Saturday 4th October 2008 ~ Double Trouble Part 2

20504 (right) explains to 20503 (left) why it refused to go to Peterborough this evening !

As expected last nights problems with the failed B10s were not major. 20107 had a loss of gears/ power merely caused by a blown fuse while 20126 had loss of air pressure which was resolved by repairing its air dryer (no jokes please). Both buses were out on the X1 today, 20107 on K5 - on weekdays this is the first Peterborough turn from Lynn, but on Saturdays it starts at Wisbech - and 20126 on K1 which is the first Peterborough turn on Saturdays. All three B7 Profiles were kept spare at Lynn today and one result of this was 20142 appearing on the X1 for the first time since about 15th September, it did K18. At King's Lynn garage 20118 was having a service and 20141 had returned from a chassis wash at A.R.M. at Setch and was on MOT prep.

A close watch was kept on punctuality today and Peterborough bound departures from Wisbech ran as follows : Y8 09.01 on time, Y9 09.31 4 late, J10 10.01 10 late, J11 10.31 4 late, L12 not seen, L13 11.31 5 late, Y14 12.01 4 late, K15 12.31 8 late, K16 13.01 on time, K17 13.31 4 late, K18 14.01 17 late, K3 14.31 on time, K5 15.01 14 late, K7 15.31 11 late and K1 16.01 14 late. 20142 on K18 had reduced its defecit from 17 mins to 9 on its return, while a recovered 20107 on K5 slashed its lateness from 14 minutes to just 1 minute.

This evening things once again became a mess and the driving rain and strong winds didn't help. Y8 06.02 Yarmouth - Peterborough & 09.48 return to Lowestoft had 20104, but this was swapped at Lowestoft and the 14.25 to Peterborough set out with 20114, this was deemed unfit to continue on arrival at Lynn and 20508 which had been on a town service and which hadn't been on an X1 for weeks was borrowed to work Y8 to Peterborough and back. The next arrival at 17.54 , Y9 with 20504 was also failed and instead of departure to Peterborough at 17.59, passengers had to await the arrival of 20111 on J10, the 18.24 arrival. This got away at about 18.40 and was seen returning through Walton Highway at 20.48 (31 late). J11 was, as is usual on such occasions, delayed by Norwich City playing at home (or trying to !) and was 20 late getting away from Lynn with 20105. L13 19.59 to Peterborough was also delayed with 20103 departing 12 late. The late arrival of J11 meant that K6 19.42 to Lowestoft with 20127 had to wait for the driver to have his break and eventually left at 20.04, 22 late. So all in all a pretty poor night.

Friday 3rd October 2008 ~ Double Trouble !

Yesterday's calm was a mere memory by this evening as the usual eventful Friday unfolded. Timekeeping was patchy, with less than 10 minutes late being average during the morning.
First surprise was 20352 appearing at Wisbech on J11 07.05 from Gorleston, it had started the day on K20 (the commuter to Norwich and return light job), but keeping it on this would have meant it ended up at Lowestoft, so it was switched at King's Lynn with 20117 which had come in on J11 and the B10 then did the remainder of K20. Meanwhile the B7s normal turn, K4 07.29 Lynn - Peterborough etc was covered by 20507 - a ploy to make sure it ended up at Lynn ??

20353 bucked the trend of 10 minutes lateness by turning up on K17 09.55 from Lowestoft on time, but an hour later 20351 on K3 was 15 late going west and 17 late returning. K5 11.25 ex Lowestoft was well late and was seen on its return, the 15.48 Peterborough - Yarmouth arriving at Wisbech 33 late with 20104. This had gone over to Lowestoft on K19 (the X2 turn) but it then replaced 20121 on K5. Subsequent services from Wisbech to Peterborough varied in fortunes : the 15.31 (K7) was only 7 late with 20505, the 16.01 (K1) with 20500 was 22 late, the 16.31 (K2) with 20103 on time (!), the 17.01 (K4) with 20507 5 late and 17.31 (K6) at least 12 late with 20126. Returning, Bruce saw 20500 being followed by 20103 through Walpole Highway at 18.22.
What nobody was expecting was that two B10s would expire in service simultaneuosly at 18.40 !
20107 was on Y9 18.31 Wisbech - Peterborough (14.55 ex Lowestoft) but failed at Guyhirn, passengers then having to wait an hour for 20117 which was fortuitously on time on K20, while just up the road at Thorney 20126 on K6 18.18 ex Peterborough also broke down. The passengers were picked up by the following Y8 18.48 with 20509 and this ferried them through to Lynn where 20504 (off J10) was prepared to work forward in the path of K6 which left 26 late at 20.08. At the same time 20111 which had worked K19 (X2 turn) was made ready to work Y9 20.42 to Lowestoft in place of 107. Both failed B10s were attended by fitters and were able to return to King's Lynn under their own power, 20107 arriving at 20.40 and 20126 being noted on the A47 Tilney bypass at 21.00, so presumably ailments were minor.

20142 was on the 43 service to North Wootton tonight and the schools turns were 20508, 20118 and 20131. Tonight 20508 was over the pits at Vancouver Avenue - if its new panels have arrived, it could be on its way north very soon. Both 20507/9 have ended up at Lynn tonight also (20507 it would appear by design) so watch this space !

Thursday October 2nd 2008 ~ The Full Picture

It's not often you get a day on the X1 where everything pretty much runs to plan, but today fitted that description. Because of this here is a full list of today's coaches used :
K1 20502 K2 20109 K3 20352 K4 20351 K5 20114 K6 20509 K7 20501

Y8 20103 Y9 20111 J10 20507 J11 20121 L12 20104 L13 20105 Y14 20500

K15 20505 K16 20107 K17 20353 K18 20506 K19 20126 K20 20504 Y21 20503

Both K3 and K4 were on time this afternoon with their B7s which as regular followers will know is highly unusual, For the third successive day Y9 08.59 Lynn - Peterborough was not seen and certainly today it didn't run. Whatever malady 20111 was suffering from (if indeed any) was quickly made better and it completed the turn restarting as the 11.42 Lynn - Lowestoft.

20141 arrived back at Lynn today in preparation for its MOT. 20118 did King's Lynn local diagram 9 on the Hunstanton services.

Newsflash 1/10/08

Long term out of service B10, 20119 is currently undergoing repairs at Yarmouth after a long period inactive. It last worked on August 2nd and has been awaiting acceptance of a quote for necessary welding work which has now been given the go ahead. Thanks to Ryan for the update.

Wednesday 1st October 2008 ~ A Strange Business

I was despatched to that far flung corner of South Lincs again today, but Bruce kindly logged much of the day. He says ' Timekeeping was exemplary from the King's Lynn direction until the 12.59 (K17 09.55 ex Lowestoft) which was 20353 running 7 late'. Lateness then increased with K5 11.25 ex Lowestoft passing 19 late with 20103. Things had settled down by this evening as usual, but 20105 on Y9 19.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft was 14 x 13 late in and out of Lynn for reasons unknown.
What remains unexplained is a strange swap in the middle of the day. 20117 on J11 11.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft was taken off at King's Lynn and replaced by Scania 65531. 20117 then took K18 13.29 from Lynn westbound. The incoming vehicle on K18 looks to have been Profile 20351 which misbehaved last night and spent overnight at Lowestoft (still not officially permitted), this was at Rowan Road parked up this evening. 20105 which had done the first part of K18, the 06.57 eastbound from Lynn was later switched to Y9 14.55 ex Lowestoft. The end result was that the Scania ended up at Lynn, whereas Y9 and K18 both finish at Lowestoft, so at least that made sense. The first part of Y9 is an unknown quantity as Bruce didn't see it, but there were very few coaches spare at either end so it looks highly likely to have been 20127.

20508 did its usual Hunstanton schools turn today but had to visit the garage for damage to an armrest. 20118 & 20131 were the other two coaches sidelined for this work. As expected 20352 has had the M & S adverts removed as (surprisingly) has 20142 which is in for a service at the moment. 20141 is due for MOT this week, but it has not returned to King's Lynn as yet.

Tuesday 30th September 2008 ~ Gridlock (again)

Yesterday it was Wisbech and today King's Lynn came to a standstill, with at one stage queues rumoured to be 6 miles in length towards Swaffham and Downham Market. A lorry caught fire on the eastern bypass near the Hardwick roundabout in the morning rush and the area was soon paralysed. There was then a further accident at the A17/A47 intersection at Freebridge (west of the Ouse bridge) and soon King's Lynn was gridlocked. It has been a bad seven days or so, last Fridays delay to K20 was due to an A47 accident at Necton and the reason for 20114 not making up time on L13 last night was due to yet another collision at Wendling.
In view of the chaos at Lynn this morning, it was surprising that disruption wasn't much worse and First must be quite pleased with the teamwork involved. Y8 08.29 Lynn - Peterborough with 20500 was on time, but after that there is no evidence that anything got through to Peterborough until 20507 on L12 10.29 westbound. This was 16 late going over and 9 late returning east. 20503 on J10 was on time on the 10.48 Peterborough - Lowestoft, so it is quite possible that this started at Wisbech and 20111 on the 11.18 (J11) probably did likewise. After this things gradually returned to somewhere near normal. K16 06.07 Lynn - Lowestoft was halted at Great Fransham with a broken wiper arm on 20105 and fitters had to attend, so K19 06.37 Lynn - Norwich with 20117 which then goes empty to Lowestoft came back on K16 09.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough, with 20105 then taking up K19's X2 work.

Ryan says that 20141 is now back on the road at Yarmouth and I half expected it to appear on Y21 17.25 ex Lowestoft tonight, but instead 20126 did it. Ryan also says that 20123 is expected at Yarmouth for MOT shortly, so its return to service was very brief. 20124 is also due for MOT about now and this may explain why it has not appeared since Friday.

Something strange which was not mentioned in yesterday's blog was 20351 appearing on Y8 18.48 Peterborough - Lynn instead of 20507. The profile should have done K17 11.55 ex Lowestoft and 14,18 back, but this was late and not seen. Chrissy saw 65531 leaving Lynn about 16.00 yesterday with X1 Lowestoft on the front which he thought unusual, so may be this was involved, however it looks like the final leg of K17 last night was 20105.
Not that you can rely on what a bus says on its blinds as Peter will tell you, he was following 20509 on K1 06.29 Lynn - Peterborough this morning when coming the other way on K5 06.43 Peterborough - Lowestoft was 20114 - with 41A Lowestoft on the front ! This has happened on occasions before as the coach on L13 22.37 arrival at Lynn is then rostered to do the 23.00 to Hunstanton & back and some drivers being a bit bleary eyed at 05.00 in the morning fail to notice the wrong service number when taking out the first X1 next day. K5 05.24 Lynn - Peterborough can in theory get any B10 off Lynn depot, but more often than not it is the one that has done L13 the previous day.

