Friday 21st November 2008 ~ Brainwashed

Today was strange for a number of reasons. To begin with I didn't see any X1s until a westbound B9 was glimpsed at 12.32 - take your pick, it was either K15, 2 minutes early passing me, or Y14, 28 late. John W saw an interesting swap at Lynn early on when 37574 arrived on Y9 06.32 from Yarmouth, only to be sent to the middle and replaced by 20105 off schools for the 08.59 departure to Peterborough. The next two westbound (J10 & J11) were 37568/9 and due to the formers late running were both in Lynn bus station together (sound familiar ?).
Bruce popped over to Lynn today too and saw 20352 arriving on K17 12.54 arrival from Lowestoft, but this was taken off and 37572 off K16 then ran in its place to Peterborough. This had begun the day on K16. As so often happens when services run late on X1, the process of laying over at Lynn was adopted today. Basically this involves the bus which began the day on K15, then going on to K16 and so on. The business with inserting 20105 at 08.59 seems to have started the ball rolling.
One might reasonably have expected 20352 to then become K18 (the 13.29 Lynn - P'bo) but for some reason this didn't happen and 20127 which had come in on K18 went through as allocated to Peterborough. Rob B reports it leaving the city 43 minutes late on the 14.48 to Gorleston and this had increased to 55 mins after passing through the roadworks at Wisbech !
The next westbound service involves a funny story which I hope you'll forgive me for including.
As some of you may know, I work at an opticians in Wisbech and over the last 4 years the staff have become quite used to me dashing out to photograph the occasional bus etc and some have become quite expert X1 spotters ! Imagine the scene this afternoon at about 14.50 when a nice lady from the Anglia Community Eye Service (ACES) paid us a visit. I quite literally chanced upon the following conversation between some of our staff and said visitor :
ACES Lady : I've just seen one of your buses at the traffic lights, it was 109 ! Do you think I got the right number ?
Suzanne : Oh yes, 109 is a regular one
Carol : Oh you know about the buses do you ? You should have seen the look my boyfriend gave me the first time he heard me say "Ooh there's 509", he knew I was mad then
Yvonne : I don't know which number you look at
Cheryl : Well there were one hundreds and five hundreds, but the five hundreds have finished now.
ACES Lady : I've seen some of the new ones as well, the double deckers
Cheryl : Oh the white elephants ? Oh yes, we're not interested in those.
Suzanne : Gerard, this lady has just seen 109
Me : Oh hello, which way was it going ?
ACES Lady : To Peterborough about 5 minutes ago.

Now I gather this must sound rather far fetched, but believe me it was quite surreal. I just stood there not believing what I was hearing. Not only did I not know the lady from ACES, I certainly wouldn't have put her down as a bus spotter. Turns out she is a friend of Suzanne's who'd told her about the bus thing !
Anyway the important thing for us was that she'd stumbled upon K3 10.55 from Lowestoft with 20109 which I otherwise would not have known about. 37567 which was on K3 stepped down to K5.
So what about the mating season ? Well today's contribution again involved K2 & K4 (see yesterday). At 17.07, 37575 was seen leaving Wisbech bus station for Peterborough 35 late on K2 being tailed not by another B9 but by 20105 on K4 making its second outing of the day to Peterborough.
Had a phone call from a very excited Judith tonight who'd seen three eastbound X1s in close succession when travelling from Lynn to Wisbech tonight, these were K1 with 37578 (thanks to Ian for the identification), K2 with 575 taking the A47 Tilney bypass in an attempt to make up time and of course 20105 on K4.
37566 has returned to service following accident damage and had an exam at Lynn on Wednesday. Today it worked K2 06.59 Lynn - P'bo before later getting swapped for 575.
Tonight 20103 came in to Lynn on what is thought to be L12 16.25 from Lowestoft, while 20121 did all of K19 diagram. L13 had 37571 at lunchtime, but 37577 came back from Lowestoft and was seen arriving at Lynn about 20 late at 20.14. It then went to the garage and 20121 looks to have done L13 forward to Peterborough.
Sam says "Saw 37564 around 15:45 with X1 Lowestoft (nothing unusual I hear you say) but it was coming through Trowse past County Hall and up Bracondale towards the City Centre (ie west bound) ideas?" Well it came in on Y21 tonight Sam which is the turn which comes off X1 Gorleston shuttles. Isn't there a service at about 15.52 from Norwich to Lowestoft which then does Y21 ? I will have to check the timetable.
Sam also saw 20107 on the X2 but with X20 on the blinds and there were appearances by 20117 and the aforementioned 20103 too, of which Sam says "it was changing gear like someone had put a manual transmission in it!"
The biggest news of the day I've kept until last and this involves the visit by Bruce today to Rowan Road. He explains : "Went to Rowan at 12.00 - 20500/1/2/3/4/6/7 present along with 20109/111/14/118/131/353. 20506 was under repair. At Vancouver Avenue garage, only 20120 and 65526 in an otherwise empty garage but 37579 leaving for uptown 'Sorry Not in service!' "(It was K20 Bruce).
After his visit to Tesco he says "Back at Rowan at 14.00 20507 gone and something else missing? Leaving Rowan at 14.09, met 20109 arriving with 6+ drivers on board (surely not all going to take it to Pbo ?? G). Got home to view video footage I'd taken and realised 20504 had disappeared as well as 20507 while I was shopping".
Well all very intriguing, so I went to investigate tonight. 20504/7 are indeed the first two B12s to leave for Scotland. The two absentees 20508/9 were both over the pits at Vancouver Avenue tonight. 508 had been to ARM at Setch for a chassis wash, but where 509 was when Bruce visited is not known. 20111/118/131 were the Hunstanton schools turns this afternoon. 20114/353 are both still at Rowan Road pending repairs.