Sunday 5th July 2009 ~ New for Old

Barely recognisable as the JAH552D which often worked from Peterborough to King's Lynn in the early 1970s, here she waits at Queensgate this afternoon in the sunshine before the rain.

Sponsored by Harry Potter, 37569 arrives at Wisbech this evening on the 18.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft.

Had an afternoon out today to visit Sacrewell Farm where they were having a bus rally. Instead of taking the car decided to X1 it through to Peterborough. Having passed 20103 on the 13.00 to Lowestoft on the way into Wisbech, I waited at the Horsefair for the 13.22 to Peterborough which arrived about 10 late with 37576. The driver seemed pretty intent on making up time, but the density of traffic made this pretty impossible. In the end the journey into Queensgate was accomplished in 34'21" so pretty similar to previous trips and in slightly less than the advertised schedule. I began the journey sitting on the back seat upstairs, but once we got moving, the combination of breeze from the open windows and the fan blower made it feel like I was in a Force 8 gale, so I moved forward a few seats, shut a window and this was much more bearable. Unfortunately a sad little girl called Sian had thoughtfully engraved her initials and motif on the back of the seat I was now facing in bright pink nail varnish. The Lynn cleaning team has been informed !

FLF452 was almost ready to depart for the rally when I arrived at Queensgate and a decision to sit downstairs with Mark C and value the thrash turned out to be the correct one, as passengers on the open top had to abandon the fresh air about half way through the journey due to a downpour. On arrival at Wansford the rain had almost stopped and a pleasant hour or so was enjoyed viewing the exhibits and partaking of coffee and cake before returning on JAH552D. This was allocated to Peterborough at one time and I've certainly travelled on it whilst working the 06.45 Peterborough - King's lynn 336 in the early 70s. (Yes I do feel old writing that !).

Back at Queensgate a decision to reject 37570 on the 16.15 to Lowestoft was made and instead we retired briefly to the Brewery Tap for refreshment. 570 has incidentally acquired the Keep Britain Tidy ad referred to yesterday on the rear. The 17.15 from Queensgate was a reasonably well filled 37577 and I crossed my fingers bearing in mind its failures over the last couple of days. I occupied the position half way along the top deck with a single unopening window. This was undoubtedly the most comfortable position I have found on a Gemini and the journey back would have been a pleasure had it not been for some inconsiderate passengers, one continuously on his mobile who kept saying 'I don't know where I am but I'm near King's Lynn' ! This as we passed through Thorney and again approaching Wisbech. In addition another youth with an ipod somehow managed to fill the top deck with his own personal taste in dance music to keep us amused (not). At least had this been on the FLF, the engine roar would have drowned out the bassline. Another delay free journey saw us roll into Wisbech slightly early in 35'28".

103 would appear to have been the only B10M out today, but Y4 which begins the day at Yarmouth and finishes on the 20.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft had B7 20352 today. Only other thing of note was 37566 on the 20.50 Lynn - Peterborough which I can confirm sounds positively unhealthy still.

I have now established recent mileages for all the B9s so here are the results rounded to the nearest 1000 miles.

80 : 564, 568, 573 & 579.

77 : 563 & 577.

76 : 569.

75 : 567

72 : 570 & 576

71 : 572 & 575

69 : 574

66 : 578

63 : 566

59 : 565

The mileage amassed by 37579 is quite extraordinary as it was one of the last B9s to enter traffic on November 11th last year. At the other end of the scale all those achieving under 70k have seen periods out of traffic and 565 is lagging behind considerably now.

Saturday 4th July 2009 ~ Wedding Excursion

Jamie Vendy sent in this picture of 37575 on K2 in Peterborough this afternoon.

Here's a rather unusual angle of 37566 at Peterborough railway station this afternoon on K1. Photograph by kind permission of Jamie Vendy

One of those events which are unavoidable today - yes a family wedding which took place at King's Lynn Town Hall. This at least meant I was not too far away from the X1 route to keep tabs on things. This morning though it was Bruce who did all the work, he logged 20118 on K5, 20104 on Y6, 37576 on Y7, 37573 on L8, 20103 on Y9, 37569 on Y10, 37568 on L11 and 37577 on the out and back turn, L12. So from this we can already see that three B10Ms were plugging the gaps.

Peter sent a text just after 13.00 to say that three X1s had left King's Lynn in close proximity, these turned out to be Y13, K14 and K15 which are due to depart at 11.45, 12.15 and 12.45 ! These were all B9 operated with 37563/4/79. Reason for the delay is unknown. Rob Brooks was at Wisbech in the afternoon sun and reports :

20353 K16 1348 Wisbech - Peterborough seen off route on Churchill Road 1400

37563 Y13 13.56 Wisbech - Lowestoft 30 late

37564 K14 arrived Wisbech 1436 left 1438 to Lowestoft 12 late

37572 K17 1418 Wisbech - Peterborough arrived 1436 left 1440

37566 K1 1635 Peterborough - Yarmouth

37575 K2 1705 Peterborough - Lowestoft

20118 K5 1840 Peterborough - King's Lynn!! Finally I get a coach to travel on!!

37576 L8 1922 Wisbech - Peterborough arrive 1926 (driver blondie)

Well a few things to comment on here. Why 20353 was on the A1101 is unknown. 37563 had obviously made up quite a bit of time on Y13 to be only 30 late. This diagram is the Saturday quick turn round at Lowestoft (due in at 17.40 and out again at 17.48) but was nevertheless on time arriving at King's Lynn tonight. I know about 37572 Rob, it almost ran me off the road en route to the wedding at the Tilney roundabout in its efforts to regain time. K1 had begun the day with 37567 but had changed at Lowestoft for 37566. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that L8 had also changed from 37573 when viewed by Bruce this morning to being 576 tonight. This was because on arrival at Lynn at 18.45, 573 was failed with a broken alternator belt and help had to be summoned. Kerry who'd just refuelled and washed 37576 off Y7 sent this out in its place.

Other unscheduled changes today involved 37577 which failed at Thorney Toll yesterday and today was unable to continue eastbound from Lynn on the 14.02 to Lowestoft. Judging by its absence, the vehicle which went forward appears to have been 20123. Another change this evening was on K4 where 37570 was taken off at 19.25 and 20103 which had just arrived on Y9 was substituted for the journey back to Lowestoft. Whether the removal of 37570/7 was down to component failures or requested for maintenance reasons is unknown.

Other X1 duties of interest today not mentioned thus far were K3 having 20105 and K18 with 20352. The advert man was busy tonight affixing 'Keep Britain Tidy' rear ads to B10Ms 20109/21/31.

Friday 3rd July 2009 ~ Keeping The Show On The Road

Taken from Bruce's driveway this morning was this picture of 20105 making haste on L11 07.15 from Lowestoft. About a minute later 20118 passed by eastbound.

The 10.05 from Peterborough passes the Fair Green turn today with 20118.

After the weather broke today there was some pleasant evening sunshine being enjoyed by the passengers on 37563 which was working L8 15.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough.

The daily efforts which go on at First to keep advertised services running are often glossed over. Credit must be given to Richard and his team at King's Lynn today for doing just that. Initially this morning things looked OK, but at 07.50 the driver of 37577 on K1 rang in from Thorney Toll to say his charge had broken down with an oil leak. Volvo engineers attended and after repairs it was able to return to King's Lynn garage. Thanks to Andy James for alerting me to this. Meanwhile a replacement vehicle had to be found and 20351 which had been sidelined for MOT preparation had to be used as the 08.32 to Lowestoft. This afternoon 351 was taken off so that repaired 37577 could continue eastbound on the 18.02 to Great Yarmouth. Things were pretty desperate on the schools contract front too. 20106 required a new radiator after doing the morning part of Contract 2 and 20123 was planned to be repaired in time to do the afternoon part, however it was back in Vancouver Avenue tonight, so whether it worked is unclear. 20109 and 20131 were the other two coaches used, but 131 was seen departing on a 40 to Hunstanton at 12.53 sounding very unhealthy. The low floor service on this route was clearly abandoned today as a minute before this a 41 left for Hunstanton with vintage Olympian 34933.

The shortage of vehicles for schools contracts was chiefly because two of the regular coaches were working on the X1. 20105 on L11 and 20118 on Y7. In addition two of Lowestoft's B10Ms were out, these being 20103 on K2 and 20104 on K16. Whilst on this subject I should make a correction regarding 20115 which Sam points out has in fact returned to Norwich where it is based and not Ipswich as I said yesterday.

37575 returned to traffic today, but 37566 which Bruce says was sounding very rough on the last couple of occasions he has seen it was kept at Lowestoft today, as indeed was 37565 which has not been out on the X1 since Monday. 37578 is also still off the road as no seatbelts have yet been forthcoming. 20352 was K15 today and 20353 L12. Timekeeping was fairly good for a Friday. Thanks to Bruce and Rob Brooks for regular reports this week.