Monday 29th September 2008 ~ Now You See It - Now You Don't.

K6 07.59 King's Lynn - Peterborough was 20502 this morning, it required a service however and was removed at 10.37 on its way to Lowestoft. It then did a trip on the 43 to North Wootton before returning to the garage. Now you might wonder why they would use 20502 at all if it needed servicing, well 20500 took over but only after the powers that be had removed those nasty M&S adverts which had been attached. I think the same fate has befallen 20352 but I couldn't be certain.
I paid a visit to Bruce today and we spent a while chatting whilst watching the X1s from his new viewing gallery, otherwise known as a loft conversion. 20121 on J11 07.05 from Gorleston was about 5 late going over but its lateness had increased to 24 minutes on its return by which time it was being tailed by L12 11.48 ex Peterborough which was running 2 minutes early with 20117. Yes, 20117 back in service at last - Michael tells me it was out on the X2 on Friday having last been seen in service as far back as July 17th.
About 12.45 there was a serious accident on a pedestrian crossing at Wisbech Horsefair roundabout involving a lorry and a pedestrian which resulted in gridlock and eventually diversions being set up. This played havoc with the X1 and first service affected was L13 12.18 ex Peterborough with 20114, this was 26 late at Walpole and was later seen still on L13 at Hardwick roundabout on its way into Lynn at 20.16 (27 late). Some smart running saw it regain all but 1 minute however as I saw it entering Wisbech at 22.06 en route back to Lynn whilst enjoying a pint of Wherry in my local. Following it into Lynn at 20.21 was 20118 on Y21, the 17.25 Lowestoft - Lynn. There had been some earlier interest in this turn when it was discovered that lilac liveried Park and Ride B7 69008 was in line to work it, but as expected a B10 was found in time.
Delays caused by the Wisbech diversion saw Y14 12.48 ex Peterborough pass us 22 late with 20505 and the next service K15 with 20504 15 late. Going in the other direction at this time were 20105 0n K18 10.25 L-P 2 minutes late, 20353 on K3 10.55 ex Lowestoft running to B7 standard lateness minus 13 and then K5 11.25 L-P just 2 minutes down with 20127.
The X2 turn (K19) began with 20103 today, but Michael saw this being driven by a fitter into Lowestoft depot mid morning and the remainder of the turn was our old friend 20107. Sam reports that K19 apart, the X2 was otherwise 60307/9 and Olympians today.
Another mystery solved today - the reason for 20508 being restricted to schools work (as it was again today) is to keep it employed locally as new panels have been ordered for it which are to be fitted here before it goes to Scotland, it has already received replacement panels which Lynn had in stock, but the others have had to be ordered. No such problems with 20507/9 though as they were two of the B12s which received a repaint last year. 20120 remains at Rowan Road awaiting parts. Its temporary disappearance recently was for a visit to Volvo where some repairs were effected.

Sunday 28th September 2008 ~ This Is Not Just An X1...

This is an M & S X1 : Good job this wasn't at Showbus !

The advert plasterer paid a visit today, but with Vancouver Avenue garage locked up he turned his attentions to the compound at Rowan Road. We now have a posse of buses advertising the fact that "M&S King's Lynn is now bigger and better". 20500 didn't escape as seen here, it has the ads on both sides as do 20120, 20131 and 20352. The drivers side of 20508 and passenger side of 20142 were also adorned. At least it means one of the Profiles can be identified at a distance now. 20503 somehow escaped being treated, perhaps due to the layer of dirt on it, 20500 & 20503 were Saturday nights late arrivals and hadn't been washed as a result.

Back on the X1 there was a fair amount of late running today, up to 15 minutes in some cases. 20103/105/109/127 were all out in service, incidentally these were all on time !

Saturday 27th September 2008 ~ An Obama Moment !

Yes it was an Obama Moment for 20127 today ! The first eastbound service from Lynn at 05.42 (K15) has been a B12 working for as long as anyone can remember, in four years it has only been known to have a B10 on one occasion (20131), but today its fellow Barbie liveried sister 20127 was given the honour of working this turn. In fact Lynn were only able to roster two B12s for todays services, an all time low. 20501/6 look to have remained at Vancouver Avenue all day while 20508 was at Rowan Road. For the record only 20503 (K17) and 20500 (K2) were used.
One reason for the lack of B12s was that all three B7 Profiles were out and did they keep time ? Well no of course, 20352 on K7 11.55 from Lowestoft passed Walpole almost 21 late, while 20353 was 11 down on K3 15.18 ex Peterborough. 20351 on K4 17.48 Peterborough - Lynn was seen arriving on time, which seems reasonable until you realise that normally this turn comes in about 6-7 mins early.
20126 did K5 today but was swapped at Lowestoft and the 11.25 from there to Peterborough was 20505. 20104 and 20107 somehow ended up on each others turns tonight. This morning J10 10.48 ex Pbo was 20107 but tonight it was on J11 18.59 Lynn - Peterborough while 20104 had arrived at Vancouver Avenue (seemingly off J10), there may however been a swap somewhere as 20509 had also just arrived at the garage, though on what is unknown.

Friday September 26th 2008 ~ FST Strikes Again

I had to go down to the BBC archives at Reading today, so Bruce was on standby to monitor the X1. My first sighting was K5 06.43 Peterborough - Lowestoft at Eye Green, already running 5 late with 20121 so this didn't bode well.
Bruce was at his window from 08.15 and like me he is finding the B7 Profiles poor at keeping the schedules. He says " 20352 0n K4 08.48 ex Pbo was 13 late, 20353 on K17 12.59 ex Lynn had lost 11 mins and 20351 on K3 13.59 ex Lynn, well it was over 10 late but my frozen groceries were melting so I had to get them in the freezer and missed it !" 65529 did K6 09.18 ex Peterborough, but it is believed to have been replaced at Lynn by 20105 off K20a. Y14 12.48 from Peterborough was its usual FST, in fact 21 late with a revived 20127 "going like the clappers".
It was mid afternoon when the timetable collapsed, the return of 20121 on K5 was 16 late and by the time it returned from Peterborough on the 15.48 it was 29 minutes in arrears. K4 with 20352 failed to appear and instead 20109 went west at 17.23 which if as expected was K4 was 35 late.
On my way back from Reading , I was very surprised to see 20505 on K20 at exactly the same point where I had encountered 20121 earlier, but this time heading for Peterborough at 20.25 - it is due off Queensgate to return at 20.28, so I calculated this to be about 25 late. Imagine my surprise when a little later it came roaring into Lynn bus station at 21.36, one minute early. So that's medals for Bruce and the driver of 505 today !
Other things today, 20107 screamed over to Lowestoft on K19a, but 20118 replaced it and did the X2 journeys and came back to Lynn. 20131/142/508 remained on schools turns.

Thursday September 25th 2008 ~ Road Closed

King's Lynn once again began the day a vehicle down with 20500 & 20505 both in for scheduled servicing. This meant K6 07.59 to Peterborough was as Judith put it 'an old bus' , whereas Bruce was more precise 'twas 65529'. 20500 took the turn over later, probably for the 10.42 departure from Lynn eastbound. Yesterday's star 20126 was out on K18 today which ends up at Yarmouth.
The turmoil caused by an A47 accident at North Tuddenham took a while to filter through to us here in the west. K7 11.55 ex Lowestoft due off Wisbech at 15.31 was only a couple of minutes late with 20506, but there was then a gap and K1 due at 16.01 was 29 late with 20103 and things got worse before they got better with K2 the 16.31 seen leaving at 17.11 (40 late) with 20118 and following it three cars behind 20352 on K4 the 17.01, a mere 10 late. Next came 20500 on K6 which was viewed by Bruce 22 late at Walpole Highway. 20506 returned on K7 11 late. For the third day running the schools turns were 20508, 20142 & 20131. Damaged 65540 left for collision repairs today but 20120 remains dumped at Rowan Road.
Ryan reports that 20141 and 20127 (missing since last week) are being repaired at Yarmouth, whereas 20119 remains untouched at present. A little off topic, but more news from Ryan is that Dart 47206 was involved in a fatal accident at the N&N hospital yesterday.
No sign of any movement on 20507/8/9 yet, but hopefully you will read of any developments here first.

Wednesday 24th September 2008 ~ What does the 'L' in Lowestoft stand for ?

Now what's this ? Is it an alien ? No it's 20111 of course.

Well time for another episode in our occasional series of 'You Couldn't Make It Up' (with apologies to Richard Littlejohn).

Sam was out monitoring proceedings on the X2 today and saw 20126 working the 11.08 Lowestoft - Norwich and 12.38 back, says Sam "20126 has a broken mid saloon window passenger side (Don't tell Bruce!)". Well I guess Bruce will know now and on his birthday too !Anyway, what do you do with a B10 with a broken window ? Well if you are Lowestoft you take it off the X2 - commendable I hear you say - and then swap it with 20114 which has just come in on the 14.10 arrival from Peterborough (Y8) sending 20126 with its frosted window off on the X1 and you've guessed it, 20126 ends up at King's Lynn. What a hoot ! The first Lynn hear about the window is 30 mins before its arrival, having been expecting 20141 (shome mishtake shurely ?). I think relations between King's Lynn and Lowestoft are about to reach a new low :+0

Now call me a pessimist if you like, but is it coincidence that I've yet to see a B7 Profile running on time on a westbound service? Today K17 12.59 Lynn - Peterborough was according to Bruce 'Well late' with 20351 while 20352 on K4 was on time arriving at Wisbech at 09.35 heading east, but by tonight had managed to lose 23 minutes on its 17.01 departure time to Peterborough. Peter sent a text to say that 20352 was being closely followed by 20501 on K6 by the time they were nearing their destination. The trusty B10s seem to manage Ok and today K5 11.25 from Lowestoft due off Wisbech at 15.01 departed 2 minutes early with 20124. As previously reported this service is seldom in town by its scheduled departure time, let alone before it. Earlier, the 09.25 (K16) westbound was 22 late with 20107, but other than services mentioned the remainder ran roughly to time.

