walter,Mavis,who always wore bright red lipstick and Johnny Wardle a little round chap as condutors on the buses round here.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 4:32 pm

Si wrote: BLAKEY wrote: Si wrote: Not at all, Blakey. Your posts are always interesting. Thank you kindly Si for that reassurance. Every time I pass the Kwikfit place in Bondgate, which used to be the second largest of the five Samuel Ledgard depots, I dream of the happy times I had there in the job I wanted above all others, and of the variety of magnificent well designed , long lasting and 100% reliable vehicles which provided a top class service in the area for around forty years - a service which any senior person in the town and around will confirm has been sorely missed ever since. That's true! I overheard someone reminiscing about Ledgard's buses last night in The Yeoman!Speaking of Otley pubs, you had your fair-share of places for a drink after your shift, Blakey. Ring 'O Bells, Woolpack, Bowling Green, Rose and Crown and The Junction, all opposite work! Spot on there Si - I can place a tick against each of those handy hostelries for sure !!I think I am going to start a separate thread about Ledgard staff in answer to Lilysmum's post above, as its not fair to interfere too much with the main topic of this one - i.e. the shortcomings of the present situation.

amber · Post by **amber** » Fri 14 Nov, 2008 6:20 pm

Re Do we remember mini buses? I still have nightmares about them 22 years later.I was the first manager of the fleet. Had about 12 weeks to employ 100 drivers train them aquire buses. The fleet was bought to ward off a company called Busy Bee who had ideas of of bringing a fleet of mini buses into leeds to compete on the Headingley Lane routes and other main line routes. They did operate in Manchester for a while till Manchester got its act together. I used to nip over to Manchester on a weekend to sus out how they operated and as I had been seen in various transport mags I took my wife with me to stand in a queue and chat up the supervisor as to rates of pay etc. and then chat up the driver as to what time he started and when he finished. I then went to Exeter to sus out the operation there as they had a large fleet of minis. As Blakey states we were still running round in circles on the first day of dereg. One driver ran in about 21 30 when she was out till 23 30 when asked why she said its very quiet so I thought I'd come in and save petrol. One amusing incident Hail and Ride on Halton Moor. Teenagers used to stop the bus jump run down the aisle and jump out of emergancy door at back. It got so bad I asked Gipton Police for help. They said they would put plain clothes officers into the estate one Fri night. So i went over and it was like a graveyard so I drove round slowly in my car eventually stoppinng near the terminus after a few minutes my car was surrounded by Police officers wanting to know why I was casing the joint. After 18 months of mayhem was given a rest and sent to Torre some rest.

majorhoundii · Post by **majorhoundii** » Sat 25 Jun, 2011 11:46 am

The Manchester Metrolink is being extended to Oldham. I was talking to a guy over there yesterday and he was having a real moan about it. Apparently there was a loop route from Milnrow, through Oldham into Manchester and back a different way. He said using this he could be in Manchester in 20 mintues - £1.25. Now it's been closed to facilitate the construction of Metrolink and when the new system opens, it will a) take longer because it stops more and b) be more expensive.So the grass on the other side of the hill is not quite as green as we imagine.

BLAKEY · Post by **BLAKEY** » Sat 25 Jun, 2011 12:57 pm

majorhoundii wrote: So the grass on the other side of the hill is not quite as green as we imagine. Maybe so, but its still a healthy shade of green, even if just a little lighter !!

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Sat 25 Jun, 2011 5:01 pm

majorhoundii wrote: The Manchester Metrolink is being extended to Oldham. I was talking to a guy over there yesterday and he was having a real moan about it. Apparently there was a loop route from Milnrow, through Oldham into Manchester and back a different way. He said using this he could be in Manchester in 20 mintues - £1.25. Now it's been closed to facilitate the construction of Metrolink and when the new system opens, it will a) take longer because it stops more and b) be more expensive.So the grass on the other side of the hill is not quite as green as we imagine. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing really, In that mans point of view it will take him a little longer certainly, but one man alone does not make up Greater Manchester. The very fact that the route has a loop, and stops at many more places itself is the big selling point. All those extra people who can use the tram equals less cars on the road. While Leeds? well were still back in Dicks day doing nothing The Manchester-Victoria-Oldham rail service probably closed and went over to the supertram scheme because of poor service, and low user figures anyway. The few stations en route not attracting enough passengers, and you had to alight at Manchester Victoria no matter where your destination was. With the supertram your into any part of the city centre you want after leaving Victoria, then you have all the other destinations such as all stations en route to Eccles, Bury and Altrincham e.t.c. In my opinion the old rail service, or new supertram link aren't even in the same league.

majorhoundii · Post by **majorhoundii** » Sat 25 Jun, 2011 10:52 pm

Phill_dvsn wrote: majorhoundii wrote: The Manchester Metrolink is being extended to Oldham. I was talking to a guy over there yesterday and he was having a real moan about it. Apparently there was a loop route from Milnrow, through Oldham into Manchester and back a different way. He said using this he could be in Manchester in 20 mintues - £1.25. Now it's been closed to facilitate the construction of Metrolink and when the new system opens, it will a) take longer because it stops more and b) be more expensive.So the grass on the other side of the hill is not quite as green as we imagine. I'm not sure if this is a bad thing really, In that mans point of view it will take him a little longer certainly, but one man alone does not make up Greater Manchester. The very fact that the route has a loop, and stops at many more places itself is the big selling point. All those extra people who can use the tram equals less cars on the road. While Leeds? well were still back in Dicks day doing nothing The Manchester-Victoria-Oldham rail service probably closed and went over to the supertram scheme because of poor service, and low user figures anyway. The few stations en route not attracting enough passengers, and you had to alight at Manchester Victoria no matter where your destination was. With the supertram your into any part of the city centre you want after leaving Victoria, then you have all the other destinations such as all stations en route to Eccles, Bury and Altrincham e.t.c. In my opinion the old rail service, or new supertram link aren't even in the same league. No one needs to sell the Metrolink to me - I've used it on several occasions to go to the RL Grand Final at Old Trafford and it's excellent, but obviously it will have its drawbacks.TBH my feeling is that Leeds from being a place challenging Manchester for no 1 city in the North has been going backwards. I date this decline from Leeds Utd dropping out of the Premiership. I'm not a soccer fan but I believe it was disastrous for the national profile of the city and businesses in the city failing to support the team was extremely short sighted.

gars21 · Post by **gars21** » Mon 11 Jul, 2011 7:50 pm

i am not a supporter of the trolleybus proposals i always thaught we should have a supertram network across leeds. However it is clear this will not happen, what i think leeds needs to do if we do go ahead with this trolleybus scheme, is to make it stand out, make it different to the trolleybus' around the world. one thing i think england is missing is double decker trams, these quintessentially english designs have not been revived with the new supertram systems and i think it is a shame also there are the practicalities of carrying more passengers. leeds, do the right thing and create the worlds first new generation double decker tram/trolleybus network and put us back on the map.

Post by **cnosni** » Mon 11 Jul, 2011 9:29 pm

Maybe Alistair Darling did us a favour,after all Edinburgh got the nod ahead of Leeds for funding their tram.http://uk.news.yahoo.com/troubled-edinb ... 35698.html

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Mon 11 Jul, 2011 10:25 pm

cnosni wrote: Maybe Alistair Darling did us a favour,after all Edinburgh got the nod ahead of Leeds for funding their tram.http://uk.news.yahoo.com/troubled-edinb ... 35698.html Good value for money then.Considering Edinburgh's 486,120 population is nearly half the size of Leeds 770,800