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31/08/2009

August Bank Holiday Weekend

Sunday 30th

My observations were limited today, but I did see 20127 leaving Peterborough at lunchtime with the 12.20 to Lowestoft. It returned this evening and ended up at Lynn.

Monday 31st

The big surprise today was the appearance of 60863 with the 09.30 Yarmouth - Peterborough & 13.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft, not a very good advert on a Bank Holiday. Y5 16.48 from Lowestoft was 20352 tonight and as this was at Lynn last night, looks like it was a replacement. The 18.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft failed to run west of King's Lynn and the 19.10 with 37566 was heavily loaded as a result.The 15.48 from Lowestoft was 17 late at Walpole with 37574 due to heavy traffic.

Saturday 29th August 2009 ~ Beer Festival Part 2

37569 loads up at Wisbech tonight on the 21.00 to Lowestoft. Picture by me after a few beers !
My second visit to Peterborough beer festival today saw me take L8 09.48 Wisbech - Peterborough with 37569 along with some friends. The Gemini took 37 minutes to arrival in Queensgate and in just under 40 minutes we were at the rail station. Eastbound morning services seen were K4 with 20127, K5 37574, Y6 37575 and Y7 20105. Other non-Gemini worked turns were K18 with 60863, Y13 with 20107 while 20351 was Y10, 20352 K3 and 20353 on K1. Thanks to Bruce for additional observations and our good wishes to his daughter who was unfortunately in a riding accident today and now has a broken collarbone.
Our journey back was once again on L8 and with 37569.

Friday 28th August 2009 ~ Post No. 400

60863 is out on the X1 again, seen at Wisbech tonight on L12 23.00 to King's Lynn. Earlier it had cut out in Lynn bus station around midday and fitters repaired it. Photo by Rob Brooks.
Yes the 400th post and its about three days late ! Y13 was a mystery this morning. It came through Wisbech about 10 late at 12.30 with 37572 which had come on at Lynn. It looks like it swapped turns with 37568 on K14. Lowestoft sent out 60863 again on L12 while 37567 had a day off and Grahame reports 37565 on MOT at Yarmouth. L11 was 22 late with 20127 and other B10Ms seen were 20103 on K4 which was later taken off at Lynn and replaced by 20105, K2 was 20104 and 20107 K18.

28/08/2009

Thursday 27th August 2009 ~ Miles Better

Following its recent argument with a muntjac, 20351 has lost its 'First' branding, but at least it has a fleet number on the front unlike 20353. 351 passes Walpole Highway this morning.
37569 now sporting a rather vivid pink ad for T Mobile arrives at Wisbech on K1 at just before 8 this morning.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that two of the Lowestoft Geminis had inoperable hub meters registering the mileage. Well lo and behold 37565/9 have now both had them reset, so although not displaying the accumulated mileage, at least they are working again, so thanks to whoever acted on this.
37579 returned to service 0n K3 today. 60863 was sent to Lowestoft on K16 and 34108 was back on its old route working the X2 for a change. Michael Bryant also reports 20127 on the 10.38 Lowestoft - Norwich X2 today. The vehicle on L10 was changed at Lynn this morning for 37575 off a maintenance check, but I'm not sure what it was - Bruce seems to think it was a B10M . This afternoon 37572 was taken off K19 and replaced by another 'unknown', so probably the bus which worked L10.
20107 began the day on K4 with 20351 on K5, but by this evening they had swapped turns. An accident on the A47 between Eye and Thorney caused disruption at teatime. 20105 on K17 was 30 late and 37568 on K18 was 36 late into Wisbech, K19 was also affected and was 14 late with 572. 37575/9 have had new ads for 'Dorian Grey' fitted. B10Ms out today were 20103 on Y7, 20104 on Y13, 20105 on the second leg of K17 and 20107 as mentioned above. 20106/18/21/23/31 were all at Rowan Road today.

27/08/2009

Wednesday August 26th 2009 ~ It's That Time Again

Peterborough Beer Festival time that is. My first visit this evening meaning that this entry is appearing a day late. Timekeeping was not particularly impressive today. I left work at 17.03 and saw 37570 on K19 passing 37575 westbound on K3, both running 13 minutes late. K4 was more heavily delayed and 20103 was still 15 late arriving at Wisbech to work the 19.00 to Lowestoft.
Like the return of a bad penny, 60863 was back on the route today. It did Y13 because 37577 expired with engine problems on K1 at Dereham last night. 577 has now joined 37573/6 at Volvo.
Todays B10M count was six : 20103 on K4, 20104 on K18, 20106 initially on Y6 but replaced at some point at Lynn by 20352, 20107 on L12, 20118 filling in to Peterborough and back on Y7 this morning after 20351 presumably came in late. 351 was seen by Bruce sitting in the bus station at Lynn mid morning seemingly on standby. Finally 20127 did K2 and was seen by Rob Brooks heading to Peterborough about 20 late this afternoon.
37579 was at King's Lynn garage on maintenance today and so didn't return to service.

26/08/2009

Tuesday August 25th 2009 ~ One Hundred Not Out

Well I guess it had to happen ! The first Gemini to exceed 100,000 miles is 37564. Its nearest rivals 563 & 568 both failed at the final hurdle but 564 just kept going and going. There is a discrepancy however between the miles recorded on the odometer and the wheelhub meter. The former actually reads about 2,500 miles more and this suggests that the hub meters were fitted shortly after entry into service. Probably by coincidence 564 is the B9 that I personally have travelled on the most and had all the B9s emulated its reliability I'm sure that we would now be talking about what a superb fleet the Geminis are. Regrettably this is not the case and once again today other vintage vehicles were making up the numbers.
Nine turns were entirely B9 operated today and in addition 37566 managed to do the first leg of K1 before being replaced at Lowestoft by 37577. The latter began the day on K19 but was changed at Lowestoft for 20103. B10Ms (and there were plenty out today) were 20105 : K2, 20106 : K18, 20118 K5 and 20127 Y13. The appearnce of 127 was unexepected and meant 20115 remained at Yarmouth. 20104 was also out on K4 but was taken off this afternoon and replaced by 20351. Possibly in this connection Bruce viewed 20352 followed 1 minute later by 20351 departing Lynn this evening bound for Peterborough. 351 despite carrying a full passenger compliment had 'not in service' on the front and was only 6 late at Walton Highway in contrast to 352 which was 38 late and went down the bypass to Wisbech. 34108 was also substituting today and did K16.
Two new advertising campaigns began today with T. Mobile partnering the Daily Star/Daily Express. 37564/9/74 all appear to have received these ads at Lowestoft last night.
37579 was back at Lynn tonight after body repairs at Full Circle. After a service it should be back in traffic.