Early this morning K2 06.59 King's Lynn - Peterborough was worked by Scania 65528, this was because 20507 was on booked maintenance and 20504 had problems with its ABS and drivers seat. The latter were repaired for it to relieve the Scania, presumably in time for 504 to work the 09.42 to Lowestoft. 20508, 20131 & 20142 were once again all engaged on schools work. On a brighter note, Sam reports 20103 sounding in much better health than of late on K19 today.

Last year ten B10 Premieres (20103/07/09/11/19/20/23/24/26/42) were repainted. Fleet numbers were painted on the back corners at window height on both sides on all of these except 20111 which was the first one treated. This received its fleet number under the rear side window in a font so small it is impossible to read at a short distance. After seeing it, I immediately sent off an email to R.H. Bodyworks asking them to use bigger numbers on subsequent repaints which they kindly did (yes I know it was a sad thing to do but it worked :+).

Since then 20103 has had a bash on the drivers side rear and no longer sports a fleet number on this side. Bruce saw an unidentified B10 on L13 today with no fleet numbers - this was 20111, however 20111/120/123 do have the fleet number on the back under the rear window.

Now back to my original question, here are a couple of suggestions not to be taken too seriously. L = Lackadaisical : Lacking spirit, liveliness, or interest; languid ? OR L = Lazy : averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent ?

Tuesday 23rd September 2008 ~ Solitude

A peaceful day on the X1. One of the Profiles was not ready for K17 06.27 Lynn - Lowestoft and this went out with 20506. 20352 was then put on K2 06.59 to Peterborough, later in the day this was swapped for a B10, believed to be 20118 which had come off a service. Only other anomaly was 20126 which did K18 06.57 Lynn - Lowestoft and then went on to the X2, 20111 looks to have replaced it on the 10.25 westbound.
Timekeeping was hit and miss today, the 12.48 ex Peterborough (Y14) was 20500 seen running 1 early at Walpole Highway. Westbound services recovered from delays at lunchtime (20121 being 17 late into Wisbech on K17 13.01 to Peterboro') and the 15.01 (K5) with 20104 and the 16.01 (K1) with 20114 were unusually on time. Similarly 20509 was again dead on time on K7 17.09 Wisbech - Lowestoft, however, Profile 20353 was 16 late at Wisbech on the 17.01 to Peterborough (K4).

Monday 22nd September 2008 ~ As Timetabled !

An exceptional day for punctuality with the maximum lateness noted being Y14 12.01 Wisbech - Peterborough with 20121 which was 11 late departing. Of particular note was the 15.48 Peterborough - Yarmouth arriving at Wisbech on time at 16.35 with 20111, a feat seldom achieved even on good days.
The only swap occurred on K19 with 20107 going over (and incidentally noted by Sam at Chedgrave this afternoon on contract work) and 20126 coming back. The latter also sounding rough says Sam, however, it must be said that Yarmouth keep their solitary B10 in commendable external condition.
The Profiles seem to have settled down now and have been allocated Lynn diagrams 3,4 and 17.
20508 was once again procured for the Hunstanton schools work along with 20131 and 20142.

Sunday 21st September 2008 ~ Sun Day

The sun shone for the X1 today (better than most of the so called Summer). Out in service were the following :
20500/02/03/05/06/07 and 107/11/21.
There are only nine diagrams on Sunday as opposed to 18 on Saturdays and 21 on weekdays. This is excluding the shuttles at the east end of course. The other Paragons were located as follows : 20501/08/09 King's Lynn and 20504 at Lowestoft.

Saturday 20th September 2008 ~ Wot Profiles ?

All three Profiles were off the road at King's Lynn today. 20352 had issues with wipers and demisters, but the other two seemed to merely be having a rest. 20508 was having a service, while 20142 and 20131 were helping out on the Hunstanton service.
On the X1 things seemed to go pear shaped in the afternoon, no doubt because of Norwich City playing at home to Sheffield United. K7 14.59 Lynn - Peterborough arrived at 15.11 and finally got away 22 late with 20503, then the next service due to depart at 15.29 (K1) was overtaken by the 15.59 (K2) which arrived first with 20121 at 15.55, this then went empty to Peterborough as K1 and 20124 on the 15.29 became K2 leaving 4 late.
Richard says he's unable to hang on to 20507/8/9 any longer and they should depart this week. He says the X1 should be Ok, but the schools turns will become a major headache until reinforcements arrive.

Friday 19th September 2008 - Bruce Reports

Bruce made a few observations today and although services were pretty much on time in the morning, by the afternoon the usual FST (Friday Standard Time) had set in. K1 15.29 westbound from Lynn passed Bruce 36 late with 20506 and later it was seen leaving Wisbech on the return eastbound 16.48 ex Peterborough having failed to regain any time and being closely followed by 20505 on K2. 20109/131/142 were used on Schools and 20508 returned to X1 work.
20120 which disappeared from Lynn about a week ago returned to Rowan Road compound today still blown up, so where it has been hiding is a mystery.

Thursday 18th September 2008 ~ Lowestoft Liability

65527 strikes out across the Fens near Terrington on the 09.18 ex Peterborough

Yesterday you may recall that Sam was describing the slow progress of 20103, well it turned up at Lynn last night as booked, but Lynn were unable to use it today after receiving a phone call from Lowestoft to say it required a service before returning to traffic. Now this might seem a reasonable request, but, as those in the business will know, this is most definitely NOT the done thing. In this case it was especially cheeky as Lynn's 20127 which began K19 on Wed was swapped by Lowestoft for 20103, get the picture ? Anyway the fall out from this was 65527 being provided for K6 07.59 Lynn - Peterborough. The Scania returned as far as Lynn where a peculiar bit of rearranging took place. 20107 on J11 07.05 Gorleston -Pbo was turned round at Lynn to replace 65527 while J11 went forward to Peterborough with 20504 which had just come back empty from Norwich on the first part of K20.

20131/142/508 were all sidelined for the afternoon schools work.

Wednesday 17th September 2008 ~ Hanging On

The three Profiles once again did turns K4, K17 & K3 precisely as yesterday. All the Paragons bar 20508 were out on X1. This had attention at Ford & Slaters to its tacho and later joined 20131 & 20142 on the Hunstanton schools runs.
20127 went over to Lowestoft on K19 (the X2 turn) but Sam reports 20103 doing the rest of it and struggling most of the way on his trip.
Cheryl said 20114 was already 15 late when seen leaving Wisbech on the 08.31 to Peterborough (K6), however, Judith saw 20505 on the 09.31 on time. K5 11.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough was heavily delayed and was seen 26 late at Tilney and then Cheryl saw it leaving Wisbech 28 late. 20500 on K7 following was only about 8 minutes behind it. There was no spare power at Lynn again today and local turn 3 on the Hunstantons was cancelled for the second day running.
Ryan was in touch today and has given us an update on the Yarmouth situation. 20141 has now arrived from Lowestoft for repairs, while 20117 is at last being attended to for MOT etc. The picture regarding 20119 however, looks bleak and rumours persist that it will be withdrawn. Nick Field on East Anglia Buses Yahoo group says that 20115 is due to return to traffic very shortly.
I'm off to the Wensleydale Railway for a couple of days now, so more X1 news on my return.

Tuesday 16th September 2008 ~ Scotland on Paragon Alert

Here's Sam and Jamie V after examining the damage on 65540 following Friday's accident.

So it's Scotland according to Richard, the destination for the departing Paragons that is and he ought to know being the top man over here. 20507/8/9 were due to have gone when the Profiles returned, but such is the shortage of power at Lynn that they are being held back to cover.

Today Sam and Jamie V came over and we met up at King's Lynn for an audit of the situation. The three Profiles were all out and K17 & K3 must now surely be booked turns for these. 20353 was on K4 08.48 ex Peterborough and was 20 late into Lynn, Jamie V who travelled on it said it was full from Peterborough. No power was available for the morning part of K20, so the 06.47 Lynn - Norwich was cancelled. Coaches out of traffic were 20127 (door problem), 20509 (scheduled service) and 20508 (tacho failure, to be sorted out tomorrow morning). 20509 was serviced in time to work the afternoon part of K20. There were problems on the Hunstanton route too, with one turn left uncovered, no doubt exacerbated by 65540's absence. 20131, 20142 and 20508 did the afternoon schools turns.

Bruce was keeping an eye on things too and says "20506 was 24 late going to Pboro on the 10.29 ex Lynn (L12), 20105 was 13 late on the 12.29 ex Lynn (K16) and then I am afraid to say:- 20352 was 13 late on the 12.59 (K17) and 20351 was 5 late on the 13.59 (K3)".

20127 has gained some new adverts for 'Norfolk Jobs' and was Ok for service again tonight.

X1 update

Friday was a terrible day for punctuality and there seemed to be swaps everywhere. Typical of the chaos was K1 07.48 Peterborough - Lowestoft which had 20105 almost on time, but by the afternoon the return working was 11 late from Wisbech and then 32 minutes down coming back on the 16.48 from Peterborough. K2 12.55 ex Lowestoft was 27 late from Wisbech with 20505 but this managed to pick up some lost time and was only 17 late returning. K4 07.29 Lynn - Peterboro was 65532 but this came off at some stage and 20506 was in charge by the evening. Y14 08.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough came through Wisbech 19 late with 20131 which had come on at Lynn.
65540 had its first experience of the X1 - actual service not known - but it came to grief at Eau Brink whilst making a pick up. The driver of a Ford Mondeo overtaking a lorry lost control and bounced off the back of 65540 causing considerable damage.
I went to Peterborough on the 18.31 from Wisbech (Y9), we left 10 late but thanks to some good driving made up most of this. 20107 must surely win the prize for the noisiest B10. I really enjoyed its thrashing along the A47 and when starting away it is guaranteed to make people stare to see what is making such a racket !

Saturday looks to have been less stressful, but 20131 was out on a Paragon turn (K7) and was seen by Bruce at 15.18 heading west at Walpole Highway.

Sunday saw a number of B10s out, Cheryl saw 20118 as did Bruce who also noted 20107 & 20127. Says Bruce "All coaches from coast seemed to be approx 10 late all day. 20507 on 0919 to Pbo had a VERY healthy load for an early morning service". By the evening the three Profiles had returned from Inverness.
Monday. I returned from Scotland and had 20114 on K20 20.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft, a much quieter ride than on 20107 of course, better suspension too, but a rather sedate driver. 20114 had started the day on L12 07.15 ex Lowestoft but was removed at Lynn at some stage to provide seatbelted cover for the afternoon schools bit of K20.

