AMONGST THE GREY SKIES

Amongst the gloomy skies of Tower Ramparts this afternoon i spotted an rare event, since the appearance of the Mercedes Benz Citario's on the 9, other buses appearing on this route have been basically non existent, well not today as can be seen above by Ipswich Buses Lowlander 56 PN52 XBK meanwhile the 4 Branded Darts for the 4 route continue there wanderings, yesterday 84/85/86 were on the 8/13 with 87 on the 12 while Dart/ALX 200 141 was on the 6 and 144 on the X1, today saw 87 back on the 4 with 84 on the 15A then later on the 6, 85 on the 8/13 with 86 spare in the Cricketers Lay By, while a strange choice for Ipswich Buses on a peak time working for the 15A was Dart/ALX 200 141 Y273 FJN , see below while below First Ipswich had Volvo B7TL 32490 AU53 HKH on the 60/61

BEESTONS SINGLE DOOR CONVERSIONS

Many thanks to Dave Burrows at Beestons who has sent me these photos of two of the recent Scania Omnidekkas originally from Metrobus converted to Single Door at the top we see YV03 PZY and the bottom one is of YV03 PZL.

MORE ON THE GER BUS/FLEET NEWS UPDATE

Many thanks to David Kindred for allowing me to use this picture for my blog, this updates the feature i did back in December on the Great Eastern Railway Buses, the photograph sees either CL 200 or CL 201 numbered 9 or 10 a Stratford built bus with 2 seats beside the driver and a luggage compartment seen on the nearside behind the drivers seat, notice how little the main station buildings of the railway have changed very little over the 110 years, and the distinct lack of traffic, all the buses allocated to to the route were withdrawn over a six month period between 11/1913 and 05/1914, little is known about there careers after withdrawal, although 5/6 BJ 319/20 became lorries.

IPSWICH BUSES UPDATE

Ipswich Buses have withdrawn the first of the three ex Park And Ride Optare Spectra's now in their sixteenth year, 51 X151 LBJ is seen 3 years ago, IB Dart 96 is not withdrawn yet but is kept mainly for school contracts.

 2 Ipswich Buses on the 4 today DAF Lowlander 55 PN52 XBO and Dennis Dart/ALX 200 141 Y273 FJN ironically back on the route they were displaced from!

AND THEN THERE WAS ONE?

Is this the final chance of a photograph of one of the last East Lancs Darts that haven't been refurbished, on the 1st January there was 3 left 89 above on the 16 and 92/96, 92 has now been withdrawn and i haven't seen 96 in quite a while. Other observations from today saw the 4 back to it's usual 2 Dart allocation with branded 86 and non branded 88, Branded Dart 84 was on the 15A with sister 85 on the 8/13. A full length Single decker in Dart 134 see below was on the 19!, while Trident 21 was on the X1 and finally two of the Y-FJN Darts also strayed today 141 on the 8/13 and 144 X5 branded bus on the 16.

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EASTERN COUNTIES ALLOCATIONS FEBRUARY 1976

Bristol MW LM 626 EVF 626C is seen here in the early 1970's pretty much stayed an Norwich allocation during it's career seen here at the old Norwich Bus Station

At the time of this allocation sheet Bristol VR 134 RAH 134M was an Kings Lynn allocation but by this photo in the late 1980's had moved back to Norwich, seen here at Cromer.

THURSDAY FLASHBACK

 Two rather different photographs converted from slides portraying rather different aspects of the Eastern Counties operations during the 1980's, firstly we see the unremarkable ECW body on the Leyland Leopard LL 882 CAH 882Y many with this type of body were later re bodied due to the poor build quality if memory serves me right particularly at the rear around the boot area? The second picture sees two of the remaining Bristol RE's serving out their last year with Eastern Counties at Bury St Edmunds particularly as the Leyland National wasn't welcome, here we see RL 509 CNG 509K and RL 687 DRX 631K which came from Alder Valley in 1981 during April 1986 when the allocation was as followed RL 503/08/09/13/674/87/92.

