IPSWICH OCM FLASHBACK

 An welcome back today for the flashback which has been absent for a while with two rather contrasting photos, firstly the above picture illustrates an interloper in the camp, with the second time the number VR 186 was used originally on PEX 386R which had passed on to Cambus in 1984, 3 second hand VR's were purchased from Southern Vectis  in 1990 ,VR 185-87 ODL 657-59R, ironically i had travelled on these the year before on the Isle of Wight. Below we see Bristol RL 736 AAH 736J which was new in 1970 in Tillings livery and sadly painted just 2 years later in 1972, note the rather decrepit corrugated hangar to the right!

MONDAY'S OB'S IN PICTURE

Ipswich Buses Dart 137 made an unusual appearance on the X3 to John Lewis which is usually in the hands of the ALX 200 Darts while sister 136 was on the 15A. Meanwhile Scania Omnidekka 62 PJ54 YZW found itself on the X1, which by looking at the amount of passengers on the bus didn't warrant an Double Decker, sister 61 was the Double Decker of choice for the extra 38 journey's over lunchtime's, whilst on the 4 for the past week or so has been Dart 98 along with any of the ALX 200 Dart's,  Dart 139 has returned to the 98 to Shotley, whether this is permanent is not known. As mentioned in a previous blog 3 Volvo B7RLE'S seem to be allocated to First Ipswich's 66 yesterday the 3 were 69005/06/11, 69005 is seen below. Seen with an attractive Orange rear end is Volvo B7RLE 69009 with Apprenticeships Suffolk, E200 45119 also displays this advert with other B7RLE's also displaying the advert.

SOAMES SOLD TO SUFFOLK NORSE CONFIRMED/SOAMES RECALLED

Although this news had already been mentioned that Soames(Forget Me Not Travel) was to finish operations the news confirmed this week was that Suffolk Norse would be buying the company and four of the remaining 10 coaches including the above KX09 GMO a Volvo B12B/Plaxton, the 3 others are YX10 FFU also a Volvo B12B along with 1 Volvo B9R/Plaxton S4 GET  FJ59 CBU and Volvo B12M T4 GET originally YN04 YTK. The coaches which will not be passing to Suffolk Norse are Volvo B10M/Plaxton 11 PKN originally P616 FTV and V57 KWO, Volvo B12M YS02 YXZ, 2 Volvo B9R/Plaxton S4 GET originally YN09 AOX and YN60 FML and Volvo B12B/Plaxton R17 BUS originally YN07 NUO.
Pictures below copyright Clive Nixon.

New in April 1978 to Ladvale, Dursley and passing to Soames in the 1980's was this Ford R114 with Plaxton body.

In an Early livery style and unusual and being new to Soames, was a new in August 1975 Ford R114/Plaxton KPV 921P.

DART SLF TYPES IN IPSWICH

Since 1996 when the Dennis Dart SLF first appeared with Ipswich Buses with 130-32 P130-32 PPV, there have been several different bodies used, i have picked 3 different companies Dart SLF's all with different bodies and of course in different lengths. Firstly we have the last Plaxton Pointer 1 allocated to Ipswich in 42431 which originated in Cornwall with the old Western National company, strangely below has a connection with First in that it still has First London livery and Interior, this passed to Go Ahead when First sold their Orpington operations and was numbered 41460, had a Marshall body which passed to Ensign this had a short spell with Carters, finally Ipswich Buses 90 X901 LBJ was an East Lancs Spryte and until the ex Lothian Dart's arrived in 134-37 this body type was the only one used.

BELLE COACHES FLEET SEPTEMBER 2016

Scania K113CRB/Van Hool LIL 9455 from 1995 is one of six still in the Belle Coaches fleet.

Kassbohrer Setra S315GT C49FT

04 LIL 9713(2000)  11 LIL 9452(2003)  24  LIL 9718 (2001) 25 LIL 9456(2004)  26 NJI 9242(2005) 33 LIL 9717(2002)  37  MIL 3503(2000)  39  OJ1 4758(2000)  40  OJI 4755(2003)
43  OJI 4756(2001)  46  LIL 9718(2004)