25/08/2009

Monday 24th August 2009 ~ 10 Months Down the Line ....

It is now 10 months since the Geminis were unveiled as the new face of the X1. Few would have envisaged at this early stage of their careers that availability would have dropped so drastically. Today just 11 were available for service again with 37563 a new casualty due to an electrical fault. 37568 once again failed to appear from Lowestoft while 37576 joined 37573 at Volvo. 37571/9 with accident damage completed the picture.
News that the B10M s which were transferred to Glasgow at the turn of the year are being sold off to private companies for further use has been met by derision from local enthusiasts. 20119 was the first to go for a new life re-registered down south somewhere and now a Newton-Le -Willows firm has taken delivery of 20114 and 20120. With Hunstanton schools contracts due to restart soon, these would have been ideal to supplement the X1 fleet.
Today the B10M fleet were once again belying their years on the X1. Remarkably the two coaches involved in yesterday's private hire which arrived back after midnight were barely cold before resuming X1 use with 20106 on K17 and 20118 on K5. Three out of the four Lowestoft based turns were old vehicles with 37578 on L8 being the only Gemini. The other turns were L10 with 20104, L11 with Royale 34108 and L12 being worked by the rejuvenated 20105. In addition 20107 was on K2 and 20115 on K4 - quite remarkable.
Profile 20351 was failed today, but 20352/3 did Y13 and K18. One good point about today was punctuality which was exceptional.
Sam reports 20103 in use on the X2 today and Michael B adds that there was the odd B10M out in the Beccles area last week with 20107 on the 13.38 X2 ex Lowestoft on Thursday unusually running 20 late, so may be a last minute substitution, whilst on Friday 20104 was in use on a Bernard Matthews contract. Jamie R says that the most remarkable aspect of his journey on 34108 today was an X rated display of lesbian affection from a couple of punters on the top deck, much to the amazement of fellow passengers. J says ' Obviously attention seekers, they could have at least sat on the back seat instead of at the front !' They were probably just excited about having 34108 Jamie !

24/08/2009

Sunday 23rd August 2009 ~ All Aboard the Charabanc

Wayne brings 107 into Walton Highway this morning.

"A charabanc or "char-à-banc" is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year. The name derives from the French char à bancs ("carriage with wooden benches"), the vehicle having originated in France in the early 19th century".(Source Wikepedia).

So it was that 20106 and 20118 set out at 07.00 this morning on FEC staff outings to Chessington 'Land of Adventure'. They had not returned by 21.45 so a long day was had by the punters - more news when we receive it.

It was possible to have a B10M on the X1 as well today, when 20107 came out on Y5. This turn finishes at King's Lynn at 22.30 tonight. All the other turns were Gemini operated. 37569/576/577 were at King's Lynn this evening, but 576 is unfit for service.

Saturday 22nd August 2009 ~ An Adventure for 105

Back in action after a five week lay off, 20105 departs Wisbech on time this evening on L8 19.22 to Peterborough with Jason at the controls.
20105 is one of the dedicated coaches designated for schools use, 20118/131 normally being the other two. With the new schools term now only a few weeks away, 20131 is still off the road awaiting MOT, so it looks as though 20106 will take its place when the new term starts - but back to 105, which did K3 on 16th July and Hunstanton schools contract 5 on 17th on which it was reported 'running hot'. Since then its only movement has been to Vancouver Avenue for a service. That was until this morning when L8 arrived at Lynn, 37566 having a smashed destination window. With 20106/118 on special prep for tomorrow's excursions, this meant a B10M had to be summoned from Rowan Road. With a choice of 20121/23 & 20105 , the latter was chosen as best bet to make it to Peterborough and back. So it was that 105 worked L8 forward and was seen running 38 late on the return leg at Walpole. Later Michael Bryant saw it arrive at Norwich with 'not in service' on the front, but still with passengers on board. It departed for Lowestoft at 14.00, just 10 late, so presumably ran direct from Lynn to Norwich to make up time. This evening despite a Norwich City home match, it was on time departing Wisbech for Peterborough at 19.22. Following 105 just 3 minutes behind on on L9 this morning was 37578 which was making its first appearance since Monday. This picked up a disabled passenger at Walpole Highway who had been unable to board 20105 - in fact it was doubtful if 105 even stopped there as it was so full.

Gemini 37576 was in trouble again this afternoon, it was removed from K19 for the second consecutive day and a repaired 37566 worked forward at 14.45 to Peterborough. Later on 37569 on K4 was retired at Lynn at 19.30 and 37578 went forward having just arrived on L9.

B10Ms other than 20105 on X1 frontline duty today were : 20103 on K16, 20107 on K1 and 20115 on Y7. The X1 Royale, 34108, did K14.

22/08/2009

Friday 21st August 2009 ~ Consolidation

The initial vehicle allocation for today's X1 was B9 Gemini : 12, B7 Profile : 2, B10M Premiere : 4. The missing turn was expected to be 37568, but whether or not this did the morning part is unknown as both Bruce and myself failed to see L12 which was the turn concerned. Tonight it was Royale 34108.
Punctuality was on reflection pretty good for a Friday, though things went wrong tonight - presumably after an A47 incident and L8 was seen departing Terrington St. John 39 minutes late at 19.44 heading for Peterborough with 37564. It hadn't managed to make up much of this by the time it passed Bruce coming back and was still 30 minutes behind time. 34108 was also affected and this was 17 late at Hardwick, 13 late at Walpole Highway and 7 late when viewed near Eye by Jamie Robinson this evening.
Gemini 37576 began the day on K19 but didn't last long - it is not known where it was replaced, but it seems likely that it was 20352 which took over. B10M coaches in use were 20115 on K4, 20118 on K5, 20103 on L10 and 20107 on L11. 115 was in trouble at lunchtime with an old problem, a loose panel, but this was fixed and it was able to continue. 20118 is not popular with drivers because of its poor acceleration at low speeds - particularly a nuisance at roundabouts and such places as the Hockering turn where gaps in the A47 traffic are sparse. Once up to speed however, it is as good as the others I am told.

Thursday 20th August 2009 ~ Providing A Service

37570/2/4 & 20351 were all due for servicing today at King's Lynn and in order for this to be carried out, various vehicle changes took place. 37570 was done first and this was completed in time for it to do K5 07.45 to Peterborough. 37574 was next and when completed it took over K4, the 10.03 to Lowestoft which had come in with 20351. This was then serviced and done in time to take over K15 the 12.45 westbound in the place of 37572 which then in turn came in for its scheduled attention. 572 was completed in time to take out K18 14.15 to Peterborough in the place of 20115 which retired to the garage. All this was carried out very efficiently and shows what can be done when everything goes as planned.
L11 which had 20127 in the morning arrived back at Lynn tonight with 20352 which had been worked into Yarmouth on Tuesday. 20123 remained at Rowan Road today along with 20105/21/31 and also getting a rare day off, 20106.
The number of B10Ms used today was down on that of late. 20103 was K2 and 20118 K3. Y6 had 20104 (reported by Rob Brooks this evening, having worked all day).

