London to trial out a Tri-Axle (1 Viewer)

Rhys

Add-on London Team
Mar 20, 2016
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London to try a tri-axle ‘decker - Coach & Bus Week

Interesting article above, London is to trial out a BCI Enterprise 2HD. It states that the BCI for London bus route X68 is a hybrid! "Another milestone is the fact that it’s the first new bus to be fitted with a Vantage Power hybrid drive system, matched to a 185bhp Cummins Euro 6 diesel engine."

Read more information in the link above.

Picture credit: Ensignbus & CBW

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LT586

Was Living in the editor
Oct 25, 2016
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I am excited as I hope it brings some variety to the scene in London, it's all Frogfacewreck and MMMMMC (Ummsi) X68 is a good route to trial as the hill after Norwood Garage is steep the Enviro400 GAL put out the other week could barely climb it.
 

Rhys

Add-on London Team
Mar 20, 2016
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Did they not trial Tri-Axle's before in East London?
Not in public service.
Why not just have a standard double decker?
The X68 just received a new batch of 18 Reg MMC Hybrids on March 31st. This trial is to provide more of an insight into controlling passenger numbers on very busy routes, in London. It's also a first for TfL. TfL usually specify short wheelbased buses, which often can only carry around 90 passengers.
 

Kaci

Reverseidle Cheesy
Feb 19, 2016
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London to try a tri-axle ‘decker - Coach & Bus Week

Interesting article above, London is to trial out a BCI Enterprise 2HD. It states that the BCI for London bus route X68 is a hybrid! "Another milestone is the fact that it’s the first new bus to be fitted with a Vantage Power hybrid drive system, matched to a 185bhp Cummins Euro 6 diesel engine."

Read more information in the link above.

Picture credit: Ensignbus & CBW

View attachment 27522

View attachment 27523
London to try a tri-axle ‘decker - Coach & Bus Week

Interesting article above, London is to trial out a BCI Enterprise 2HD. It states that the BCI for London bus route X68 is a hybrid! "Another milestone is the fact that it’s the first new bus to be fitted with a Vantage Power hybrid drive system, matched to a 185bhp Cummins Euro 6 diesel engine."

Read more information in the link above.

Picture credit: Ensignbus & CBW

View attachment 27522

View attachment 27523
I have a feeling Vantage is the future in London, as long as the BCI has a better transition into Diesel I will be happy.
I can also see this bus being chavved up very quickly.
 

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Rhys

Add-on London Team
Mar 20, 2016
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I have a feeling Vantage is the future in London, as long as the BCI has a better transition into Diesel I will be happy.
I can also see this bus being chavved up very quickly.
Well no, I can’t see Vantage Power as being the future in London. Both Wrightbus and ADL already provide adequate hybrid systems from Cummins and Volvo, in their products. They more or less do the same job. Where Vantage Power could gain dominance is by converting older diesel vehicles into hybrids. I do feel like London is starting to move away from hybrids however, electric seems to be the way forward in TfLs minds. Vantage Power have not yet conquered that.
 
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BritishRail60062

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Jan 10, 2017
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Interesting to see one of those BCI tri-axles to be tested in London. I wonder if London will also order the successful ADL Enviro 500 as well in the future? Should this trial be a success?

I will keep an open mind and perhaps this would validate my reason to repaint Winsomes E500 for use in OMSI 2 when the London add-on is public.
 

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whistlehead

Alias Mr Hackenbacker
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Dec 10, 2015
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Is there any advantage to having the rear steering axle behind the powered axle? I notice that most buses and coaches are like that except for an odd few such as the Leyland in the previous post.

Shorter effective wheelbase, so less cut-in from the rear axles when rounding tight corners.

The disadvantage is that there's a much longer effective rear overhang, so it's much easier to swing the tail out and hit things by mistake (ask @lubukesh ;) ) and you have an extra axle in between the engine and the drive axle for the propshaft to get past, which complicates your internal rear end design and possibly means having to sacrifice some low floor area.
 

Road-hog123

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@BritishRail60062 the article states the length as 12.5 metres, so assuming that's the legal length it'll be somewhere between 12.4 and 12.5 metres in length. That makes it 1.22 ± 0.05 metres longer than an NRM, which is 11.23 metres long. Quite a bit longer than the ~10 metre Enviro400s and such, but not as long as the 15-metre tri-axles in use in Europe and nowhere near a bendy bus. :P
 

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