Thursday 11th September ~ Just when I thought I'd seen it all !

All ten B12 Paragons were in action on the X1 today again, the last full week in which this will be possible it would seem. They all behaved well except 20503 which was failed at King's Lynn bus station for K1 06.29 to Peterborough with a water leak. 20107 was called to take over, but this left things in a desparate situation. K4 was already allocated (and got) 65532, while the Norwich turn which comes back light (K20) was 65528. As a consequence the last turn - K6 07.59 to Peterborough was given schools vehicle 20131. Next event was 65528 in trouble at Narborough with its doors refusing to open (passengers would probably have preferred to wait for a coach on the following service), the problem was alleviated though and it was able to proceed.
20131 was removed from K6 at Lynn at 10.07 and a revived 20503 left at 10.12 to Lowestoft.

K20 turn which does the Lynn - Norwich commuter service and then returns light to Lynn can get away with a Scania like it did today, but not so the afternoon part because it does a schools turn before returning light to Norwich to do the 17.17 thence to Peterborough and of course school buses have to have SEATBELTS !! Because of this in times of shortage, a coach is removed from an X1 to do the afternoon part of K20 while a Scania rattles off to Lowestoft without seatbelts of course, on the X1. Have YOU ever seen a school bus full of pupils wearing seatbelts ? Don't get me going on that one........... anyway today thinking ahead, Lynn decided to take 20123 off J11 at 12.07 and 65531 duly toddled off to Lowestoft on the 12.12, however, they had not bargained for another failure and quite a bizarre one at that. I passed 20118 at Walsoken on Y14 12.48 Peterborough - Lowestoft running 17 late and minus its front valance which contains its registration plate, yes just a black hole (possibly caused by those scientists messing about with protons yesterday !). 20118 was removed at Lynn and replaced by 20123. Lynn fitters then hastily refixed the front valance back on to 20118 (presumably it had been lurking in some dark recess of the bus) so that it could be sent out to do the second part of K20 instead of 20123. This all left me wondering whether it actually fell off and if so, was there a big bang ?
20107 as I mentioned earlier did K1 07.48 P'bo - Lowestoft, I then could swear I saw it doing K2 16.31 Wisbech - Peterborough, mind you I was several yards away but it looked like 20107. Tonight though 20107 turned up again on Y14 17.55 ex Lowestoft instead of 20123. This begs the questions was it taken off K2 at Dereham and turned round here to come back west, or is it simply the fact that I need my eyes tested and it was 20124 I saw on the 16.31 ? I guess we will never know (or care they cried). 20106 mysteriously surfaced at Lynn tonight, so i'm going to stick my neck out and guess that 106 did K1 12.25 ex Lowestoft and was replaced at Lynn by 20105 which was missing tonight. Agatha Christie would be proud of all this I suspect. Apart from the above, it was just a normal day ! No blog for a while now as I'm off to Edinburgh until Monday evening, but do keep in touch as ever with your reports and sightings.

Wednesday 10th September 2008 ~ We Apologise But The End Of the World Is Running Late

The three B7 Profiles left the area today, 20352 did K20 06.47 King's Lynn - Norwich but did not return and 20505 off an exam did the afternoon leg. 20353 remained at Yarmouth overnight and it looks like 20351 travelled over empty. The news we've been dreading was confirmed tonight - when the three Profiles return from Scotland, 20507/8/9 are leaving for service elsewhere. May be it is coincidence, but 20508/9 are two of the three most reliable B12s (20502 is the other). Bruce had a good session observing operations today but was not impressed with punctuality. K6 09.18 ex Peterborough was seen by Judith entering Wisbech at 10.18 with 20127, about 14 late, Y9 11.18 ex Peterborough was similarly late (20500) as was J11 12.18 ( unknown vehicle). K5 11.25 from Lowestoft was well late and 20142 made up some time as it was only about 5 late returning from Peterborough. Finally 20109 on K1 12.25 from Lowestoft was 24 late passing Walpole and was later removed at Lynn on the return 16.48 from Peterborough with a steering wobble. 20118 from the schools fleet worked forward.
Because of the absence of the Profiles, K4 07.29 Lynn - Peterborough etc had the delights of Scania 65532.

20141 IS being repaired at Lowestoft and plans are underway to do the same for 20120 which is still languishing at Lynn depot.

Tuesday September 9th 2008 ~ Rain rain go away !

The weather played a big part in today's events, with rain falling here for much of the day. Things began badly with dear old 20127 in trouble on Y8 with its windscreen wipers not working. Bruce saw it passing his house about 08.50 and Judith then saw it arriving at Wisbech at 09.06 (due off here at 09.01). The driver obviously attempted a repair here and it ended up leaving immediately behind 20114 on the 09.31 (Y9), however, it only reached Guyhirn before the driver failed it completely - all the passengers had gone on Y9, so it returned to Lynn for repairs. This meant Lynn had to supply a vehicle to take up turn Y8 at 11.12 to Lowestoft and this they did by using 20105 which had been restricted to schools work since Thursday last.
The day then passed relatively without incident until late afternoon when 20123 on K18 14.48 Peterborough - Gorleston was failed at Lynn with its demisters playing up, surprisingly 20353 was called upon to work forward, even though this turn overnights at Yarmouth. It is possible that the Profile will return tonight instead of 20501 on K7 21.58 ex Lowestoft. The other two Profiles repeated their Monday turns on K17 & K3, but all three are due to go to Norwich tomorrow before leaving for the far North.
Angela sent a text to report 20121 departing Peterborough Rail station 10 late on the 17.18 (K2) to Lowestoft screeching badly. The driver failed it at Lynn allegedly because its demisters had packed up, however, when checked later they were working perfectly. May be he was worried because of the noises which 121 tends to make or may be he had read this blog ! Anyway 20500 which had come in on J10, the 18.24 arrival from Lowestoft was used instead of 20121 at 18.42.
Despite all this it was another good day for timekeeping. At lunchtime in Wisbech bus station Blondie was seen with 20505 leaving dead on time with L13 13.09 to Lowestoft while the late lady driver was only 7 late leaving on K16 13.01 to Peterborough (20502).

Monday 8th September 2008 ~ A Pattern Emerges

20124 & 20126 at Lynn garage this evening after arrival on K19 & Y21, 126 is in a non-standard paint scheme.

Although the situation remains somewhat fluid, a pattern seems to be emerging. Diagrams K3 & K17 were once again Profiles today (20351 & 20352) - see previous blogs for service details - whereas previously they had been B12 turns, this then leaves two of the latter spare and one of these does K16 which works 06.07 Lynn - Lowestoft, 09.25 L-P and 13.48 return finishing at Lowestoft, formerly a B10 turn whilst the other does one of the turns which finishes at Yarmouth/Lowestoft indiscriminately chosen from turns K1, K2, K6 and K18.

Once again 20105/118/131 all remained at King's Lynn and did schools contracts this afternoon. Timekeeping was good today, only two turns seemed to run late, these being J11 11.18 ex Peterborough which was 13 late at Wisbech and L13 16.55 ex Lowestoft which was late by the same margin. At 15.05, 20142 on K5 15.01 Wisbech - Peterborough and 20352 on K17 14.18 ex P'bo were both queueing at Wisbech town bridge traffic lights dead on time - an almost unheard of occurrence for these two services. Something of a surprise was Yarmouth's 20126 standing in for a regular coach on Y21 17.25 Lowestoft - Lynn, 20114 had been expected. Michael reports B10 useage on the X2 as a rare occurrence since the arrival of the three dedicated buses last week, the latter have all been out every day (except Sunday) and only K19 turn worked off King's Lynn remains a daily duty for a B10.

One swap at Lowestoft today, 20504 on K4, the 13.10 arrival, was changed for 20121 on the 13.25 to Peterborough.

Replacement low floor deckers are expected at Lynn from next week for use on the Hunstanton service I am told.

Sunday September 7th 2008 ~ A Day of Rest

Here are the three Profiles resting at Rowan Road today, alongside 20131.

A thankfully quiet day on X1, 20109 was back and another B10 out was 20107. With only one turn unaccounted for, all the remaining ones were Paragons. 20500/05/06 were spare at Lynn.

Saturday 6th September 2008 ~ 123 at a Bus Stop Near You

Yes after a 40 day absence - July 29th was its last X1 working, 20123 returned to service today. It was seen tonight on Y9 19.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft. Ryan says 20119 is still in a bad way at Yarmouth and he believes 20117 & 20121 are transfers to Yarmouth from Lowestoft. 117 hasn't worked since it appeared on the X2 on 17th July. 20109 has also been working off Yarmouth for a few days.
There were no less than six spare coaches at Lynn today. The three Profiles were all receiving repairs to their ramps and it is now thought that all three will go to Inverness this week with drivers from Norwich. In addition 20105/118/131 were all spare and it would seem that this trio may have been sidelined especially for the schools turns. On the punctuality front 20114 was 22 late into Wisbech on K16 13.01 Wisbech - Peterborough and it was still 20 late on its return, 20500 on K17 following was 10 down but had cut this to three minutes when it arrived at Wisbech for the 15.09 to Lowestoft.

Friday 5th September 2008 ~ Profile Palaver

These things happen don't they ? Late last night 20351 ran out of fuel at Lynn bus station after arriving on K3 at about half midnight. An emergency supply of 40 litres of fuel was taken up to it and it then managed to get as far as the South Gates before it expired completely with fuel starvation. It was eventually rescued and taken to the nearby garage at Vancouver Avenue where it arrived in the early hours. Today it had its fuel tank drained and cleaned and by this evening it was in the bus station having apparently arrived on an X1. This obviously throws into doubt the plans to use the Profiles on the longer X1 turns. 20352 completed K17 yesterday and was out on the same turn today, but 20353 which was on K3 was taken off at teatime, presumably to avoid a similar scenario to that suffered by 20351 last night. 20353 then did a further trip to Peterborough and back on Y8 17.29 departure.
Next week one of the Profiles is going up to Inverness in connection with the First Monster Challenge, so I hope they have arranged appropriate fuel stops en route.
Otherwise today was exceptional for a Friday with almost everything near time. K16 13.01 Wisbech - Peterborough was 14 late, but this was the worst offender. 20104 was in charge and this had replaced 20106 at Lowestoft. The 17.09 Wisbech - Lowestoft (16.18 ex P'bo) K7 left on time which is unusual on any day with 20502. K4 13.25 Lowestoft - P'bo had 20504 but 20131 replaced it at teatime in order that 504 could in turn replace 20353 on K3. 20105 & 20118 were on Lynn schools work today and 20120 remains forlorn in Vancouver Avenue minus front panel.