Thursday 2nd July 2009 ~ The Heat Intensifies

Despite the very high temperatures today, the X1 service seemed once again to manage remarkably well. There were actually a fair few swaps, but I don't think any of these can be attributed to vehicles malfunctioning in the heat. The second day of the Royal Norfolk Show seemed to affect eastbound services only and as a result several Lowestoft arrivals were held over to do the turn following that to which they were rostered. K17 was the first turn affected and this came in with 37579 but left westbound at 10.25 with 37568. You may recall that last night 568 was despatched from Lynn to rescue a stranded eastbound service with a broken windscreen. Well the stricken vehicle turned out to be 20353 on K18 (at least that what makes sense) as 353 was back at Lynn this morning and 568 was at Lowestoft. Following this services from Lowestoft ran as follows :

K18 in with 37576 out with 37579
K19 in with 37573 out with 37576
K1 in with 20353 out with 37573
K2 in with 20104 out with 20353
So you get the picture ? After this normality resumed with 37572 sticking on K5 and 20104 becoming spare. Later though 37566 on L10 was kept at Lowestoft and 20104 headed back west on the 16.25 to Peterborough.
So much for the Royal Norfolk Show delays, there were other swaps too. K4 with 20352 was halted at Lynn at 09.54 with replacement brake linings required, so 20118 was procured and worked the rest of the turn. This left King's Lynn short to cover Hunstanton schools turns, so 20106 which had been merrily plying its trade on Y9 was removed at Lynn at 12.24 and - at least it would seem, though confirmation required - replaced by a repaired 20352.
Y6 was not seen today so again reports are welcome, but it would seem most likely to have been 37563. B10Ms out today were 20103/4/5/6/18. 20103 was K15 (extremely unusual for this turn to be anything other than a Lynn vehicle, but especially notable being a LFT B10M) and 20105 did K16 which, ironically, ends at Lowestoft. Gemini 37575 passed its MOT today and is now available for traffic again.
20121 has been out on a test run and may need a new ecu, it should be next for attention once 20123 has received a new injector pipe on which work is ongoing. Sam reports that 20115 is no longer at Lowestoft and is on loan to Ipswich, so its hectic spell of X1 activity may yet prove to be a flash in the pan.

Wednesday 1st July 2009 ~ The Royal Norfolk Slow

Handsome 20106 is seen between the Highways - Walton and Walpole - this morning on K3 (of course). The Royal Norfolk Show played havoc with today's schedules however and 106 was swapped at Lowestoft.

20131 has just been rejected in favour of 37570, but there are no such problems for 34921 (right and out of picture) which is off to Sunny Hunny.

Summer of Love 1. 37566 with original Easyjet ad for flights to Majorca leaves Lynn on K14. It had arrived 30 late on Y13.

Summer of Love 2. 37568 with the fishy Easyjet ad for Malaga leaves King's Lynn at 12.32 for Lowestoft on Y9.

Summer of Love 3. Here's 37564 arriving at Lynn 62 late today on K14 sporting the most common version of the Easyjet ad around at the moment, advertising flights from Luton to Athens.

I'm on holiday from work this week and decided to devote some of today to monitoring the X1. My day began quite successfully as I guessed that K3 would be 20106 and was able as you can see above, to get a picture of it at work, having felt that it has been rather neglected pictorially for a while. Next I discovered from Bruce that K5 was 37576 and was rather pleased as I'd predicted this yesterday (my predictions rarely succeed !). Thanks to Rob Brooks also for some early reports today.

I set out for King's Lynn at around 10.30 and saw 20104 at Tilney All Saints on time working L10. After a fleeting visit to Rowan Road where the only relevant occupants were 20121, 37578 awaiting repairs plus 20118/131 and 34933 off schools turns, I headed for town and then passed L11 with 20109. I knew then that all was not plain sailing as 20109 is restricted at the moment due to a faulty oil seal and must have come on at Lynn, so I headed for the bus station to see what was going on. At around 11.05 20131 turned up from Rowan Road with 'X1 Peterborough' on the blinds. It parked in the middle and then at 11.13 37570 arrived on what at first appeared to be L12, but it soon became apparent that this was L11 running 36 late. There was then some animated conversation between the incoming driver and a fitter and 20131 drew up alongside. After further deliberation, it was decided that 20131 was not needed and that 570 was able to proceed. 20131 then departed but not before Blondie (for twas she who was the forward driver), chased after 131 on foot as she'd left her mobile phone on it. With this recovered she then rejoined 570, passengers boarded and it then set sail at 11.21. It transpired that 131 has a faulty ecu and 570 is still having problems with its ABS, so it was a toss up which one would go, but Karen preferring B9s decided on 570. After this a pattern emerged where the incoming vehicle from Lowestoft would depart having dropped a turn, for example 20103 arrived at 11.37, 30 late on L12 and then worked forward as Y13. Next came 37566, 31 late on Y13 and then departing 15 late as K14. After the arrival of 566 at 12.09, there was then a lull on westbound arrivals of exactly an hour when at 13.09 20105 came in with 37564 immediately behind and after a further 2 minutes 37574 also arrived from the east. These were K16 on time, K14 62 late and K15 30 late ! Some clever arranging took place and then 37564 went on to the Peterborough stand departing at around 13.20 now as K16, 37574 went empty to Wisbech to resume K15 and 20105 relieved 20109 on L11 leaving eastbound 16 late. All this meant that there was a gap in Peterborough departures between 566 at 12.29 and 564 at 13.20.

With the arrival of 37579 on K17 things seemed to settle down, however, there may have been further changes on Lowestoft arrivals as later K18 which had started out with 37563 had 20353 (Bruce saw it and even Richard was unaware thinking it was still blown up at Lowestoft !) and 20106 on K3 ended up (we think) on K4. This meant 20352 returned on K3 (possibly having turned round at Yarmouth as it was originally on K4). The reason for the almighty delays was queueing traffic to the Royal Norfolk showground with four mile tailbacks at one stage. This is a two day event, so may be we can expect the same tomorrow. 20353 had been at Lowestoft with a suspension problem and after this was cured it's indicators stopped working, however, it was fixed for K18 this afternoon. The days events weren't finished though as tonight 37568 which had arrived at Vancouver Avenue off Y9 at about 19.30 was hastily refuelled and sent out to Dereham to relieve a fellow B9 which had a smashed windscreen.

Michael Bryant and Sam both witnessed 20107 on the X2 today and Trident 32801 appeared on the turn described yesterday. Michael also saw 37565 today. It was heading for Norwich down the Loddon bypass at around 9am and may possibly have been on a special in connection with the Royal Norfolk show. It had 'First' on the destination display. Another interesting vehicle seen by Michael was 20127 which was seen heading out of Norwich on the Lowestoft route at 07.25, but not it would seem on an X2. We've already mentioned the fact that 20131 almost worked to Peterborough this morning, but it did later see some action when it worked the 12.35 service 40 from Lynn to Hunstanton before doing schools contract no. 2 at teatime. What will tomorrow bring ??

Tuesday (thanks Sam !) 30th June 2009 ~ Seaside Special

K17 was a B7 turn in the last timetable and quite often still is these days too. 20351 has just passed the 'Coach & Horses' pub at Tilney in this view which was taken in the searing heat at 2pm today.

It must have been nice to have been on the coast the last few days with a pleasant breeze to moderate the temperature and anyone travelling out of Southwold this morning would have got a surprise. Michael F says "37565 was working the 7:31 route 99 service from Southwold to Lowestoft this morning. Seems these purpose built buses for the X1 are beginning to stray away from the route on a regular basis. There doesn't yet seem any consistency of diagrams though... just as and when. Will keep you posted from the far east!".

I did wonder if 565 would be kept local today as 20105 was still over there and this did L12 today with 37566/9/72 doing the other Lowestoft originating turns this morning. K3 was, well you know what I'm going to say don't you ? 20106 ! Y6 came across from Yarmouth with 20103 and this was out all day and was seen leaving King's Lynn on the 20.35 to Lowestoft. K16 produced 20107 and Bruce had a ride on it from Lynn to Walpole Highway. 107 is much, much quieter mechanically these days although this has detracted from its character a bit.

Delays in the Dereham area this teatime meant that 37576 on K5 was about 30 late into Lynn to do the 17.15 Peterborough, so 20118 took its place. 576 is due to be serviced in the morning so may well find itself on K5 again tomorrow, this being the final Lynn despatch.

The Harry Potter ad has now been noted on 37563/4/9, while 37566 carries the Bruno ad.

