A Day Out With the X1

Well the title of this post is not really accurate, perhaps I should say "A day out on an X1 bus". As you will probably know, Sunday July 8th saw the annual Peterborough Bus Rally. This took place at Sacrewell Farm, Wansford and for the event, arrangements were made with co-operation from 'First' to provide an Enviro 400 in X1 livery to attend. Chris Speed was instrumental in providing the vehicle which was specially cleaned prior to display.
The chosen bus, 33816 ran from Yarmouth to Wansford early on Sunday morning and I was lucky enough to be able to travel on it from Walpole Highway where Bruce also joined. At this point the weather was wet, but by the time we arrived at about 10.20 things had brightened up and the day turned out to be warm and sunny. Zak from Norwich Bus Page and Cameron from Yarmouth Bus Page were also with us and the bus driver was Des Speed, a regular contributor and friend of this blog.
A very enjoyable day was had and many people attending the rally commented favourably on the presence of a 'First' vehicle in what is essentially Stagecoach territory. The highlight came at 12.30 when Des took the shuttle service to Wansford with 33816. The passengers unfamiliar with the comfort afforded by the Enviros were well impressed and as fate would have it, one of the vintage vehicles on the shuttle had expired on the A1, so their passengers also joined 33816 en route giving a full load. The air conditioning was appreciated on what turned out to be a very warm day.  Here are some of the pictures from an excellent day out with thanks to all concerned.

The rain was falling heavily before we left Walpole Highway lay-by

A proud Des Speed stands with 33816 at Sacrewell Farm

33816 attracted a steady stream of inquisitive rally goers throughout the day.

Ready to depart with a good load for the Nene Valley Railway

33816 is mobbed by enthusiastic punters at Wansford railway station including at least one lady who insisted on having her picture taken with the Enviro !

Time for reflection with a staged shot of 33816 with the ex Eastern Counties RLE GCL349N which was a class often represented on the X1 route in days gone by