Friday 17th June 2011 ~ That Extra Oomph !

The speed handicap of the B7s (37156-60) definitely seems to be noticeable in terms of punctuality. Today was a good day for a Friday, but once again the B9s ran pretty much to time, while the B7s lagged behind. Seen today were 37157 on Y6, this was 9 late on the 08.48 Wisbech - Peterborough and 8 late returning east, L11 had 37160 which was just 4 late on the 11.18 to Peterborough. Later 37159 was seen on K16 running 23 late on the 14.35 from Peterborough and then 37156 worked K18 which was 14 late westbound and 24 late returning. The missing B7, 37158 was employed for a second successive day on the X2 and was seen on the 13.08 ex Lowestoft. An unusual sight on the X2 today was Yarmouth's 32100 which worked the 09.40 from Norwich.

20352 carried on its good work on K3 today, allowing King's Lynn to keep 37571 for servicing. 37574 (volvo) and 37577 (Full Circle) were the other absentees.
Des kindly sent some pictures for us today :


Until last weekend a King's Lynn bus, 30888 was back at Yarmouth today working locally. [D Speed]



"This one's for Bruce" says Des, who took this shot of 34108 on the 17.25 Lowestoft - Yarmouth 'short' tonight.



34113 on the X1 short 09.00 ex James Paget Hospital is overtaken by 37570 on K15 this morning. [Des Speed]

Before the Volvo B10Ms

In one of our occasional looks back at the history of the X1 route and its precursors, Jim Long takes us back to 1997 with a look at a couple of the Leyland Tigers which were still then used on the X94 alongside the new B10M coaches.


On August 27th 1999, B10M coach 20123, which was scrapped a couple of months back, was looking very smart when Jim Long photographed her at the James Paget Hospital on an X94. So let's look at what the B10Ms replaced................




Note the Excel logo in the right window, Leyland Tiger F613 XWY stands in Norwich Surrey Street bus station on May 3rd 1997. [ J Long]



and here is sister vehicle F614 XWY standing in King's Lynn bus station after a fling to Hunstanton on February 22nd 1997. Photo Jim Long.



Thursday 16th June 2011 ~ What an Advert ?

The men whose job it is to plaster our buses with adverts were about on Monday night. Obviously with a plan to target as many X1 vehicles as possible, they managed to place an advert for 'The Click Card' on the nearside of 17 of our buses. This leaves 37577 with its 'Deadspace' ad (not changed as it is in Full Circle for continuing repairs),  37156 is the only X1 bus still retaining the Three Smart Phone ad and the remaining three are still wearing Easy Jet ads. On the offside the majority have an ad for the, by all accounts, distinctly forgettable film 'Bad Teacher' , while 37157, 37564/7/8/79 have a new one for 'Pandora'. This leaves 37563 with 'Fast & Furious 5' and 37574 with 'BT Springwatch Offers'. 37577 was last seen with an ad for 'Rio'.
37563/67/78 are the only three without rear ads and nearly all have one of two differing versions for AXA insurance. 37564 has a Swiftcover ad, 37566/8 Confused.Com which is also still thought to be on 37577. Ok that's the end of the adverts !
37158 was back at work today and was used on K18 06.51 Wisbech to Lowestoft, a regular B7 turn. For some reason at Lowestoft it was switched for 37157 and 37158 then had an outing on the X2 at 12.08 to Norwich.
37575 & 37565 did a maintenance swap on Y9 at King's Lynn, while 37574 went to Volvo at Norwich for gearbox modifications.
Marcus, Matthew, Paul and Richard all reported seeing 20352 on K3 today at various points on the route. Paul was travelling on the A47 and kindly sent in all his sightings including seeing 37158 returning on the 13.40 X2 from Norwich.
Andy James reports some new Geminis arriving at Norwich for use on Route 25, see his blog here :

http://andysbusblog.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 15th June 2011 ~ Blogger On The Road (and Railway !)

Recently my friend Peter Risebrow, a regular X1 passenger and reader and contributor to this blog, suggested that we have a day out at the Mid Norfolk Railway. This seemed an excellent idea and so it was that today we did just that. My lift dropped me at Walpole Highway at 08.35, so I had almost 30 minutes to wait for K3. I decided that I would hang around and see if Y6 08.33 to Peterborough had gone and as luck would have it, 37563 appeared almost immediately. I caught this and after showing my VIP pass to our genial driver we were off to Wisbech. I sat upstairs behind the staircase and we were soon heading into the town where it seemed that most people had decided to take a day off, as the commuter traffic was very light enabling us to make up any lost time.
The weather was better than forecast and after a pleasant wait of just under 10 minutes, K3 rolled in with - as I'd hoped - B7 Profile 20352. Peter boarded at Walton Road and was surprised to see me already on the bus, having expected me to be at Walpole. After a discussion we agreed that the last time we'd had a day out on, what was then called a Wanderbus ticket, was in 1973 !
20352 was comfortably loaded from Wisbech, but filled up well before departure from Lynn. We picked up the driver who was to take us forward from Lynn at the South Gates and he travelled 'on the cushions' to the bus station.
Business was brisk and there was a slight delay at Narborough where a less than able person took a little time to board and who quickly snapped up the designated disabled seat. Although not quite as comfortable as the Paragons, there was certainly plenty of legroom on the Profile.