Monday 29th June 2009 ~ Travelogue

Jim says "I have to smile when someone has a rant,especially when you talk about the coaches,the one's some of you couldn't wait to get rid of, also saying things will change when the new Deckers arrive. Well I must say some of you have changed your tune,what's the saying ? You never miss it until it's gone. Now I grant you, if you sit up the front upstairs it's tight, but the view is exceptional.
I travelled from Ipswich to Lowestoft by train and the X1 from Lowestoft to Lynn on 37567 - fantastic,then on 30888 to Hunstanton Bl--dy hell those seats upstairs on the Alx400 were very hard, but scenery fantastic. Came back on the coastal flyer to Lynn and I still don't like the Solo,nippy,but the road noise ! Back to Norwich on 37567 again, home on the class 90.
The following day to Lowestoft again, then on 37568 to JPH Gorleston, 66959 into Yarmouth, a wee bite, then later to Norwich on 37568. I saw 32852 at Surrey St about to leave for Sheringham so hopped on and I must admit it was a superb ride as far as Cromer. Caught the 18.00 train to Norwich and the 19.00 to Ipswich. Now! personally if you try an equal a bus with a coach, you will always be on a loser hence the moaners. I thoroughly enjoyed my two day chase around, so did my good lady. So in 10 years time, lets hope they bring back the new type of Paragons or even Elites so the guys out there who seem to have a crack at most things will be happy again, OR WILL THEY ? I recall all the comments about the B10's & B12's and the reliability problems,will history repeat itself i wonder ? I hope I'm around to make comments. I also think how lucky you are to have such a fantastic service in the X1, running from Suffolk through Norfolk into Cambridgeshire on a half hourly basis, my word I am jealous".
When Jim talks about the moaners, can I make it clear that this is not a personal attack on Rob B. I think Jim is referring to many enthusiasts who took some mileage out of the reliability latterly of the coaches. Sounds like an interesting couple of days out Jim, just can't understand how you never fell upon a B10M ! The influx of Tridents seem to be spreading their wings from Norwich and today Michael Bryant saw 32857 on the 15.08 Norwich - Beccles X2. In contrast 20105 which stayed over at Lowestoft on Saturday was also on X2 duties today.
So to today's X1 and considering the high temperatures which we had today and which are forecast to last all week, the service did well. Fourteen services were B9 operated which is the highest proportion of these out for some time. Missing were accident damaged 37571, 37578 awaiting seatbelts which could be arriving this week and 37575 which is at King's Lynn on MOT. The shortfall was made up by 20106 on K3 (again), 20107 on Y7 and 20103 on K18, this latter was 13 late through Walpole heading west this afternoon. Profiles out were 20352 on L8 and 20353 on K5. 20351 remained at Lowestoft but was not reported in use. Many thanks to Bruce for sightings today. Tonight Richard and myself had a look at 37568 which has 82309 miles on the odometer and 80112 on the wheel hub so may be the latter was fitted after entry into service. Either way it is a huge mileage for a vehicle which has only been in service since 23rd October last and even the lower figure equates to 320 miles every single day if my calculations are correct.

Sunday 28th June 2009 ~ Hot Under The Collar

This is a bit blurry but had to be included for rarity value. It's 37565 on this morning's 10.10 from Peterborough complete with new ad for 'Bruno'. It retired on arrival at Lowestoft.

37566 passing Boskoop Farm on the 13.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft. Green Nokia ad.

37568 arrives at Wisbech this evening on the 19.00 to Lowestoft. Ice Age 3 advert.

We haven't had any ranting on here for a little while, so here's a bit of verbal from Rob B after his experience today :

Just joined 37572 at Wisbech on the late running 14.22 to Peterborough, left at 14.32 10 late exactly. Asked for a single- £4. "Wait a minuite" I said- "when did they go up?", "After a month", the driver said. I paid the fare, grudgingly, then took my usual seat at the back (can't do the top deck in summer- too damn hot) and thought to myself- This X1 used to be great- nice coaches, decent legroom (except the P7xxXHS ex Glasgow lot) and reasonable fares. Then they got rid of THE best coaches on the route- the B12s, gave us 3 coaches that have a wheelchair lift that blocks any reasonable view out the front window.....assuming you get a B7R that works, and then these big mistakes! Hard seats, legroom that only a toddler can call decent with no view out the front window because the amount of bars across the front looks like your in a prision cell. Now their charging nearly a quid more for a lot less!! And its for this reason alone I will use Stagecoach's 36 whenever possible from now on. £3.30 single and £5 return (dayrider+ ticket...you can go anywhere in Cambridgeshire then!!) That's much more like it!!

Well if you agree or disagree with Rob, please get in touch, particularly if you have any recent travelling experiences.

Today was a totally B9 worked service, but 37565 which went over to Lowestoft on K3 predictably failed to return 37573 came back. This had gone over first thing on K6 and this turn continued with 37569.

Here's an advert update for the B9s

37563 Nokia 2 (green); Easy Jet Athens; Lowestoft College

37564 Ice Age 3; Easy Jet Athens; nil

37565 Bruno; Easy Jet Malaga; nil

37566 Nokia 2 (green); Easy Jet Majorca (original); UEA Open Days

37567 Public Enemies ; Easy Jet Athens; nil

37568 Ice Age 3; Easy Jet Malaga; Kwikfit

37569 Public Enemies; Easy Jet Athens; UEA Open Days

37570 Bruno; Easy Jet Athens; Lowestoft College

37572 Nil; Easy Jet Athens; nil

37573 Public Enemies; Easy Jet Malaga; UEA Carol Bundock

37574 Nokia 2 (green); Easy Jet Malaga; UEA Carol Bundock

37575 Nokia 2 (green); Easy Jet Athens; LV Com

37576 Bruno; Easy Jet Athens; LV Com

37577 Nokia 2 (green); Cadburys Twisted; NCC Elections green

37578 Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince; Easy Jet Malaga; LV Com

37579 Bruno; Easy Jet Athens; UEA Carol Bundock

A few items of note here. The adverts for Bruno were all fixed last night and 37579 became the first B9 to lose the Green Nokia ad. 37570/6 were the last two with the Pepsi Raw ad. 37565 had worn the Public Enemies ad for a few days before having the Bruno one fixed. 37572 has still never carried any nearside advertising. There are currently three versions of EasyJet advert, the adman was most disappointed when I told him he'd missed replacing the original one on 37566 !

Saturday 27th June 2009 ~ Static Exhibit

Bernie gets to grips with 20105 as it leaves Wisbech on K3 at 08.56 this morning. the return trip from Lowestoft was handled by sister vehicle 20103.

20118 has lost its Norfolk police adverts at last and Sure Start Childrens Centre is the beneficiary on both sides. The new vinyls were fitted on June 13th. Here she is witnessed by Bruce and myself on K15 14.05 from Peterborough this afternoon. King's Lynn depot have also fitted new registration plates to 118 for its recent MOT.

37578 is something of a statue at Rowan Road. The advertising man has now put a nice pictorial promo for 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' on the side, the previous two it has carried for 'Hangover' and 'Public Enemies' were never seen in traffic. Its last appearance in use was on May 29th. Its hub meter reads 66190 incidentally. Highest mileage of the B9s seems to have been accumulated by 37564 which has now got an impressive 80289 miles on the clock.

20118 was earning its keep today, it began on K5 but was taken off at Lynn at 10.24 as 37573 was OK to work forward. 118 then replaced 37576 on K15 12.45 to Peterborough and stuck with the turn all day which on a Saturday finishes with the 23.15 ex Peterborough. Bruce saw K1 with an unidentified B10M this afternoon and Cheryl then sent a text to confirm it was 20107. K3 had 20105 but this was swapped at Lowestoft and the 12.55 back from Lowestoft was 20103. 20106 was the other B10M working and this did Y10.

B7 20351 which worked over to Lowestoft on Friday afternoon's K16 did not appear today, but K16 was again a Profile, this time 20352. 20353 came back from Yarmouth and worked Y7 all day. Rob Brooks reported L8 20.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft as diverted via the Wisbech western bypass and Elm Road to reach the bus station tonight, presumably due to an accident on Cromwell Road. the vehicle was 37577. L12 with 37568 was going well tonight and was seen at Lynn Hardwick Road Tesco stop at 20.34, just 20 minutes after its scheduled departure from Swaffham.

Friday 26th June 2009 ~ It Never Rains But It Pours.....

Scania 65525 arrives at Wisbech after a storm this evening on K5 18.40 from Peterborough

Today got off to a good start for a Friday. Rob Brooks was about, having finished an all-line railrover and reported K3 37573 0805 Peterborough - Lowestoft on time. 20353 K4 0835 Peterborough - Lowestoft 5 late, 37575 passed Guyhirn 0907 heading into Peterborough on Y6 and finally 37568 on L8 0948 Wisbech - Peterborough left 0951. It was a quieter day for B10Ms with only three seen, these being 20107 on K2, 20105 on Y13 and 20106 on K18.

Bruce bumped into Richard at Rowan Road this morning where 20123 was receiving attention to an injector pipe leak. It is due to return to Norwich as soon as the situation with the B9s improves, however, this could be a while yet. 37578 is still being raided for seatbelts to keep other B9s in service and there are no signs of the ordered replacements turning up. The saga of 37565's unreliability was disclosed today, Bruce says it is suffering from an ABS fault and Kieron who was back at work today reports it being used on one of the Hunstanton schools contracts this afternoon because of a shortage of B10Ms !!! Richard says 20109 is on restricted working at the moment pending repairs and only 20118 & 20131 were available this afternoon. Work on 20121 has not commenced yet because of the maintenance backlog at Lynn.

