Tuesday September 24th 2013 ~ Meanwhile back on the road...

With all this excitement over new buses, it is easy to overlook the fact that the normal intensive service has to operate around it. Yesterday's new arrivals have been moved to the secure accommodation acquired nearby, while today's new buses 33806/7 remain at Vancouver Avenue.
 Gemini 37567 remains off the road while some tricky coolant pipework is replaced around a wheelarch - an absolute devil of an operation to perform. Big news today was the despatch to Full Circle of 37568 for repainting - 37159 is already there and may be back late tomorrow or Thursday. This means 37568 is unlikely to work through to Peterborough again, although tachographs will still be maintained until re-calibration is needed. The decision will then be made whether to keep the equipment serviceable - it would seem to make sense to keep them calibrated, as it is not a particularly expensive business and would mean they could still be used on the X1 in emergencies. Older readers may recall that coaches 20101/07/11 ran quite frequently on the X1 while carrying branding for the X2.
Timekeeping on the route was exceptional today. Unusually, 37160 worked K15-XL02 until 15.35 this afternoon, when 37572 took over.  K15 is normally a guaranteed B9 turn and in five years has only seen a B7 start on it a handful of times. By all accounts the new livery suits the B7s and they certainly look considerably smarter than before.
The planned entry into service of eleven Enviro 400s on Monday, may be slightly cut as there are still final adjustments to be made before they hit the road. In particular, one top secret modification ( Don't even think about it ! I'm sworn to secrecy !!)  - is being attended to and we will reveal all on the big day.
In the meantime let's not forget the sterling work which some older vehicles have put in. not least on the X1 'shorts'. In this connection, here are a couple of pictures kindly sent in by Syd Eade of some old stagers taken in the sunshine yesterday.

Yes it's 34186 departing Norwich for Yarmouth. Photo Copyright : Syd Eade

and sister vehicle 34187 arriving from the East. Note the different positioning of the fleet number  and additional 'First' branding. Photo Copyright : Syd Eade