Scania K230UB CNG Demonstrator (BUS 490)

Started by Snorzac, February 09, 2010, 11:06:16 AM

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Bus 400

It was on Redex services. I missed out on riding it today (after racing to catch it in my car). Luckily the driver had a break at the Railway before dead running back. The driver floored the guts out of it & it sounds very similar to the diesel MAN's & looks like it may have a bit more power. However I did notice that more water then usual was coming out of the water drip thing at the back of the bus.

I managed to get a few shots including a very informative engine cover. It does look very similar inside to ACTION's MAN's & it has a new cabin set up with the desto control on the dash board & only the two-way radio above the driver's head

Buzz Killington

I have to catch the 727 tomorrow, so fingers crossed I'll be on one of the runs that 490 is!

Snorzac

490 was sighted on a 312 this afternoon and on a 3 just over an hour ago

smitho


It has been 'on the bricks' over the past few days but back in service this afternoon.

Saw it heading north along Tuggeranong Parkway with no desto display at around 1800.

Casper would be a good name for it!

Busnerd

#54
Um no...

we've already come with the albino scania or the white whale etc.

Sir Pompously

Ahhhh the white whale. Now missing the Koala Trial wording it had on the rear.

smitho

490 was back on the bricks this morning.

I had it as my shift bus yesterday am (no connection!). As Zac says, it is a bit grunty - more like a diesel than a gas bus.

Pretty agile and accelerates quickly on the flat but less impressive on steeper climbs. Perhaps a little bit noisier on the inside than the MAN gas buses. Ride could have been smoother but I put that down to it not being 'broken in' properly yet. Some minor rattles too.

In the cab, it's nice to have the Hanover bizzo at dash height. It has a strange shaped parking brake stick, but it's quite OK. Like the MAN diesels, it has the recorded voice telling you to apply the park brake if the cab door is opened. Short stop brake button is the same format and location as the earlier Scanias and the MANs. Gear select is press button style, again like the earlier Scanias (in comparison, MANs have a toggle switch).

Quite a small steering wheel, more like a car than a bus. Steering wheel adjustment knobs are on the steering wheel stick and are a new design for ACTION.

Driver's seat may not go back far enough if you have longish legs and hook for driver's coat is adjacent to the window rather than behind the driver's left shoulder - this can potentially create a blind spot as the coat can partially obscure the view to the side and rear.

Passenger stop 'bell' (siren??) unlike anything else we have on ACTION buses. Decor and seat layout pretty well standard ACTION style as far as I could tell from a quick look. Bus has both lean and kneel capabilities. Indicator beaps are quite loud and intrusive.

White livery is eye catching and seemed to arouse plenty of curious looks from pedestrians and passengers.

This bus is prohibited from entry to Belco Depot a/c height issues.

Buzz Killington

Thanks for the review smitho, sounds like you were impressed overall?

What's the deal with the bell? Bit loud?

Bus 400

Quote from: smitho on March 16, 2010, 12:32:41 PM
This bus is prohibited from entry to Belco Depot a/c height issues.

How much higher is Bus 490 compared to the CNG MAN's?

Snorzac

It was on the bricks today as it has 4 to 5 broken windows, not sure how that happened. A certain driver was told he could take it out for the afternoon part of his shift but ended up with 370 because of this. 


The bell is the same one that can be found in Scanias such as 325, 358, 365 and all the diesel MANs

smitho

Quote from: Buzz Killington on March 16, 2010, 06:09:53 PM
Thanks for the review smitho, sounds like you were impressed overall?

What's the deal with the bell? Bit loud?

'Impressed' might be taking it a bit far. I reckon that with a bit of fine tuning and TLC, this bus has potential to be reasonable.  The MAN diesel and gas buses and the Renault-Mack Mks 1 & 2 set a pretty high benchmark.

Not sure if I agree with Zac re the bell being the same as in the MAN diesels. My recollection is that it has the same siren sound as the MANs, but with an added chime effect thrown in. And yes, it is a bit lioud.

One drawback I didn't mention is that the park brake needs to be applied to make it kneel (but not to make it lean).

Sorry, I can remember the height off hand nor do I have the VIN.