Thursday 4th September 2008 ~ B10s Relegated

Today all three ex First D&C coaches were out on mainstream X1 work. They are currently restricted to turns which begin and end at Lynn. None have had their destination screens programmed yet and this must be a source of confusion to passengers. For example 20351 and 20352 were at James Paget Hospital within 5 minutes of each other at around 10.20 this morning, both going in opposite directions and with no display. 20351 did K3 which runs empty to Wisbech to form the 06.54 Wisbech - Lowestoft, then 10.55 L-P, 15.18 P-L & 20.58 Lowestoft - Lynn. This is normally a solid B12 turn, as is K17 which today had 20352 working the 06.27 Lynn - Lowestoft, 09.55 L-P, 14.18 P-L and 19.58 Lowestoft - Lynn. 20353 which incidentally has smaller fleet numbers on the front did K20 06.47 Lynn - Norwich, return light then the afternoon trip empty back to Norwich to form the 17.17 Norwich -P'bo, which it worked as far as Lynn. 20124 off J10 is believed to have worked forward.
The bi-product of this influx of new power is that 20105/118/131 were all relegated to Lynn schools work today. 20118 did not do K20 last night, this was 20121 spotted by Cheryl but not positively identified at the time as "it has numbers round the corner" as she put it.
Paul says 20127 is also now a Lynn car as well as 20131 so the two Barbies remain together.
20504 on K15 08.55 ex Low was swapped for 20502 off an exam at Lynn at lunchtime. 504 was due to have its air con repaired.
20106 returned to the area today being used on Y14 08.25 ex Lowestoft, as previously reported it has lost its Excel branding on the side and the back end has also been tidied up and the Excel network ad removed.
Tonight 20509 was exactly 30 late at Walpole on the 13.25 ex Lowestoft, the second day in succession that this service has been heavily delayed. The following 13.55 with 20103 was 20 late, meanwhile a broken down lorry on Guyhirn bank caused 20500 on K7 to lose 21 minutes on the 16.18 from Peterborough, it having been on time going over.

Wednesday 3rd September 2008 ~ Must Try Harder !

Now allocated to Lynn, here's 20131 in a very floral Lynn bus station on Monday. Note the flowers are in matching livery - never let it be said that we lack taste !

Well today saw the first use in service of the ex First D & C coaches. 20351 was used on the early bath turn (K4) 07.29 Lynn - Peterborough etc. I saw it twice, firstly just 2 mins late on the 08.49 ex Peterborough and then later no less than 43 minutes late entering Wisbech on the 13.25 ex Lowestoft which is due off here at 17.01. It was followed 4 minutes later by 20503 on K6 13.55 ex Lowestoft. So a rather embarrassing debut for the new beast. 20352 meanwhile was tried out on K20, the Lynn - Norwich & return empty turn, however, 20118 off a 'B' service did the afternoon part of this diagram and was incidentally seen by John W on Hunstanton schools as booked. John also saw 20131 which - joy of joys lol - is now a Lynn vehicle and presumably a replacement for 20141 which has a blown engine at Lowestoft (see previous blogs) . May be 20131's leaky roof will now get repaired at last. A correction here to yesterday's blog - apparently 20131 took over turn K17 at Lowestoft and 20508 went light to Lynn, well I confess I couldn't have predicted that one.

Meanwhile the other Barbie, 20127 is now allocated to Yarmouth, but has nevertheless been an ever present on X1 so far this week. The three incoming Volvo B10B/Wrights transferred from Norwich to Lowestoft were all out on the X2 today and 20107 on K19 was the only coach seen by both Sam and Michael. 20103 on K18 10.25 ex Lowestoft was ill and it looks like 20142 off an exam replaced it at Lynn. Grahame reports 20106 back at Yarmouth (from Bath apparently) now and it was in use on the Gorleston/Norwich shuttles today along with 20126. 20353 looked to have had repairs completed at King's Lynn tonight, but 20120 still looks a sorry state.

Finally another Lynn Olympian ventured out to Wisbech today, this time 34901 was en route to an MOT at Welbourns, so we still await one deputising on the X1 - and time is running out......

Tuesday September 2nd 2008 ~ The Cavalry Arrive !

Two of the new steeds at Lynn garage this evening.

The two remaining ex First Devon coaches (20351/2) arrived here earlier than expected this afternoon. The reason for the urgency is that Norfolk schools returned today and extra contracts for Smithdon High School at Hunstanton mean a greater demand on vehicles. It is hoped that the two coaches pictured will be in service tomorrow to ease the shortage. 20120 was also being repaired this evening and 20353 was alongside it also being attended to.

On the X1 there were a couple of maintenance swaps with 20505 on the 09.18 ex Peterborough (K6) being replaced by 20502 at Lynn and later 20508 on the K17 09.55 ex Lowestoft was replaced by 20131 from Lynn, seen passing Terrington St. John 18 late. At Lowestoft, 20105 on the 10.10 arrival (K18) was replaced by 20127 for the 10.25 return. This meant the two remaining Barbie liveried B10s were seen by Bruce within 25 mins of each other. Mention was made recently of the 07.45 ex Lowestoft (L13) changing vehicles at Norwich on occasion and this happened again today with 20124 off K19 from Lynn returning westbound. 20103 worked K19 into Lynn tonight.

A mystery left over from yesterday is what did last evening's 20.42 Lynn - Lowestoft as 20504 which left Peterborough on it at 19.18 was back at Lynn this morning.

Monday September 1st 2008 ~ Good Times

Here's 20507 on today's 10.18 ex Peterborough with the 'late' lady driver going well

Yes virtually everything ran to time today. Main exception was K2 08.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft with 20114 which was 15 late from Wisbech and 23 late from Lynn due to it picking up passengers intended for the following service (K4), the latter arriving as 114 departed ! By this evening 114 had made up some time and was only 12 late on the 17.18 ex Peterborough. By contrast Y9 14.55 Lowestoft - Peterborough was marginally early at Walpole Highway (due 18.17) with 20504. 504 had begun the day on Y8 but was stepped up at Lowestoft with 20505 taking over Y8 and 20507 off Y9 taking a rest. Only other delayed service was 20501 working the 10.55 ex Lowestoft (K3) which was 15 late from Lynn.

20353 was having batteries charged at Lynn depot but now has a problem with its rear lights, while 20120 remains off the road. Rumours of the B12 Paragons being transferred to work around Heathrow have resurfaced.

Sunday 31st August 2008 ~ First Impressions

Stuart took 20353 down to Rowan Road last night where today it remained hidden in the corner. He noticed a marked sluggishness compared to the B10s/B12s. The wheelchair access is also rather a slow process to implement and will no doubt be unpopular with drivers and the reduced passenger capacity could well be a problem too.
Today seemed to pass without incident. All buses seen at Lynn have been adorned with bright yellow stickers in the front window proclaiming 'Revised fares In Operation'.

Saturday August 30th 2008 ~ At Last a New(ish) Bus

As expected Richard fetched 20353 from Vulcan Road this morning and it remained parked outside Vancouver Avenue garage until the evening. It has a dot matrix style destination which today said 'First Devon & Cornwall'. Although an 05 reg, it looks a bit untidy on the exterior where vinyls have been painted over. The other two are expected to arrive in the coming week.
On the X1 today, Bruce was chief scout and he has submitted a comprehensive log of goings on during the day. 65529 came back on L13 07.45 ex Lowestoft, but this came off at Lynn and 20114 took over. 114 had been in trouble earlier when it started the day on K5 07.39 Wisbech - Lowestoft but a problem with its wipers saw 20121 replace it at Lynn. 20120 remains off the road at Lynn. 20505 on the 09.55 from Lowestoft was swapped for 20508 at Lynn and there was also some changes at the Lowestoft end with 20109 on K1 being replaced by 20504 which had gone over on K3, the 10.55 (K3) was 20142 which had earlier been out on the X2.
Around lunchtime services westbound were up to 20 minutes late, but all of these returned on time. Things seemed to go downhill again at teatime, possibly because Norwich City were playing at home which always causes congestion. 20109 & 20111 ended up at Lynn so both were swapped at some stage as they started out on Lowestoft terminators.
Doreen had an unpleasant journey on K15 13.28 ex Peterborough with 20503's air con clearly not working properly.

Friday 29th August 2008 ~ Here Come The Double Deckers ...

Two Olympians on the X1 ? Well no actually, but one might have thought so. Firstly King's Lynn's J155YRM (30235) did a trip to Peterborough and back to Lynn but it was not in service, merely a test run for clearance purposes for when the new deckers arrive. I passed it at Walpole Highway at 13.50 heading back to Lynn. The people waiting for Y14 12.48 ex Peterborough were a bit confused by it passing by and would have done well to flag it down as there own bus, 20109 was running to FST (Friday Standard Time) and was 28 late. Speaking of Standards and Fridays there were more blog excerpts in the Wisbech Standard newspaper today.

The other Olympian concerned was 34951 (see picture above) which seemed to want to escape onto an X1 judging by its destination screen this evening. It was quite an eventful day due to late running and non-available buses. First thing this morning 20120 was sent out on K19 06.37 Lynn - Norwich, it looks like it then took over L13 07.45 ex Lowestoft, a quite regular occurrence until recently - but it didn't get very far and was in Vancouver Avenue this evening minus front panel - crankshaft and oil being amongst its problems. L13 then had 65526 (seen by Bruce) and this returned on 12.18 ex Peterborough as far as Lynn. 20118 which had come in from Lowestoft on K18 then relieved it and headed back east, leaving 65529 to take K18 to Peterborough ! Jamie R was at Peterborough when it arrived and it went to the rail station as booked, however, it then went directly back east without visiting the bus station and passengers had to wait for the next service at 15.28 with 20508. A passenger had been ill on this coach, so at Lynn it was replaced by 20127 which had done the morning part of K20, meanwhile 65529 went through to Gorleston on K18 and consequently spent the night at Yarmouth.