20352 does a fair trade at Dereham whilst en route to Lowestoft this morning.

Part of the days plans was to sample the new Wetherspoons establishment in Dereham and here we met another old friend, historian and railway author Richard Adderson. Lively conversation ensued helped by a couple of pints of Woodfordes followed by the huge breakfast at a mere £4.10 and guaranteed to set you up for the day. Batemans XXXB was sampled too before we agreed it was time to wander down to the station to travel on the 13.15 dmu to Wymondham Abbey. Considering it was midweek and not yet the height of the season, the MNR must have been impressed with the reasonably loaded train - a 2 car Metro-Cammell unit.



 The weather remained in kind mode and although taken at a very sedate pace, the return trip was most enjoyable. Back at Dereham, we pondered as to why the X1 doesn't have a stop outside the MNR station - this would also be very convenient for the Morrisons supermarket just opposite. With the railway now attracting large numbers of visitors from far and wide, it would seem a sensible suggestion.
We retraced our steps back into the town and stopped off at the Kings Head for more from the Woodfordes portfolio in the shape of Sundew and Nelson's Revenge, all very pleasantly imbibed in the sunshine of the beer garden. Well as you can tell, there was no driving involved for any of us today !
Back at the bustling Market Place it was time to go our separate ways with Richard who had travelled up by Konectbus, returning on the 16.37 X1 (K15) with 37576


Richard at the upstairs second window looks happy to be on 37576 for the journey home !

At this point I realised that our departure westbound was at 16.35 and that this was Y6, the bus I'd started the day with. Sure enough in swept 37563 with Blondie Karen and after a brief pause we were on our way back home.


After it failed yeterday, 37157 was diagrammed on K16 today. We passed it near Scarning heading east this teatime.

 Our final chauffeur change occurred at the South Gates on our way out of Lynn and our arrival at Walton Highway where we were being met by Angela, was pretty much on time. All in all a very enjoyable day out and my thanks to all concerned.
Ironically, whilst I saw many of the X1 turns, a couple escaped me - K14 was I'm pretty certain 20126 and this may have been replaced at Yarmouth by 37159 which was spare. 37570 was revived today and worked Y13. The Gemini show on the X2 continued with 37569 providing the entertainment.

Tuesday 14th June 2011 ~ Revisiting Old Haunts

Both Bruce and Jamie R reported a rare sight at Walpole Highway this lunchtime. Driver trainer coach 20109 had paused here during duties and to add to the occasion, Y13 passed through the village at the same time with 20126 standing in for unavailable Gemini 37570.
During the morning 37563 on Y9 was replaced by 37159 as the former required servicing, however, no sooner had 37563 been completed than it was on its way again, this time to take over K18 15.35 from Peterborough which had failed at Wisbech with 37157 overheating. If this scenario sounds familiar, check out yesterday's blog when we reported a similar situation, again on K18, but this time with 37156 at Swaffham.
Many services ran around 5 minutes behind time today, but there were no serious delays noted. 37568 was seen by Michael Bryant operating an X2 diagram and once again B7 Profile coach 20352 had returned to its favourite turn, K3.

Monday 13th June 2011 ~ The Western Front

So another week begins, but this one is different on the X1. For years now, in times of shortage, King's Lynn would frequently borrow a town or schools bus to fill any voids. This would happen if services from the East were late running or a failure occurred. This option has now ceased of course.
Today, the 'spare' bus situation was 37563 at Lowestoft : this was gainfully employed on the X2 and was noted by various correspondents working the 09.10 ex Norwich, 14.10 ex Lowestoft and 17.23 ex Lowestoft. Now that all buses are serviced at Lynn, it would seem that appearances on the X2 might be more prolific when a Gemini is available.
A minor contretemps involving 37158 & 37159 at King's Lynn on Saturday meant 37158 was sidelined today for servicing and touching up. 37159 was back on the road though and worked K5. 20352 was not in use today and was seen at Vancouver Avenue this evening, however, it may possibly have been utilised this afternoon when 37156 expired at Swaffham on K18 overheating. Whether 20352 was used to rescue any stricken passengers, or whether they simply boarded the following K19 is not known. Repairs completed, 37156 was available to resume K18 at 17.02 to Lowestoft. The service did not run over the western section - so this is possibly the first occasion of the new regime where nothing was available.
Only one service was delayed by any margin today and that was Y13 11.45 King's Lynn to Peterborough seen 15 late from Wisbech, a situation enlarged upon by Des : "37565 - 08.15 Lowestoft to Peterborough, on time till, queueing traffic on the A47 at Blofield. This necessitated a diversion via Blofield Heath and Thorpe End, I was 15 late at Norwich (10.10). Traffic conditions didn't help and I was 18 late into Lynn (11.55)".