PoweredByCNG

Quote from: smitho on March 16, 2010, 07:30:53 PM
'Impressed' might be taking it a bit far. I reckon that with a bit of fine tuning and TLC, this bus has potential to be reasonable.  The MAN diesel and gas buses and the Renault-Mack Mks 1 & 2 set a pretty high benchmark.

Not really a fair comparison (different gearboxes) but is the Scania better than the MAN gas buses?

smitho

Just based on the prototype's current performance, I'd go for a gas MAN over the Scania...but that ranking could change should they get the Scania to give a lot more power when it is needed. Whther that's possible, I don't know.

smitho

Went past 490 on the Tuggeranong bricks this am - no broken windows evident, although a diesel MAN next to it (400?) appeared to have a single broken window on left hand side - plastic taped over the window.

PoweredByCNG

Quote from: smitho on March 17, 2010, 01:19:10 PM
Just based on the prototype's current performance, I'd go for a gas MAN over the Scania...but that ranking could change should they get the Scania to give a lot more power when it is needed. Whther that's possible, I don't know.

Thanks for that.  The MAN gas buses go even better with ZF gearboxes.  On top of that, MAN have released an updated gas engine for Euro 6 with 320hp and 1400Nm of torque (the ACTION ones are 310hp / 1250Nm)!

Ed

QuoteHow much higher is Bus 490 compared to the CNG MAN's

Lets just say the only way to get 490 OUT of Belconnen depot without ripping the canopy off is to get it through the back of the workshops and coming out the wrong way.

Snorzac

490 is still on the bricks at Tuggies with that window

Bus 400


smitho

490 was behind me doing a 3 northbound as I pulled in to Lathlain Bus Station with a 315 (Bus 384) at around 1104 this am.

This evening we crossed paths again, this time at City West, with 490 working a 200 Link (as reported elsewhere on the Forum) as I was preparing to do a 160 southbound (Bus 384).

Bus 400

For those few that have been inside 490, am I right in thinking that the seat layout is a bit different to the MAN 18.320's.

Bus 490 still has that new bus/car smell & it defiantly has a lot of power as we flew up Longmore Crescent & along Athllon Drive.

Snorzac

490, power, up hill? I don't think so, I saw it getting off the mark on Cohen street and it's a slug. It sounds powerful, but it ain't. The seat layout is the same as the diesel MANs except for one board opposite the rear door under the chin bar.

Bus 400

The leash Tuggeranong has on Bus 490 must of been loosened as it was out again on weekend detail (as well as yesterday as previously mentioned).

Buzz Killington

I spotted it parked on Sulwood Dr around lunchtime, then about ten minutes later it went down Erindale Drive, did a U-Turn at Ashley Dr and went back up there..

CNG

Rob today was having a bit of a spin in 490 today on route 6 today, would of caught it if I had known. :)

lukeo25


Snorzac

That driver has it as a shift bus both halves :). He is enthusiest friendly

p_stampy

Spotto'd 490 yesterday arvo at about 330pm going up mort st, towards north canberry. Might have been redex?

Buzz Killington


Bus 400

While conducting a registration check on Bus 490, I noticed that the rego papers call this buses body type is a cruiser. While every other has a rigid bus body type.

Barry Drive

No. The body type is Rigid Bus. The model is listed as cruiser. They must have used the body name (which is "Road Cruiser CB60") instead of the chassis name.

Bus 400


Bus 400

Quote from: Stacka on May 18, 2010, 07:09:14 PM
To be honest with you, the height may restrict where it tours. The fact that it is gas also restricts where it can go. It won't be able to go to Brisbane or Sydney, only place I can think of other than those are Perth and (possibly) Adelaide. I'm not sure of the height limits there maybe 'Bus 400' and 'MyWay' can enlighten us.
Quote taken from http://actbus.net/forum/index.php?topic=2458.msg22137#msg22137

Since they use to run Denning double deckers on the Mandruah line (before the trains), Bus 490 should be safe along that stretch & should be able to fit in most depots as most depots don't have a roof. The only issue for is that Bus 490 may only be able to fit in 1 refueling sheds or workshop sheds (Mandurah). There could also be issues with the current Wellington Street Bus Station (one of the main bus interchanges for the city & not sure about the replacement bus station which is meant to be underground. But the other bus station (Esplande Busport) is where the Denning double decker things use to start/end runs so it should be fine.

On the northern suburbs, there could also be issues are the approaches to the bus stops on the train station, the buses go under foot bridges which aren't much higher then the current CNG buses. Out east there are quiet a number of low branches which means that Bus 490 could cope a bashing, however I suspect those depots don't have CNG facilities. Out west it should be fine.

But then again, Perth has mainly Merc CNG buses so this may not help the Merc system. It may also depend on who wins the artic trial, if Scania looses TransPerth may not want to try another Scania.

PoweredByCNG

I'm sorry to inform you that the Perth CNG artic demonstration will be meaningless.  Five manufacturers have responded to the tender for 650 new buses and the PTA are only asking for DIESEL artics.

Irisbus Rider

Ha, there you go! Thanks for the info there, it's the same here in the ACT, 490 is with ACTION, despite the fact that we cannot have any more CNG buses! From what I have heard, the ACT is ideal for trialling buses, due to it's temperature range and varying topography.

By the way, would you be able to let us know the five manufacturers, or is that still privaliged info at this point?

Barry Drive

#84
Yes, the Queen St station in Bris has a height limit of 3.5m Their CNG MAN artics are lower than our MANs due to this.

As for Perth, 5 bus manufacturers would be: Scania, Volvo, Mercedes, MAN & Iveco/Irisbus.

Buzz Killington

On the topic of 490, I'm told it is off road again with engine troubles.

CNG

Quote from: Irisbus Rider on May 19, 2010, 10:57:37 AM
Ha, there you go! Thanks for the info there, it's the same here in the ACT, 490 is with ACTION, despite the fact that we cannot have any more CNG buses! From what I have heard, the ACT is ideal for trialling buses, due to it's temperature range and varying topography.

By the way, would you be able to let us know the five manufacturers, or is that still privaliged info at this point?
Why can't we have any more  CNG buses

Snorzac

Because the government has seen sense. When CNG buses are retired they cannot be sold off to private companies because there is no private companies that have CNG. Government buyers generally don't buy second hand buses so it makes it rather difficult

Irisbus Rider

Quote from: CNG on May 19, 2010, 04:31:33 PM
Why can't we have any more  CNG buses
The C in CNG stands for compressed. The compression occurs on site, in Tuggeranong Depot and the system in use is currently running at 100% capacity, from what I have heard. So, unless CNG equipment will be installed in Belco (close to impossible), ACTION will not be receiving any more CNG vehicles.

N.B. My understanding of the CNG systems are fairly limited, so I'm wide open to correction here.

Busnerd

The reason for not getting any more CNG buses isn't really due to the onsell problem - it is as John has said, the system is at capacity and the other point being that MOST government operators will only buy 50% of the fleet diesel and 50% gas...it makes sense to have half and half - also what happens in 50+ years when the world starts running low on oil etc. then everyones gonna be scrambling to convert to gas/electricity and australia has heaps of natural gas so it will never run out here in our life times....makes sense too because most people think gas is cleaner when diesel is just as good nowadays, so its a political thing too.

Snorzac

490 is on the bricks as it has been for the past two weeks

Bus 400

#91
Quote from: Stacka on May 30, 2010, 07:46:23 AM
490 is on the bricks as it has been for the past two weeks
& was back in service last night.


Can Bus 490 fit in the sheds at Tuggeranong? Or is it destined to be stored in the workshop area?

King of Buses

When I've seen it at tuggy it's alway been at the workshops area

Snorzac

I'm not sure where it Parks I'm pretty sure it fits into the sheds, it pretty much lives in the workshops though...

smitho

It does go in the shed sometimes, but it is often parked on the bricks.

Snorzac


Bus 400

Would anyone know the difference between Bus 490 & this Deanes Volgren Scania K230UB demonstrator? I mean besides the fact that Bus 490 is a CNG bus & has a Custom Coaches body.

Snorzac

#97
490 has a 270L engine, the other one had a 230L engine

Irisbus Rider

A 270L engine would certainly be thirsty! :P

230/270 indicates the horsepower (hp) of the engine.

Other than that, yes, the only differences are the body, and the fuel used to power the vehicle. The block (5 cyl), and chassis are both near identical (open to correction there).

Snorzac