A Lynn man is due to fetch ex First Devon & Cornwall coach 20353 from Norwich tomorrow.

Thursday August 28th 2008 ~ Lies Damned Lies

Imagine my surprise when Bruce said he'd seen 20111 on K4b 17.48 Peterborough - Lynn last night when I'd alleged that it came in on L12 from Lowestoft - how embarrassing ! Turns out that L12 with 20502 did step up to become L13, but at Lynn not Lowestoft. The reason for this is that 20141 failed on L13 16.55 ex Lowestoft at Yarmouth and 20114 on K16 13.48 ex Peterborough was turned round here to become a replacement for 20141 on L13 - got that ? Clear as mud. 20114 was then late into Lynn so 20502 stepped in at 19.59 to do Lynn - Peterborough.
Ryan says two of the missing coaches are at Yarmouth Caister Road depot. 20119 is in a bad way and is being assessed while 20117 is blocked in by it awaiting attention. 20105 remained off the road at Lynn today.
20506 needed a tyre change today so it was taken off Y8 09.49 Peterborough - Lowestoft at Lynn and 20127 off K20 (the Norwich turn) replaced it. 20506 was fit in time to do the afternoon portion of K20 which starts with the seat slashing schools turn.
20121 was out today and I had an email from Bruce who was singing its praises after it passed his house on the 12.48 ex Peterborough (Y14) dead on time, however (as predicted by Sam) it expired later and 20508 on K15 had to take the 17. 55 in place of it. 508's turn was then taken by 20120 which had done K16 13.48 ex Peterborough and which is booked to then finish at Lowestoft. 20120 managed to get as far as Nar Ouse Way on its way out of Lynn with the 21.59 to Peterboro' when the driver spotted the oil light flashing, so it turned round and went to Vancouver Avenue where 20503 was fired up to replace it.
After two consecutive days with 20127, K19 (the X2 diagram) was given 20114, but by late afternoon this had been replaced by a Lowestoft Olympian. 20118 which had been out on another X2 turn then did the final X1 leg back to Lynn. 20103 was also out on the X2 this morning, but it later also turned up at Lynn on J11 15.55 ex Lowestoft.
A photograph on Colin Humphrey's Fotopic site of our missing 20106 was spotted by Sam. Taken yesterday it shows 106 looking very smart minus side advert and more ominously without the Excel lettering on the side. It seems to have been taken at Ipswich and I think we may have seen the last of it.
106 now joins 121 bereft of Excel lettering, now I wonder why 121 doesn't have the word 'Excel' on the side ? Answers on a postcard please to Sam !
Not sure when the next blog will be, as I'm Best Man at a mates wedding on Saturday and have to travel there late tomorrow. Any Saturday sightings this week will be appreciated. G

Wednesday August 27th 2008 ~ A Brucey Bonus

I was drafted to our remote Lincolnshire branch today, but fortunately Bruce kept a detailed log of sightings, so we are on top with things. Judith and Bruce both noted 20103 on Y9 06.32 Yarmouth - Peterborough & 10.18 thence to Lowestoft. Tonight it was 3 early at Walpole on the 19.18 ex Peterborough having kept to its booked turn. Ian noted 20508 departing Wisbech eastbound at 17.40 with 'not in service' showing - it should have been the 17.09 to Lowestoft, but had no doubt been caught up by K1 following. It ran empty to Lynn to form the belated 17.42 eastbound service.
K4a 07.29 Lynn - Pbo & 08.48 return to Lowestoft ran with 20506, but on arrival this stepped up to become K6 and it is not known what worked the 13.25 ex Lowestoft (K4b). In turn 20501 off K6a became Y8b 14.25 ex Lowestoft. Later 20502 on L12a 11.48 ex Peterborough was delayed to form L13 16.55 return while 20111 was provided to work L12b 16.25 Lowestoft - Lynn.
20105 was off the road at Lynn all day having its nearside suspension examined. It is reported on the East Anglia Buses Yahoo Group that three ex First Devon & Cornwall coaches are due to arrive with FEC shortly.

Tuesday 26th August 2008 ~ The return of 114.

Norfolk Police Excel Cover Up ! It's 20114.

More details are emerging of a power crisis at King's Lynn on Saturday with Kieron reporting that he took 20507 on two trips to Hunstanton after it had undergone a scheduled service. The shortage was caused by six vehicles being unavailable including a Scania and an Olympian both on MOT. Bank Holiday Monday seemed to pass without incident, 20104 & 20121 were the only B10s seen on X1 and all the rest were B12 operated.

Today (Tuesday) saw the return to traffic of 20114 (N614APU) which brought in J11 15.55 Lowestoft to Lynn having replaced 20103 which had done the earlier return trip to Peterborough. This was 114's first appearance here since July 6th and it was last seen working on the X2 on 12th July. It retains adverts for Norfolk Police as does 20118. The other B10 which had these, 20116 is now of course working in Scotland.

20500 had its air conditioning system finally sorted out today and it was out tonight on K20 17.17 Norwich - Peterborough. The morning part of K20 was 20503 but this then replaced 20142 on the 10.42 to Lowestoft (K6). There was one other swap today with 20104 on Y8 being replaced by 20131 for the 14.25 ex Lowestoft. In all there were 24 different vehicles out on the 21 turns today including all the B12s.

Sunday 24th August 2008 ~ A Few Gaps

Didn't see everything today, but 20141 was again removed from its diagram tonight when it should have worked the 2059 Lynn to Peterborough. 20508 replaced it. 20501 was out of service today with ripped seats. 20126 was at Rowan Road despite starting yesterday on K1 which should end up at Lowestoft. Michael saw 20121 on a lunchtime Norwich - Gorleston shuttle after it had worked a couple of days on the X2.

Saturday 23rd August 2008 ~ Horsefair Handcuffs

My second outing of the week to Peterborough Beerfest, this time on the X1. We did J10, the 10.01 Wisbech - Peterborough with 20124. Karen (Blondie) was driving and an excellent job she made of it too. With a full payload the journey was very comfortable with blowers functioning well and quite clearly 20121 did have a suspension problem last week, as 20124 gave a much better ride. Cheryl was on the following bus (J11) with 20109 which was slightly late, but again a good journey was enjoyed.
Cheryl & Ian decided to do the 17.28 from Queensgate (K2) but this failed to appear as did the 17.58 (K4), seen in the morning with 20505. Eventually the hordes boarded 20118 on the 18.28 (K6), with much pushing and shoving and some men behaving as Cheryl says 'like their shoe size'. Things got so bad that the police were there to meet 118 at Wisbech and two characters were carted off, one in handcuffs ! Meanwhile I returned on J11, the 20.28 with 20109 which gave a very pleasant journey without incident.

Friday August 22nd 2008 ~ Ladies Day

Nice to welcome back two of our regular reporters today. Judith saw 20124 leaving Wisbech at 13.35 heading west, it should have been the 13.01 (K16) but was running in the path of K17. Later she saw 20501 at Walton Highway running 13 late on K7 to Peterborough (due there at 15.19), it was late by a similar margin on its return when I viewed it. Earlier Y14 12.48 ex Peterborough had been 26 late with 20107 and guess who was driving ? Yes the 'late lady' again. The lateness prize however, went to 20503 on K4 due off Wisbech at 17.01, Cheryl saw it leaving at 17.38 and shortly after 20127 arrived a mere 5 down on K1 16.48 from Peterborough. Westbound services gradually improved after this with 20142 only 26 late on K6 17.31 to Peterboro' and seen shortly after it on my way back from a trip to March, 20126 on Y8 only about 4 down. 20126 began the day on K18 but was swapped at Lowestoft and instead of returning on the 10.25, waited until the 14.25.
Traffic congestion in Wisbech was particularly bad today with it being a Bank Holiday Friday and a fire at a scrapyard near Weasenham Lane caused further problems around 12.45. Incidentally 'First' have renamed this location 'Weasingham Lane' on their bus stop signs. More beers at Peterborough tomorrow, so yet more X1 experiences in the next blog. Cheers !

Thursday 21st August 2008 ~ Plenty of Paragons

For the second day in succession, all ten B12 Paragons were in service on the X1. 20500 which had been on restricted working resumed its normal diagrams yesterday. 20505 had an extension to its day as after arriving at 19.07 from Pbo on the 'early bath' turn (K4) it was callled upon to work the 19.59 back to the Cathedral City after 20104 which had come in on L13 had to be taken out of service, I think for cleaning - let's not go there ! 20508 was seen leaving Wisbech on Y14 12.01 to Peterborough with 'Great Yarmouth via King's Lynn' in the destination panel, just to confuse the locals.

Bruce will be disappointed to learn that 20126 was failed at King's Lynn today with a brake valve fault, but don't worry, it is repaired now and is wearing yet another new advert, this time to discourage smokers. Whilst on the subject of ads, 20103 has lost its 'Just Jobs Suffolk' ad on the passenger side. For the last couple of months it has also been running without a fleet number on the drivers side rear, it appears to have been painted out after collision damage. Michael reports that there were four B10s out on the X2 yesterday : 20121/124 /142 plus 20111 on diagram K19. Today 20121 and 20127 were in evidence, but the 'Lynn diagram' K19 had 20105 to start, a Lowestoft 'Olympian' at lunchtime and 20127 this afternoon. On a related note, Michael says 34825 ( a one time regular on the Norwich - Peterborough route) returned to its regular duties on the X2 yesterday, so Sam will be pleased. Amazingly this X1 blog has also made the local press here in the Fens :-

http://www.wisbech-standard.co.uk/content/wisbech/columnists/story.aspx?brand=CATOnline&category=ColumnistsVoice&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=ColumnistsWIS&itemid=WEED21%20Aug%202008%2012%3A08%3A29%3A840

Wednesday 20th August 2008 ~ Better Late Than Never....

..... or so passengers waiting patiently for J11 12.09 Wisbech - Lowestoft must have thought when 20105 turned up less than 10 minutes before the following departure. This is normally one of the more reliable services and was the black sheep on a day when otherwise things went well. One or two other random services seemed to be delayed including Y14 08.25 ex Lowestoft with 20118, which was almost 15 late leaving Wisbech, but commendably had regained all of this by the time it returned. Later on, the 14.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough due off Wisbech at 18.01 was seen leaving precisely 15 late.
20121 was removed from X1 duty again today, it did K2 08.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft and then was shifted to the X2 while 20124 which itself had been on the X2 took up K2 with the 12.55 to Peterborough. This was the only swap noted however.
Later in the evening scheduled roadworks at Guyhirn roundabout caused delays of up to 20 minutes. The reason for the lateness of this entry is because of a visit to the Peterborough Beer Festival. I travelled on a Towlers B10M and while stuck in the queue before Guyhirn we spotted 20503 on K6 18.18 ex Peterborough across the river taking the alternative route via Tholomas Drove and Wisbech St. Mary to reach Wisbech. The roadworks will also be in situ tomorrow night.

