Wednesday October 20th 2010 ~ The Curse of 60863 strikes again !

As regular readers of the blog will know, periodically those in control at Yarmouth send out tacho fitted 60863 on the X1 , rather than a B10M coach or 34108. This normally happens if one of the B9s has a short term problem and when, this morning, 37572 was off the road with a flashing ABS warning light, the option to use the Volvo B10RLE was chosen. It had already seen spells of service in January, February and June this year, so was not entirely unexpected, particularly with the current unreliability of 20126 and the reluctance to use 20115. As is usual, Y13 was the turn chosen and presumably a refuelling arrangement was made at some point, as in the past it has run out of fuel twice on this turn. Despite its large capacity engine, it has a dreadful reputation for timekeeping and today was no exception. 2 late from Wisbech westbound at lunchtime, it was 12 late coming back and late tonight it went directly into Vancouver Avenue from Peterborough at 00.36 (still approx 12 late).
Peter had a trip out today and as luck would have it, managed to use K4 and 37579 twice. He sent a series of texts to amuse me as follows " 37579 10 late on 07.40 to P'bo today and it's flipping cold standing at the bus stop this morning ! Gerard, Doreen is right, you need to get a grip or nobody will use your service !".  A few minutes later he continues " Not sure if there's something wrong with the bus or the driver - we are dawdling along as if on some sort of go slow and we are at least 10 late, we need Blondie". He then says
" Bu**er that was close, luckily the driver went direct to the rail station, so I caught my train with 2 minutes to spare". Driver lethargy seems to have been to blame, as 579 was driven with more gusto on the 18.05 ex Peterborough says Peter. By way of an explanation, new X1 drivers tend to be over cautious due to the 'Drive Green' system which penalises them, not only for exuberant driving, but also for such ridiculous habits as not braking for a corner, even though the vehicle may be under full control. Another example of political correctness gone mad and before you say it, yes I know it allegedly saves fuel.
B10M survivors out today were 20107 on K1, which had done very well this evening to pass the Southgates roundabout at 17.53 heading in to King's Lynn on a turn which is frequently delayed. 20121 was the other example which graced K3 as usual.
After Volvo modifications yesterday, 37563 was let loose on K18 and another Lowestoft B9, 37568 was undergoing similar treatment today.
Unorthodox duties for the sidelined 37572 at Yarmouth today involved work on services 5, 6 and 7. Over at Lowestoft 37156 re-emerged and worked the 10.38 X2 to Norwich. 37565 meanwhile added to the dearth of B9s by appearing on the ramp at Yarmouth (possibly an MOT ?).
So with timekeeping pretty good with the exception of 37157 on K16 which somehow lost the best part of 25 minutes, this leads me to the other incident today.
I had to take my Mum (she's 80 bless her) to the Warfarin clinic at Wisbech hospital today - it is something we do on a monthly basis and, thankfully up to now, without incident. Today, though, was different. Not long after leaving home, we were sailing steadily along the X1 route - we passed Bruce's observation post and then went up the flyover which crosses the A47. Once over the top, we noticed a van coming off the A47 slip road which had no intention of giving way. The result was it collided full on with the front nearside wing of my car - a fraction of a second later and it would have ploughed into the passenger door, behind which was my dear Mum.
Mercifully both of us unhurt, I managed to force the passenger door open and get my Mum out. Diesel was leaking from a fractured pipe and just at this moment, quite by coincidence, Bruce came up the slip road in his Volvo and saw what had happened. He whisked my Mum off to his bungalow where he left her with the cat and a copy of the Daily Express and then returned to supervise until the police arrived. Without going into too much detail, I will just say that I ended up directing 37575 on K15 past the accident site as my vehicle was unable to move, this was because the engine and gearbox had been damaged severely in the impact. Several X1s went to and fro while I was waiting with the police for my car to be recovered, including a very noisy and indeed very late 37157 on K16. The highlight of the whole incident was when one of the policeman attending looked at me and Bruce and said "You're the bus blokes aren't you ?". Oh Dear - Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me ! But no, it transpired that doing an X1 blog is far from illegal (take note RP & Co) and in fact it has even been viewed at the police station !
Anyway, all this business leads me to today's photo which shows my poor little Corsa on the back of the Tears recovery truck being watched by some bemused X1 passengers enjoying (?) the delights of 60863. Every cloud has a silver lining don't they say ?



It was a beautiful day today. The blue car is standing where the van emerged hitting my car.