By lunchtime, everything was still running smoothly but being a Friday one knew it was only a matter of time before things went downhill. Andy James and myself managed to piece things together and this is what ensued... An A47 accident at Hockering began the disruption causing delays and then 37573 had to be taken out of service at Lynn after a passenger was ill on the bus. First sign of anything amiss through Wisbech was when K19 15.18 to Peterborough failed to appear having terminated at King's Lynn with 37566. K1 then ran as normal with 37569, but K2 with 20107 was delayed and this turn appeared with 37566. K3 had 37573 as far as Lynn where it was taken out of traffic for cleaning and 20107 worked forward. K4 managed to avoid any substantial delay with 20353 throughout, but K5 was very late into King's Lynn with 37579 so Scania 65525 was pressed into frontline activity on the 17.15 to Peterborough. Peter reported seeing it at its destination and I passed it en route to the Rose Tavern beer festival returning east. K19 which was cancelled over the western section this afternoon continued from Lynn at 17.32 with a cleaned up 37573. L12 which had been 37570 this morning was swapped at Lowestoft for 20352 and this was viewed through a pint glass heading out of Wisbech westbound at 21.22.

Thursday 25th June 2009 ~ Game, Set & Match

Bruce and Tina had a day out at Wimbledon today and travelled to King's Lynn on the X1. Bruce says "I was hoping for a B10M but it was 37574 on K19. I nearly fainted when Blondie asked me for £4 just to Lynn and even more so when I discovered she meant £4 each ! (You are spoilt with that bus pass Bruce). Gerard then told me that our chosen service home in the evening - Y13 - was 37573, so no luck there either".
Punctuality was pretty reasonable today, the maximum lateness noted being 10 minutes which affected lunchtime services from Wisbech to Peterborough. This afternoon the B198 Lynn Road at Wisbech reopened after repairs for subsidence and the temporary diversion for eastbound services via the A1101 finished.
King's Lynn used 20105 today on K2 and 20106 did what is fast becoming its regular turn, K3. 20115 was not seen today, but it seems likely that it did actually work the first leg of Y7 to Peterborough and back to Lowestoft where 37566 replaced it. 20118 turned up on L11 this morning replacing 37563 at King's Lynn for unknown reasons. 20123 was not out today though after it failed at Wisbech yesterday afternoon with a fuel leak whilst working K3. Unusual today was the use of Lowestoft's 37565 on a Lynn internal turn, K5. The mileage on this one is significantly lower than other B9s due to periods of inactivity and currently reads 59576. Compare this to 37566 which has been off the road for accident repairs twice and still exceeds this figure having done 63266. These are both dwarfed by 37563 which tonight had done 77289. Some B9s have already had replacement hub meters fitted, 37569 for example shows 15125 and 37570 06880.
Profile 20353 was L12 this morning but was changed at Lynn for 37577. Michael Bryant reports 20352 as being on the X2 for most of the day, he first saw it in Beccles at 07.30 and it was still out at 14.30. 20103 was also used on the X2 today. The other B7, 20351 saw more conventional use on K17.

Wednesday 24th June 2009 ~ A New Route ?

The B7 Profiles seemed to be standby duty today. 20351 managed a full days work on K17, but 20353 which had been at Lowestoft after doing the early part of K15 yesterday, re-emerged on the second part of K2 today in place of 20104. Jamie R travelled on 353 on the 17.15 from Peterborough and was surprised to find that it left Wisbech on the A1101 as has been normal recently, but then turned left up Norwich Road and carried on over the speed bumps through Walsoken to meet the B198 near the Norfolk boundary. Meanwhile 20352 was seen on Y6 19.10 from Peterborough tonight having taken over from 37570 which did the morning part of the diagram. Swaps seemed to be the theme of the day and other turns affected were L12 which came over from Lowestoft with 37565 - its first appearance for more than a week, but tonight this had been replaced by 37572 off K5. K19 was another turn which swapped, this time at Lowestoft where 37563 came in at 11.10 with 37577 taking over at 11.25.
B10Ms on X1 duty today were 20104 as mentioned above on the first part of K2 and following it this morning were a rather rough sounding 20123 on K3 and then 20107 on K4 which somehow managed to lose 27 minutes on the 08.45 from Peterborough by the time it passed Bruce at Walpole Highway. This evening it was only around six late. 20115 was again used on a B9 turn from Lynn, this time on K18. From the coast all turns were B9s except Y7 which had 20106.
Mike F was in touch to say that the old K2 diagram on the X2, the 15.38 Lowestoft - Norwich etc had 37569 today explaining its 'no show' on the X1.
The advertising campaign by 'Easyjet' has claimed the passenger side of all the B9s except 37577 which retains a Cadbury's Twisted ad.

Tuesday 23rd June 2009 ~ Geminis On Holiday

New correspondent 'xdp73' kindly reports that 37565 was on the 15.38 Lowestoft - Norwich X2 yesterday, so may be it is on some sort of restricted working. More news of 20103's failure yesterday has come in. Apparently it expired at Toftwood with a loss of electrics. It was able to continue after a main fuse was replaced, however, its place today was taken by 37568. Today's most unusual working (again many thanks to xdp73) involved 37569 which after working the first part of Y7 (the 10.05 from Peterborough which is into Lowestoft at 14.40) then did the 15.13 service 99 to Southwold. Y7 continued at 14.55 back to King's Lynn with .......... the return of 'The Beast' 20107 fresh from its MOT. A strange set up surely ? May be the 99 is advertised as an all low floor service ?
A better showing by the B9s today with all but 37565/71/78 reaching Peterborough on the X1. Profile 20353 on K15 failed to reappear on the 09.26 from Lowestoft and 20104 was substituted. This was 12 late going to Peterborough but only 6 late coming back. Other B10Ms helping out today were 20123 which did K4 until 19.28 when it was replaced at King's Lynn by 20106 which had just come in having completed K3. Any guesses what the other B10M out today was ? Well it was 20115 of course (who'd have thought we'd have been saying that a few weeks ago). This did Y13 which means it should get back to Lynn at 00.28 tonight.
Gemini 37563 was seen this evening and it has now amassed 77083 miles since its debut last October. One of the newer B9s 37572 had 71598 on the clock yesterday evening and a quick check tonight saw that this had risen to 71917. This conveniently tells us that turn K5 which is what it had done between the two readings covers approx 319 miles. (KL-Pbo-Lft-Pbo-KL).
The Easyjet advertisements are now carried on the passenger side of almost all B9s. Bruce and myself monitored punctuality today which was very good.

Monday 22nd June 2009 ~ Just The Seven

B10Ms were to the fore today. No less than seven all told, though one of these was due to a failure. 20103 was sent out by Lynn on K2, but later was reported as having failed near Dereham and Andrew saw K2 leave with 20109 on the 15.45 to Peterborough having come off a 43 town service. Later though 20103 appeared in time to take up its return working at 18.35 to Lowestoft. 20104 which had also arrived at Lynn late on Sunday night was used on K16 today. 20106 did K3 and K18 was 20115. What worked Y13 as far as Lynn this morning is presently not known, but 20118 worked forward to Peterborough about 15 late. Final B10M seen today was 20123 which replaced 37576 at Lowestoft on K5. Only two B7s were available today with 20351 stopped with a suspension problem. 20352 and 20353 did K17 and K15 respectively.
With all this coach activity, B9s were somewhat thinner on the ground than usual. 37578 remains at Rowan Road, 37571 stored with accident damage and 37565 has simply disappeared it would seem.

Sunday 21st June 2009 ~ Log for the longest day

A traditional line up at King's Lynn garage this evening with 20115/106 in the foreground next to 20353 bearing new red 'First' lettering. At the other end of the line up is B7 20352.

20104 descends from the A47 flyover near Walpole Highway at lunchtime working the 12.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft.

When the X1 timetable changed recently, it was assumed that the Sunday timetable remained almost unchanged, however, it would appear that there is now a tenth turn whereas previously only nine vehicles were involved. The reason for this is that K6 06.35 King's Lynn - Lowestoft which arrives at its destination at 09.30, now seems to retire to the depot and a fresh vehicle off Lowestoft then works the rest of the turn starting with the 09.48 to Peterborough. The Saturday L12 turn which just does a Lowestoft - P'borough and return trip then berths overnight at Yarmouth. Last week this was 20115 and it then worked Y9 on Sunday. Today precisely the same thing happened when 20103 off L12 yesterday did Y9 today. It was not alone flying the B10M flag though as sister 20104 worked Y5 all day. Both these turns end at Lynn and this has left the western end of the service with a surplus of B10Ms. Tonight King's Lynn was host to 20103/4/5/6/9/15/18/21/31 of which all are Ok except 20121. The three B7 Profiles were all in Vancouver Avenue garage too, meaning that the only B9s in Lynn tonight will be 37569/73/4/6/7, plus the unserviceable 37578 at Rowan Road. 37577 is assumed to have been K1 (the only turn not seen today) and 37566 K6a.

20106/15 were also in Vancouver Avenue tonight enjoying a well earned rest. B10Ms are still capable of some worthwhile mileages. Since 30th May 20109 and 20131 have chiefly been limited to schools turns and have clocked up 2247 and 2015 miles respectively, however, 20118 which has enjoyed a fair bit of X1 use had amassed 5122 miles over the same period.