Tuesday 19th August 2008 ~ All is Calm

20502 - An example to us all !

The Paragons (or Volvo B12s if you prefer) have now been in service on the route for over 6 years and not surprisingly most have run up some phenomenal mileages. 20501 for example has totted up around 79,000 miles so far this year (127000km). An exact forecast of total mileages since new is difficult since originally they were fitted with conventional speedos but following breakages, most if not all, now have wheel hub devices. 20502 has had an exceptional year but had its speedo changed in July. In the year April 07-08 it acheived 131,000 miles. Today it had a rare day off for attention to its tacho and headlights and Lynn still manged to despatch a full compliment of coaches on the X1 without the need to downgrade and use a Scania. The last Paragon to be repainted was 20509 which re-entered service on February 1st 2007. Only 20500/01/07/09 were dealt with and the rest remain in original condition. Some like 20506 are looking very battered now. When new, all the B12s had route destinations above the windows but today only 20501 retains a full set and the rest look positively untidy. What the future holds for them is unclear, but they have certainly paid for themselves on the Peterborough/Lowestoft route.

Peter said he wished he'd had his camera this morning as he witnessed 20120 on the first turn off Lynn (K5) overtaking Great Western 0-6-2 tank 5643 in a layby near Thorney. That was about the sum of the excitement today, but there was some pretty dire timekeeping. The 16.01 Wisbech - Peterborough (K1) with 20126 was 12 late, the 16.31 near enough time, but then K4 17.01 with 20503 contrived to be exactly 30 late with 20504 on the following K6 17.31 only 3 minutes behind and consequently 3 late ! Earlier 20141 on the 12.48 Peterborough - Lowestoft (Y14) left Wisbech 19 down with surely the unluckiest of the Lynn lady drivers ? - she always seems to get delayed. On the positive side 20121 managed to complete J10 diagram today without incident, this starts with the 06.40 Gorleston - Peterborough and finishes early at King's Lynn at 18.24.

Monday 18th August ~ Dereham Debacle

Operations went well today with only odd minor delays. I think all coaches completed their booked turns except 20500 which failed at Dereham at 07.50 on K20 with loss of power. Fitters from Lynn attended and a faulty throttle sensor was diagnosed and repaired. The second half of diagram K20 which is the afternoon empty Lynn - Norwich turn and 17.17 to Peterborough was (by process of elimination, as it was not viewed) a rejuvenated 20121.
Michael noted 20104 and 20127 out on the X2s through Beccles today. 20106 is reported as being at Norwich Vulcan Road and Nick Field says 20115 is due to join it in the rail replacement pool very shortly after receiving a new engine.

Sunday 17th August 2008 ~ Hair Of the Dog

As I mentioned in the previous post, I did the 09.01 Wisbech - Peterborough (Y8) on Saturday morning. Laughter all round when 20121 appeared, nevertheless it got us to there with a full load of passengers and despite a fairly bumpy ride. It managed to survive the day but was failed on arrival at Lynn in the evening with a suspension fault ! Noted en route were 20104 (K6) and 20141 (K1), the latter was probably out on Hunstantons on Friday evening. Thanks to Sam for letting me know that 20500 & 20142 were in use on Norwich - Thetford rail replacements and whilst on the subject, also for finding out that 20112 is no longer a Lynn vehicle as it has been reallocated to Galashiels ! Well bless me, I wonder where 20106 is ? Both 106 and 112 were last out on X1s on July 29th.
Doreen spotted a broken down X1 coach in a layby on Thorney bypass yesterday lunchtime and Steve reports 65532 as leaving Lynn for Lowestoft around 13.00 - I suspect these two events are connected. 20109 was in Lynn garage tonight with X1 Lowestoft on the blinds, so may be this was the culprit.
Pleasant journey back from Peterborough this evening on 20105 on the 19.18 to Lowestoft.

Friday August 15th 2008 ~ "I Passed an Old X1 Bus today "

" I passed an old X1 bus today" said my brother-in-law this teatime. He'd seen 65531 arriving at Wisbech at just after 10am on K6 09.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft. Bruce tipped me off about this as he'd seen it at 08.20 passing Walpole Highway. What I didn't realise was that K4 07.29 K-P, 08.48 Pbo -Lft etc was also Scania worked by 65532 ! 65531 was swapped for 20502 which had come off scheduled maintenance and then worked forward to Lowestoft at 10.42, but 65532 I think worked all day on the 'early bath' turn. Hadn't the heart to tell my brother-in-law Neil that the Scanias are in many cases newer than the B10Ms !!
This shortage of coaches was caused by 20501/2/8 all being attended to. They were later joined by 20500 back from Volvo, however, this didn't go back into service as it needs an air con pipe which is on order and also needs its destination screen re-programming. 20501 was serviced and then went out on the Hunstantons ! It was unable to show 41a on its destination screen, so instead said 413 (the old service number for this route). 20508 replaced 20504 for J11 09.59 King's Lynn - Peterborough so that the air con fitter could again attend to the latter. It later went out on K20 empty to Norwich to form the 17.17 to Peterborough.
Yesterday's mystery of 20141 was not solved today as it was not seen. Late running was prevalent from lunchtime onwards and Bruce took a trip to Lynn where he says " I tried to go to Tesco. Traffic was piled up nose to tail from the A149 Hunstanton Road at Lynn, all round Hardwick roundabout, down Lynn bypass, along A47 and halfway to Terrington St John on the dual carriageway. So Lynn bound X1s must have been severely delayed as must the Peterborough ones that cross the flow several times.
Consequently I saw a Lynn bound B10M at the A17/A47 junction at 14.35 with 20505 following and almost within sight of each other!"
The first B10 you saw Bruce was Y14 12.48 ex Peterborough which remains unidentified, 20505 was on K15 13.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft.
No blog on Saturday as I'm doing the X1 to Peterborough and then supervising a stag party in York ! I'm back on Sunday, but in the meantime any sightings are welcome to the usual address.

Thursday 14th August 2008 ~ You've All Done Very Well !

After yesterday evenings frantic goings on, we were due for a quiet day and it seems we got one. Of the 21 diagrams, 20 look to have kept the same bus they started the day with, which must be some kind of record. It was also a Scania free day, unless you know different ! Needless to say punctuality was very good too, with only K6 16.59 Lynn - Peterborough being in excess of 10 minutes in arrears and 20111 had made all this up by the time it set out from Lynn for Lowestoft at 19.42.
Only unusual event seems to have been 20141 which should have covered K1 18.12 Lynn - Lowestoft, but which was in Lynn bus station at 19.45. All other incoming services were accounted for, so I guess the 18.12 may have run late and passengers transferred to the 18.42. Alternatively, a Scania could have worked. If the latter was the case it certainly wasn't the favourite 65532, as that was at Lynn this evening.
Lynn sent 20121 out on the X2 diagram today (K19), obviously hoping it would get swapped at Lowestoft - it wasn't of course and came back in tonight, still making peculiar noises.

Wednesday 13th August 2008 ~ In Sickness and In Health !

20121 - the Messiah ? - No just a very naughty bus !

Sometimes buses are taken off the road or delayed for trivial reasons - yesterday morning's incident with 20509 for example, where nothing more than a loose windscreen wiper caused a minor delay. Other times it can be mechanical failure (actually quite rare) or that other fact of life - the passengers !

A chain of events this evening was quite entertaining for the observer, but obviously inconvenient and to some degree unpleasant for those involved at the sharp end and they have my sympathy. K6 (16.59 Lynn - Peterborough) ran late this evening and on arrival at Peterborough, 20121 (yes, tell me about it) expired with an electrical fault. 20109 which had just come in to King's Lynn from Lowestoft (J11) was hastily commandeered and returned east at 19.42 on K6 as a replacement. No sooner had this happened than 20141 arrived at Vancouver Avenue complete with passengers on L13 16.55 Lowestoft - Pbo, one of the latter having been ill at the rear of the bus. 20127 off the 19.24 arrival from Lowestoft (L12) was then provided to work forward to Peterborough departing only 13 late. As if this wasn't enough 20111 then came in on the 20.07 arrival from Peterborough (Y8) with more passenger mess to clear up. Not a good evening for the staff involved as you will appreciate, although they coped admirably and should be congratulated for the minimum of fuss and delay with which they executed proceedings.

Colin brought back 20121 at 20.30 for more fitters attention.

Earlier in the day 65532 worked J10 06.40 from Gorleston but came off at Lynn for 20109 - yes it was Lynn's 20109 fresh off an exam which you heard this morning Bruce, welcoming you back from hols and sounding like a bag of bolts when it passed your house !

There seemed to be delays between Peterborough and Wisbech from mid morning onwards and 20503 on Y14 08.25 ex Lowestoft ( a notoriously poor timekeeper) was 10 late leaving Wisbech but this had escalated to 24 late on its return. K5 15.48 Peterborough - Yarmouth was the worst offender with 20142, it was 34 late from Wisbech in one of today's deluges with 20509 (wipers working hard lol) hard on its heels five minutes behind it on K7.

Michael reported 20124 (this was possibly the one seen by Sam which was unidentified) and 20131 both out onthe X2 all day today, but the 'Lynn diagram' (K19) began with 20103, then had Oly 34950 in the middle of the day before 20118 took over for the return to Lynn.

Tuesday 12th August 2008 ~ 65532, where are you ?

Today began with a couple of incidents, firstly Peter reported 20509 broken down with hazard warning lights on in a layby near Thorney Toll at 07.10. It was on turn K7 and was due to leave Peterborough at 07.13. The problem couldn't have been too severe as this afternoon it was less than 10 late leaving Wisbech westbound, still on K7. 509s reliability is normally excellent incidentally. The same cannot be said of 20121 - see earlier blogs - and today it was taken off the 08.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft (K2) at Lynn with 20501 which had just returned from doing the early morning Norwich turn (K20) going forward. Later 20118 was in trouble again on J11 11.18 ex Peterborough and 20105 was available to relieve it.
65532 once again came to the rescue on K6 07.59 Lynn - Peterborough, however, it seems to have worked the 09.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft and then been replaced by 20111. Whether it returned to Lynn late this evening we will see.
Punctuality was pretty good today though there was a deterioration around lunchtime for a while with 20505 being seen arriving at Wisbech at 13.12 westbound, this should have been the 12.31 (K15) but was running as the 13.01 (K16) on which 20103 had begun the day.

