Thursday 13th November 2008 ~ My Bus Was On Time ! (err 30 mins late actually)

Well the advantage of running a half hourly service is that when things get behind by 30 minutes, nobody notices - except US of course ! Well we do our best, but Bruce, Rob B and myself were all caught out by this today.
Piecing together reports from Jamie R, Bruce, Rob B and John W it has been possible to work out what happened. Temporary three way traffic lights outside Wisbech Tesco were responsible for the delays from an early hour. Jamie saw 20107 nipping through Eye Village to avoid congestion on K2 08.18 ex Peterborough a few minutes after witnessing 20352 heading into the City also running late. By the time Bruce saw 20352 returning it was 25 late. John W arrived at Lynn bus station at 10.30 and saw the Profile unloading and then retiring to the middle. Unbeknown to all of us, 20107 on K2 had lost more time and Lynn had sent 20109 out to Lowestoft at 09.42 and then 20107 (now as K4) at 10.12. John says 20117 (which had in fact done K20 to Norwich and returned light) then left as K6 10.42. Meanwhile 37574 which had arrived about 10 late on L12 and which was due to depart for Peterborough at 10.29, failed with a diesel leak and 20352 then went back west in place of it. 37572 which eventually arrived on K6 about 25 late was stepped up to become Y8 11.12 to Lowestoft. The incoming Y8 itself was well late with 37571 and this set the pattern for the day.
Identifying the new buses can be a problem, as even though the numbers are quite big, when travelling at speed they can blur into the white paintwork. 37568 did K1 this morning and Bruce swore it also did J11, although other sources say this was 37567. Whatever did it, it was not seen returning from Peterborough by Bruce or myself. Identification might become a bit easier if what I saw tonight is going to be the norm. 37576 was in the process of having a large advert fitted for the new James Bond film called 'Quantum of Solace' whilst parked in Vancouver Avenue. This of course has been fitted over the route destinations as some people predicted would happen ! 576 had come off Y9 and the 17.59 to Peterborough was good old 20105.

Speaking to Bruce at lunchtime, we were mystified by the non-appearance of the 11.29 Lynn - Peterborough. The 10.59 (L13) with 37569 was only 9 late and K15 11.59 was only 6 late with 37573. That was until we realised that 573 was actually Y14 running 36 late ! As a result 37563 on the 11.59 was (we think, unless you know different) held at Lynn until its afternoon departure to Lowestoft. There were 10 consecutive Gemini worked turns commencing with the 10.59 Lynn - P'bo, broken by 20109 on K2 15.59. Timekeeping thanks to the Tesco roadworks was a mess, with 37570 on K3 13.59 Lynn - Peterborough being 7 late on the outward and 32 late returning, following this we had 37579 on K5 which saw its 4 minutes late increase to 28 by the time it left for Yarmouth at 17.07.
The mystery of 20500's disappearance yesterday remains just that after it reappeared at Rowan Road today. B10 20121 which came in on Y21 last night did K19, the X2 turn throughout today.
Our Yarmouth correspondent says that 20123 has now arrived from Lowestoft for MOT and 20111 was there last night also. Apparently all three overnighting Geminis had arrived at the depot with yellow 'low fuel' lights flashing.
B9s not seen in service today were 37566 (collision), 37564 (o/s at Rowan Road) and 37577, with the remaining 14 in traffic.