STA Observations 2021-2022

[stajourneyman]

C'mon mate!

Put into D, hard right lock, around she goes.

If not quite, left hand down, reverse very carefully a bit.

Put into D, hard right lock, around she goes.

You're on your way

[boronia]

Looks like the back of the bus is sitting on the skjd rails, and not enough weight on the back wheels to get traction?

[Fleet Lists]

That is what it looked like to me

[1whoknows]

Perhaps if all the rubberneckers had just given it a small push forward?
Ducks to avoid cries of horror from the OH&S brigade.

[boronia]

You'd need to push it backwards to get it off the skids. Those two spectators look to be really up to the task. LOL

[Ray]

If I'm reading the list correctly, Ryde is down to its last two CB60 Volvo B12BLE Euro 5s - 2287 and 2288. Presumably Waverley bound in due course.

[stajourneyman]

Even Ys B12 Euro 3 Customs got despatched to W.

And what’s worse, Y copped a load of ‘new’ gas Mercs in return.

Current state of play ....

W = 14 old gas Mercs and 8 new gas Mercs
Y = 14 old gas Mercs and 97 new gas Mercs !!!

Rough guess those last 8 at W will head to Y.

[Ray]

Reminds me of the good old days when Ryde received about 75 brand new Citaros and then to "balance" it out, lost all their mid-age buses and received over 100 Mk 2 Mercs which were over 20 years old at the time!

[J_Busworth]

There has also been some three way swapping going on in the East related to the impending decommissioning of gas at Waverley.

Port Botany receiving Waverley O500s, Randwick receiving Port Botany K280 VSTs and Waverley receiving Randwick Euro 5 ZF B12s.

[Jurassic_Joke]

The Merc 0405NH’s are life expired in my opinion, as iconic as they are, they’ve had their time and have seen better days.

Haven’t been on one in ages with how rarer they’ve become over the last year or two, but having recently got one on the 400 to Bondi Junction, off peak barely any traffic, and seeing how god-awful slow it was, especially for even just accelerating to pick up speed.... wasn’t impressed. There was just something about the bus that just also looked really worn out and tired. They’ve been fun, they’ve done the time, but now time to let them retire for good

[Merc1107]

Pity they didn't persue the Westport Innovations single-point CNG injection that about half the Perth fleet received late in life. What a difference it made! No stalling or lumpy idle, far less back-firing, and consist, strong performance.

[Linto63]

I always presumed that it was the gas power that made the O405NHs so slow, but having ridden one of the Scania K113CRBs recently, it appeared to be on par with the diesel L113CRLs, so is it just an underpowered engine that causes the woeful performance?

[Merc1107]

The engine has almost identical power/torque output to a diesel O405 high-floor (240hp, can't recall torque). Mate that with a heavier low-floor body, capable of carrying higher passenger loads, and there's your ho-hum performance. So yes, underpowered for the task.

Buses have certainly come a long way even in the last 15-20yrs. They can now keep up with the traffic in many operating conditions!

[boronia]

Regardless of what the "official" power figures might be, STA probably still holds the long held belief that governing engines to about 80% of their potential capability increases the service life and reliability.

Compare the road performance of a private B9 with an STA equivalent.

[Stu]

I always presumed that it was the gas power that made the O405NHs so slow, but having ridden one of the Scania K113CRBs recently, it appeared to be on par with the diesel L113CRLs, so is it just an underpowered engine that causes the woeful performance?

The STA O405NH cng is not turbo charged.

[Merc1107]

25 of Perth's received turbos as part of a conversion early in life for emissions purposes. Don't think it did anything for engine performance except make them overheat if driven hard (they ran lean).

[Bus Suggestions]

The engine has almost identical power/torque output to a diesel O405 high-floor (240hp, can't recall torque). Mate that with a heavier low-floor body, capable of carrying higher passenger loads, and there's your ho-hum performance. So yes, underpowered for the task.

Buses have certainly come a long way even in the last 15-20yrs. They can now keep up with the traffic in many operating conditions!

Diesel high floors are indeed rated at 240hp, however I don't have specs regarding torque. I do, however, have spec sheets of our O405NH CNGs (obtained through Web Archive) which rate them at 175kW/235hp @ 2200 rpm, with torque of 880 Nm @ 1000 rpm. The diesel NHs in Perth are rated 184kW/250hp @ 2200 rpm and a torque of 1100 Nm @ 1400 rpm (specs available here).

Regarding traffic conditions, although dependent on the driving attitudes of both the bus driver and traffic around them, I've been able to witness typically lousy CNG OC500LEs overtake swathes of traffic!

[J_Busworth]

The last O500s at Waverley are being transferred across to Port Botany today. No more O500s at W and only a few Citaros left ahead of the Gas Shut Off in less than a month now.

[Stu]

O405NH cng fleet number 2000 has returned to STA AMD on Wednesday after being towed from AMD to Port Botany last week to have some cng tank decommissioning work undertaken.

[Jurassic_Joke]

I also found out that at STA there’s just two Scania L113CRB Orana’s left, both at Waverley.

How I found out? The other day while out and about I saw the two operating on route 400. Upon checking Fleet Lists site ... they just so happened to be the last two at STA! I wonder how long they have to go, surely not long

Transit Systems has a few more.

[ScaniaGrenda]

2000 ST (The one Stu was talking about) Isn't that still due to head to the Sydney Bus Museum at some point? Thought I heard a while back that once it finishes service with STA it'll be getting handed over to them.

At least that's one in preservation. It's going to be hard for us enthusiasts to adjust to the fact that once the rest are all gone & turned to scrap metal they'll only be a sole survivor that can't be driven. At least that will put us up there alongside Perths Ecobus 2 Citaro that's in storage (tho not a custom bodied Citaro)

[J_Busworth]

I also found out that at STA there’s just two Scania L113CRB Orana’s left, both at Waverley.

How I found out? The other day while out and about I saw the two operating on route 400. Upon checking Fleet Lists site ... they just so happened to be the last two at STA! I wonder how long they have to go, surely not long

Transit Systems has a few more.

I can’t imagine 3508 and 3509 have much longer at all! They reached 26 years last month so they have actually survived longer than expected

[marcnut1996]

https://transportnsw.info/routes/detail ... /392/31392
Transport Info still says "Little Bay to City Circular Quay via Eastgardens & Prince Henry Hospital".... the hospital has been closed for 18 years already.

[Fleet Lists]

It is still open as the "Prince Henry Hospital Nursing and Medical Museum". I have visited it in the last few years. A very interesting place to visit. See https://mgnsw.org.au/organisations/nurs ... al-museum/

[boronia]

A bit strange it says "via PHH" when it actually starts there. And PHH is not after Eastgardens.