Monday 11th August 2008 ~ A Better Day

A better day for punctuality that is, after the recent problems. 20107 on the first turn off Lynn (K5) failed at some point during the day with a steering defect, however, after attention it returned to traffic. Also back after repairs to an oil leak was 20504.
20141 on the 07.59 Lynn - Peterborough (K6) was swapped later at Lowestoft for 20131, good job there wasn't much rain !
65532 did the first part of the Lynn - Norwich diagram (K20), but was replaced by a coach after this as the afternoon schools part of the turn requires a seatbelt fitted vehicle.

Sunday August 10th 2008 ~ All present and correct (almost !)

For possibly the first time since the X1 began, all the overnight coaches at Lynn were home based examples and all its allocation bar 20109 were present (excluding the absent rail pool 20106/112). This meant all the B12s were reunited of course. Latest rumour is that two will be retained at Lynn when the full fleet of Geminis are in service.
Lowestoft sent out 20107, 20120 and 20126 today. This was 20120's first outing to Lynn since July 15th.
As things stand Lynn have only 12 serviceable coaches this evening, so a Scania will probably be out on Monday.

Saturday 9th August ~ Question Time

More questions than answers today ! Services were running behind time through Wisbech around lunchtime. The 13.39 to Lowestoft (Y14) was 19 late leaving with 20142 and the 14.01 to Peterborough (K18) similarly with 20107. The latter had replaced 20121 at Lowestoft on K18 and the inability of 121 to complete turns must be a worry. Last Saturday it had extreme difficulty restarting from Lynn bus station on the 20.42 to Lowestoft, seemingly due to a problem with the brakes releasing and Sam has reported problems with 121 before too.
Michael spotted 20120 back in action today - it was approaching Norwich from the Yarmouth direction around 13.30, possibly on the 12.38 shuttle from Gorleston. 20111 was the only B10 seen on the X2.
Most unusually for a Saturday, 65532 was out on X1 today, though I'm uncertain as to whether it came in on the 18.24 or 19.24 arrival from Lowestoft. It must have taken over from an ailing coach at Lynn at lunchtime. Normally there would be a spare coach to take over, but 20141 was still undergoing an exam and 20500/504 as reported yesterday are blown up. The failed coach was repaired and returned east on the 19.42 to Lowestoft (K6) tonight and 20501 which had been on the diagram was then immediately called upon to relieve 20118 on the 19.59 to Peterborough (L13) after its demisters stopped working.
Absent coaches with dates of last workings are as follows : 20114 (X2 12th July), 20117 (x2 17th July), 20119 (X1 2nd Aug) and 20123 (X1 29th July). The two rail fleet coaches 20106 & 20112 have not been seen at Lynn since 29th July.

Friday 8th August ~ 888 Unlucky for some.

The air con chap came today so 20508 was kept in and 20504 was removed from Y14 08.25 Lowestoft - Pbo at Lynn for attention, it also had an oil problem and has had parts ordered. 20500 which had also had its air con seen to replaced it, but only did Peterborough and back before being failed with a faulty No.1 injector - this usually entails a trip to Duffields Volvo. Meanwhile 20503 returned to traffic at last. It did K4 07.29 Lynn - Peterborough (the Lynn early finish turn) but Lowestoft laid it over and it ended up on K6 and consequently is overnight there.
Late running was commonplace today, worst offender was the 13.18 ex Peterborough (K15)which was 38 late arriving at Wisbech with 20506. Also making a valiant effort to make up lost time was 20124 on the 12.18 from Peterborough which was 28 late at Terrington. By this evening it was about 12 late still on turn L13, the 19.59 westbound from Lynn. The average lateness appeared to be around 15 mins however.
There were at least two and possibly three Scania/Wrights out deputising today. Lynn sent 65532 on K6 07.59 to Peterborough and this was later swapped at Lowestoft and came back on Y8 14.25 to Peterborough. It finished this turn which dies at Lynn at 20.07. Another Scania replaced 20118 on L12 11.48 ex Peterborough at Lynn, 20118 then refreshed relieved 20500 on the 14.12 to Lowestoft (Y14), see above. The coach shortage was aggravated by the air con repairs and 20141 undergoing a C exam.

Thursday 7th August ~ Clear destinations ?

When the B12 Paragons were new, they were all adorned with the Excel logo above the destination panel. This was applied in a rather untidy fashion in some cases, see the picture here of 20507 in which it actually obscures the destination screen ! Over the years new glass has been fitted to the B12s and latterly only 20502 has retained the lettering. The purpose of this little history lesson is because today 20502 has been seen in traffic with a clear destination glass, so ending this little episode.

On the road it was 20505 in the news again today. It went east on K6 09.18 Peterborough - Lowestoft and was replaced there by 20105. For the second successive day 20505 then went on to the X2 diagram (K19). Something strange befell 20111 on K5 06.43 Pbo - Lft as it seems to have overtaken at some point 20504 on the preceding 06.54 Wisbech -Lft (K3) with the result that this afternoon 20111 came through first on K3 and 20504 ended up on K5. 20118 was swapped at Lowestoft for 20131 and this came through Wisbech 26 late on the K16 09.25 ex Lowestoft.

The new Wright Eclipse Gemini deckers for X1 are now due in Oct/Nov apparently with 37563 - 37579 the allocated fleet numbers. Thanks to Andrew for passing on the info.

Wednesday 6th August 2008 ~ All Change

No doubt due to traffic delays, today was a 'layover' day at Lowestoft. The first turn known to have done this was K16 (the 09.10 arrival) which instead of doing the 09.25 , did the 09.55 (K17) and this pattern continued for most of the day. This meant Lowestoft had to provide extra cover and whilst it is not known what took the 09.25, K4 - the 13.10 arrival with 20141 was changed for 20124 for the 13.25 whilst 20141 took K6, the 13.55. One surprise was 20505 doing K17 (the 09.40 Lowestoft arrival) and then being diverted on to the X2 diagram (K19). 20111 which had started out on this ended up on 16.55 ex Lowestoft (L13).

Tuesday August 5th 2008 ~ 126 Superbus

It was a bit of an A47 day today with X1's delayed resulting in several swaps and a Scania outing.
First odd thing was K5 and K16 which are both B10 turns being given 20506 and 20501 while B12 turns K17 and K3 were given 20142 and 20141.
20107 did K1 07.48 Pbo -Lft and came back as far as Lynn by which time it had lost so much time that it had missed its 15.29 departure to Peterborough by almost 30 minutes, so it then took up the path of K2 and became the 15.59. Lynn despatched Scania 65525 to Peterborough at 15.29 and this came back as far as Lynn and then 20502 (to be confirmed) went forward. 502 had started out on K2 and I am assuming here that it arrived sometime after 20107 had left at 15.59 and then retired before relieving 65525 and taking K1 to Lowestoft at 18.12.
Other changes were less complex. 20118 was put on K4 (the early bath diagram), the idea being that it would be into Lynn at 19.07 and then have a scheduled 'A' service, however, Lowestoft had other ideas and it returned 30 mins later than planned on K6, the 13.55 to Peterborough which is booked to return through to Lowestoft. Lynn took it off at 19.37 and so it got its service after all. The coach off the 18.24 arrival (J10), went back east at 19.42 on K6. I think this was 20127. K6 had started the day with 20508 off a scheduled exam.
Star of the day was 20126 - I can hear Bruce cheering - it was 28 late leaving Wisbech westbound on Y14 and on its return from Peterborough had narrowed the deficit to 22 minutes. Tonight it came back as the 17.55 ex Lowestoft as booked, dead on time.
The air con man is coming on Friday !

Monday 4th August 2008 ~ Next stop Walton Highway

A very good day at last with only exception Scania 65532 on the Lynn - Norwich turn (K20) this morning, but 20509 off an exam replaced it. 65532 is obviously the favourite X1 replacement,much as 65576 used to be. Otherwise very quiet with a solitary hiccup, the failure of 20141 at Walton Highway where it was due to work the 09.49 to Peterborough (J10). After attention it was fit to continue to Wisbech and resume its turn as the 11.39 to Lowestoft. Roadworks west of Wisbech caused delays today and 20508 on the 12.01 to Peterborough (Y14) was already 16 late arriving so must have been well late after that. Work is proceeding on 20503 and it should be back in service this week. Jamie R came over on the 15.48 ex Peterborough (K5)tonight and was very uncomfortable as the air con on 20500 (this turn is usually a B10) as previously reported was not working.

Sunday 3rd August 2008 ~ It Never Rains But It Pours...

Thanks to Paul for getting the numbers while I was away. Returning to last Wednesday briefly and John reports 65532 working the 11.29 Lynn - Peterborough (Y14) after nothing seemingly arrived from the East. It had earlier done K4 08.48 Pbo - Lft as far as Lynn where 20502 went forward.

Two of the absent coaches reappeared in my own absence, firstly 20131 which worked into Lynn on Wednesday night and 20121 which returned to work on the X2 on Thursday. On Friday John reported 20119 and 20509 heading west from Lynn within minutes of each other. 20119 was well late on the 14.29 departure (K5) and 20509 had relieved 20505 which was required for maintenance on the 14.59 (K7).

Saturday seems to have passed without incident but today (Sunday) there were two evening swaps. Torrential rain swept across West Norfolk this evening and consequently, 20131 was failed for the 19.59 to Peterborough with a badly leaking drivers cab - this has been a source of trouble for about 18 months now on this particular vehicle ! (It is pictured above after a storm earlier this year). 20504 went forward 14 mins late , then an hour later 20111 was failed with an unknown defect and 20501 was summoned to work forward from Vancouver Avenue.

I travelled on 20127 on the 09.31 Wisbech - Peterborough on Thursday morning (Y9). It was very warm despite the lack of sunshine and would have been unbearable otherwise. I came back on 20502 on the 17.48 ex Peterborough (K4) on Saturday and the ride was very pleasant indeed with fully working air-con. 20500/04/08 are due to have their air-con looked at this week.