20/08/2009

Wednesday 19th August 2009 ~ A Small Proportion

37568 has been on unofficial loan to King's Lynn so far this week. It did K19 on Monday and K3 today on which it is seen at Walpole Highway this afternoon.
Running 42 minutes late, Royale 34108 passes Bruce in glorious weather on Y7 this morning.

Just recently Bruce has been pointing out a factual error on the blog header. "It says ' a small proportion of services are still coach worked', now that is hardly true is it ?". Well no , not at the moment certainly Bruce. Just to prove it he has been bombarding me with daily percentages of the proportion of services not worked by Geminis !
Something went badly wrong on the Peterborough stretch of the A47 this morning. Y6 09.35 from Peterborough came through Walpole Highway 34 late with 37567. This evening it had cut the deficit to 15 minutes and by the time it passed through on the 19.10 from Peterborough it was all but on time. Back to this morning though and Y7 which had Royale 34108 returned from Peterborough no less than 42 late having been on time going west. A number of swaps took place at Lowestoft because of late arrivals and the Royale and 37566 on Y9 were swapped for 37563 and 20115.
For the second day running 37578 wasn't in service (reason currently unknown), but 37576 returned from repairs at Volvo and quickly replaced 20118 on K4. Another B10M replaced today was 20106 which did half of K18 but was then replaced as the 14.15 King's Lynn to Peterborough by 37565 which had its cameras back in action. Profile 20352 didn't appear today having gone into Yarmouth last night. 20103 was out instead of it on Y13. Three other old coaches were out, these being 20104 on K1, 20107 on K2 - on which Jamie R had a stifling journey from Peterborough this afternoon - and 20127 on K16.

18/08/2009

Tuesday August 18th 2009 ~ Where Do You Start ?

34108 still extols the virtues of Somerset Cider - guess the operators could have done with one today ! Photo : Michael Bryant
Yes where do you start with a day like today ? Perhaps a good place would be to look at the blog for Tuesday 19th August 2008 which was reflecting on the B12 Paragons and their history ? Today the ratio of Geminis to B10M coaches came pretty much the nearest to parity we have seen since the double decker fleet were introduced. There has been much grumbling in high places of late (apparently) because of the failure to give the advertised low floor service. The stopgap idea that disabled passengers can telephone First to check if their chosen service is suitable falls down as there are so often changes of vehicle, meaning that what starts the day on a diagram is often substituted somewhere along the line. It is not so bad if the B10M coaches are scattered about, but when one gets a day like yesterday where four ran in succession it can mean a gap of two and a half hours between low floor services. The use of the 'emergency' Royale has at least given passengers a decker with more comfortable coach style seats, even if it is not low floor.


The missing Geminis today were 37565 (Rowan Road / CCTV fault), 37567 (MOT), 37571 (Rebuild), 37576 (Volvo repairs), 37578 (Lowestoft unavailable) and 37579 (Full Circle repairs).

The last thing that was needed then was for another B9 to come a cropper, but that's exactly what happened. 37573 on only its second day back in service after a three week layoff at Volvo for engine repairs worked K4 08.35 from Peterborough but expired at Hockering with a failed injector. It was hastily scooped off to Volvo for repair and passengers travelled forward on K5 which was following with 20353. Whether this meant K5 was heavily delayed too is not known, but with passengers waiting at Norwich for an eastbound service which hadn't turned up (K4), 20123 was dug out to run in the times of K5. Now this was not a good choice but was probably the only suitable vehicle on hand and before the day was out it had overheated at Peterborough and on arrival back at King's Lynn (who bless them thought they'd seen the back of 20123 after a series of failures at the beginning of July) was spouting copious quantities of oil.

Back to this morning though and 20115 was turned out by Yarmouth on Y6, this worked to Peterborough on the 05.50 and then back to Lowestoft where 20353 relieved it (off K5). K4 was restarted at Lowestoft with eveyones favourite standby, Royale 34108. More swaps involved 37568 on K1 being changed at Lowestoft for 20103 and later 37564 on L12 was taken off and 37568 came back.

20115 has now been reallocated to King's Lynn for X1 use until 37571 returns from Northern Ireland, a situation which is likely to last several months I am told. The timetable was pretty much adhered to today apart from the events described above. 20103/15/23 have already been mentioned and today also saw the use of 20104 (Y7), 20106 (K3), 20107 (L10) and 20127 on Y13. At least good fortune smiled on the trio of B7s which were all in service.

20105 remains at Rowan Road spare along with 20121 and also there today was (unusually) 20118. 20109 is at King's Lynn garage awaiting a reconditioned fuel pump. A private hire this coming Sunday will see two of the Lynn B10Ms have a trip out to Chessington World of Adventure and 20106/18 are looking favourites for this as things stand - maybe they should try a day on the X1 if they want a world of adventure !

This evening 20107 cruised past King's Lynn South Gates at 19.35 having completed the journey from Swaffham via Narborough in just 21 minutes while 20123 (despite its problems) came steaming past the same location at 19.47 having done the trip from Wisbech in just 17 minutes. Gemini 37577 is involved in a bit of a mystery at the moment, yesterday it was 3 early departing Wisbech on L8 09.48 to Peterborough and today 2 early on Y9 10.18 westbound. Geminis do have a dashboard clock apparently, so may be 577s is out of sync. X1 drivers have all been issued with time signal controlled watches in an effort to improve punctuality. On a positive note the widespread early running commonplace until about 12 months ago is now extremely rare.

Some time ago we reported an advertising campaign for insurers LV.Com. The small rear adverts were made sub-standard and became heavily degraded in the washers. 37575/6 were B9s which carried this ad. Today 37575 which had just recently been carrying one for NCC part time educational courses, was seen with a new LV Com ad. 37565 is also fitted with one. 37573 has a new unidentified rear ad but we will have to wait until it re-emerges to identify it.

Locally at King's Lynn Olympian 34921 which is required at Yarmouth has stayed put so far to alleviate a vehicle shortage. Scania 65528 has returned from repairs and is now awaiting MOT along with 20131.