Saturday 20th June 2009 ~ Computers dontcha hate 'em

Sorry for the delay in producing blogs this week. I've been having problems with my AOL browser. Lots of people ask me why I still use AOL as it is more expensive than other options. The main reason is I prefer its email system and overall I've had few problems with it since I first came online in 1998. After several consultations with AOL tech support who couldn't find a solution, I solved the problem myself by downloading Internet Explorer V8 which has somehow fixed AOL !
Bruce and myself saw only one B10M out today, this being 20103 on L12, the out and back turn. Jamie R sent a text to say 'lots of 100s out' which rather puzzled me, turned out he'd seen 20104 on K4, 20106 on L11 and 20103 (L12). This wasn't all either as Y7 turned up with 20115 which has rapidly risen from being the rarest B10M to the most common. Since its reappearance on June 11th, it has been in use every day ! Coaches were prominent today with B7s 20352 on K3 and 20353 on K19. Following its MOT on Thursday 20353 has re-emerged with a repainted front so it now sports the 'First' lettering once more but has lost its fleet number which was in a smaller font than 20351/2.
The 'Easyjet' advert which has been carried by various B9s since around April 23rd has now been supplemented by a second version which looks very similar. 37568 now has this on its passenger side and 37573 has had the original version replaced with the new one. 573 also has the 'Public Enemies' advert now. 37578 seems to get all the new adverts going, but is still out of use - it currently carries Public Enemies/Easyjet V2/LV Com.
B9s out today were 37563/4/6/8/9/70/72-77/79. I haven't seen 37565 since Monday and our last report of it is from Michael on the X2 on Tuesday.

Friday 19th June 2009 ~ X2 happenings

In very low lighting conditions just after 21.00 tonight, 20104 seen near Tilney on L12.
There have been several appearances of X1 vehicles on the X2 this week. Firstly on Tuesday 37565 was seen on this service and on the same day 20103 & 20123 were also seen, Wednesday saw the same two B10Ms out, while on Thursday 20103 performed in the morning and 20104 in the afternoon. Today 37567 arrived at Lowestoft on the 14.40 arrival (Y7) and this was then sent out on the 15.38 X2 to Norwich. Y7 continued with 37574. Thanks to Michael for this information. This was part of a series of Gemini swaps at Lowestoft. First turn affected was K5 which had 37574 changed for 37576, the latter had been spare at Lowestoft as it did not return to Lynn last night on K15 and instead 20123 was sent back. 37569 on Y9 was swapped for 37566 and 569 then went onto L11 which is believed to have been 37572 in the morning. At King's Lynn, L10 changed vehicles in the middle of the day with 37579 being changed for 37570.
All three Profiles were out on King's Lynn internal diagrams. The B10M count was four, these being 20104 on L12, 20106 on K16, 20115 on K4 and 20123 seen racing towards Walpole Highway this morning on K2. Y13 was not seen but Bruce thinks it was a B9 and not 20127 which had been expected.
Hunstanton schools turns today were 20105/18/31. 20121 remains 'broken' at Rowan Road along with Gemini 37578 which has now not been on the road since May 29th. Local Scania 65528 has at last left this location for major repairs.
Timekeeping on the X1 was not too bad for a Friday particularly considering the Wisbech diversion mentioned in previous blogs. Worst culprit was K14 which was 20 late westbound from Wisbech with 37568 and 18 late returning.

Thursday 18th June 2009 ~ Changing Times

There have been a lot of vehicle changes lately and it seems seldom does a day go by than one of the coast originating turns swaps buses at King's Lynn. Today things were even more complicated, Y6 began the day with 37569 but by this evening had changed to 37579, L8 passed through Wisbech at 09.55 with 37566 but this later reappeared on K14, so another Lynn swap. L10 came through with 20105 which again had come on at Lynn. There were two B7 turns in quick succession at lunchtime with L12 having 20351 and the following service, Y13 with 20352.
Only turn not reported today was K17 which seems likely to have been either 37570 or 37575. B10Ms out today were fairly predictable : 20105 as listed above, 20106 on K5, 20115 on Y7 and 20127 on K18. Some evening observations were kindly sent to me by Andrew James and there is a link to his King's Lynn bus blog in my 'links' section. Andrew reports :
All observations made at KLN bus station.

1702 LOW - 20127 - DEP 2 LATE
1715 PBO - 20106 - DEP 3 LATE
1732 LOW - 37563 - DEP 5 LATE
1745 PBO - 37579 - DEP ON TIME
1802 LOW - 37577 - DEP ON TIME
1810 ARR FROM LOW - 20115
1832 LOW - 37572 - DEP 7 LATE
1850 PBO - UNID B9-DEP ON TIME
1853 ARR FROM PBO - 37574
1910 ARR FROM LOW - 37573
1932 LOW - 37567 - DEP 5 LATE
1950 PBO - UNID B10-DEP ON TIME

The strangest thing here is that 37574 and 37572 have swapped turns compared to this morning. Presumably because 37572 was terminated short at Yarmouth on K3. The two unidentified turns were L8 at 18.50 with 37569 and L10 at 19.50 with 20105. Thanks once again to Andy for his help.

Wednesday 17th June 2009 ~ Tales of a Lonesome Blogger

Ryan reported 37570 at Yarmouth overnight with defects and other X1 vehicles there were 20104/26. 37570 reappeared today on Y13. Other sightings this morning through Wisbech were 20118 on L8 having once again replaced a Gemini at Lynn (believed to be 37573, which later continued the turn). 37574 was L10, 37563 L11, 20127 L12 and 37566 Y6. This evening Y7 looked to have arrived with 37567 and Y9 with 37564.
King's Lynn despatched just two B10Ms today, these being the two new flagship boys : 20106 on K3 and 20115 on K4. 20105 had a rare day off and had new tyres fitted. 37568 has the Ice Age 3 ad along with 37564, while 37567 has gained the 'Public Enemies' banner having lost its 'Hangover' one after only a few days. 567 has also lost its NCC ad on the back.
The subsidence which has affected Lynn Road in Wisbech means all eastbound services are still leaving via the A1101, while westbound services either arrive via the normal route - with a consequent delay in the region of 5 minutes - or take the A1101 route. Bruce is indisposed until the weekend with house guests, so sightings are my own unless stated. Yesterday 20118 expired at Wisbech on L8 just before 11am and had to be taken to Lynn garage for a new alternator.
Speaking of 118, 37566 was unable to work Y6 westbound from Lynn tonight at 17.45 and 20118 was substituted.

Tuesday 16th June 2009 ~ Six Again

Who really would have thought that after the blaze of publicity for the 'Geminis' and the unceremonious dumping of the B12 coaches last Winter, that now 'Wimbledon' would be approaching and every available B10M would be commandeered to frontline service ?
This anyway would appear to be the case. Michael phoned this evening and said that it had been an unusually diverse day on the X2 with 37565 of all things on the old K19 turn as well as 20103 and 20123 in action. On the X1 B10Ms were equally prominent. Today's list is 20104 on K18, 20105 (surely an award winner ?) on K5, 20106 on K3, 20115 on Y13, 20118 working L10 forward from Lynn this morning after the incoming vehicle (believed to be 37577) was removed and not to be outdone, 20127 on K2.
Of the B7s, 20351 did L12 which ran 14 minutes late past Bruce to Peterborough and 20352 was K17. As previously advised, 20353 is having an MOT this week. 37569 reappeared today on L11 complete with the 'Public Enemies' ad. Bruce oversaw this morning's activities and says :

Well the Blog Meister has had to go to a funeral so its my head on the chopping block again

Assembled for my entertainment this morning were:

K19 with 37572, K2 with 20127, K3 with 20106, K4 with 37564, K5 with 20105, Y6 with 37567, Y7 with 37576, L8 with 37573, Y9 with 37568, L10 with 20118, L11 with 37569, L12 with 20351 (14 late) and finally Y13 with 20115.

Other than L12, westbound time keeping has been spot on !

Many thanks to Bruce and all my usual contacts for keeping things going in my absence. the late blog this evening is due to PC probs at this end.

Monday 15th June 2009 ~ Back To Reality

37564 after arrival at King's Lynn this evening with new advertising for the film 'Ice Age'.

I returned from Cumbria today and passed 37579 and 20115 running slightly late before I stopped off at Bruce's to check on things, I'll let him take up the story ....

