Back into the past again part 2

VR 189 RPW 189R at the OCM in the Mid 1990'S freshly painted in the new livery

As there is not an awful lot happening on the bus war lately and due to illness i haven't been out and about i thought i would dip into the past again with a selection of photos, from the 1990's my era, i got into buses in 1981 when i recieved my first model bus an Silver Matchbox Londoner, and from 1983 when i went to secondary school i started using what was then Ipswich Borough Transport and then my interest developed further with my travels in the late 80's on the fantastic sunday services sponsored by Suffolk County Council to Yarmouth and Clacton, shame we didn't have digital cameras in those days as the pictures i did take were wholly useless

OC3 F103 AVG an Northern Counties Olympian, which in general had shorter lifes due to chassis and bodywork problems around 1994 i would think what with the Blobby adverts helping matters

 

Bank Holiday blues

Not much going on at the moment, one recent observation is the return of 65540 to service on town routes after receiving a new engine, if anyone has any observations or news please get in touch.

EARLY FIRST AND PRESENT DAY FIRST ANY DIFFERENCE

VP85 Volvo B6 M585 ANG later 48085 when new in around 1995 on Bramford Road, photographer anon .

This was a time when First regional liveries still existed and was based i believe based on the old Grampian Regional Transport livery, later on we had the much better Anglia Yellow base with Red at the bottom which was quite a striking livery although typically First never repainted many, the only complete batches to be done i believe were the B6 plaxton pointers and the Ex Beeline Olympians F172-5 LBL and i believe a National Greenway which is now preserved ex Carters of course.

69430 at Tower Ramparts on the 21/8/12

Coming bang up to date with this livery and how times have changed not a particular favourite with many people, too me it doesn't catch the eye in the same way as IB'S purple and green livery. Travelling on First today you can see how they have lost their way, presentation of the fleet lacks in terms of cleanliness and vehicle age, although Firsts driving staff do their best considering what they given and in general they are very friendly to my eyes! The mix of buses continues on the town routes and i do have make one correction in that seems to be 8 Buses on the 55/56/60/61 routes yesterday Darts 42431/43460, Scanias 65532/90/65675 and Volvo B7RLES 66850/69008/66850, today Dart 43460, Scanias 65531/32/88/89 and 65690 with Volvo B7RLES 69005 and 69433.

BUS CONDUCTORS BACK FOR ONE WEEK ONLY IN  BATTLE OF THE BUS WARS

IB trident 12 LG02 FDC at Tower Ramparts on the 16.8.12

Ipswich Buses have bought back conductors on their services for the last week only, in the latest round in the battle of the bus wars, see Fridays Star  http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich_conductors_are_latest_weapon_in_bus_wars_battle_1_1484947 

It will be interesting to see how First react in the long run as far as publicity is concerned there has been little in the way of advertising, with IB doing all the running with daily adverts in the Star, maybe newer buses coming in after the Olympics or with the withdrawal of services in Norwich buses being cascaded from there, we will have to wait and see. 

Bus War day 4

BUS WARS DAY 4

A surprise on the town routes today was 65547, as the P reg Scanias  don't have blinds for the new town routes,  i would imagine this was a replacement for a broken down bus as travelling into town, it smelt of disinfectant so had presumably been recently cleaned.

Day 4 shows how things seem to be getting worse for First on the new town routes, as i left Broke Hall Shops at 1.42pm i was the only passenger heading into town until The Reavells Stop on Foxhall road From that point we only picked up 4 children, 3 OAPs and 1 Adult Fare, traffic along Woodbridge Road was very busy snaking back towards Grove Lane due to roadworks from Bond Street and into Woodbridge Road. Buses on the town cycle was 42431,43460,43486,65547,65588,65672,69008,69009 although 42431 left the cycle at some point as it failed to turn up for the 1545 56 to Broke Hall. On the 70 to Sainsbury's Warren Heath was 65528/29,69433, 69432 was deputising on Park and Rides. It seems to me that very few people are using First's new services, most 70's were leaving empty, although most people are sticking to the 60/61 rather than IB's 6A. As mentioned the 4 buses bought for the X3 and X5 mentioned on Monday were sticking to their designated routes.

IB dart 144 waiting to take up duties on the X5 today

Bus War Hots Up

                                  BUS WAR HOTS UP

Ipswich Buses ALX 300 Dart 143 in between journeys on the X3  today showing  the  full  effect of the new branding.