The evenings first arrival,  37157 off Y7 is in the foreground with 20352 in the distance and 37569 undergoing a wash at Vancouver Avenue this evening.



Sunday 12th June 2011 ~ A Vintage Day

There is something quite sobering about buses you remember from your childhood being referred to as 'vintage' vehicles ! This was the case today when to mark the Norfolk Green takeover of the Hunstanton route, three vintage buses operated on the route as reliefs to the normal service vehicles.

The weather was pretty dire, but several brave souls took the opportunity to ride behind Julian Patterson's RLE and the two buses from the East Anglian Transport Collection.

Earlier in the day, Yarmouth's 20115 had made the trip over to King's Lynn with seven drivers to collect some of the 'First' buses requiring transfer to other depots. First thing, two Volvo B7TL double deckers and a number of Scanias were taken to Yarmouth and Ipswich, then later in the day 65525-28 were taken to Colchester. This left 30900-903 & Solo 53701 destined for Braintree, plus the other Solos which are due to depart for Kidderminster and Redditch.



20115 deposits a posse of drivers at Rowan Road to collect redundant King's Lynn 'First' buses.



Now what bearing exactly will this have on the X1 ? Well, for the moment, the transfer of vintage Olympian 34333 has been deferred as Volvo B7TL 30886 is being retained for working the schools contract mentioned previously. Whilst it is expected that there will always be a spare Excel Gemini at King's Lynn in the event of a failure (this is because servicing is expected to be carried out on two buses here every day), it does beg the question that should a spare not be available would the schools vehicle be used if outside the hours of its schools diagram ? It would seem unlikely as during the B7TLs tenure at King's Lynn this has never occurred up to now. The more likely option would be to cancel a service instead which is a shame.

The X1 was a completely B9 operated affair today. At some stage, either last night before departure on the 20.35 to Lowestoft, or today on the 12.50 Lynn to Peterborough, 37564 was removed as it was neeed at Lynn for servicing. 37575 was the replacement.

Here are a few pictures from today.....

The Scanias, for so long a trusted X1 standby await their fate.



Two of the Volvo B7Tls, 30889 & 30888 depart Rowan Road for Great Yarmouth



Des Speed with 65531 leaving Saddlebow compound with 65529 - the last Scania to work on an X1 following up.



By early afternoon, the rain had arrived. 37573 is seen near the South Gates on the 13.50 to Peterborough.



In the early 1970s, RLE864, now immaculately restored by Julian Patterson, was a regular sight on the X1 route between Norwich, King's Lynn and Peterborough. Here it is seen at Sandringham visitors centre this afternoon.



OVF229 of 1954 vintage on arrival at Hunstanton bus station this afternoon. Sister vehicle OVF227 worked on the route until the early 1970s.



A very wet King's Lynn bus station with 37573 ready to depart at 16.35 to Lowestoft, also visible is a Sanders vehicle working the X8 and OVF229 behind it, as well as sundry NG vehicles.



Saturday 11th June 2011 ~ Back Seat for the X1

Yes, once again today, the X1 is taking a back seat in the blog. Today as we briefly mentioned yesterday, marked the withdrawal of 'First' from local operations at King's Lynn. A small crowd of enthusiasts gathered to mark the event and after work, I was able to join Andy James & co to witness the final rundown of operations.

This seemed an ideal opportunity to make use of a gift from 'First' themselves. Following the Anglia TV item recently, Colin Booth kindly arranged for me to be the recipient of a 'First' VIP pass entitling me to free travel on 'First' buses throughout the country. This came as a complete surprise to me and needless to say, I am very grateful for the generosity of all those concerned at the company.

Our first trip of the evening was on a service 42 to Fairstead Estate with Scania 65532 and Des took this photo of me presenting the aforementioned pass to 65532's driver Emlyn.

Once again a big thank you to all concerned. Des and myself enjoyed our trip on the 42 and were impressed with Emlyn's driving around some of the tight clearances in parts of Fairstead. Back at the bus station,  Des departed for Yarmouth, but not as a passenger, instead taking Volvo B7TL 30887 which was the first of the local buses to depart for pastures new. Here it is having a breather on the Swaffham bypass....

Meanwhile I decided to travel to Hunstanton on one of the final trips operated by 'First'. My bus was 30901 driven by Andy who seemed to know the route like the back of his hand - not surprising really, as I discovered he had lived much of his life in Heacham and was just about as local a chauffeur as I could get. Like the other town drivers, his next shift will be as a Norfolk Green employee.
The journey was most enjoyable and the only slight disappointment was the reprehensible behaviour of a group of teenagers at the rear of the top deck on the return journey. They left the vehicle in a terrible mess.
Here is 30901 during its short layover at Hunstanton.

