Wednesday 30th November 2011 - Saturday 3rd December 2011 : On The X1

Wednesday : 37577 had an unusual day out today, it was spotted at The Forum in Norwich at an event for 'Bus Users UK' - thanks to Malcolm for the information. Punctuality was pretty poor today, although most services were only between 5 - 10 minutes late through Wisbech. 37158 on Y9 was 11 late and 37157 on K18 13 late. The new bus (36180) was given a safety service, so didn't appear and the same applied to 37160. On a day out to King's Lynn, Malcolm also saw 20126 on the 09.10 Norwich - Yarmouth short.

Thursday : A slightly better day for timekeeping. 36180 was back on K17 and this meant 37573, 37576 & 37160 were all kept in at King's Lynn for attention. Tonight 37578 on L8 was replaced by 37567 off Y7.
Palatines seen by Malcolm today were 34158 on the 10.10 Norwich - Lowestoft X2, 34186 on the 10.10 Norwich - Yarmouth X1 short and 34157 on the 14.08 X2 from Lowestoft.

Friday : Time for me to have an X1 experience. I was at Walpole Highway this morning for Y6 08.33 to Peterborough. 37577 arrived with a smiling Mr. Parry at the wheel, he seems to be my regular chauffeur on my X1 outings. Heavy congestion into Wisbech saw us depart 9 late, but the journey was very pleasant.  I was on my way to Scotland, so had to rely on Bruce and Dale for the rest of the days workings. 37563 on Y7 was swapped for 37565, but everything else stuck to diagram including 36180 which was used on K15 today. 37571/8 were spare at Lynn. 32212 appearing on the X2 13.40 Norwich - Lowestoft was to prove notable !

37566 on Y9 was 12 late past Bruce this morning, but by the time Roy spotted it at Yarmouth this afternoon, it was waiting time. Photo : East Norfolk Bus Blog.

Saturday : Thanks to Richard, Des and Malcolm for keeping me in touch with events. Firstly the appearance of 32656 on the 10.38 Lowestoft - Norwich X2 and 32651 09.40 ex Norwich announced the types arrival on the route. Syd says "The ex London B7s have proven to be unreliable on longer distance work, so the Lowestoft ones used mainly on X2 work are being exchanged for ALX400s.  32212/3/4 are being swopped with 32651/2/4 at Norwich whilst 32207/8 should transfer to Gt Yarmouth over the weekend, releasing 32100/101 to go to Norwich (Caister Roads only short length pair) and 32655/6 then to Lowestoft. The first moves occurred Friday evening,but its not yet confirmed which buses were involved".
On the X1 a fairly unremarkable day with 37158 and 36180 spare at King's Lynn. Tonight, 37569 was in trouble at Acle on K18. It sustained some body and wheelarch damage. This may leave Yarmouth short when the full timetable resumes on Monday.