Today the bus war hotted up with the introduction of the 3 new IB services the X3 to Ravenswood, the X5 to Ipswich Hospital and the 6A to Gainsborough, for which 4 of the 5 new darts bought for these routes, were in operation 138/9 on the X5 and 142/3 on the X3, on both of these routes the IB promotions team were out and about handing out leaflets, on the other route the 6A was Enviro 300 83, as this was the first day patronage wasn't too high, indeed along Foxhall Road both IB and First were swapping places again at most swaps. Meanwhile First had out there usual mixture of buses including 42431 and 69007 on the 70 and on the 56/55/60/61 cycle were 43486/65673/65532/65590/65690/69005/69431. A surprise on the Felixstowe's today was what is believed to be an loan from Great Yarmouth of Northern counties Palatine 2 Olympian 34157, the first time an Olympian of this bodywork has been used in Ipswich. More comments were mentioned in the Star on Friday Night see this link for more details  http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich_three_new_routes_served_up_by_ipswich_buses_1_1477243

Into The Future, and Back into the Past

IB Dart 143 ready for action at Constantine Road Depot, with route branding for the X3  to Ravenswood

As mentioned in previous posts this is one of the 5 Darts to be bought for competition with First in Ipswich, however there is now 2 more Darts to come which have been bought for route 4 to Broke Hall and will be similarly adorned to the buses being used on the X3/5 and are numbered 138-44 no reg no's yet for 140/141, 138/39/42-44 are Y262/71/92/94/95 FJN and are ex Stagecoach East London via Ensign Dealer.

VR 276 in the short period of time when the new privately owned Eastern Counties took over both IB  local routes 4 and  6 on the 26.10.86, funny how history repeats itself. This was taken at Broke Hall shops.

Funny enough i can remember that day, as i caught an Leyland National home on the 4 one of the R reg ones also i remember one of the fine ex Ribble VRs being used that day, during that short time Eastern Counties run anything and everything including the ex Bickers coaches, Bristol LHs and VRs .

4 days to bus war

With 4 days and counting to IB's entry into the bus war on Monday, further news was that First denied that they hadn't taught there drivers the new routes by the article in the star yesterday, it concerned a gentleman who said the driver Didnt know the route round near Ransomes europark. Today again the was a variety of types on the 55,56,60,61 including dart 43486, Scanias 65673,65590,65528 and Volvo B7rles 66850,69005,69008 and on the 70 65589 and 69007.

65675 at Broke Hall Shops on the 2/8/12

69009 Under Attack and 32489 on 70's

65589 during a heavy downpour whilst on the 60 at Tower Ramparts

Today witnessed an unusual event whilst waiting for the 56 to Broke Hall, 69009 appeared ready to go on aforementioned route but its driver couldn't stop this vehicle is under attack alarm, so off he went so no bus for another 30 mins, while waiting for the next bus up popped an late 32489 on the 70, what a waste of a double decker with no one getting on. Also on the 70 to Sainsbury's was 65528 and 69007, the 7 on the 55/56/60/61 diagram were 65589/90,69005/9,42431,43460,66850, whilst 69432/3 were on 88's and 43477 on Felixstowes. When next 56 came the poor driver didn't even know what the correct route was as he had been on holiday and was unaware of the routes being changed, so we ended up going through the Old Cattle Market, Star Lane, Bond St and Major's Corner before going on to Woodbridge Road, when he should of gone up Upper Brook Street, Northgate Street and Great Colman Street before Woodbridge Road, during that de tour 43486 was parked up at the Old Cattle Market and 69431 was in the depot with one other unidentified Scania.

Corrections to earlier posts

Dart 43488 laying over at Broke Hall Shops

Further to a previous post, the actual route diagrams for the routes that interwork are the 55/56/60/61 are a bit different than what i thought, the pvr for all four routes is 7 in general its 2 or 3 workings on the 60/61 depending on timings followed by the 56 then a 55 then back to 60/61s. Current buses being used is a mix bag, usually 2 to 3 Darts, with 4 Volvo B7RLES and the odd Scania from time to time.

First in Trouble in Needham Market

After causing a stink on the eastern side of Ipswich with the recent changes more on that later, First have seemingly caused themselves more problems with people having to walk into Stowmarket to catch a bus to their local doctors surgery here's the link in full http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/needham_market_withdrawal_of_route_87_bus_service_is_disgraceful_1_1464863

First 69433 on the 56 Broke Hall this afternoon

The recent changes in Ipswich have caused a lot of confusion, buses seemingly have run early at times or considerably late, on the 56 due to the knock on from the Greenwich 60 which has to navigate the traffic on Bishops Hill, one departure for the 56 this morning left Tower Ramparts still with 60 Town centre showing, no wonder people are confused, even the drivers are confused to what route they are taking. Apparently on Monday there were at least 5 breakdowns in the morning, not a good start, lets hope First can sort these problems out.