30901 ended up being the last 'First' service to operate via Sandringham and it was also the final service worked by a double decker, as the remaining trips were all Scanias.
This really was the end and on arrival back at Lynn, the offices/canteen at the bus station were being emptied of 'First' belongings, most of which were then relocated to Vancouver Avenue. Here a new portacabin on the site of the old car park will now be the home for Rosie and her colleagues displaced from the bus station. X1 crew changes will take place in the vicinity of the South Gates.

Here is the last service to Fairstead at 20.05 (left) and the final Hunstanton at 20.15 with Driver Frost at the helm of Scania 65528.

So from now on at King's Lynn, the Excel X1 will be alone in flying the 'First' flag. There have been various rumours flying around of course, but one which has not been heard much is the theory that if good times return and the recession ends, 'First' could be back big time. We will have to wait and see of course.
Now to the X1 and a quiet day operationally with an entirely Gemini operated service. 37158 was removed from L8 as it should be serviced on Monday and 37569 was provided as replacement. Here are a few pictures from today.


Des says "Who is that guy taking a photo of the X1 at the South Gates roundabout ?"



Well just to prove it, it was Des himself and here is the picture of 37571 on K17.



Grahame Bessey took over 300 shots at King's Lynn today, here's a fine one of 37565 working Y13 11.45 to Peterborough.



           37566 arrives to work K14 12.15 to Peterborough, while L8 12.02 to Lowestoft loads with 37569.                            Photo : Grahame Bessey



37564 arrives at Wisbech on Y6 08.48 to Peterborough, as Emblings E901KYR heads for March standing in for a single decker and leaves a smokescreen over the Horsefair.

Friday June 10th 2011 ~ All Manner of Surprises

37567 departs Lowestoft for Peterborough on L12 07.45 departure this morning : Photo from Grahame Bessey

Well whatever next, I am told by one of my Yarmouth chaps that First's ancient Olympian 34333 (H132FLX) is King's Lynn bound, to, wait for it, cover a Norfolk Green schools contract !! Best not to ask why me thinks.
Speaking of Norfolk Green, they are big news at the moment of course as it is this weekend that they take over the King's Lynn local services from 'First'. On Sunday they are hoping to use some vintage vehicles on a free relief service to Hunstanton. WNG864H (ex Eastern Counties RLE864) was for several years a King's Lynn bus and in the early 1970s was a regular sight on the King's Lynn to Peterborough /Hunstanton runs. RS658, KVF658E was at one time allocated to Wisbech (or may be it was March) and often worked the 354 between the two towns. The other vehicle is Bristol LKD OVF229. This decker has no Lynn connection as far as I'm aware, but sister vehicle OVF227 (long since scrapped) was a stalwart on the 39s to South Wootton between 1969 & 1972.
Now being on local television and in the newspapers is one thing that the X1 blog can claim, but how about this for recognition ? Norfolk Green have named their Optare Tempo YJ59 NNZ (fleet number 107) 'ANDY JAMES' in recognition of Andy's own blog which is a good publicity vehicle for NG amongst others. Congratulations to Andy and here are some pictures he has taken of the bus proudly wearing his name :

Well that takes a bit of beating I'm sure you'll agree, but I've another revelation to come in tomorrow's blog which again proves that bus enthusiasts can be a useful aid to the industry.
Well, I'm sorry if all this is a bit off topic as it were, but when 80 years of Eastern Counties history ends, it is definitely worth featuring. Now though to today's X1 news.........
The service today was provided by 37563 - 576 inclusive, plus 37578 and B7s 37156/7/9/60. Finding itself spare at Lowestoft yet again, 37158 was utilised on the X2 being seen working the 14.38 departure to Norwich. 37579 and coach 20352 were spare at King's Lynn garage today after maintenance.
For a Friday, timekeeping was pretty fair - worst performer noted by me at Wisbech was 37157 on K16 which managed to be 14 late for the 13.48 Peterborough departure.
Des reports an unusual incident whilst driving 37565 on L8 21.35 King's Lynn to Lowestoft tonight .."When alighting at East Winch a young man handed me a Samsung mobile phone that had been left on the lower deck back seat. I switched the phone to 'silent'. Not to evade the owner phoning, but it can be quite distracting having someones lost phone ringing away while you drive. At Norwich a young couple, clutching an X1 timetable, asked if I had been handed a Samsung mobile phone. They had come all the way from Lynn to retrieve something that I may not have had. Though, in the main, most people are honest, there are those that would have just walked off with anything that they find on the bus!!". Ah nice to get a good honest tale Des, he adds "Petrol update - 133.9 - Tesco Low, 132.9 Sains Nor, 134.9 Sains Easton and 135.9 Tesco Lynn".