MONDAY OBSERVATIONS

Today some observations taking from yesterday's travels, seen above First Ipswich 44519 was on the 60/61 while Mini E200's 44928/45119 were both on the 53, they certainly seem to be moving away from the 59/70 of late. Ipswich Buses had Dart/ALX 200 143 out on the 4 with Lowlander 59, and today a Trident the number i didn't see and Dart 86, with Dart 84 parked up. Scania/Optare Olympus 69 was on the 15A and Enviro 200 82 was taking the place of an Optare Versa on the Park And Rides, it's worth of that 146 YK08 EPC seen below has now received the new style numbering as per the ex Lothian Tridents. My cautionary tale today is be warned if you take pictures in Ivry Street near Ipswich High School is that a certain ex First driver now working for Norse and his friends at Beestons don't like there pictures taken, and were taking steps to stop me taking a picture of Beestons new coach, i can understand that some drivers don't like there pictures being taken, so i avoid them as  see us as being crackers.

FLASHBACK SUNDAY: AN IPSWICH BUS SPECIAL

Taken in the Summer of 1993, when it was in it's twilight years with Ipswich Buses was Leyland Atlantean No 3 HDX 906N seen on the now defunct 2 route to Warren Heath, later on it's history the two was curtailed back to Gainsborough, pressure by First Eastern Counties to stop encroaching on it's territory on Warren Heath? I always liked the N reg batch of Atlanteans for their distinctive opening doors sound, which were always slower to open than the later batch.

 Seen heading out of Lloyds Avenue and on to the Cornhill in the late 1960's is AEC Regent V 49 PPV 49 on the Ipswich Station X service a route long since vanished.

I have fond memories of the ECW bodied Atlantean's that Ipswich had that passed to Eastbourne this interpretation of the Ipswich livery never passed much favour and was very soon phased out here we see 74 LDX 74G parked outside the Constantine Road Depot. 

EASTERN COUNTIES LODEKKA FLEET MAY 1966

Eastern Counties Bristol Lodekka FLF 473 KPW 473D when allocated to Ipswich during the 1970's pulls out of the Old Cattle Market.

LFS 1-16 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 5601-16 NG 1960/61
LFS 1/-3/15/16 Norwich, LFS 4 Cromer, LFS 5/9/10 Yarmouth, LFS 6 Ely, LFS 7 March, LFS 8 Kings Lynn, LFS 11-14 Peterborough

LFS 17-25 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 1117-25 PW 1961
LFS 17-20 Cambridge, LFS 21/22 Norwich, LFS 23/24 Ipswich, LFS 25 Peterborough

LFS 26-35 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 2926-35 PW 1962
LFS 26/27 Norwich, LFS 28 Lowestoft, LFS 29/31/32 Ipswich, LFS 30 Kings Lynn, LFS 33/35 Cambridge, LFS 34 Peterborough

LFS 36-40 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 8036-40 PW 1962

LFS 37/38/40 Norwich, LFS 36 Yarmouth, LFS 39 Bury St Edmunds

LFS 41-43 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 41-43 BNG 1962
LFS41-43 Norwich

LFS 44-50 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 44-50 CNG 1963
LFS 44/45 Ipswich, LFS 46 Lowestoft, LFS 47 Cambridge, LFS 48 Bury St Edmunds, LFS 49/50 Norwich.

LFS 51-55 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 51-55 CPW 1963
LFS 51-53 Cambridge, LFS 54 Ipswich, LFS 55 Peterborough

LFL 56-61 Bristol FL6G/ECW H37/33RD 556-558 BNG 560/61 BPW 1962/63
All allocated to Norwich

LFS 62-72 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD 62-64 DPW/65-69 DNG/70-72 DPW 1963
LFS 62/71 Peterborough, LFS 65-67 Norwich, LFS 64 Ely, LFS 68 Lowestoft, LFS 69 Yarmouth, LFS 70 Cambridge, LFS 72 Kings Lynn

LFS 73-100 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD AAH 173-75B/AAH 614-16B/AVF 579/80B/BNG 881-86B/CNG 287-92B/CVF 294-97B/DAH 398-400B 1964
LFS 73/91/95 Cambridge, LFS 74/76/93/96 Ipswich, LFS 75/85/92 Peterborough, LFS 77/79/80 Cromer, LFS 78 Ely, LFS 81,83 Yarmouth, LFS 82 Wisbech, LFS 84 Saxmundham, LFS 86/87/98 Lowestoft, LFS 88/90/97 Norwich, LFS 89/99/100 Kings Lynn, LFS 94 Bury St Edmunds

LFS 101-26 Bristol FS5G/ECW H33/27RD DNG 401-04C/DNG 105-07C/DVF 108C/ENG 109/10C/EVF 111C/FAH 112-18C/FPW 319/20C/FVF 421-23C/GNG 124-26C

