The Flickr Dc09 Image Generatr

MCAS Yuma

© Jason Grant - All Rights Reserved unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

Further unusual Scania-based vehicles in the Cardiff Bus fleet are a handful of Scania K250UBs with Irizar i3 bodywork. The i3 has sold only in small numbers in the UK, and while being only seven years old, this example is on its third owner; it began life with Reading Buses, moved to Midlands Classic, and moved on to South Wales after Rotala purchased that Burton business. Here 781 (YN17 ONJ) looks smart in its current owner's livery while passing Cardiff Castle while working a 21 journey on a Sunday morning.

A rare beast in the UK so far is the Scania Fencer. Only a small number of these Higer-bodied buses have yet been sold, all in diesel-powered form; the battery-electric variant has not arrived here yet, which is no doubt a contributor to low numbers thus far, although the first is expected before the end of 2024. In a change from previous policy, there will now not be a battery-electric double-deck Fencer f9 as first planned owing to Scania's decision to focus on low-entry (and not low-floor) chassis.

Cardiff Bus is one of the few operators of the Fencer as yet, with two of the f1 single-deck variant. They look well in the municipal's orange livery. Here is 702 (CN73 AZZ) seen in Custom House Street while awaiting departure time on a 30 journey to Newport.

Approaching the end of their time in the First Potteries fleet are the last Scania OmniCity buses. As 2006 examples they are now around 17 years old, and in the case of those carrying this Knotty scheme, have spent their entire lives running from Adderley Green depot on service 101 between Hanley and Stafford, during which they will have accumulated high mileages.

Somewhat unexpected was a heavy refurbishment of eight of this batch of 10 that started in 2019. It came at the same time that five ex-First Essex OmniCitys received the same treatment and debuted the LeekLink brand. Things have changed in the meantime from both operational and leadership perspectives, and one Knotty and two of the former Essex buses have already departed for scrap. Those that remain are due to go before too much longer; what will replace them is unclear, but it would be no surprise for that work to relate to goings-on in Leicester, where a wholesale conversion of First's fleet to battery-electric is underway, a shift that will release a significant number of mid-life Euro VI diesel buses.

Although they are in the winter of their arduous lives, these OmniCitys have been good servants to First. Here 65039 (YN06 WMM) passes the Borough Arms in Newcastle-under-Lyme bound for Hanley. The greenery on the far left is the site of the former Newcastle railway station - long gone, but the platforms of which still exist beneath the filled-in cut, according to local scuttlebutt.

Edit: Withdrawn July 2023.

NAF El Centro

© Jason Grant - All Rights Reserved unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

MCAS Yuma

© Jason Grant - All Rights Reserved unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

Runway 26 at NAF EL Centro.

In 2006 First Potteries took delivery of 10 Scania OmniCitys for use on the 101 service between Hanley and Stafford. One of them was written off a few years ago, but of the surviving nine, eight were refurbished in 2019-20. The odd man out is 65040 (YN06 WMO), which remains in the fuchsia-fronted fleet livery. A reduction in frequency on the Stafford service means that this bus is now more often seen on other duties, such as the 7 from Hanley to Kidsgrove it is working here. Its sisters remain employed on the trunk Stafford route and must now have covered huge mileages. All things move on, however, and 65040 is apparently due for withdrawal very soon as the last non-refurbished OmniCity in the Potteries fleet.

Big Black Car

The state-run Translink fleet in Northern Ireland runs as Metro for city routes in Belfast and Londonderry, and as Ulsterbus for other bus services along with Goldliner coach routes. There's a fair amount of variety among the vehicles that those brands run, and seen here departing Great Victoria Street in Belfast is Ulsterbus Scania L94UB/Wright 707 (HCZ 8707).

die Maschine eignet sich für die Ernte von Bohnen, Spinat und Salat
technische Daten für die Nachfolgemaschine BPMK 2140
Antrieb 5-Zylinder-Viertakt-Reihen-Turbo-Diesel-Motor DC09 von Scania
Bohrung 130mm
Hub 140mm
Hubraum V = 5x((rxrxπ)xh) = 5x((6,5cmx6,5cm)x3,14)x14cm = 9.286ccm ≈ 9.300ccm (567cui)
Zylinderhubraum 1.857ccm (113cui)
Leistung 315PS (232kW) bei 1.700U/min
Verdichtung 16:1
Motorengewicht (trocken) 950kg
scania.com/_system/img/doc/engines/g/DC971A_267-292kW.pdf
Arbeitsgeschwindigkeit 0-7,1km/h
Transportgeschwindigkeit 25km/h
Reifengöße v/h 900/55R32
Bunker Erntegut 4.500kg
Kraftstoffvorrat 875l
Hydrauliköl 440l
Erntebreite 3.100mm
Länge 11.700mm
Breite 3.500mm
Höhe 4.000mm
Leergewicht 19.500kg
Spurweite 2.180mm
Radstand 3.700mm
www.ploeger.com/nl/machines/ploeger-machines/bonenplukker...