37568 receives some TLC from Ryan tonight. Photo Des Speed

K5 (37574) and L11 (37573) after arrival at King's Lynn this evening. Photo from Des Speed



Thursday 9th June 2011 ~ That White Coach

A bit of a stir on the East Anglian Buses Yahoo Group today when a white coach was spotted on the X1. Now come on guys, you've not been reading your X1 blog. Andy explained all thank goodness and guess what ? Yes that fine white coach - described by my brother-in-law as that old white bus (!) - was out again today, but not as expected on K3. Instead it was on K4, a Yarmouth teminator, but not for long. At some point it was changed at Lynn for 37568, the latter was seen coming out of Vancouver Avenue garage at 17.05 complete with passengers on board. It was 17 late at Walton Highway.
Over at Lowestoft both Malcolm and Michael B reported 37158 on the 08.03 Lowestoft - Norwich and 09.40 return. It subsequently worked the 11.08 & 14.08 ex Lowestoft and possibly the 17.08 too.
Timekeeping was very hit and miss today after a good day yesterday. K2 08.21 Wisbech to Lowestoft with 37567 was unusually 11 late at Walpole. K5 was 37569 which arrived in Wisbech on the 09.05 from Peterborough a minute early. 37156 on Y7 was 3 late to Peterborough and 12 late returning. 37157 was 14 late eastbound on L11, but after this things improved.
Matthew saw 20126 heading out of Lowestoft around 08.30 this morning, but it didn't appear on a 'through' X1.
Des says "37568 on K4 19.35 King's Lynn to Lowestoft on time. Onlookers must have thought "What is that bus driver doing??" - I pulled into Norwich at 21.10, thought it was a bit dark, pulled onto stand 4. Gate wouldn't open. Dawned on me, it's dark, no electric!! So, I backed, with passengers on onto stand 3, which has no barriers for National Express access to luggage lockers".

Wednesday 8th June 2011 ~ One Step Nearer

The use of 20126 in place of a Gemini ended today. The Yarmouth coach worked the first turn out of King's Lynn eastbound and was replaced at Lowestoft by 37158. Meanwhile 37573 was back on the road working L11 to Lynn where 37567 replaced it.
With 20352 working K3 again, the chance was taken to keep 37568 in for repairs and 37159 ended up spare at Lowestoft, although there were no reports of it working on the X2. That is not to say that it didn't though as Malcolm had a look at Gasworks Road and found 20126 round the back, but no Geminis.
Des says " An interesting day beginning with 37572 on the L10 15.30 Yarmouth to Lowestoft. Departure was 3 late as Yarmouth bridge was open and Lowestoft was reached 6 late. Next it was 37567 on the L11 16.55 Lowestoft to King's Lynn. We were on time until queueing traffic was encountered due to Yarmouth races,  this meant I was 6 late at Acle. With the Rod Stewart concert at Carrow Road, congestion was also heavy into Norwich, so I ran in via the A140 instead of A146. Left Norwich 9 late but was only 4 late into King's Lynn at 20.03.
Norwich was again a problem on the L8 21.35 Lynn to Lowestoft with 37576. I made a diversion out of the City via Hall Road and the Ring Road to avoid traffic coming from Carrow Road. This was confirmed when I was heading Eastward on ring road and traffic was a continuous stream Westbound from County Hall direction.
Regarding the Regent Bingo display - None of the displays revert to this. Even after the electrics are shut of and switched back on, the display will revert to it's previous destination. To get from X1 display to Regent Bingo display takes 11 button pushes. From X1 to Not in Service takes 5 button pushes and a further 7 button pushes to get to Regent Bingo !". Checked it would appear on 37567....


Photo by courtesey of  Des Speed

Tuesday 7th June 2011 ~ By Accident or Design ?

Either a strange quirk of fate, but more likely a deliberate decision that this evening all the former Lowestoft vehicles congregated at King's Lynn. 37563-9 and 37156/7 were all present with just 37570 & 37571 of the regular B9s in evidence plus, for good measure, Yarmouth's B10M coach 20126.
During the day most services ran fairly well to timetable, but there were lots of swaps, presumably to position all King's Lynn's new acquisitions at their new home come the end of the day. L11, K14 and K16 all had vehicle changes and it looks like K14 changed twice, viz : until 12.07 37569, 12.15 Lynn to Peterborough & return 37157 and 15.02 Lynn to Lowestoft 37159.
At Lowestoft 37576 came in on K2, but 37158 replaced it. It looks like 37567 will be the first of the ex Lowestoft Geminis to amass 300,000 miles. It is currently on just over 295,000.
Michael F reports that 20352 on K3 was involved in an incident in Lowestoft bus station today. A pedestrian was involved, but there was no damage to either coach or person, so all was well and 352 proceeded as usual on the 12.55 to Peterborough.

Monday June 6th 2011 ~ The Mystery of K3

It is not very often these days, thanks to our team of regular correspondents, where an X1 turn evades us all completely. This was sort of the case today when K3 with its regular vehicle of the moment, Profile coach 20352, was failed at Thorney on the 08.05 from Peterborough with defective wipers. What replaced it is unknown, but 37566 & 37570 were serviced at King's Lynn today, so it may well have been one of these.
The first signs of the transfer of all the X1 Geminis to Lynn occurred today when K19 was allocated 37569.
K2 had 20126 all day today and it seemed well behaved. With 37157 seen spare in Lowestoft bus station by Malcolm, it was surprising that it continued on the 12.25 from Lowestoft.


