VA479 Follow Up Post

Following my post on the Norwich Running Day where I expressed surprise in my usual tactful and subtle way that no one else appeared to have twigged that VA479 was returning to her old stamping ground (see here if you missed it) I was delighted to be contacted by Grahame Bessey (Thing in one of the pics from that post) who sent me some pictures of her in the early Norwich days. Note the 25 in 2003 ran from Costessey Park & Ride to the Station, and a Norwich First Day ticket cost £2.80. It now costs £4.80.

The then fleet numbered 134 opposite Norwich Station in November 2003       pic (c) Grahame Bessey

.All but two of the Norwich B7tl's ended up at Colchester when the Gemini 2's arrived at Norwich to take over the 25's. Here is 139, now 32484, unbranded in the same location on the same day.

FEC 134 AU53 HKB opposite Norwich Station November 2003     pic (c) Grahame Bessey

Fast forward 4 years and here is the now 32479 in Castle Meadow, in an almost identical position to where rather a lot of cameras pointed at her a couple of weeks ago. Note in the background one of the 69005-11 batch of B7rle's also now at Ipswich, and sadly for Norwich passengers NOT coming back to start the Grey Line!

32479 in Castle Meadow minus Blue Line branding in October 2007      pic (c) Grahame Bessey

Fast forward another 7 and a half years to the same place...virtually

VA479 at Castle Meadow on the Norwich Running Day

Many thanks to Grahame for the pics, another example of fellow bloggers helping each other out and much appreciated.

Just Swanning Around

A couple of months ago someone passed comment that all I did was spend all day swanning around on buses. It was how I got my Twitter name of the Swanorak. The thing is that's actually the last thing I'm normally doing as there is usually a pretty good reason for being on every bus I get on. It's either getting to or from a pick up point for Suffolk Links so I can get to the destination of the day, or I am on a vehicle for a particular reason, ie review, or sampling a new route. The huge majority of the time I am thinking about posts, what to write about that evening, is the bus rattling, what's the passenger load, am I going to make my connection etc. Yes, I do plan to get on buses of people I know when I can, but that's only if I can accomplish the aims of the day too. Very seldom do I just go out on a bus for pleasure these days.

So today I did just that. I had some provisions for the weekend to get and I included a couple of bus journeys that were for my pleasure only, doing what I used to do as a kid. I did a big post on BorderBus on Tuesday (see here) , so I knew riding around on the 146 wasn't going to generate a huge post, but it was what I wanted to do so I did it. I also wanted to confirm that BB09 BUS is probably the best E200 in the country. It is. I went from Wangford to Beccles on it and it's just the best. I also noted bigger, stronger rivets in BB07 BUS to combat the rattling. Impressive. I got back to Pakefeld, did my shopping then had arranged my minibus home to pick me up from Wangford so I could spend time with Malcolm,, just nattering and talking about past times and how actually, Suffolk isn't a bad place to live and work. No worrying about getting pics, what other blogs were posting, rushing to get somewhere first, constantly checking Twitter in case I was missing something (fat chance with the signal out there). Just a decemt few hours, on decent buses, wiith decent people. I really must do that more often.

Of course I had to take a couple of pics at Southwold, where we parked up next to a coach from Smiths, but that was it. As Delboy would have said - cushty!

Smiths of Blofield Dennis Javelin Marcopolo FN02 HGY with some bloke bombing the pic!

Yes I know more BorderBus but I don't care!  107 in the Southwold sun

If you think there's a bit of BorderBus overkill at the moment I'd like to quote from another blog. My good friend and sounding board Roy Northcott from the exceptional East Norfolk Bus Blog paid a visit to BorderBus yesterday, and he managed to put into words what I have been thinking for a long time now. He simply says "After one or two more pictures, I thanked them all for their help and I left thinking that if any bus company deserved to succeed it was this one!" Couldn't agree more, Roy.


There will be more BorderBus soon as I have been invited to do something rather special with them which I'm both privilaged and excited about. I'll reveal more when everything has been arranged.

68006 - A History

This was meant to be a post commemorating the fact that yesterday saw Abelio take over from First north of the border to start operating Scotrail services. I was attracted to a Tweet from Richard Clinnick of Rail Magazine, revealing that two Class 68 locos, 68006/7 had been repainted into Scotrail livery and are operating a handful of services on the Fife Circle line. So I did some research and discovered that firstly there are no photos availabe yet of 68007 in Scotrail livery, which is a shame as I saw that in Ipswich last year, but also that 68006 has been worn by other vehicles too in the past, and so the post has morphed into a history of 68006.

We start in 1965 with this rather interesting looking steam locomotive belonging to GNER. It is  a J94 Class 0-6-0ST which I believe indicates it is a shunting engine (I am a complete novice at steam). This photo was taken at Middleton Top in Derbyshire. the phot is by David Cooke, whse Flickr page you can see here.

The little J94 tank engine 68006 in 1965     pic by David Cooke

Next we move down to Kent, or rather Southern Region, and a memory from my youth. I remember these class 419 luggage units operating boat trains from Dover Western Docks effectively making 13 coach trains. I always thought these units found their way onto the first Gatwick Express trains, but something at the back of my head tells me that maybe wasn't the case. Perhaps someone can fill me in on that one. In the first of two pics here is 68006 at Victoria in August 1975. The picture is by Hugh Llewelyn whose Flickr page you can access here.

Class 419 luggage coach 68006 at Victoria Station August 1975        pic by Hugh Llewelyn

The second picture shows the traditional British Rail blue and grey (officially), again at Victoria in 1978. Pic from Google images.