LFS 101 Wisbech, LFS 102/08/12/17/21/22 Norwich, LFS 103/09/16/25 Ipswich,  LFS 104/11 Yarmouth, LFS 106 Lowestoft, LFS 110 Bury St Edmunds, LFS 107/20/23 Cambridge, LFS 124 Ely, LFS 105/13-15/18/26 Cambridge, Kings Lynn LFS 119

FLF 440-50 Bristol FLF6G/ECW H38/32F GPW 440-42D/GVF 443-46D/HPW 447-50D 1966
FLF 440/41 Ipswich, FLF 442 Cromer, FLF 443 Peterborough, FLF 444 Yarmouth, FLF 445/48-50 Cambridge, FLF 446 Norwich, FLF 447 Newmarket

LFS 82 BNG 882B is an example of the Bristol Lodekka with Conductor operated rear door, at the time of 1966 it was allocated to Wisbech but by the seventies had moved on to Great Yarmouth as seen here.

AN IPSWICH THURSDAY IN THE COLD

Purely caught by chance today was First Ipswich Volvo B7TL/ALX 400 32489 AU53 HKG which made an extremely rare visit to town routes 60/61 Greenwich/Gainsborough, while Ipswich Buses Dennis Dart/ALX 200 140 Y272 FJN made also an rare foray on to high intensity routes 8/13, while Dart 84 was on the 15A and Dart 86 on the 8/13 while the X3 had Trident 15 as did the 4 with Trident 16.

Final picture of the day see's Lakeside of Ellsemere Setra DD59 LAK visit Ipswich on behalf of GB Tours.

RAINY DAY MONDAY

If you are not aware i am now cutting down the amount of posts per week as i was getting seriously run down so i will be only posting when there is something to report, today saw a massive tailback caused by an RTA on the Orwell Bridge which led to most buses being held up in traffic causing delays from eastbound buses of around 45-50 mins and in a way i was fortunate today as my bus was Scania/Optare 69 from Ipswich Buses driven by a driver celebrating his 65th Birthday, can't remember his name but what a lovely driver. The Old Cattle Market was particularly full up with 7 First Buses parked up anywhere they could find, hence the picture below, i pitied the First Ipswich Controller who was taking some grief from other companies drivers, seen below is Carters Leyland Olympian 427 G727 XDL now with an LED display and a nice hole in the roof where a tree branch has hit, which was subbing for one of the Tridents, one oddity of the day was First Ipswich E200 44928 which usually finds itself on the 59 or 70 was on the 60/61 see below, while Ipswich Buses had Dart 84 on the 12 and Dart 85 on the 8/13.

END OF LINE FOR EX EASTERN COUNTIES SCANIAS/VOLVO B10BLE'S AND DARTS AT FIRST ESSEX

Ex First Ipswich 65630 V830 FSC seen here back in August 2013 on the 61 was withdrawn in December.

With the DDA compliance now in full effect has meant that all the Ex FEC Scanias/Volvo B10BLE'S and Dart SLF's within Essex were no longer able to be used buses now withdrawn from service include Scania L94's 65566/65574/86/87/65630/31 plus Volvo B10BLE 66165/66177 and Dart SLF's 43480/83/85. Below you see Dart SLF 43480 R680 DPW on the 22 in Norwich and Scania L94 65574 on the 14 both taken in 2005.

THURSDAY FLASHBACK A VR DOUBLE

 Today's Flashback for a Thursday features once again my obsession with the VR, my all time favourite bus closely followed by the RE and the Atlantean.I have chosen two rather different Bristol VR's one that was still with Eastern Counties in VR 238 HAH 238V at Norwich Bus Station in Post Office Red deregulation livery and the other is in the second Cambus livery which added Blue to the bottom half, seen in Ely is 708 NAH 138P.

MORE THEY WERE AT NORWICH AND SOME FROM IPSWICH TO NORWICH

As i enjoyed yesterday's when they were in Norwich how about others that made the pilgrimage the other way well we kick off today's selection with an ex First West Yorkshire bus Dennis Dart Plaxton Pointer 47202 M202VWW that was allocated to Kings Lynn from 1997 with a brief spell at Ipswich in 1999/2000 before moving to Norwich in 2000.

Dennis Dart 47249 M249 VWW with the attractive Alexander body had a short spell at Ipswich during 2003.

While Dennis Dart/Plaxton 46375 M375 YEX was new to Ipswich for Superoute 66 duties before being replaced in 1999/2000 by Scania L94/Wright 65591-99/65601.