Passengers board 20126 at King's Lynn before departure at 15.45 to Peterborough. c} Syd Eade

 Syd says " Visited King's Lynn today, but a bit of a disaster. As we wanted to visit Ipswich as well, we arrived by train instead of X1. Bad move as track circuit problems around Littleport caused a delay on the 1052 from Ely, arriving 45 minutes late at Downham Market. The train was then TERMINATED!!! This was just so it could go back on time. Everyone was just dumped onto the platform to wait for the next train which was also 50 minutes late. Can you imagine the outcry if an X1 bus did that and turned round at Wisbech with no following service, simply to regain time and leaving passengers stranded for nearly an hour ?  Just to add to the incompetence, the return train missed the 5 minute connection at Ely with the Ipswich train ( 8 minutes late ) so we had to go via Cambridge with a further 90 minute time penalty. No more trains to Kings Lynn for me. Oh and back on the X1, as you can tell from the photo something isn't right.  It came in heading for Peterborough, then parked on the Lowestoft stand for a driver change.  We couldnt wait to see what was going on as we were catching the 1554 train. I had suspicions that a swop was about to occur, and maybe it hadnt arrived from Lowestoft as no through passengers were on board. Hopefully you will be able to sort it out!!"
Well it looks as though it did run through Syd, so may be a quiet time for through passengers ?
37573 has still not returned to service and is still believed to be out of service at Lowestoft. 37577 which we've not mentioned for a while, is still at 'Full Circle' receiving accident repairs.

Sunday June 5th 2011, Part 2 !!

Des says "Here are a few pics taken on Sunday which missed the blog post because you fooled me by doing it on time !"


K6 which works the afternoon Martham service was today 37574, seen here heading east at Norwich alongside 20115 which was the driver shuttle to Yarmouth




37579 departing Norwich at 14.10 on K3 12.48 Lowestoft to Peterborough. Note the now correctly working narrow font destination display.




37568 on Y7 11.10 from Peterborough in Gorleston.



In Days Gone By

Jim Long kindly sent these pictures of when you could catch a bus from Peterborough to Ipswich. He writes "Thought you may be interested in some of Eastern Counties buses that use to ply between Peterboro & Ipswich on the 792 service back in the 80's - they even used National mk1's and old Leopards too. I have a funny feeling that some of the VR's were based at Newmarket,so they may have only gone as far as Cambridge, where passengers had to change,but, the coaches used to go right through, I did the trip several times".

VR268 as Cambus no. 741. Ipswich 16th February 1986. {J Long}



VR298 as Cambus 751 on Norwich Road in Ipswich. December 15th 1985. Jim Long



VR300 as Cambus fleet number 743 photographed at Ipswich on December 21st 1985.

Of course, you could still get the train from Peterborough to Ipswich in those days too, probably on a Cravens or Met Cam twin dmu.

Sunday June 5th 2011 ~ Change of Direction

As I expected, the transfer of the maintenance of the Lowestoft X1 buses, 37563 - 569 and 37156/7, is currently taking place. Whether this will mean that King's Lynn internal weekday diagrams like K3, K5, K17 and K19 will now be worked by any X1 Gemini, rather than 37570-9 or 37158-160  remains to be seen.

Today's service was worked by nine B9s and B7 37156. Naturally the latter was a late runner. 37578 on the 16.10 ex Peterborough also seemed to be running late and had not appeared through Walpole by 17.20.

Saturday June 4th 2011 ~ Fenland Diversion

Due to a fatal accident this afternoon at the eastern end of Thorney bypass, the section to Guyhirn was closed and several services were diverted via Parson Drove and I am told, Leverington Common. Des worked the L12 14.02 King's Lynn to Lowestoft with 37568. He says "We were 22 late from Lynn at 14.24 and arrived Yarmouth 8 late at 16.33, just as L11 in front with 37159 was loading passengers for Lowestoft. Earlier, L10 13.02 King's Lynn to Lowestoft left on time, while 37159 left at 14.05, 33 late.
Y13 14.32 Lynn to Lowestoft would have been delayed by the diversion and as this forms the 17.40 arrival at Lowestoft and and 17.48 return departure. The driver of L11 13.32 ex Lynn then takes the 17.48 ex Lowestoft.  I guess the earliest he could have arrived at Lowestoft would be 17.15, so the earliest he could leave would be 18.00, If he had a bus!!".
The return of L11 was worked by the Lowestoft spare bus which was 37567, while Y13 had to wait for 37158 to come in and then return to Peterborough. It was 18 late through Walpole on the 21.08 to Peterborough'
Coach 20126 was having its alternator sorted in Vancouver Avenue garage all day today while 20352 worked K3. 37156 was noted at Dereham on K18 by Malcolm, still with its noisy fan.

20352 heads back home on the 17.35 Peterborough to King's Lynn this evening. By this time, services were running punctually again.

Friday June 3rd 2011 ~ Bus Spotting



37570 before departure from Yarmouth garage this morning : Photo D Speed.