68006 at Victoria in 1978

And so fast forward to the present and the new and current 68006, which has spent most of its time with DRS in Scotland, only making the odd foray South. Here she is in her original DRS livery in Grangemouth, operating a Grangemouth - Aberdeen intermodal freight service on 14th december 2014. The pic is by Skinnybob72 whose Flickr page you can access here.

The latest 68006           pic by skinnybob72

And so to yesterday and the first day of Abelio in Scotland. I rather hope the infrastructure causes them less grief than it does in East Anglia. Here is 68006 at Inverkeithing in her new Scotrail livery with 2K18 Cardenden to Edinburgh. The pic is by Matt Payn whose Flickr page you can access here.

68006 at Inverkeithing on 1st April 2015      pic by Matt Payn

It's quite an exciting time for Scottish rail enthusiasts with various stock movements that could see short formed HST's operating journeys currently operated by 170 DMU's. Nice to see more loco hauled services starting to creep back in and I'm hoping to expand the rail side of the blog in the near future.

A Few Bits & Pieces

This was one of those days where I was out socialsing more than any particular agenda. That means sometimes you get lucky, and I did get lucky today 3 times in ten mins!

First of all though Malcolm Robson has sent me me pics of one of the Lothian Darts that arrived Monday evening. There will be 4 of these 03 reg Darts, to eventually replace 4 of the East Lancs Darts that have been deemed unworthy of DDA conversion - they are 92/5/6/9 X92/5/6/199 LBJ. Many thanks, Malcolm, and I'm going to have a task training your successor to be as accommodating and friendly as yourself!

One of the new ex Lothian Dart SPD's for Ipswich Buses SN53 AVM in Constantine Rd depot

And the view from the rear.

The Darts will be sent down to Hants & Dorset trim for repaint and upgrades.

My first port of call via Beccles was Great Yarmouth, where I had lunch and a couple of hours with Cameron from Great Yarmouth Bus Page, and it was good to see two Ollies come oout to play - 34109 was on the 8's but was taken off rather inconveniently while Cameron was on it heading to Caister to get some pictures. 34111 was on the 6/7 in the morning and I passed it near Bungay later on Bernard Matthews duties. Anglian Optare Excel 229 was on the 81's and also a Scania I haven't seen for sometime - 462, the oldest Scania left at Anglian, that has spent much of the last few months off the road being fixed.

Anglian 462 YN03 WRJ in Yarnouth today

I decided to go home via Norwich, and very pleased I was too. As we approached Norwich Bus Station I spotted a very rare sight - BorderBus 101 on the 146. This is the vehicle usually on the 521, but has just been MOT'd wiith 106 (BB07 BUS) covering so naturally I was keen to get a picture. But while en route from the bus station to St Stephen's St I saw a Konect E400 on the 4. I'm sure there must have been E400's on the 4 before but I'm not sure I've ever seen one as it's normally the domain of either Optare Tempos or Gemini B7's. Had to grab a pic of that!

Konect 604 SN10 CEX on the 4 today

No sooner had I put my camera down and started back towards St Stephen's St that I saw BorderBus 101 coming round the corner. Panic stations set in epspecially when the driver zoomed up the outside lane, but the photo Gods were on my side. I thought the numberplate was going to be totally obscured and it wasn't until I cropped the pic I realised that if you look through the windows of the car with the interested dog you get a perfect view of the numberplate! Couldn't manage that again if I tried a million times. So it's ok BorderBus - you can put it back on the 521 tomorrow as I have my pic! Didn't it used to have roof vinyls though?

BorderBus 101, BB14 BUS very rarely on the 146 in Norwich

 Finally I have heard numerous reports over the last week or so claiming that Anglian Trident 712 had basically expired and we would never see it out on the road again. I have heard everything from a blown engine to it being cannibalised. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw it gleaming in the sunshine at Norwich Bus Station this afternoon. Not only that but it became my bus back to Bungay, and she is going as well as ever. Another example of don't post till you have proof! I can say, however that the new Scania 556 is proving a little troublesome and may, I repeat MAY not be around for a bit.

Not dead yet! Anglian 712 at Norwich Bus Station today..

The Grey Line Comes To Norwich

I have been mentioning for a few weeks that I had been told of a quite unexpected fleet movement within First Eastern Counties. I have now been given clearance to give details, which I'm sure will have a few eyebrows raised.

In order to speed up the repaint process in Norwich the Green line is being disbanded and replaced with a new Grey Line, using some of Ipswich's recently refurbished fleet. Former Norwich Volvo B7rle's 69005 - 69011 are having their Ipswich vinyls removed and will be transferred to Norwich to operate the Grey Line together with Streetlites as required. The current Green Line branded B7l's will be de-branded and move to Ipswich to operate predominantly Town Services.

66301, seen here in Yarmouth, will soon be in Ipswich

When I asked Chris Speed, Business Manager for First Eastern Counties the reasons for the transfers he said it had been considered for some time, and as Greater Anglian were refurbishing their Intercity coaches with mainly grey interiors, as the Ipswich vehicles already have grey fronts and grey leather seating it made sense, especially as the Green Line routes go past Norwich Station. He added that passengers on the Town routes in Ipswich are only on the bus for an average of 10 mins, and their bottoms could easily cope with the hard seats on the B7l's, although he couldn't rule out them venturing onto the longer routes too.

69006, at Wickham Market, will soon be back home in Norwich

I'm sure the good people of Norwich will be looking forward to comfy seats again and those in Ipswich the complete opposite. I have to say it's certainly different, but after all the effort that went into making the Ipswich fleet the pride of Eastern Counties to send several heaps down to Ipswich seems a bit of a backwards step.