K1- Not seen between 08.01 and 08.37 - did it run early? However spotted by Gerard and me on the afternoon turn with 20115
K2 - 3 late at 08.37 with 20351 eastbound but noted with 37577 on the 16.04 westbound
K3 - 20105 eastbound at 09.13 9 late but on time at 16.34 westbound
K4 - 37576 at 09.44 10 late going east.
K5 - 37573 7 late westbound at 08.09 and 8 late eastbound at 10.12
Y6 - 20103 on time at 08.32 westbound.
Y7 - 37566 on time at 09.04 westbound
L8 - 37568 2 early westbound at 09.32 and 4 late on its return
Y9 - 20352 on time at 10.04 westbound
L10 - 37572 on time westbound at 10.34
L11 - 37567 on time both westbound at 11.04 and eastbound at 13.04
L12 - 20104 3 late westbound at 11.37 and 4 late on its return at 13.38
Y13 - 20127 on time at 12.04 westbound
K14 - Missed the blighter completely
K15 - 37574 at 15.xx eastbound, exact time not noted
K16 - 37573 3 late westbound at 13.37
K17 - 20106 at 16.xx eastbound - exact time not noted
K18 - 37567 19 late at 16.53 eastbound (see L11 above)
K19 - 37579 6 late at 07.37 east bound and on time at 15.04 coming back

And now the Blogmeister says there are even more swaps this evening. There is no doubt that depending on which side of Lynn you live, the X1 can produce two different stories.

Well as always, swaps took place and of turns we know changed we have K2 which had 20351 early on, this was taken off at Lowestoft where 37577 took over and 20351 was held over to work the next leg of Y6. Y6 itself was originally 20103 but this just worked Yarmouth - Peterborough and back to Lowestoft. Y7 was peculiar, starting out with 37566, this was removed at Lynn for the 11.29 to Lowestoft and 37575 substituted, however, Ryan reports this at Yarmouth tionight with a smashed rear window which probably accounts for 37564 doing the second leg which ends up at Lynn. L11 was 37567 but this became embroiled in the swaps and instead of proceeding to Lowestoft at 13.32, the aforementioned 37566 took over with 567 the doing K18 at 14.15 to Yarmouth in place of 37570 which looks to have failed yet again. 37565 was the B9 which evaded Bruce on K14.

Unavailable vehicles are 20121 and 37578, both still floundering at Rowan Road plus crash damaged 37571 of course. 20353 is on MOT this week and today 37569 was absent for a fourth consecutive day. B10Ms had a field day once again with 20103 on Y6a, 20104 doing L12 and 20105 K3. 20106 maintained its new found frontline status on K17 while even more amazingly 20115 appeared for a fifth consecutive day, this time on K1. Completing the line up was 20127 on Y13.

37578 as mentioned above is still demic at Rowan Road and has had acquired a new dropdown ad for the film 'Public Enemies'. This means it never carried the 'Hangover' ad in service ! 20118 and 2021 have both gained side adverts for Sure Start Childrens centre on both sides, this is the first time 121 has carried adverts. Meanwhile 37564 also has a new drivers side ad for the film 'Ice Age'.

Friday - Sunday, June 12th - 14th 2009 ~ Your Blog

Friday 12th June 2009 - Ryan says : What a shock, 20106 turned up at Yarmouth last night along with 37568/577 and 20103. 20127 has passed its MOT.
Bruce reports :-

In the absence of the Blogmeister,

A visit to Rowan Road at 11.45 revealed 65528 and 20121 still poorly, 20118/31 on contracts, 34933 spare and 34921 on crew shuttles.

Vancouver Avenue at 13.05 had 37572, 65532 and a B7R on No.1 pit

So K1 was very late at 15.34 but only 14 late to Lynn with 37570 at 17.48.
K2 was 20115 3 late to Peterborough at 16.07
K3 was 20105 3 late at 09.07 to Peterborough but on time coming back at 16.34
K4 was 20353 on time at 07.31 to Peterborough and 19 late at 09.23 but more of K4 later.
K5 was 37563 6 late to Lynn in the morning but near enough on time at 17.34
Y6 was 37568 19 late at 10.23 going steadily to Lynn
Y7 on time with 20106 at 09.04 and 7 late on its return to Lynn
L8 and and Y9 were both on time to Peterborough with 37566 and 37573 and I missed L10 as it was a B9 on time. But when viewed at lunchtime from Tescos at Hardwick 37566 appeared to be running on Y9s times with 37565 following hard on its heels on L10.However 37566 was L8 on time again at 19.08.
L11 was on time at 11.04 with 20126 but 13 late returning.
L12 was 20353 making its second journey (SWAP) to Peterborough (See K4) on time at 11.34 and completed the rest of L12's turns as well.
Y13 was 37577 2 late to Lynn at 14.06 and K14 37576 6 late at 14.30
K15 blotted its copy book with 37564 being 18 late to Lynn at 15.22.
K16 was 37575 on time to Peterborough at 13.34 but 15 late reurning.
Similarly K17 and 37574 were on time to Peterborough at 14.04 and 18 late returning.
K18 went to Peterborough on time at 14.34 with 37567 and then 37572 turned up on time at 15.04 with K19 (SWAP).

Now I knew K4 would have something different , having taken over from 20353, but while nonchalantly weeding out the front and pretending not to be waiting for an X1, nothing prepared me for 20123 - yes, 20123 coming over the flyover on K4
12 late on K4 at 19.22 heading for Lynn!!!

So ends a remarkable Friday: 1 Profile and 5 B10Ms

Andrew James says : "

I had some spare time on my hands today so thought I would
make some X1 observations for you being that you are away.

All observations made at Kings Lynn bus station.

1332 LOW - 20126 - 17 LATE
1345 PBO - 37574 - ON TIME
1402 LOW - 20353 - 12 LATE
1415 PBO - 37567 - ON TIME
1432 LOW - 37577 - ON TIME
1445 PBO - IN FROM LOW WITH 37579, SWAPPED WITH 37572 - ON TIME
1502 LOW - 37567 - ON TIME
1515 PBO - 37570 - ON TIME
1532 LOW - 37564 - 15 LATE
1545 PBO - 20115 - 5 LATE
1602 LOW - 37575 - 10 LATE
1615 PBO - 20105 - ON TIME
- - -
1732 LOW - 37572 - 10 LATE
1745 PBO - 37568 - ON TIME
1802 LOW - 37570 - 10 LATE
1832 LOW - 20115 - 15 LATE
1850 PBO - 37566 - ON TIME

Saturday 13th June 2009 ~ More from Ryan who says : Last night we had 20123 with an oil leak along with 20127, 20103 and 37570.

and more from Bruce....

A Vintage Saturday.

When a B10M passes by the bungalow to Peterborough, it hits the gradient up to the flyover and the gearbox changes down very distinctively. The B12Ms never did this, the B9s don't do it and the B7Rs are powered by rubber bands apparently. Consequently I was roused from my pit on Saturday morning by a B10M going to Peterborough on Y7 just after 09.00. Looking at the flyover a B10 I thought I recognised was passing another one coming towards me. This proved to be 20118 on K3. A good start to the day for Bruce's maxim : Old is good.

Half an hour later L8 had 37575 and K4 treated me to 20126

Things got even better in my eyes at 11.04 with Y9 and 20106 and K5 with 20105!

Normality (Does it ever occur on the X1?) returned at 11.34 with 37570 on L10 and 37567 on Y6.

Mowing the front lawn ensured I saw 37576 on L11 and, as I suspected , 20123 11 late on Y7 to Lynn.

L8 was 8 late returning with 37575 but L12 had defeated me by running early with a B10M.

Y13 was 37566, K14 another B9, K15 37573, K16 37564 and K18 37565.

Patience was rewarded by L12 coming back from Peterborough 16 late with 20115.

In Lynn in the afternoon, 20109 was spare at 14.30 at Vancouver Avenue but appeared to have been used by 17.00. 37577 was seen on No.2 pit.

20351 departed for the coast on K17 and K1 had 37579 and K2 37572.

Rob Brooks adds, 37563 was the 1335 Peterborough - Lowestoft (K14)

Sunday 14th June 2009

SUNDAYS are not very special, so 37573 went to Peterborough at 09.10 passing 37566 going to Lynn. 37565 was heading west at 11.10 and the rest of the day was a procession of White Elephants.

UNTIL Tina went out to shut the chickens in at 21.10 and announced a single decker had gone to Peterborough!
Now at night I am on the wrong side of the road to observe registration numbers so at 23.05 I crossed the road, clad only in shorts, t shirt and slippers - I know I am completely mad but the X1 does that to you. It was 5 late, the X1 all awry , the destination twisted but I firmly believe I saw 20115. The number plate lights were appalling, surely not legal but I am almost 100% certain it said 615.
Rob adds that 37575 was the 15.10 from Peterborough.

Thursday 11th June 2009 ~ The Rarest Of Them All ?

In far from ideal photographic conditions, 20115's first working through Wisbech for over 18 months had to be captured for posterity ! It is seen passing the Octavia Hill Museum on its way to Peterborough at 11.25 today looking rather battered.

37572 heads east down the Wisbech bypass this afternoon while working K19 for the second successive day.

The lady driver of 20115 was probably oblivious to the rarity of its working today. It is seen here after arrival at King's Lynn this evening.

After a fairly quiet period of late, today was full of incident. Last night you may recall that I mentioned the rare event of 20106 working on the X1 over the last couple of days. It was indeed due to a quick visit to Volvo by 37570 for further attention to its abs sensors. Today 37570 was back on the road, but so was 20106 which did K4 throughout sending it to Lowestoft overnight. The 'Excel' lettering which was removed from 106 is now clearly visible under the paintwork. Grahame reports that 20115 made a foray out to Yarmouth yesterday to assist in a vehicle shortage, but Ryan enlarges on this and says that 115 was then collected by a Lowestoft driver who had travelled over on 20352 and both 115 and 352 then went back to Lowestoft, He adds that 20127 has had an MOT and 20107 is being worked on currently. 20104 is being used while 20126 remains on the X1.

