I was looking through the posts for January and everyone was anticipating the withdrawal of the last Yarmouth Olympians, 34109 and 34186. One year on and history is repeating itself with the pending withdrawal from public service of the Yarmouth Olympians, except that over the year 3 more were ressurected - 34108/11/4 with 34186 herself only being saved thanks to the sacrificial donation of a gearbox from her sister 34187, which proved to be the last act of that noble machine. However withdrawal from public service won't necessarily be the end for the Yarmouth Olympians and they will remain in use on Bernard Matthews contract services, and I hope will get the odd running day on special services so us enthusiasts can still sample their far superior ride quality again. So I guess the first pic of the review has to be one of these incredible Olympians who have a desire for life so high they have cheated the scrap yard numerous times now.
34109 in Bradwell |
Speaking of the X1 it was in January that the last ex X1 Gemini returned in First Corporate colours. Anyone remember which one it was? Ok here's a subtle hint!
37571 gleaming at Lowestoft on Jan 8th 2014 |
Anglian launched their connected route 7/61/62 from Norwich to Southwold/Halesworth (Beccles) via Yarmouth and Kessingland. Despite being subject to the same daft rules now affecting the X1 this has been a big success and I hope will go from strength to strength with timetable tweaks to allow for unavoidable delays.
Towards the end of January I announced that the blog had achieved 10,000 page views in just over 3 months. Currently I'm getting that in around 3 weeks which shows just how far the blog has come in the course of the year.
Feburary was a month for repaints. Lots of them. Can you guess which vehicle came back repainted? No? Tough luck as I'm not going to show it because if Chris Speed has dominated the papers this year then this particular bus has dominated the blog pages! So instead I'll show what I consider to be the second best repaint of the month - Ipswich Buses hybrid livery applied to Scania Omnidekka 62. Here is Dave Warren's superb pic originally published on 23rd Feb.
Ipswich Buses 62 at Tower Ramparts Feb 2014 pic (c) David Warren |
Scania E300 gas bus demonstrator YT13 YUK at Market Gates on 27th Febvwhile on loan to Anglian |
The old and the new Circle Line trains pass at Edgware Rd Station on 20th Feb |
47818 steams away from Reedham Bridge on 24th Feb |
It was a pivotal month for some new "old boys" on the block. BorderBus, who are run by the guys who started and built up Anglian Bus was awarded its first service route in the shape of the 521 between Halesworth and Aldeburgh, to start in March. A brand new mini E200 was purchased and their operation of the service has proved very popular.
March wasn't a very eventful month it seems, going through back posts. First announced that the Summer Service 3 would not be Routemaster operated this year, which wasn't the most popular decision of the year. Just about the most exciting thing to happen was the return to Norwich Crown Point of a DMU that was stranded at Lowestoft in the storm surge of December 2013. 153314 was away for 110 days as paddling clearly didn't suit her and I was lucky enough to see her at Norwich on her first day back.
Single car unit 153314 at Norwich on March 26th |
Great post as always - especially as it mentions me! Thanks for your kind words
ReplyDeleteNo probs, Roy. Meant every word, buddy - you are an inspiration and source of calmness for us all!
ReplyDeleteA very interesting post. Some good-looking buses, too!
ReplyDelete