On Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:19:39 -0800 (PST), Paul Corfield
wrote:

On Friday, 29 December 2017 22:49:57 UTC, Recliner wrote:

I'm sure you'll be thrilled at this bit of news:

"William Wright, of Ballymena-based Wrightbus - the company behind the new
London Routemaster double-decker - is knighted for services to the economy
and bus industry."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42504660

Not terribly bothered to be honest. Wrightbus have made a lot of very decent vehicles over the years and have developed a decent business. They have had an awful lot of state support too but that's not exactly unusual in NI.

If Wrightbus hadn't made the NB4L someone else would. It was a political construct not a bus industry initiative.

Weren't there a lot of build problems with them? The engines were
running almost all the time as the batteries weren't getting charged,
the air-cooling didn't, etc.

On Fri, 29 Dec 2017 07:58:32 -0800 (PST), Paul Corfield
wrote:

The simple answer is that they make me ill. Don't know why specifically but I have ended up feeling exhausted and having a thumping headache when using them in the early days. I am not prone to headaches so if I get one it's an unusual event. The weather was not exceptional on any day in question. No other bus in the *world* (and I've travelled on plenty) has the same effect. Heck I even survived crossing the Channel twice in one day in very stormy conditions without being seasick and I loathe ferry travel. To my mind that pretty much proves I am not prone to travel sickness so why the NB4L affects me physically I don't know but it does.

I do wonder why that is when they aren't really any different in a
practical sense to any other hybrid double-decker, they just have a
fancy body.

The fact that so much money was splashed on something that is a reflection of Boris's monstrous ego certainly doesn't help my opinion of them but it is not the main reason why I refuse to travel on NB4Ls. Why would I use a bus that makes me ill? Simple answer - I don't and it's one reason why my bus use and visits to Central London have declined markedly. I await the day when they start being withdrawn and are replaced with something decent. I know that's at least a decade away and that's fine. I know people like them and others hate them - that's fine too.

Yes, they were certainly too expensive, but that one thing aside I
like them because they give bus travel character and personality -
anything that promotes it well is a good thing. The E300 City is a
very good example of how it perhaps should have been done at a more
reasonable price.

Neil

On Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:27:32 -0800 (PST), Paul Corfield
wrote:

I don't know about allergies. I'm not knowingly allergic to anything but you may be correct. I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)

FWIW I have noticed feeling a bit yuck on occasions on brand new buses
and trains (and cars) of various types. It's not unusual for plastics
to give off more nasty vapours in the first few months (e.g.
formaldehyde), possibly you're sensitive to that and wouldn't get the
effect if you used one now.

The other thing that does that to me is newly installed laminate
flooring or MDF (but not once it's been down a month or two and the
vapour has reduced markedly). When installing it (which involves even
more being given off as it is cut) I get a noticeably tight throat,
too.

Neil

Neil Williams wrote:
On Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:27:32 -0800 (PST), Paul Corfield
wrote:

I don't know about allergies. I'm not knowingly allergic to anything but
you may be correct. I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me
suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with
ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)

FWIW I have noticed feeling a bit yuck on occasions on brand new buses
and trains (and cars) of various types. It's not unusual for plastics
to give off more nasty vapours in the first few months (e.g.
formaldehyde), possibly you're sensitive to that and wouldn't get the
effect if you used one now.

The other thing that does that to me is newly installed laminate
flooring or MDF (but not once it's been down a month or two and the
vapour has reduced markedly). When installing it (which involves even
more being given off as it is cut) I get a noticeably tight throat,
too.

Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps Paul used them when they first came in, when
the ventilation was apparently poor, felt unwell, and has steered clear of
them ever since?

On 31/12/2017 10:27, Paul Corfield wrote:

I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)


But the blindfold etc was only to seek scientific rigour. It'd be in
the public interest: eg it might lead to the discovery of the "Corfield
NB4L Effect" so you and others don't suffer it in future designs; and so
your name would be forever associated with the bus



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

On Monday, 1 January 2018 17:27:09 UTC, Robin wrote:
On 31/12/2017 10:27, Paul Corfield wrote:

I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)


But the blindfold etc was only to seek scientific rigour. It'd be in
the public interest: eg it might lead to the discovery of the "Corfield
NB4L Effect" so you and others don't suffer it in future designs; and so
your name would be forever associated with the bus



--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

I was on one of the new Enviro/BYD buses on the 360 recently, and noticed it had rather a "plasticky" smell. Not unpleasant but it might give over-sensitive people "a touch of the vapours".