37569 did not appear today and Lowestoft appear to be suffering from a staff shortage as 37563 was in King's Lynn tonight for servicing and 37564 was also expected for same, however, this duly went through to Lowestoft on Y6 tonight. The situation with 37569 being stopped resulted in the almost inredibly rare sight of 20115 working an X1 turn. It appeared on L11 and Bruce kindly alerted me in order that I could nip out for a photograph on what was its first visit to Peterborough since 25th November 2007 ! It completed the turn and during the day possibly traversed new territory as once again the X1 service was using the A1101 to reach Wisbech. I passed it on the Churchill Road at about 13.00 heading for Lowestoft. The B198 Lynn Road is closed for subsidence work and is not likely to reopen until the end of June.

It was a really good day for B10M fans as not only were 20106 and 20115 out (and imagine the likelihood of that a few weeks ago), but 20126 also worked on K2 and there were two swaps at Lynn. 20109 did a shift to Peterborough and back on L8 after 37575 expired in Norwich, it is not known if a Norwich car did the interim bit. 109 was late departing from Lynn and was still 23 late passing Bruce at Walpole Highway on the return. In order to complete booked maintenance, 20352 was taken off L10 at Lynn with 20105 working forward at 10.15 and then sticking for the rest of the day. B7 20351 was sent out on K3, but this too was removed this afternoon for a service and 20353 worked forward to Peterboro' at 16.15, itself having been serviced. 37573 was put on K5, but a swap was somehow arranged with the resuscitated 37575 and this ended up on K5 with 37573 doing L8 after the fling with 20109. So all in all a complicated but interesting scenario. Any observations over the next few days are welcome, please email the usual address and I will formulate a summary on my return.

Wednesday 10th June 2009 ~ Concentration Required

Bruce pointed out to me that yet again I made an error in yesterday's blog ! I cited 37568 as being late on Tuesday's K4 whereas it was 37569, hence no connection with 37568's appearance at Lowestoft depot. There is certainly nothing wrong with 37569 speedwise as anyone who saw it passing through Walpole recently would agree, I was unaware the speed limit at this location had been abolished !
Another allegation from yesterday which was incorrect (never let it be said that I don't admit to errors ) was that stating that 37570 worked yesterday evening. In fact it was 37569 (again) off Y7 which took K2 forward in place of 37563. It looks as though 570 has gone back to Volvo yet again, but this needs confirmation.
The emergency roadworks at Wisbech mentioned in yesterday's report continued today with Anglian Water representatives making slow progress. This meant all X1s were diverted via the eastern bypass and Elme Hall roundabout to arrive at Wisbech via the A1101. This diversion seemed to be official and the Walton Road stop was only served by Norfolk Green services today. Delays were therefore only slight and soon absorbed into the new revised timings. The first signs of anything other than a B7 or B9 this morning were nearer lunchtime when L11 passed through Wisbech westbound with 20105. This was a substitute at Lynn, possibly for 37576. Next up was 20106 which made a day of it by working L12 throughout. Tonight it was on time into Wisbech on its way back home at 22.55. Y13 then turned up with the missing 37576 and it is thought that this turn may have started out with 20104, but following the borrowing of 20105 for L11, then may be 104 was pinched for schools work. Only other B10M seen today was 20126 which rather strangely did an internal Lynn turn, K15 while Profile 20352 was turned out on K14 which ends at Lowestoft. The other two B7s were 20351 on K3 and 20353 on K17.
Advance warning now that I am away in Cumbria from Friday until Monday so any sightings will be gratefully received and a blog covering this period will hopefully be appearing on Monday next, gen permitting.

Tuesday 9th June 2009 ~ Rarities

And where do you think you're going ? 37573 on K4 takes the Wisbech bypass just after 5pm tonight. Photo : J. Robinson (under instruction from me !)

Firstly I forgot when doing yesterday's blog to mention that the excellent punctuality had one exception. K4 08.35 Peterborough - Lowestoft which had been on time going over with 37568 returned past Bruce 27 late as he puts it "almost at walking pace". Probably unconnected but today 37568 was seen by Terence at Lowestoft garage being attended to and earlier Sam reports that a Gemini apparently failed on an X2.

So to today and the morning went well with everything running to time, then at around 12.30 emergency roadworks were set up just off the Freedom Bridge roundabout at Wisbech preventing access down Lynn Road. Incoming X1's commencing with K14 08.55 from Lowestoft were delayed, however this service was only about 14 late departing west with 37565. Subsequent services fared worse though and lateness gradually increased to the point where 37563 due off Wisbech at 15.48 was exactly 30 minutes late departing. Normally services passing Bruce at Walpole Highway take 16 minutes to reach my vantage point near Wisbech town bridge, but this afternoon they were taking 40 minutes. To avoid the queues we took a round about way home via Wisbech bypass and passed K4 taking this route to get into Wisbech quicker. The disadvantage of taking this route is that the Walton Road stop gets omitted. Earlier in the day there was a surprise change at King's Lynn when 37570 was taken off Y6 for the 11.02 to Lowestoft and 20106 was substituted. Even more unusual was the fact that this then stuck on Y6 and departed on the 20.35 to Lowestoft. Jason who'd driven it to Peterborough and back - its first outing to the City since January - declared that it was a good one ! Later 37570 replaced 37579 on K2, this was probably to allow servicing to be carried out as 37570/2/3/4/7/9 all require this during this week. 20126 came out of Yarmouth on Y13 and K18 had 20104. Again all three B7s were out but this time all on Lynn 'internal' turns viz K3, K15 and K17. 37567 is a second B9 to receive the 'Hangover' advert.

Monday 8th June 2009 ~ Smooth Operators

Everything seemed to run pretty much according to plan today with Bruce, Rob B and myself monitoring things. In fact only one turn seemed to be having problems and this was L8 which passed through Wisbech on time this morning with 20105 which had replaced a B9 at King's Lynn. This evening the turn had reverted to what looked like 37564, so this was probably the culprit. The only turn not seen was K5 which looks a good bet for 20351. 20352 was Y13 and 20353 K3. B10Ms out were 20104 which came out of Lowestoft on L10 due to 37567 being unavailable, 20126 did K1 which will take it back to Yarmouth tonight. New rear adverts for LV.Com (37575/6/8) and Lowestoft College (37563/70) have appeared this weekend. Timekeeping was very good today.

Sunday 7th June 2009 ~ Quick Work

After the rain had stopped this afternoon, 37570 heads for Peterborough.

The B9 Geminis are still under warranty of course and Volvo have certainly pulled out the stops this week to ensure that vehicles returned to them with injector faults are back on the road as quickly as possible. 37578 was only away for three days but since its return has not re-entered service due to it requiring new seatbelts (see previous blogs), while 37572 was back after just two days away. It went back into service on K19 yesterday and was out again today. Two turns were involved with vehicle changes today, firstly Y5 had 37567 this morning and then 37569 this evening after changing buses at Lowestoft. Secondly K6 began with 37577, it was then changed at Lowestoft for 37579 and this in turn looks to have been swapped at King's Lynn for 20353 !

Timekeeping was pretty good yesterday but today several services were at least 10 minutes late.

Saturday 6th June 2009 ~ Profiles Pull It Off

Leaving Walton Highway this lunchtime is 20126 on Y13 13.05 Peterborough - Lowestoft.

Here's a rare sight. 20353 in service near Terrington this teatime on K3.

Andrew reports that 20106 was out on Hunstanton duties yesterday morning and as it was at Rowan Road with X1 on the front today it would indeed suggest it finished K19 yesterday, which as we said was its first X1 appearance since January. 20131 was later on Hunstanton's too. Today we had a strange state of affairs where all three Profiles were in service. 20351 was the most predictable on K5, then we had 20352 which surprisingly was turned out on L12 by Lowestoft which is the single return trip. 37577 did K3 until at arrived at King's Lynn at 09.24 when Rob Brooks saw it taken out of service and a fresh vehicle ordered from Vancouver Avenue in the shape of 20353, its first working for over a fortnight. At least two B10Ms were out as 20118 returned home on Y10 and 20126 did Y13 which also ended up at King's Lynn. There were a couple of turns not viewed, Y7 was one of these and it ended up with 37573 which had begun on K2. K2 might possibly have finished the day with 37576 but the whereabouts of 20105 during all this is not known either, surely it didn't get a day off ?