Monday 17th August 2009 ~ None Runner Number 15

Another Gemini reappeared in traffic today after a lengthy lay off. 37573 came out of Lowestoft on L11 in place of 20103. There were B10Ms out today though with 20104 on K4, 20106 on K5, 20107 on K2, 20118 on K3 and 20127 on K18. In addition 20115 had a tyre change and was then despatched to Peterborough on K1 at 15.15 after the CCTV on 37565 failed again. The latter was dumped at Rowan Road tonight.
It was not a bad day for punctuality although for some reason K15 failed to run west of Lynn (it had started the day with 37572) and a gap in the service like this is thankfully rare these days. The following service, K16 with 34108 was well loaded as a result. K17 which had begun with 37578 came back from Lowestoft with 37563. B9s in service today were 37563-6/8/70/2/3/4/5/7/8.

Sunday 16th August 2009 ~ Camera Shy

On recent Sundays, services during the middle of the day have often run around 15 minutes late because of congestion at the Hardwick Roundabout. This has been caused by traffic on the A149 backing up as queues develop with cars en route to the coast meaning that through traffic on the A47 is affected. Today the 12.50 King's Lynn - Peterborough was a victim, though by the time it returned it was only about 5 late. This turn (K6) had started with 37574 and 565, as is the custom now, took over at Lowestoft. On arrival at Lynn at 15.30 565 was failed with its cameras not working, so 20107 took over the turn.
107 was not the only B10M out as 20127 was once again plying the route on Y9 09.30 Yarmouth - Peterborough etc. Another non-Gemini worked turn was Y4 which had Profile 20353.
There was a severe imbalance of power this evening when (including VORs) Lynn was custodian of 20104/5/6/7/9/15/18/21/27/31. This just left 20103 at LFT, 20126 awaiting a replacement engine at Yarmouth and 20123 now presumed back at Norwich, but by all accounts in a bad way with oil leaks etc. Royale 34108 was kept at Lynn today.

15/08/2009

Saturday 15th August 2009 ~ Stud Needed !

37563 heads east on L9 today. Whether it was abducted by the Aliens shown on the advert is unclear, but Royale 34108 came back this evening.
Jamie Vendy sent in this picture of a rather lost looking 37568 on L11 which was awaiting admittance to its correct bay at Queensgate this lunchtime after it was occupied by one of several National Express additionals to London.

The mystery of why 37572 has never received any advertisements on the drivers side was explained to me tonight. The reason is that it has a stud missing and this should be fitted soon to enable it to carry ads. Apparently Summer can be a testing time for the ad-man. Adverts on a black background attract the heat and cause expansion which can in extreme circumstances cause boards to bulge or even become detached.
20353 came out of Lowestoft today and did the single out and back turn (L12). B10Ms in service were 20127 on K1, 20106 on K3, 20118 on K5, 20103 on the morning part of Y7 gave way to 20104 this afternoon and Y13 had 20107. Probably the biggest surprise was 37563 on L9 which was changed at Lowestoft for Royale 34108 and this came back to Lynn tonight.
This evening only six of the overnight occupants at King's Lynn were B9s and of these 37574/5 were due to arrive on the late turns which under normal circumstances would see them spare at Rowan Road tomorrow. timekeeping in the middle of the day was far from ideal with 37570 15 late on K16 and 20353 16 late returning to Lowestoft on L12.

Friday 14th August 2009 ~ Bruce to the Rescue

After arrival at work today, I was sent over to our South Lincs branch due to a staff shortage. Because of this I am indebted to Bruce for monitoring today's X1 workings.
37576 had been expected to re-enter service today following MOT, but instead it went to Volvo with an oil problem. Grahame confirms that 37567 is now stopped at Great Yarmouth for its MOT. 37566 and 37569 returned to the route today on L11 and Y6 respectively and as a result 20353 had a day off at Lowestoft. At the King's Lynn end, 20352 was stopped with a faulty drivers seatbelt and 20118 (what else ?) came out to deputise on K5. Rather surprisingly 20115 was tucked away in Rowan Road compound all day parked next to off road B10M 20131. 20105/121 remained here also.
Punctuality did a typical Friday nosedive today. Bruce says " Y13 the 12.03 westbound at Walpole Highway with 20106 was 23 late and so was the corresponding eastbound service, Y9 12.05 to Lowestoft with 37575. An hour later 20351 on K15 was 19 late, congestion meant 37563 on K16 was 23 late coming in to Wisbech to form the 13.48 to Peterborough and this had lost a further 9 minutes making it 32 down on the return. K17 with 37574 was 25 late, but then 'the beast' 20107 bucked the trend by being only 3 late on K18 - a quality vehicle you see".
Tonight 37572 on L10 was given an early finish and 37575 off Y9 took the service forward to Peterborough from Lynn at 19.50.
Today's B10Ms were 20103 (K4), 20104 (K2), 20106 (Y13), 20107 (K18), 20118 (K5) and 20127 (Y7).

14/08/2009

Thursday 13th August 2009 ~ Chances are .....

.... that if you travelled westbound on an X1 this morning you would most likely have had a B10M coach to whisk you along. Lowestoft sent out no less than three in a row : 20107 on L10, 20103 on L11 and 20115 on L12 and these were followed by 20104 on Y13. From the King's Lynn end, 20127 was on K4 and 20106 on K18. Quite extraordinary when one considers that there were days at the start of the year where a full compliment of B9 Geminis were in service. Today absentees were 37566 (unknown reason - may be MOT ?), 37567 (not seen since it was replaced by 20127 on Tuesday), 37569 ( replaced by 20115 yesterday), 37571 (rebuild), 37573 (Volvo warranty repairs), 37576 (MOT completed today) and 37579 (at Full Circle for collision repairs).
Fortunately once again all three B7s were in service and actually could be found on three consecutive turns : 20351 on K15, 20353 on K16 and 20352 on K17. the latter was 19 late this afternoon heading east on the 15.05 from Peterborough. Earlier 20351 had also been 16 late on K15.
37578 on K2 was removed from this duty at King's Lynn at 08.55 and it is not known what worked the rest of this turn. This afternoon 37570 which had begun the day on K1 was noted running in the times of K2, nothing having been seen on K1. It is possible that 20118 filled the breach, though it was not seen. Earlier L12 had arrived at Lynn at 13.55 with 20115 and this was then replaced by the aforementioned 37578. Following its MOT, 37568 has been back at work for a couple of days now and 37576 should also be back tomorrow. An unusual working today was Lowestoft's 37565 on K3.

13/08/2009

Wednesday 12th August 2009 ~ Regent Bingo

'Regent Bingo' proclaimed the destination display on 37572 when it arrived at King's Lynn garage tonight. This is not the first time I've seen this on an out of service bus, so who is responsible I wonder ? Come on you 'First' employees/managers, I'm sure one of you must be able to give a plausible explanation ?
37569 did K16 this morning, but this afternoon 20115 was on this duty. This may indicate a fault with 569 as 20115 normally only performs if a B9 has blown up en route.
Timekeeping was pretty much Ok today, but K15 lost time with 20352 and ws 15 down at lunchtime. 20118 began the day on K19, but 37577 was able to relieve it at some point. B10Ms out today were 20103 K2, 20104 K18, 20106 Y13 and 20127 L10 in addition to 118. The new Gemini adverts which I'd up to now been unable to identify are for ESPN, the firm now entrusted with bringing us live Premiership football this season.
20105 was at last being worked on this evening at Vancouver Avenue so may be back soon.