On Monday, 1 January 2018 17:27:09 UTC, Robin wrote:
On 31/12/2017 10:27, Paul Corfield wrote:

I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)


But the blindfold etc was only to seek scientific rigour. It'd be in
the public interest: eg it might lead to the discovery of the "Corfield
NB4L Effect" so you and others don't suffer it in future designs; and so
your name would be forever associated with the bus

I admire your desire to keep "twisting the knife" over my dislike of NB4Ls. Remind me what I've done to deserve such "special treatment"? Have I inadvertently killed your cat or something? ;-)

--
Paul C
via Google

On Monday, 1 January 2018 15:43:44 UTC, Recliner wrote:
Neil Williams wrote:
On Sun, 31 Dec 2017 02:27:32 -0800 (PST), Paul Corfield
wrote:

I don't know about allergies. I'm not knowingly allergic to anything but
you may be correct. I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me
suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with
ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)

FWIW I have noticed feeling a bit yuck on occasions on brand new buses
and trains (and cars) of various types. It's not unusual for plastics
to give off more nasty vapours in the first few months (e.g.
formaldehyde), possibly you're sensitive to that and wouldn't get the
effect if you used one now.

The other thing that does that to me is newly installed laminate
flooring or MDF (but not once it's been down a month or two and the
vapour has reduced markedly). When installing it (which involves even
more being given off as it is cut) I get a noticeably tight throat,
too.

Yes, that makes sense. Perhaps Paul used them when they first came in, when
the ventilation was apparently poor, felt unwell, and has steered clear of
them ever since?

Well yes and no. The utter nightmare journey was on a 24 in the early days. However I have since had to use one on the N73 which was as stuffy as hell with steamed up windows at 0400, albeit on a Summer morning. Still it wasn't actually stifflingly hot outside. The N279 I caught beforehand was perfectly comfortable to use. Also had to take a short trip on a 453, long after they were new, and that was dreadful too.

I know via social media, assuming people are telling the truth, that a fair number of other people also have issues with NB4Ls. They complain about the smell, discomfort, nausea and lack of ventilation and that is NOT on the very hot days we get when far more people complain about the conditions on NB4Ls. I've travelled on other new buses and not had the same reaction to them. So a nice theory but I'm not sure it works consistently.

--
Paul C
via Google

"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Monday, 1 January 2018 17:27:09 UTC, Robin wrote:
On 31/12/2017 10:27, Paul Corfield wrote:

I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me suffering additional
anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with ridiculous "disguise"
but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)


But the blindfold etc was only to seek scientific rigour. It'd be in
the public interest: eg it might lead to the discovery of the "Corfield
NB4L Effect" so you and others don't suffer it in future designs; and so
your name would be forever associated with the bus

I admire your desire to keep "twisting the knife" over my dislike of
NB4Ls.

well it is rather weird of you to say "they make me ill"

tim

On 02/01/2018 11:05, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Monday, 1 January 2018 17:27:09 UTC, Robin wrote:
On 31/12/2017 10:27, Paul Corfield wrote:

I appreciate you're enjoying the prospect of me suffering additional anguish from a force fed NB4L ride complete with ridiculous "disguise" but I doubt I'm that much of a sucker for punishment. ;-)


But the blindfold etc was only to seek scientific rigour. It'd be in
the public interest: eg it might lead to the discovery of the "Corfield
NB4L Effect" so you and others don't suffer it in future designs; and so
your name would be forever associated with the bus

I admire your desire to keep "twisting the knife" over my dislike of NB4Ls. Remind me what I've done to deserve such "special treatment"? Have I inadvertently killed your cat or something? ;-)

I am sorry I have come across that way to you. It was not my intention
to do anything more than underline the possibility that it was a
_temporary_ issue with materials in _new_ NB4Ls, albeit one possibly
exacerbated by your dislike of them. But I doubt that there's any more
I can do now (short of yubitsume or seppuku) to change your mind.

--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid