Review of 2010

2010 was quite an interesting year on the X1 with the remaining coaches gradually being squeezed out of the service. This was only really achieved in December though, so the rest of the year was rather eventful.

Gemini 37574 took the prize for the most active bus, it was out on 326 days during which it did 127,700 miles. All the King's Lynn B9 Geminis (except 37571 which only returned to the fleet in September) were out for in excess of 300 days, the lowest being 306 days for 37576. This bus ended the year on a high however, when it broke the record for the number of successive days worked by a B9, running on 92 successive days from 24th September until Christmas Eve.
The Lowestoft B9s all ran lower mileages, 37566 managed 296 days and at the other end of the scale, 37564 only managed 260.
The situation was reversed with the B7 Geminis though and the two Lowestoft examples were more common on the X1 than their King's Lynn contemporaries. 37156 was noted on the X1 and X2 on 276 days and 37157 on 263. The Lynn buses in order of appearance were 37160 (217), 37159 (174) and 37158 (145).

The 'Beast' better known as 20107 topped the appearance chart for coaches. It was out on 184 days, despite extensive welding having to be carried out in order for it to pass another MOT and then having an unfortunate contretemps with an Anglian bus in Lowestoft bus station on July 27th, which saw it sidelined for a further three weeks. Seven other B10M coaches worked on the X1 during the year, King's Lynn based 20118 was used on 16 occasions, peaking at 8 days during April. Its last X1 run was on 25th June when it had a run to Peterborough and back. Its MOT expired on July 18th and with bodywork repairs unauthorised it joined the ranks of withdrawn vehicles at Rowan Road.

Barbie liveried 20127 continued its charmed life receiving an MOT at Yarmouth in June. What turned out to be a final fling on the X1 came to an abrupt end though on August 4th when terminal engine problems saw it withdrawn and sent to the Rowan Road funeral parlour. 20109 which had been absent from the route for sometime saw a renaissance in the Summer and worked on 17 days in June, often on one of the long diagrams over 400 miles. It bowed out on July 3rd and less than a week later it had gone to Yarmouth for conversion as a driver trainer. Few would have predicted the fate of 20121 which acted as cover while the Gemini fleet were undergoing modifications in October and November. It had worked on three occasions in June before it too was converted for driver training. It was totally unexpected therefore to return to the mainstream fleet. It worked on 44 days and behaved impeccably. Its emergency use came to an end on December 1st when it suffered a rear end shunt by a car in Wisbech and it was retired to Rowan Road, though whether it will work again remains to be seen.

Yarmouth's 20126 suffered a series of engine related problems throughout the year but still managed to amass 38 days on the route. That just leaves the two rarest performers, 20115 which made its first appearance on the route for 14 months on October 9th. On that occasion chronic traffic congestion saw it only work from Lowestoft to Lynn and back, but it subsequently received an Mot before reappearing on 1st and 2nd November when it worked the route throughout. Even 115's escapades were common though compared to 20123 ! Requiring a new engine, this only saw limited use on Hunstanton schools work because of its tendency to overheat. It was a big surprise therefore when it was turned out to work the 08.45 Lynn to Peterborough on 15th June replacing an ailing 37570. This was the Indian Summer for the B10Ms with 20109/121/123 all being seen at Wisbech bus station within an hour on this date. 20123 joined the withdrawn vehicles at the beginning of July, but may see further use as it has since gone to Yarmouth where it may after all get its new engine.

The venerable B10Ms were not the only coaches used on the route in 2010 and for the first six months of the year, Paragon B12s 20500 & 20501 once again found themselves back at King's Lynn. Now decked out in white after use on the X22 Colchester to Stansted Airport service, they became a useful spare resource for the X1 when not engaged on their real duties for rail replacement. Both coaches notched up 11 days each in January and 20501 worked on 16 days in May. In total between them they saw 63 days in use on the X1.

All these substitutions were of course, adding to the difficulties in providing an all low floor service and the same problem occurred when the tacho fitted Royale 34108 was used. It saw use on 103 days, though the frequency of its X1 work was reduced in the Summer when it moved from being on Lowestoft's allocation to Yarmouth. Ten appearances in September and eleven in November contrasted with none at all in October and December.

37562, the Gemini on loan from Volvo remained standing in for the absent 37571 until August 7th, when a swap at Worcester saw Paragon coach 20514 brought in while 571 which had returned from Wrights at Ballymena had modifications carried out. The coach worked for 20 days on the X1 before being returned on 2nd September - the same day 571 returned to traffic.

Yarmouth's emergency cover tacho fitted Volvo single decker bus, 60863 saw use on 12 days in Jan, Feb and June, while there was a solitary appearance of a King's Lynn Scania way back in January when 65531 worked in the snow of 7th from Lynn to Peterborough and back.

Well I think that just about covers everything, but there is probably something I've missed. It remains for me now to wish you a happy and healthy 2011 and I once again reiterate my thanks to all of you who have made the blog possible.