12/08/2009

Tuesday 11th August 2009 ~ Calming Down

A classic picture of the X1 as we will no doubt love to remember it in years to come. The Beast, 20107 departs Wisbech for the coast this evening with a very capable driver at the wheel ! Photo : Rob Brooks.
B9s 37570/5 at Wisbech on Monday around 18.30 : Photo by Rob Brooks



This rather art deco look advert is apparently encouraging us to buy a new type of chocolate confectionary !
After a pretty awful couple of months on the X1 with anything but the booked vehicles appearing, today saw what may possibly be the gradual return to 'service as advertised'.
37577 was back in traffic on K19 and this just leaves 37568 on MOT and 37573/9 inactive plus long term casualty 37571.
Once again most turns kept the bus they'd started with and the only known swap was on Y6 which ran late this morning with 37567, it was later changed for 20127 and Rob Brooks valued the thrash from 127 down the Parkway and says "20127 managed 61mph down the Stoke Parkway, with full roar from the cooling fans. Quite spectacular!! ". Great stuff but what a shame they don't give it a repaint, the Barbie livery is looking well worn now and quite dated. Imagine 127 in the colours now worn by 20111 (see our 'Where Are They Now' feature on July 16th), now that would look smart and also show that First Eastern were making an effort.

Other B10Ms out today were 20103 on Y9, 20104 on L12, 20106 on K18 and 'beast' 20107 on K2. The latter was three minutes early at Walpole Highway on the 07.30 P'bo - Lowestoft and caught out Bruce and myself. Similarly this evening another service running 3 minutes early was L10 19.50 Lynn - Peterborough which had a healthy number of passegers enjoying the delights of 37563. Again all three Profiles were out and 20351 returned from the coast on Y13.
Punctuality was fair today but K19 with 37577 was 16 late into Wisbech to form the 16.56 to Lowestoft.
There appear to be two new adverts adorning various B9s, one is a dropdown drivers side commercial for Mikado Milk ( If, like me, you had no idea what this was, go to the following dubious website to read one of the most cringeingly gushing reviews I think I've ever read - it had me in fits of laughter such is the pretentious nature of the narrative)http://www.chocolatemission.net/2009/04/april-30th-mikado-milk-chocolate.html

The new advertisements on the passenger side of various B9s are the first to replace the series of Easy Jet ads. The new vinyls can hardly be described as effective for despite noting the fact that 37563 (possibly), 37564/5/7/70 all carry the new ad, I've not actually managed to establish what it is for yet !!

11/08/2009

Monday August 10th 2009 ~ A Model Day

I've entitled this post 'a model day' and this refers to the fact that there appear to have been no swaps of vehicle whatsoever ! Perhaps not surprising following Saturday's blog ?
On this basis I've decided to report things 'by vehicle' as it were, so let's see what was going on today.

37563 K14
37564 K16
37565 L12
37566 - presumed to be the unid Gemini on Y13
37567 K1
37568 Yarmouth on MOT
37569 K4
37570 Y6
37571 collision damage assigned to Wrights
37572 Y9
37573 Norwich Volvo - warranty work
37574 Y7
37575 K3
37576 King's Lynn Vancouver Avenue Sched Servicing
37577 Norwich Volvo - King's Lynn for traffic
37578 K19
37579 Full Circle : Collision damage repairs
20351 K18
20352 K15
20353 K17
20103 L8
20104 K2
20105 King's Lynn Rowan Road : pending overheating investigation, last worked on July 17
20106 L11
20107 L10
20109 King's Lynn Vancouver Avenue pending repairs
20118 K5
20121 King's Lynn Rowan Road on test (gears)
20126 Yarmouth - engine change required
20127 Yarmouth
20131 King's Lynn Rowan Road MOT expired, last worked on July 17

In addition to the above 20115/123, 34108 and 60863 have all appeared on X1 in recent weeks but none were active today.

Most notable event was the return of 37577 to King's Lynn and it should be fit for traffic tomorrow and so 20118 may be the B10M to take a well earned rest having substituted for the missing B9 recently.
37570 appeared in service with new side adverts today and 37565 has also been modified , more news tomorrow.
Thanks to Rob B and Bruce for reports today.]

10/08/2009

Sunday 9th August 2009 ~ The microscope

A fairly quiet day today with Yarmouth sending out 20106 on the first westbound turn and Lowestoft providing 20352 on the second part of K6 being the only relief to B9 operation. Michael B enlarges on yesterday's swap betwen 37576 and 20103 which did not take place at King's Lynn. Instead 20103 was sent empty from Lowestoft to Norwich and worked L8 forward from there. 37576 then took L9 from Lowestoft to Lynn. Michael also saw 37578 being tailed into Norwich by 37564 on L12 & Y13 respectively. 20118 on K15 preceded 60863 on K14 into Norwich, but they then departed eastbound in the correct order.
News today that another First employee was indeed threatened with dismissal for contributing to this blog. I hope the people concerned feel proud of themselves and just to reiterate that it will have absolutely no effect on this blog which will continue reporting the facts as we see them incorporating as ever information from employees, but now reported anonymously. Anyone from First management who has the courage to contact me via the usual address will rise in my estimation ! Have a good week you all.

09/08/2009

Saturday 8th August 2009 ~ Can you get off now please ?

Scania lookalike 60863 at Wisbech bus station today departing on K14 14.26 to Lowestoft. Photo courtesy of Rob Brooks.
Rob Brooks photographed 34108 departing from Peterborough rail station this evening

37563 with new destination display on the delayed 09.25 from Lowestoft at Walpole Highway this afternoon. It was taken out of traffic later due to a broken window.
You will be used to reading in this blog of days where wholesale changes take place to a buses rostered work. Usually this takes the form of swapping vehicles at Lowestoft so passengers are inconvenienced as little as possible. When, however, this takes place at King's Lynn it inevitably means that passengers are asked to disembark and await the relief bus. This has been happening for years of course, but was illustrated today on a grand scale.
Here is the full list of changes today ;
Y6 : this started the day with 37574 but on arrival at Lynn at 10.54 this was changed for the repaired Royale, 34108. As this turn finishes at Lowestoft this made sense.
L8 today was 37576, but this was taken off at Lynn at 18.44 and the 18.50 departure to Peterborough must have been late leaving as it was 20103. This was on L9 which is not due to arrive at Lynn until 19.12, though invariably arrives about ten minutes before this. 20103 was on time departing eastbound from Wisbech at 21.00.
Y10 was 37575 until a change took place at King's Lynn at 12.54, 37574 (off Y6) working forward as the 13.02 to Lowestoft.
L11 began the day with 37570, but this was required for servicing and was taken off at 13.24 with 37575 (off Y10) going forward as the 13.32 Lynn to Lowestoft

