Re: B class at New Preston
  timmy1041

Hey all,as of today 20/5/19 none of the 4 remaining allocated B Class are
let at New Preston with 2058 & 2109 now on loan? to Glenhuntly and 2119 on
loan? to Camberwell along with 2009 & 2066 from Bwk....2130 is the only one
that may still be there but it's location is not known.So all New Preston
services today will be E Class only unless a B Class gets loaned.

On Saturday, 18 May 2019 17:22:44 UTC+10, timmy1041 wrote:
>

> Hey Hugh thanks so much for the info,just a couple of points. Re the

> shortage of E's, there is still 13 more to be delivered including the

> extra 10 on the contract so the likely hood of there ever being a shortage

> of E's to me would be very small and surely the B's would be better off

> providing extra capacity on other routes.The other point is that will they

> run all day, every day,or just when needed in the peaks and will there be

> dedicated B Class tables?There is 4 left at the moment 2058,2109,2119

> (currently on loan to Cam as of today) & 2130 so would it be safe to say

> that that's the 4 needed?

> On Saturday, 18 May 2019 16:48:08 UTC+10, Mal Rowe wrote:

>>

>> Hugh Waldron has provided advice on the retention of B2s at Preston:

>> ====

>>

>> Hope this helps answering the “B2” debate at Preston.

>>

>> My contact tells me that New Preston will retain four “B2” class trams

>> so that drivers will not have to be retrained on “B2” class trams if they

>> are required to do a DOC (Day off cancelled) at another depot or if due to

>> shortage of “E” class additional “B2” class trams are required to be loaned

>> to New Preston.

>>

>> The rule was in my days to be qualified for a particular type of tram you

>> must drive that type of tram at least once every six months. Therefore by

>> keeping four “B2” class trams all drivers would have the opportunity of

>> driving one every so often.

>>

>> During my time at Kew if a driver was required from another depot he/she

>> could not drive a “C1” class unless they had previously driven “C1” class

>> trams during the previous six months. (We had a few drivers that had

>> transferred from Kew and were happy to come back for the odd day) Hence if

>> a driver was not trained to drive “C1” class trams this became another

>> reason for an “A” on route 109. The main reason for the odd “A” class on

>> route 109 was the driver was learning to be an “A” class driver or they

>> were an “A” class driver only due to a medical problem.

>>

>> A DOC at another depot can only be given providing no drivers from that

>> depot were available for that shift required to be covered.

>>

>> Regards Hugh

>>

>