 When the X1 timetable runs smoothly, viewing services from my desk at work is quite convenient. On days like today though, it is just the opposite. A47 traffic was the main cause of today's delays, the King's Lynn area was badly affected and there was also an accident on the South Gates roundabout at lunchtime. Also very slow was the Guyhirn to Wisbech stretch. Add in an Acle straight accident and the whole service did well to run anywhere near to time.
So back to my window in Wisbech then and viewed were Y6 with 37563 running 3 late to Peterborough and returning 10 late. K3 with 20352 was 3 late on the 08.56 to Lowestoft which is actually about normal for this service. Y7 had 37158 which was 2 x 9 late while K4 had 37571 which was removed at Lynn so that 37565 could take the 10.02 to Lowestoft. The latter was the second Lowestoft B9 to get a safety examination at Lynn this week. K5 with 37578 was missed by me but L8 with 37569 was seen on time by Cheryl. 37570 was next on Y9 and was 6 late to Peterborough. Westbound services were then L10 with 37159 11 late, L11 with 37157 7 late and L12 with 37564 3 late. I passed Y13 going home to lunch and it was 37572 running about 10 down. Well all this is quite normal for a Friday, but it was after lunch that the fun began.
 37568 on K14 was around 10 late departing Wisbech on the 12.48 Peterborough, but there was then a large gap in the service before K15 appeared 42 late with 37574. K16 looks to have turned round at Thorney as it went past eastbound at 15.19 (one minute early !) and was followed by K15 40 late. Logic dictates that by this time 37160 had become K15 & 37574 K16. Next was K17 due past me eastbound at 15.50 but which appeared at 16.15 with 37579. I had expected to see 20126 on K18, but it expired at Dereham on the 10.55 ex Lowestoft and instead at 16.25 (about 5 late) Scania 65529 went by on K18. Andy James reports this being replaced by 37571 at King's Lynn on the 17.02 Lowestoft departure.

Another Scania, this time 65529 gets a run out to Peterborough as K18, photographed by Bruce this afternoon.

Back to my office again and the 15.18, 15.48 & 16.18 Peterborough departures (K19, K1 & K2) ran as follows : 37575 6 late, 37566 13 late and 37567 21 late. Just as things then began to get back to normal, the Acle accident took its toll.
Des reports "I took 37157 on the 10.45 Lynn to Peterborough (L11). Queueing traffic from Mount Pleasant into Wisbech made us 8 late from Wisbech at 11.26 - more congestion from the Causeway to Eye Green roundabout made our Peterborough arrival  20 late at 12.19. This then made  me 14 late to start the 12.05 to Lowestoft, but this defecit was cut to 11 minutes on departing Queensgate bus station. Nevertheless, we were 21 late into Lynn.
37568 was my bus for K14 15.02 eastbound from Lynn and we were 5 late departing, but this was quickly made good and ran on time until encountering more queueing traffic on the A47 Acle Straight - this made us 15 late into Great Yarmouth". Des adds "The 15.55 departure from Lowestoft was seen about 55 late on the Acle Straight with the 14.55 ex Lowestoft being approx 1 hr 55 late, just behind it !!
37156 which had operated the 13.38 Lowestoft - Norwich X2 came in on Y9 tonight and several other turns had also swapped vehicles.

Thursday June 2nd 2011 ~ Maintenance Changes

37563 which had been out of traffic at King's Lynn since last Friday evening returned to service today after repairs and a safety service. This could possibly be the start of servicing of the 37563-9 batch being transferred to King's Lynn. The opportunity was also taken to remove the outdated Bennetts advert from the rear which had been in situ since early last December. 37563 was on K4 today.
Matthew contacted me from Lowestoft to report 20352 on K3 and 20126 on Y9 and the latter was snapped by Bruce :

The eagle eyed may be able to spot Mr. Speed at the controls, he says "20126 - 09.45 King's Lynn to Peterborough, departed 5 late at 09.50 and arrived at Peterborough rail station 11 late at 11.10.  Because of this the 11.05 to Lowestoft departed 8 late from the rail station and we were still 7 late from the bus station. Arrival in King's Lynn was 17 late at 12.41.
This late running was purely down to the slower entrance and exit times of the passengers. (The 09.45 Lynn departure is the first OAP free bus of the day westbound) and the amount of luggage that either had to be lifted into the small inboard luggage area or stowed in the rear boot. The lady that boarded at Terrington St John and needed a lengthy stop to to use the conveniences in Wisbech didn't help either". 
Oh well, it made a nice picture Des and don't forget, not so long ago all these services were coaches. A Lynn driver commented on 20352 recently that it was a pleasure to drive a proper vehicle on the Peterborough road again, but may be the passengers find that coach awkward too.
Jim Long writes "A sudden urge to have an afternoon out resulted in me taking the train from Ipswich to Norwich for the 14.25 X1 departure for King's Lynn and would you believe it, it was 20352 !