There was another enforced change this afternoon when 37563 on K15 suffered a broken window near Tilney on the 14.05 from Peterborough and 20118 worked forward at 15.32 to Lowestoft. It was unusual for a Lowestoft Gemini to be on a Lynn internal diagram to start with, but such was the B9 shortage today that K2 (which ends at Lynn on a Saturday night - as opposed to Lowestoft in the week) had 37569 and as we've said K15 began with 37563. 563 now has an operable destination screen once more and the opportunity has been taken to re-programme it with the larger type font carried by 37567/574/5/6/8/9.
More non-Gemini variety was provided today by 20109 on K3, 20106 on K4, 20104 on Y7 and 60863 on K14. It was also one of those rare days where all three B7 Profiles were in service with 20351 back on K19, 20352 on K16 and 20353 on K17.
The single out and back turn, L12 was today worked by 37578. It befell some misfortune en route though and was seen entering Wisbech 40 minutes late on the 12.35 from Peterborough.

Rob Brooks reports the following today :
Finally I get some luck with the X1, despite travelling on 37575 (had this for nearly 100miles these past two days) I had 60863 Pbro - Wisbech and 34108 Wisbech - Peebo! Result! Anyway, here's today's sightings:
20103 L9 0945 Lynn - Peterborough depart ontime
20106 K4 1002 Lynn - Lowestoft arr 1000 & 1805 from Peterborough leaving Thorney 1836
37575 Y10 1015 Lynn - Peterborough arr 1008 dep 1020
37572 at South Gates 1025 for the K5 1032 Lynn - Lowestoft
37574 passing Bruce Land Y6 1040 to Lowestoft
20104 Y7 1005 Peterborough - Lowestoft at Thomas Clarkson lights 1053
37576 L8 1035 Peterborough - Lowestoft at Thorney Toll 1107
60863 (R641CVR) K14 1335 Peterborough - Lowestoft departed Queensgate 1349
37563 heading for Peterborough at Thorney on K15 at 1410. 35 minutes late
Un/id profile at Guyhirn 1425 to Peterborough
37569 K2 1756 Wisbech - Lowestoft depart Wisbech 1800
34108 Y6 1818 Wisbech - Peterborough arr 1814 dep 1818. Gemini speed checking device has this pegged at 50.
20109 K3 1826 Wisbech - Lynn arr 1820
Oh, finally in case you are unaware, Main road through Thorney will be closed on the 16th August from 1030am - 1130am for a "road race"
Thanks very much to Rob for the above. It would seem that an A47 incident affected L12 and K15 as they seemed to be the only workings noted running excessively late.

08/08/2009

Friday 7th August 2009 ~ Mid Afternoon Siesta

Before the problems today, 37569 is seen at Walpole on Y13
The half hourly service seemed to disappear this afternoon. Bruce was in his field working and saw nothing going west between 14.30 & 15.40 when an unidentified B9 passed by. It had all begun quite well with delays of less than ten minutes average during the morning. K14 08.55 from Lowestoft was seen by Bruce 21 late with 37570 and this was followed by K15 with 37572 which was 10 late. K16 was only 8 late with 37576 and K17 similarly behind time with 20118. K18 and K19 were not seen at all but it is quite plausible that the B9 seen at 15.40 was K19 about 40 late rather than K1 ten late. It seems likely that at least one service took the A47 bypass to regain time.
Rob Brooks was out and about and sends this report :

20353 K5 1032 Lynn - Lowestoft dep 1100 dep Norwich 1304 not in service !

20103 Y6 1102 Lynn - Lowestoft arr 1104 dep 1114 Nor dep 1303, now ahead of 20353 !!

20109 L12 1115 Lynn - Peterborough arr 1105

37569 passing Middleton at 1132 on Y13 for Peterborough later arr Norwich 1634 going to Lowestoft

37570 passing Narborough on K14 1135 for Peterborough

37572 approaching Necton 1158 on K15 for Peterborough

20352 passed near Hockering on K16 turning for Peterborough

Travelling on 20103 to Norwich, we ran straight down the A47 after Dereham to Norwich as we had caught up 20353.

60863 departed Norwich at 1252 to Peterborough on K18 27 late

37574 departed Norwich 1304 on K19 to Peterborough & seen on the outskirts of Lynn near Hardwick roundabout 1811 to Lowestoft (now running in the timings of K1)

37575 arrived Norwich on Y7 1315 to Lowestoft and later did 1625 Norwich - Lynn arr Norwich 1626 dep 1632

40114 (some sort of M reg Dart) showing X1 Yarmouth arrived Norwich 1635

My Gemini speed checking device has 37575 at 55 down the A47, and it clocked 20103 at 60 for the most part of our express trip avoiding the villages of Easton and Hockering.

37576 arr Dereham 1712 to Gorleston JPH on K16

20118 leaving Little Fransham at 1736 to Lowestoft as K17
Well you might have thought with all that fine detail from Rob that no other questions would remain unanswered, however, K16 which had been 20352 then 'became' 37576 which had started the day on K14. K14 returned from Lowestoft with 570, so the conundrum is how did 576 get back from Lowestoft to Lynn to become K16 ? K15 was 572 throughout and K14 was seen by Rob at Narborough with 570. Answers on an email please.....
As today was quite complicated I'm breaking the rules and providing a list !

K1 37564

K2 37578

K3 20106

K4 20109 am 20104 pm. Note 1

K5 20353

Y6 20103

Y7 37575

L8 37567 to 18.43, 37575 fwd

Y9 37565 ~ Note 2

L10 20107 ~ Note 2

L11 37566

L12 20104 ?, 20109/20352 Note 3

Y13 37569

K14 37576/37570

K15 37572

K16 20352 / 37576

K17 20118

K18 60863**

K19 37574**

Note 1 : 20109 began the day on K4 but 20104 took over this turn at 16.45
Note 2 : 37565 did Y9a and 20107 was L10a, 37563 returned on one of these turns but the other is a mystery !
Note 3 ; L12 was a mess today, it looks like Lowestoft sent out 20104, but 20109 took over as the 11.15 Lynn - Peterborough and on return to King's Lynn was itself replaced by 20352
** Some confusion as to how the day ended but 60863 did the last part of K19 with 37574 remaining at Lowestoft.
Time for Bed said Zebedee.......................

06/08/2009

Thursday August 6th 2009 ~ What next ?

