A Varied Bunch

Thanks to a three hour power cut ths post is late going up but it didn't inconvenience me anywhere near is it did Whincops nearby who not only had cars and vans stuck on ramps but a coach shut in the workshop behind electric doors! Anyway here we are and a lot to get through.

Yesterday I stayed fairly local as I had a tv to repair in Wickham Market (my old one on permanent loan to an elderly gent before you think I've started a new business) and thanks to no service bus on a Wednesday and no space on the Suffolk Links bus the service bus was taken away to help out - more on that later - I found an alternative way of getting there which meant sampling a service I have rarely used - the 62 between Framlingham and Wickham Market operated by Paul Frost Travel of Woodbridge. Quite an ironic number bearing in mind the Anglian changes last week, and quite an unusual vehicle on the journey yesterday, a 25 seater Mercedes Sprinter minibus, that I found more spacious than a Solo, and certainly quieter. I have no idea what body is on it but the door area is huge and I'm quite surprised there aren't more of them around. Perhaps the fact it's fully manual plays a part.

PF Travel Mercedes BX56 VTE at Framlingham

The impressively big door area

After successfully getting the tv back to life I had plenty of time on my hands so decided to catch the 64 to Aldeburgh for a spot of lunch, before catching what I knew would be a double decker back to Saxmundham. A perfectly adequate journey on Volvo B7rle 69005 got me to Aldeburgh  After lunch I made my way to Fort Green and waited for the 64A and 65 to come in, as they meet there. I was pleasantly surprised when Excel fronted 69426 trundled in first, looking great in the Aldeburgh sun.

69426 arrives at Aldeburgh

Shortly after Volvo B7tl 32489 arrived and I have to say when she was parked up looked absolutely stunning and nothing like a 12yo vehicle at all.

32489 at Aldeburgh

Of course the opportunity to get the two together couldn't be missed, despite the sun making the resulting pic a little hazy.

69426 and 32489 together at Aldeburgh

I have to mention the driver of 32489 - by far and away the friendliest driver I have ever encountered at Ipswich depot. We had a completely spontaneous natter during his layover at Aldeburgh  and the way he greeted all his passengers was a breath of fresh air. I was lucky enough to get on his bus again today and he proved yesterday was no coincidence. Great to meet you, Barry and I hope I have the pleasure of your driving many times in the future.

Before I move on to today's news a bit of a rant. As mentioned earlier our service bus here was removed on Wednesdays and Saturdays to reduce demand on the Suffolk Links Loes bus. It doesn't seem to be working. Yesterday I couldn't book a morning journey and the afternoon journey home from Saxmundham was a mystery tour of Suffolk, going via Framlingham and Earl Soham, taking over an hour to get me home. Now I appreciate that I may be sounding a bit churlish, so I caught the service bus to Sax today, and asked the driver how the loadings on the new Wednesday and Saturday routes were going. He told me that since the new routes started on April 1st he has picked up precisely three passengers. Not 3 per journey or 3 per week but 3 in total. I would suggest to Suffolk County Council that the changes are not working so can we have our service bus back please Weds and Sats! Thank you!

Now to today and Sanders have revealed a new addition to their fleet. Ex Manchester Airport VDL SB200 Wright Eclipse 2 YJ10 DJU has already been painted into Sanders livery, although still awaiting vinyls, and looks quite smart. What route(s) she will be allocated to remains to be seen. Sanders posted the following pics on Twitter earlier today.

Sanders new acquisition

Looking really smart awaiting vinyls

Finally today whereas some people use moles to dig up information I go a bit bigger and use badgers. This particular Badger is a driver for Konect on the 8's, and when he tweeted this morning that he had a Volvo decker instead of a usual E400 I asked him to take a pic. This he did, but Badger being Badger there was always going to be something different about the pic, and this is clearly Konect's attempt to recreate the Beatles Abbey Road album cover, except there's only one of them. A brilliant shot, Badger!

Konect 503 YJ05 PXD being swapped at Dereham