That’s a Pinnace…
I raise you the Ikarus 260. Still in service for whatever fucking reason.
Also works as an electric bus since the 80s. This one is the maintenance service special.
Also, as a train apparently.
Trolleybusses and trams are basically indestructible. Normal busses only last like 20 years, electric busses even shorter, but trolleybusses and trams will last 100 years with proper maintenance. The only big wear part is really the tires on trolleybusses, which doesn’t affect trams.
The main reason why old trams aren’t run anymore is just because they’re a bit small and noisy and not wheelchair accessible. That and car companies convinced cities to pave over their tram lines to be able to sell more cars.
But then they gave Ikarus into the hands of an antisemite, who terribly mismanaged it, then used some of its remaining assets to build his own company, AlfaBus.
Ikarus is an absolute legend, imported by plenty of places including the Soviet Union, the home for UAZ vehicles from the original post
Ikarus provided great public transit service to millions in the Eastern Bloc. The 280 hauled massive numbers of people across the main arteries.
I was one of those millions. The great thing was that it was not only the main arteries, Budapest for example has literally hundreds of lines that were served by 260s and 280s, and while they weren’t the most comfortable rides compared to models that were 30 years younger, the very fact that you could get shitfaced in downtown Budapest and get home safely with one of these to your home in the middle of nowhere even late at night, no matter where from, no matter where to, was awesome. All for the price of like 15 EUR a month, with unlimited rides.
Same with countryside buses, you can get from any small village to any other small village pretty easily and the network is still reasonably dense despite the people running it being equally very dense.
Yes, exactly. Mass public transit’s value isn’t in how comfortable the seat is. It’s that it can move you from almost any place to any other place, “autonomously” in a reasonable amount of time and at low cost.
I didn’t mean to imply that only main arteries were served, just that in Bulgaria for example the main arteries used the articulated 280s instead of the 260s. :D But yes, they were everywhere. There were Chavdars too in less busy areas:
No I’m sorry but public transit can only function in ultra dense urban cores. You’re eityer mistaken and actually just drove drunk or are lying.
I think Tom Scott did a video about a japanese bus that can drive to the train track and transform into a train and use the track.
This sounds incredibly Japanese.
I raise you an amphibious sightseeing bus in Budapest that has regular service:
That’s incredibly European
Rotterdam has these too!
Never change/touch a running system…?
When you don’t need planned/perceived obsolescence you save resources. That said it eventually needed:
- Low floors / no stairs
- More efficient engine and auto gearbox / hybrid / electric drivetrain
- AC
- Information displays
Newer Ikarus models have all that.
‘Electric bus’ usually means a bus that relays in batteries to supply electricity to the motor(s). When, instead, it uses trolly poles (plural, it needs two) it’s called ‘trolleybus’.
The third one is weirder. It’s like a tram/trolley, but I don’t see any pole or pantograph to supply the energy. I’ve read about diesel ‘tram-trains’, essentially several trams or light rail vehicles linked together. Do you know something more about this last one?
Technically this type of trolleybus also has a battery for very short runs so it can run between power lines.
The last one was a temporary conversion of a 260 into a railbus near Pusztaszabolcs, and it ran on diesel which made sense as a lot of Hungarian lines were not - and still are not - electrified. It later got converted back because the large wheelbase made it struggle with turns on the line.
These small lines in Hungary are usually serviced by BzMot diesel trains.
I got it from Hungarian Wikipedia https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sínautóbusz
A rail conversion! That’s pretty cool, like in RttF2!
I didn’t know trolleybuses already had batteries back in the eighties, I thought it was a more recent development, that’s super cool too.
Also, that 260 is a fine looking bus, most buses I’ve seen in the last decades looked pretty mah imo.
Absolutely adore these. The UAZ-452. Nicknamed Buhanka, Russian for ‘loaf of bread’ since it exactly looks like one. This version was introduced in 1965, but there’s a predecessor dating back to 1958.
They actually do still make modern versions of these, complete with upgrades like a better, cleaner engine, ABS brakes and seatbelts. It’s the oldest still in production vehicle.
You can also play at driving one in the game Snow runner :-)
Snow runner is so awesome :D I’ve got hundreds of hours in it.
Though honestly, the loaf isn’t as useful or customisable as I’d like it to be.
Yay, another Snowrunner player!
I disagree about the Loaf, I’ve used it a lot - almost as much as the Fleetstar :-)
For scouts, I usually default to the Land Rover 90. But most gameplay time is spent in the TUZ Acteon or Bandit. And if it absolutely, positively needs to get there… Mastodon, obviously.
I don’t have the Land Rover DLC, lol … I found the Acteon was fun, but the switchable suspension wasn’t as useful as it should be. Very pretty little truck though, I always go for small and cute over the big stuff when I can!
I never took to the Bandit for some reason, can’t remember why now … maybe fuel capacity?
You likely didn’t use the Bandit (much) because it’s got a tendency to roll over every time it encounters the slightest bit of hill. It’s the truck equivalent of a puppy, eagerly looking for belly rubs. And usually at the second to last corner to your destination…
I like it for it’s versatility, but it takes a fair bit of self control to drive it well without tipping it.
Nah, once I read about moving the crane to allow chassis flex I had zero problems with rollovers … having thought more on it, it was the towing options combined with the fuel capacity (even with the roofrack fully stocked)
Have you ever seen a boatbus?
You mean a ferry?
No no no, boatbus.
i see nothing wrong here
He chases ducks?
ducc
Yeah, should’ve.
*what the hecc
Boaty McBussyFace
Russian van go brrrrr!