20352 pauses at Swaffham while working K3 12.55 from Lowestoft today. Photo : Jim Long

  Well I had never ridden on a B7R before and yes it was very pleasant, she responded very well indeed. We had a very nice young lady driver with tight blonde curly hair and  glasses who was very capable indeed. The view was bl--dy awful, I should have course sat further back,that was my only complaint.
We arrived at around 16.15,this didn't leave us much time to do a great deal, my own fault for getting a mad rush of blood ! We returned on the 17.32 to Norwich this time on 37574. We couldn't get a front seat up stairs but the next one back, did get a front seat at Dereham and then realised this wasn't meant for anyone else other than a midget, but,the view was great.  On our way into Dereham at Toftwood we passed 20126 heading for Peterboro this was around 18.25 and then 37569 was passed at Hockering at 18.50.  Finally, as we pulled into Surrey Street, 37579 was then pulling off the slope for Peterboro. Although it was an afternoon of bum achers, I enjoyed the trip.".

The latest service of the day belonged to K14 12.15 King's Lynn to Peterborough, on which 37159 was noted 18 late. It had managed to make up 3 minutes by the time it passed through Wisbech again on its return eastbound.
37157 on K16 and 37158 on K18 were both slightly late and both very noisy when seen this afternoon. Malcolm says "All I can report today is Y7 with 37567 and L8 with 37572, but 37156 was spare in Lowestoft bus station". 37575 was spare at King's Lynn today where it was serviced.
An unscheduled swap this evening involved Y6 which had 37568 taken off with blocked screen washer jets and 37569 off L11 replaced it in the 20.35 to Lowestoft.

Wednesday June 1st 2011 ~ Fluctuating Fortunes



37159 photographed at Acle by Grahame Bessey today. It had replaced Scania 65525 at King's Lynn earlier.



Today King's Lynn managed to find 9 Geminis for the 11 turns. This meant K3 ran with coach 20352 and K5 began with Scania 65525 which did a trip to Peterborough and back, before being replaced by freshly serviced 37159.

Unfortunately 37573 on K18 looks to have broken down for a second successive day and at some stage it was replaced by B10M 20126. 65525 was seen by Bruce running 15 late en route to Peterborough and I saw it returning 10 late.

Morning services ran pretty well to time except Y9 with 37575 which was 15 late from Wisbech. Des had 'engine derate' with this and was 7 late into Lynn, so it is not known where the rest of the time was lost. This afternoon 20126 turned up at Wisbech 15 late on K18 and both K15 and K19 were around 10 late eastbound. This afternoon Des reports "westbound services would be held up (15.55 ex Norwich onward), as the A47 was totally closed westbound on the Mattishall roundabout. Iin attendance was a police car and two farm vehicles. It looked to me as if they were trying to recover a large tarpaulin covered carcass from the edge of the roundabout".

Tuesday May 31st 2011 ~ Stumbling Blocks

The perils of running a long distance bus service hey ?  King's Lynn were already a bus down first thing when K3 was sent out with Scania 65540. 20352 was still undergoing repairs at this point and 37563 was still blown up from Friday.
Later 37573 expired at Peterborough on K17 resulting in the cancellation of the 15.05 to Lowestoft as far as King's Lynn. Repaired 20352 was then at the ready to work K17 at 16.32 to Lowestoft. 573 was retrieved to King's Lynn where an ECU for its gear selector was replaced. Later 37567 on Y6 was having an air problem and on arrival from Peterborough just before 20.30, was replaced at King's Lynn by 37156 which had just come in on L11.


37156 which had arrived 22 late on L11 was pressed back into action on Y6 20.35 Lynn to Lowestoft tonight. 37567 (left) was taken out of traffic with an air problem.



Punctuality was poor today, an accident affecting the Hardwick roundabout contributed to delays and at the other end, Syd says "Dart 43459 was involved in a collision with an Anglian Scania at Lowestoft railway station". Malcolm adds "43459 was noted being towed past the bus station with rear damage, 37570 arrived 30 minutes late on Y7 and a couple of minutes later 37575 arrived almost on time with L8. 37570 left the bus station 'not in service' so Y7 to Kings Lynn didn't run at this point. 37575 departed on time working L8 to Peterborough. Finally 37571 arrived 10 minutes late on Y9".



In situ since March 8th last year, the overall ad for Bakers & Larners of Holt on the rear of 37570 is now becoming quite worn. 37570 had arrived in Lynn on Y7 tonight.



At Wisbech the timetable was pretty much adhered to until L10 10.48 to Peterborough which appeared 18 late with.... yes you've guessed it - 37568. L12 was not seen, but Bruce says it was 37156 and then 37569 was 2 early on L12 - it is possible that 569 was L11 28 late, but certainly 156 was L11 this evening.

K14 with 37157 was 10 x 14 late and then 37579 was viewed returning from Peterborough on K15 30 late and then ten minutes later 37160 on K16 appeared.

At 18.10 Peter saw 37159 on K5 heading down the Wisbech eastern bypass, though why the diversion was necessary is unclear.