Friday 5th June 2009 ~ Well Done 105

20105 has spent eight out of the last nine days on X1 duty. It had a day off last Sunday but has otherwise performed faultlessly and this from a coach which was transferred to Lynn a few years ago with the intention of it just working the old Shipdham turn. This week the trusty B10M has done K3 every day except Monday when it did K5. Both these turns often get a B7 but it is almost unknown for one of them to work all week. Incidentally 105 can be identified quite easily from a distance as it has the Excel lettering lower on the bodyside than the other coaches. It wasn't the only B10M out today of course. 20103 went flying past Bruce and myself on K4 this morning about a minute late with Blondie at the controls, prior to this Rob Brooks had seen her running about 5 late the other side of Wisbech.and 20118 was out yet again, this time on K18 so it should spend overnight at Yarmouth. King's Lynn sent 20351 out on K5 today and 20352 did K16 which ends up at Lowestoft. In contrast, 20104 was on a Bernard Matthews contract this afternoon and was seen by Michael. 20109/31 were two of the Hunstanton schools vehicles, but 20106/123 were not seen. It is just possible that one of them took over from 37579 on K19 as this had a smashed destination window. 106 hasn't worked on the X1 since January and 20123 has yet to appear since its return to Lynn. The only other bus which may have replaced 579 is 572 which was reported as ready for collection from Volvo, in which case it may have gone straight on to K19 if it was fetched this afternoon. 37568 was unusually over the pits at Vancouver Avenue tonight after arrival on Y7, so it may need some attention.
For a Friday, most services were quite punctual, in fact Rob reports 37576 running about 5 early at Guyhirn on the 20.10 from Peterborough. Latest service seen was L11 at lunchtime which Bruce says was about 20 late going east. Rob also reports that at last the revised timetables have appeared at Wisbech bus station. 37578 remained at Rowan Road today awaiting seatbelts. Ironically it has a new advert on the side for a film called 'Hangover'. 37565 retains the original Nokia advert with the blue background when seen this evening.

Thursday 4th June 2009 ~ Election Time

As previously mentioned I was absent today covering as a polling clerk off route, so Bruce has provided a pretty comprehensive log of today's activity :
Well Gerard handed the blog over to me today - something similar to putting Paul Merton in charge of a monastery, while he disappeared off to the Welney Marsh to act as invigilator for the European elections - first four customers: 3 moorhens and a cuckoo that had got lost. I was deprived of a vote as there was no local candidate for the 'Monster Raving Refurbish a B10M' party.
So, at 07.31 I awoke to admire 37567 waddling by on K18. I missed the 08.01 pair but noted 37575 on Y6, K2 apparently running early.
At 09.02 Y7 was B7 20351 2 minutes early and then K3 passed by 5 minutes late with a B10M.
At 09.34 Y8 was on time with 37565, followed by K4 at 09.48 yes its 14 late - its 568!
37579 was on time at 10.04 but K5 had not arrived by 10.22. I had to pop over to Spalding but at Sutton Bridge power station realised I had left the pond filling. An abrupt about turn, scrupulously abiding by the speed limit past Gerards abode in case his Mum has a speed gun beside her chair and then back into the village. Rather a lot of people at our stop for mid morning and here comes 37575 on Y6 only 8 late. Except it wasn't Y6 or 37575 even - but K5 with 37576 no less than 38 minutes late!

Back on duty at 13.45 , K17 with 20352 and Y13 with 37574 were both on time at 14.04.
Similarly 37567 on K18 and 37564 on K14 were also on time at 14.34. 37573 was as good as gold on K19 at 15.04 but coming over the flyover 11 minutes late at 15.15 was 20118 plus gaffer tape on K15.
37569 was on time at 15.34 with K1 and 20104 only 3 late with K16, henceforth known as the 'Gorleston'. I later learn from Gerard that K16 must have started out with something else as 104 was over at Lowestoft. 37577 was 5 late with K2 at 16.09 but K17 and 20352 even later and not seen. (However, Judith did see it Bruce in the region of 15 late, G)
16.39 saw K3 return and with 20105 as suspected and only 5 late. Not seen were L10, L11, and L12. Well I have missed L10 while typing this but it will be back at 22.08, L11 won't come anywhere near again tonight and L12 is due at 21.08 (it was 37570 !).
Post script: I once bought some boiler tubes for the Thompson B1 Society's loco 61264. Would Richard let us sponsor a new panel or two for 20118 in its time of need?

With voting completed at Lakesend, I hastened over to Lynn with the ballot box and after delivering it had a quick look in at Vancouver Avenue. 37563 was present so almost certainly L11 today, 37575 had just arrived and had obviously 'jumped' from Y6 to L10 and also seen were 20105, 20351, 37579 and a very dumped looking 20353. At Rowan Road, 20106 at last looked repaired and mysteriously 20103 was present having done school contract No. 5 this afternoon. 37578 was back awaiting inspection, but 37572 had gone to Volvo. It would all be rather convenient if 37566 did the first leg of K16 and then switched to Y6, but who knows ?

Wednesday 3rd June 2009 ~ Pre Watershed Blog

Well wouldn't you know it ? 65531 was K5 today and is seen near Terrington just after 17.30.

With hindsight, it seems that 20353 has simply been moved off the pits at King's Lynn garage to make room for a Dart from Bury St. Edmunds which requires an MOT. With 20353 still seemingly off the road, King's Lynn should still have had sufficient vehicles for the X1, however, 37576 failed to appear for some reason and instead the eleven turns from Lynn had eight Geminis (37563/5/7/70/3/4/5/7), B7 20351, B10M 20105 on K3 and Scania 65531 on K5. Andrew alerted me to the latter after it had evaded Bruce and myself earlier and he saw it arrive in Lynn from Lowestoft at 17.10 and then depart westbound a few minutes later.

From the Eastern end Ryan says 'the famous 20118' was at Yarmouth overnight along with 20352, 20103/26/27 and just a single B9. Today Profile 20352 was on Y7 and B10Ms, 20103 on Y6 and 20118 on Y9 along with 37564/6/8/9/79. Punctuality was pretty good although a few minutes were lost near Wisbech with temporary lights on Cromwell Road.

The reason for the early blog tonight is because I am a polling clerk tomorrow and therefore need an early night ! Bruce is in charge tomorrow, but any other sightings are welcome of course.

Tuesday 2nd June 2009 ~ 'You Wait Until It Gets Warm'

More warm weather ! 37577 seems unaffected as it gets away from Walton Highway on K15 at lunchtime, but 37572 was in trouble today (see below).

Ever since the B9 Geminis have arrived, one phrase has haunted me through the winter months into Spring and continues to do so now the Summer months are arriving. "You wait until it gets warm" said Bruce and indeed he has repeated it several times over the last 6 months or so. Meaning of course that he thinks that come higher temperatures the B9s may have a few weaknesses. Time will tell if he is correct, but the last few days have been quite warm and on Friday afternoon 37574 was failed with a No. 2 injector failure and is currently at Volvo, then this afternoon 37572 which Terence had seen departing Lowestoft as booked at 10.55, had to be shut down at Lynn while working K18 when its No. 6 injector packed up. It is now keeping company with the withdrawn Olympians at Rowan Road and will also have to return to Volvo at Norwich. Luckily B10M 20118 was on hand and was seen leaving Wisbech dead on time at 14.48 heading west.

This means that the original planned 20 B9's which were then cut to 17 on delivery are now down to just 14 serviceable. Sam was surprised to see 37566 on the X2 today and it may have worked a 99 before this. This afternoon it was covering the diagram formerly known as K19.

Not surprisingly B10Ms were well in evidence with 20103 on K1, 20105 on K3, 20118 replacing 37572 as described above and 20126 doing the first leg of K16 to Lowestoft and then becoming spare at the bus station while the return trip, the 09.55 to Peterborough utilised 20104 !

Profiles 20351/2 were both out on Y7 and K4 while 20353 appears to have had its repairs completed at last and looked ready for service again this evening.

B9s confirmed as now sporting the new Nokia dropdown advert are 37563/68/73/74/75/79 plus 37566 which was advertising Pepsi Raw yesterday but had the Nokia one fitted overnight

Monday 1st June 2009 ~ The Beast Tamed

More blue skies and sunshine today. Here 37574 nears Walpole Highway at 08.30 this morning on K2. Note the new Nokia advert with a green background this time.

There seemed to be more services delayed than on a typical Monday today. Some of this may well be down to the fine weather causing heavier traffic than customary. I rather lost my way with sightings this afternoon, but thanks as ever to Bruce, we were able to view all the services originating from Yarmouth and Lowestoft. For the record these are listed here : Y6 37576, Y7 37570, L8 37567, Y9 37572, L10 37573, L11 37575, L12 20126 and Y13 20103. Average time into Wisbech from Peterborough was 7 late, but L12 was 14 late going west and on time returning. 20105 was used on K5 all day while 20351 went over to Yarmouth on K4. There were no reports of 20352 being seen, so this may have had a day off.

Ryan says that overnight Mon/Tue, Yarmouth was host to 37563/8 (plus one other believed to be 37567) as well as 20351. Apparently there is a fair amount of work to be done on Beast 20107 before it can go for its MOT. Perhaps they might like to borrow the masking tape which King's Lynn used to coax 20118 through its MOT recently. Bruce says that the reason the Norfolk Police adverts have lasted so long on 118, is because were they to be removed, there would be huge holes in the side !!