Snap on Sunday

The Snap on Sunday this week cones from sunny Paignton, taken yesterday at around midday. As many of you will have noticed, the weather was absolutely glorious yesterday with perfect conditions for some good photography. Paignton Bus Station lends itself very well for the hobby with the church in the background adding to the picturesque shots you can acquire, although trying to get decent photos while buses are on the stands is nie on impossible. 


The bus itself is one of Stagecoach South West's brand new Scania chassied Enviro 400s which are replacing the '04' reg batch of Dennis Tridents which have operated on the premier 'Bayline' route 12 for around 8 years now. None of the examples that have so far been delivered have gained and branding that I'm aware of, but rumor has it that they will receive a variation of Stagecoach's 'GoXX' branding similar to the 'Go2' Enviro 400s and the 'Go57' Enviro 400s when all 23 have been delivered. It will be interesting to see if the rest will now receive '12' plates rather than '61' plates, or whether they will all be batched together. That, I can only guess at! These Scanias are certainly a higher quality product compared to the Alexander Dennis versions, but they are completely dramaless! For any normal passenger, the leather seats (although not as nice as the ones we enjoy on Plymouth's P&R!), and an unearthly quiet and smooth ride will be loved. But to the enthusiast, they really aren't anything to get excited about. The engine is very very well sound proofed, and the gearbox has most definitely been tuned with fuel economy in mind, with very short spans within each gear before moving up, to retain lower revs. But nevertheless,  very solid and well built vehicles that I'm sure will last the test of time. Saying that though, one actually broke down on the delivery journey, but I suppose we can expect that seeing as teething problems won't have been sorted out by that point, as with any model.