These days one never knows what's going to turn up next on an X1 - today there was more variety with only ten Geminis on the road. The absentees were 37563/8/9/71/3/7/9. Of these it is quite possible that 37569 did the first return trip on Y7 as this ran late and nobody seemed to view it, equally though it could have been 20104. Whatever did it, possibly due to the late running, it was changed at Lowestoft and the 14.55 to King's Lynn was our old friend 34108. On arrival this had an air leak so it will need repairs before use tomorrow.
Grahame has reported on EABG that 37568 is at Yarmouth for MOT, though it was in traffic yesterday so should be off the road for a few days now. 37571 has not as previously rumoured moved to Northern Ireland, though it was due to move today under cover. 37573/7 remain at Volvo and 37579 at Full Circle.
B7 20351 should be back on the road tomorrow, slightly later than planned. This morning some slight accident damage to 20352 had to be repaired so 20121 was risked on K5. It has been more reliable lately and did Ok today until early this evening when it expired near Thorney. 20352 is believed to have attended with a fitter. It was not back at King's Lynn by 21.00 (due 19.57). 20353 did K15 for the third successive day.
The reappearance of 34108 was not the only imposter out today. After a day off 60863 was out again on L12, instead of 37563 which had been expected. The reason for the removal of 20127 from K18 yesterday afternoon was not due to a mechanical fault, but because of a broken skylight. This was repaired today , but Lynn then had to carry out a safety service on 127 before it could be used (Yarmouth had advised it was due). Because of this 20109 was utilised on K4 until 16.37 with 127 working forward at 16.45. There were other B10Ms deputising today and not mentioned thus far were 20106 on K3, 20107 on Y6, 20118 on K17 and 20103 on K18.
B9s with the 'Orange' ad are 37566/568/576, while the G Force ad now adorns 37565/7/9/73/4/9. The Easy Jet series of ads are still in situ on all the B9s except the absent 37577.

Wednesday 5th August 2009 ~ It's That Woman Again

The X1 drivers turns are intriguing. In particular the driver who works the 08.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough also appears to do the 12.45 and 16.45 departures westbound, so in my case I pass the same chauffeur three times every day. Jamie R travelled on the 08.15 today (Y6) with a charming lady driver & 37576 and she duly drove K15 (20353) and later K4 (20107).
A couple of the absent B9 Geminis returned to traffic today, these were 37566 on Y9 (37578 had been expected) and 37572 which was L11. Lowestoft also produced 20103 on L12 meaning that of the four arrivals there last night, only two - 37570/4 reappeared with 37564 and 60863 being the replaced vehicles. Later though 564 did work, replacing 37568 on K16.
There was a series of swaps involving B10Ms this afternoon. 20107 on K2 was taken off at King's Lynn - late running possibly ? - and replaced by 20121, the first time 121 has worked on the route since it disgraced itself on May 20th. On arrival back at Lynn, 121 was replaced by 37565 which had just come in on the first terminating turn (Y7) and this duly worked the 18.35 eastbound. 20107 itself then worked forward to Peterborough on K4 on which 20104 was the replaced vehicle. 104 then in turn replaced 20127 on K18 which had been running around 15 minutes late for unknown reasons. Otherwise punctuality was very good today.
37579 is confirmed as being at Full Circle for bodywork repairs and 37573/7 are still at Volvo.
20351 was undergoing servicing this evening and its return to service is imminent. Thanks once again to Bruce for a comprehensive list of sightings today.

05/08/2009

Tuesday 4th August 2009 ~ A Load of Rubbish

Bruce was doing his utmost to provide a detailed despatch today when he was just about to view Y13 and the dustman arrived obscuring his view of it. Recognising the familiar sound of a B10M he vowed to check it on its return from Peterborough. but Cheryl beat him to it and reported 20107 arriving at Wisbech as the 12.18 to Peterborough. Rob Brooks was at King's Lynn and viewed the following :
37568 Y9 0945 Lynn - Peterborough arr 0948 dep 1006
37576 K4 1000 Lynn - Lowestoft arr 0954 dep 1002
37569 L10 1015 Lynn - Peterborough arr 1007 dep 1015
20118 K5 1032 Lynn - Lowestoft arr 1027 dep 1033
37575 L11 1045 Lynn - Peterborough arr 1037
Un/id gemini Y6 1102 Lynn - Lowestoft dep 1110
20127 L12 1115 Lynn - Peterborough dep 1117
20121 again on Hunstantons, 20104 arrived empty at Lynn at 1100, possible swap later..?

Thanks for the obs Rob, I can enlarge further on a few things : 37568 which left King's Lynn westbound 21 late was later viewed at Walpole Highway by BB running precisely 30 late going east and with 37569 on L10 just 15 seconds behind it !
The unidentified B9 on Y6 was 37564. Earlier Y7 had arrived with 20104 but this handed over to 20109 which departed late as the delayed 08.45 to Peterborough. It was seen by Bruce 19 running 19 late. 104 seems to have been revived to continue the turn as the 11.33 to Lowestoft.

One other B10M which I've not mentioned was 20106 which was once again on its old favourite diagram, K3. So that's 20104/6/7/9/18/27 in attendance today, the missing coach here is 20103 which was kept at Lowestoft today and replaced by 37569. 20351 looks to be almost ready to return to service now and its sisters 20352/3 were today employed on K17 and K15 respectively. Volvo 60863 was used on K16 and was running 9 late when it passed Walpole westbound (due 13.33). This should mean it will end up at Lowestoft tonight.
Various B9s have been fitted with advertising for the Orange mobile phone network, 37568/76 are two of these, more details to follow. 568 also has a rear ad for Flick & Son, the Suffolk Estate Agents. Noted this evening was 37576 carrying the Lowestoft College rear ad, strange in that this was removed from 37570 about a month ago. 37563 has carried this ad since June.

04/08/2009

Monday 3rd August 2009 ~ Jigsaw complete

Various people contributed to the sightings today for which many thanks. A grand total of six B10Ms were out, these being 20103 K2, 20104 K4, 20106 K5, 20107 K18, 20118 K3 and 20127 K16. As you can see all these were sent out from King's Lynn, the remainder being B9s. From the eastern end 60863 reappeared on Y7 and was enjoyed by Jamie R. Lowestoft produced 20352 on L10 and 20353 on L11. The day seemed fairly uneventful, though 37569 joined the list of Geminis out of service. Rob Brooks viewed 20121 again in use on Hunstanton services.

Sunday 2nd August 2009 ~ Conjecture mainly !