And finally with thanks to Peter Horrex for allowing me to use this, we go back to 1979 with Bristol Lodekka FLF 440 GPW 440D and Bristol RE RLE 869 WPW 869H, both finished their days at Norwich.

BEFORE THEY WERE IN IPSWICH

A chance today to view some of First Ipswich's fleet when they were in Norwich and some which have long since departed to the scrapyard in the sky!, kicking off with Volvo B7TL 32479 AU53 HJV now of course in the heritage Eastern Counties livery.

A bit of a double spotting here as we see Volvo B7TL 32655 AU05 MUY and Volvo B7RLE 69006 AU05 DMF in Park and Ride livery.

Dennis Dart 43477 R477 CAH certainly did the rounds when it was around and was one of the last Darts allocated to Ipswich 3 years ago, seen here on the 20 to Costessey.

 One of my great misfortunes was to travel on this Dennis Dart 46083 K283 XJB and it's sister 46081 in Ipswich as more often or not they were allocated to my route, talk about bouncing up and down in your seat, originally from London these emigrated firstly west to Somerset then late in their career to Norwich then Ipswich.

 Currently allocated to Ipswich is Volvo B7RLE 69008 AU05 DMV seen here on Sprowston Park and Ride.

Scania L94 65558 R258 DVF and it's sister 65557 had a short term at Ipswich late in their life's before moving to Northampton.

MONDAY BITS AND PIECES

Not too much to update on today's spotting so to speak, just a few observations which may be of interest, firstly Ipswich Buses remaining three non DDA Darts 89/92/96 are now scheduled to be used only on the 16 to Halifax and Belstead and School journeys, 92 being noted on the 16 this morning. As can be seen above the 4 buses usually allocated to the 4 East Lancs Darts 84-87 are still wondering off route and not as i mentioned on Saturday, above 85 was on the 8/13 whilst 87 was on the 12,whilst Trident 11 was on the 4.

MONDAY RECALL

Yes a chance of name from the normal flashback for a rare photo in my collection of an Eastern Counties Bedford VAM/Duple CB 837 LNG 837E bought in for the Summer Season in May 1967, they were part of a batch of 4 all destined for comparatively short careers of 8-9 years being unusually non standard coaches for a NBC company, seeing them in white was a travesty when they looked good in the pre NBC coach livery. 

EASTERN COUNTIES BRISTOL LK/LKH FLEET MARCH 1966

Eastern Counties Bristol LK 280 LNG 280 Ipswich OCM during the 1950's showing off the low bridge type of the series.

Bristol LK/LKH Fleet standings March 1966

LK 127-142 HPW 127-42 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1949

LK 143/44  FNG 399/400  Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1946  Note LK 143-49 were rebuilt with new
LK 145-47 FAH 101-03 Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1944      ECW Bodies in 1953
LK 148/49 FAH 104/05 Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1945

LKH 150 FAH 106 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1945 Rebuilt with new ECW body 1953
LKH 151 HPW 81 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1948

LKH 152-64 KNG 152-64  Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1949/50

LKH 165 HPW 87  Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1948

LKH 166-73 OVF 166-73  Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1953/54

LKH 239/71 HPW 83/84  Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1948

LK 240 FAH 107  Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1944  

LKH 241/45/47-49 FAH 241/FNG 245/47-49  Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1945      
LK 242-44/46 FAH 109/FNG 141/42/46 Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1945            
All above were ECW Rebodies during 1953

LKH 250-60 KNG 250-60 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/28R 1950
LKH 261-65 LNG 261-65 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/28R 1951
LKH 266-75 LNG 266-75 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/28R 1951/52

LK 276-79 LNG 276-79 Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1950
LK 280-300 LNG 280-300 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/28R 1950/51
LK 301-05 MAH 301-05 Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1951

LKH 306-32 MAH 306-32 Bristol K5G/ECW H32/28R 1951
LKH 333-42 NAH 933-42 Bristol K5G/ECW H32/28R 1952
LKH 346/47/58 HPW 76/77/80 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1948

LK 369/72/80/82/95 KNG 369/72/80/82/95 Bristol K5G/ECW L27/28R 1949/50
LKO 396/97 CAP 221/29 Bristol K5G/ECW O33/26R 1940

LKH 398 GVF 73 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/26R 1950
LKH 399-417 HPW 75/86/88-104 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/28R 1949
LKH 418-39 HPW 105-26 Bristol K5G/ECW H30/28R 1949

Highbridge Bristol K5G LKH 328 MAH 328 was allocated to Norwich and is seen in the old bus station during the 1950's on the 93 to Trowse.