Sometimes It's Worth The Wait

The trouble with having to use Demand Responsive Transport is that it has to be booked well in advance. The Sizewell coal train is never announced until the night before. Therefore the elements have never combined together for me to be in the right place at the right time. But today it happened as most unusually there was a coal train for Sizewell on a Thursday, and I had a minibus booked from Wickham Market tonight which meant I could get to Leiston to catch the train and still get back to Wickham in time for the minibus. And, of course the weather was decent!

That meant a change of plans, performing my good deeds this morning instead of this afternoon, and that change meant I was at Wickham to catch on loan First Yorkshire Volvo B10 Wright Renown  60618 to Ipswich. It was also my bus out of Ipswich to Leiston via Aldeburgh and I took advantage of the layover time in Aldeburgh to get some pretty decent pics of her. The new livery really suits that body, and the seats are a lot nicer than Eastern Counties' other Renowns, although the ubiquitous rattles were more than evident.

First Yorkshire 60618 Volvo B10 R781 WKW at Aldeburgh

Excellent for enthusiasts - you can't miss the fleet number. Other companies please note!

And so onto Leiston, where after 20 mins my wait was finally over, and as i hoped a Class 20 was leading. I love those 20's. Part of my youth was spent either listening to or travelling on the old Hastings Diesels - their thundering engines were a real sound to behold. Well the Class 20's have the same engines and when I heard it at full throttle pulling away from Leiston Station as was it took me back around 30 years. Wouldn't it be nice if passenger services could be restored on that line.

Here she comes!! The Class 20 approches Leiston Crossing from Sizewell

And there she is. 20302 crosses Leiston Crossing

Not to be ignored, as if you could is 37688 on the back of the 20.

So as the crossing gates had to be manually opened and locked into place I dashed to a predetermined vantage point on the old platform and took a video of these two beasts as they roared past. Only 28 seconds but 28 seconds I'll watch over and over again. Enjoy.