Due to Bruce being away and me entertaining guests, today's blog is very brief. Seen were 37574 on Y5 (Sun) 12.05 and 21.05 from Peterborough, 37567 on K3 20.35 Lynn - Lowestoft and 20352 in a very long queue on the A47 on the Y9 13.05 from Peterborough, no surprise that this was swapped at Lowestoft for 20103 then. B9s in service were 37564/5/7/70/4/5/6/8 plus an unidentified B10M on Y4 20.05 from Peterborough (possibly 20115).

01/08/2009

Saturday 1st August 2009 ~ New Month - Old Story

34921 never found its way onto the X1 whilst based at King's Lynn, but before the tachograph implementation sisters did occasionally make it through to Peterborough. It is due to leave King's Lynn next week.
Peter took this unusual angle of 37569 on Thursday night at Peterborough station before departing on the 20.05 to Lowestoft.

Geminis still off the road today for a variety of reasons were 37566/571/572/573/577/579. Work is now progressing on accident damaged 20351, it has had its panels replaced and now needs a second coat of paint and its registration plate fitted. It is then due a service and should hopefully be back on Tuesday.
Bruce says
" Saturday report .....
K3 20109 all day and practically on time
K5 20118 on time at 08.01 and 10.04
L9 a quiet B10M
Y10 37564 19 late at 12.53
L12/Y13 Well I stood at the window at 13.34 and eventually 20127 passed at 14.21 on either L12 (47 late) or Y13(17 late) with a healthy load followed by 37569 at 14.35, only 1 late and previously having been 10 late at 12.44
K15 37570 26 late at 13.30
K16 37565 5 late at 13.39 and on time coming back
K17 37575 4 late at 14.08
K18 20103 15 late at 14.49 and only 2 late at 16.36

I didn't see any more as I was losing the will to live but believe K1/2/19 may not have been B9s either when they passed early morning.
Rowan Road held 20105 (overheating) 20131 (MOT) 37579 (damaged) 30901(shy) and 34933 (old)
Exhausted of Walpole Highway

Interestingly 20115 turned out to be the quiet B10M on L9 and this afternoon was replaced from Lowestoft by 37567. K1 was 60863 so this should be back at its Yarmouth base this evening. It was viewed heading to Peterborough in Norwich this afternoon by Michael Bryant. Y7 was 20104, L11 had 20107 and I can confirm 20127 as Y13, in fact this evening it was a minute early at Walpole. What happened to L12 is unknown, but looking at other services it is doubtful that it ran early. The two vehicles in the frame for L12 were 20352 and 37563. Profile 20353 was Y6 today. K2 was 37576 seen by Rob Brooks this evening and Neil also sent a text to confirm 20109 ending its day on K3. All turns not mentioned thus far were B9s. 37567 arrived at Lynn garage tonight with 'Welcome Aboard Bus Users UK' scrolling across the destination screen ! Bruce mentions local Olympian 34933 at Rowan Road and it may have worked its last. Its partner 34921 was seen coming in from Hunstanton tonight and is due to be transferred to Norwich on Monday. It remains to be seen whether this brings down the curtain on the older Olympian fleet at Lynn.

Friday 31st July 2009 ~ Report In Retrospect 2

I was away today, so it was left to reports from yourselves. Peter sent a text saying " Followed 20127 on the first X1 to Peterborough this morning, unusual livery : faded / peeling paint / rust. is this Worst Group's new corporate livery ? ". Ouch that man has always had an acid soh. Rob Brooks was kinder saying simply "20127 is on the 07.05 Peterborough - Lowestoft !". So K1 was 127 then and so over to Bruce for his report ;
Well for the purposes of the blog, I have risen to the occasion once again but to say I am dispirited by what I recorded (timewise) would be an understatement.
Much as though the Blogmeister does not like numerical lists, I am a mathematician not an author so a list of numbers it is.

K1 Rumoured by Cheryl to be 20127, it arrived at 15.46, 12 mins late with ..........20127
K2 37563 at 16.12, 8 late
K3 20109 on time at 09.04
K4 20104 at 17.16, 12 late
K5 20118 on time at 08.01 but 13 late at 10.17
Y6 37574 on time at 08.34 and 10.34
Y7 37567 on time at 09.04 but 6 late at 11.10
L8 37564 on time at 09.34 and 11.34
Y9 37575 on time at 10.04 but 8 late at 12.12
L10 20103 on time at 10.34 but 10 late at 12.44
L11 37565 6 late at 11.10 and 5 late at 13.09
L12 34108 8 late at 11.42 and 13 late at 13.47
Y13 60863 10 late at 12.14
K14 37568 8 late at 12.42 and 18 late at 14.52
K15 37578 29 late at 13.33 and 33 late at 15.37
K16 20352 5 late at 13.39 and 12 late at 15.46
K17 37576 6 late at 14.10 and 18 late at 16.22
K18 20353 6 late at 14.40 and 6 late at 16.40
K19 37570 16 late at 15.20


A few observations on the observations then ! 60863 was sent out instead of 37569 and Michael Bryant then saw 569 on the X2 doing 13.38 Lowestoft - Norwich & 15.08 back. It was then used on the second part of L12 replacing 34108 which was required for a Private Hire I am told. 37574 on Y6 was replaced at Lynn this evening by 37567 off Y7.
60863's appearance was not without incident - it ran out of fuel at Peterborough late tonight on the 23.05 to King's Lynn and the service was cancelled. I presume any passengers were provided with taxis. Once again huge thanks to Bruce for keeping such a comprehensive record whilst keeping his grandchildren entertained as well.

Thursday 30th July ~ Report In Retrospect 1

Timekeeping was worse than for sometime today. First offender was 20118 on K4 this morning which was seen by Bruce running 20 late to Peterborough, it had however made up almost all of this by the time it returned. At lunchtime, another B10M was running late, this being 20127 which was 8 late going west and 16 late returning. 20352 on Y9 was seen departing Wisbech westbound about 8 late (due 10.18). Royale 34108 was spot on time on K14 though at 12.48 and it had a rather odd day as on arrival at King's Lynn at 14.54 it was taken off and then replaced 37567 on K2 15.45 to Peterborough - it is assumed that this was because a driver not carded for B9s was provided. K14 looks to have proceeded with 20103, though why this didn't simply replace 37567 itself is a mystery only known to 'First'. 103 was also having a day of variety. It worked Y7 06.10 from Yarmouth as far as King's Lynn but was replaced there by 20106. 103 was then called upon to go light to Dereham where 37575 had suffered a broken window on K18. By the afternoon 37575 was back on K18 and 103 had returned to Lynn enabling it to do K14.
Afternoon puntuality was pretty poor with 37576 18 late on K19 and 37574 25 late on K1.
B10Ms out were 20103 (see above), 20104 L10, 20106 (as above), 20109 K3, 20118/127 also as shown above. Locally 20121 was at last in service this afternoon on King's Lynn town service 42.