Kassbohrer Setra S250 29,215HD

07  LIL 9457(1997) C49FT  15  SIL 9043 (1997) C53F  23  LIL 9454(1997) C53F  29 K2 JTB (1992) C53F

Scania K360EB4/Lahden C53F

18  BC12 BEL  20  BC11 BEL  21  YR61 RVO  45 BE11 EEE

Scania K113CRB/Van Hool

12  LIL 9455 (1995) C53F 19  OJI 4722 (1998) C49FT  22  NJI 9243 (1995) C53FL  42  LIL 9714 (1995) C53F  47  LIL 9716(1995) C53F  48  LIL 9458(1995) C53F

Mercedes Benz Tourismo C53F 16 is C49FT

01 LD10 HOL  16  BC09 BEL  17  BC10 BEL

Mercedes Benz 0816D/Plaxton C29F

08  SF13 PFA  049  BC10 BEL

Not included are any Smaller Vehicles, with thanks to Bus View and PSV Circle reports for updates.

MONDAY'S VISIT TO IPSWICH

Seen on the 93 today at Ipswich OCM was Ipswich Buses Dennis Trident 16 LG02 FDN.

Monday usually sees my usual pilgrimage to Ipswich to see if there's anything unusual about, and IB didn't disappoint, me supplementing the Carters routes were DAF Lowlander 55 and Trident 14 and 16, while on Park And Ride there was Scania Omnidekka 62. On Town routes IB had East Lancs Darts 84/86 on the 6/A, 85 on the 15A and 87 on the 8/13. Its Worth noting that First Ipswich now have a healthy quota of Volvo B7RLE's on the 66, including 69006/08/09 today, with the Volvo B7TL's now gainfully employed on Felixstowe's and School duties were extra capacity was needed.

One of the newest Coaches left in the now declining fleet of Soames is Volvo B12B/Plaxton YX10 FFU which originated with Reays of Wigan.

MULLEYS FLEET

Mulley's have a pair of Alexander Royale Olympians, Above is M529 LHG.
Data taken from Bus View and PSV Circle Reports.

Bus Fleet

Leyland Olympian Tri Axle/Alexander RH DPH 55/41F/DPH 53/41F/DPH 53/39F

BIG 6865/H604 ENA/ J167 UNH

Volvo Olympian/Alexander Royale H43/29F

M529/30 EHG

Volvo B7TL/ALX 400 H47/27F

MUI 6449/7919/7294/7249

Scania Omnicity/Scania B42F, YNO4 GMU is B35F

YN04 GMU/YN54 AHA/D/E/NKK/YN03 UWJ

Optare Solo M920 1= B35F, 2=B32F,3 = B31F, 4=B31F, 5=B29F

1 CN54 HFC /2 AE06 YYU/3 CN06 BKJ/FDU/4 MX57 HDH/ 5 YJ57 YDU

Coaches

Volvo B12B/Van Hool WSV 555 one of two of this type in the current fleet.

Volvo B12B/Van Hool C59FT/C49FT

WSV 555/888

Volvo B12BT/Berkhof CH61/18CT


222 VKE/444 NXX

Volvo B12BT/Van Hool C57F

BC09 NBC

Volvo B10M/Jonckheere  

S595/97/98 KJF (C57F)X471/2 KUT C53/70F

Volvo B12BT/Jonckheere C46FT

WCF 99

Irisbus/Belarus C51F

X888 MUL

MB 1223L/Eurocoach C41F

BU51 MUL

Kassbohrer Setra C53F

N76 PYN

Iveco/Indcar C31F

00O4 MUL

ScaniaK114/Van Hool C53FL/K941B/Irizar C70F

TC03 TLC/YN05 HBO

IB ENVIRO 200 77 IN SERVICE/SUFFOLK NORSE FLEET

Many thanks to Russell Young for this picture of Ipswich Buses latest Purchase in ADL Enviro 200 MX59 GNY on Park and Ride today.

SUFFOLK NORSE FLEET

Seen back in 2013 is one of Suffolk Norse's many Irisbus/Marco Polo coaches, PN57 CUK
Information is taken from PSV Circle Newsletters, Bus View and observations.

 Bus Fleet

Volvo Olympian/Alexander H47/34F
R397/413 LHK

Optare Solo M920SL B31F
YJ55 BGU/V

ADL Enviro 300 B60F(BOV is B56F)
SN56 BOH/J/U/V, SN56 AYJ/K/L/M/O/P

Mercedes Benz MB 515 CDI B16FL
WX57 UGG

Mercedes Benz MB 0813D B26FL
YN57 BXF

ADL E400/ADL 
YX63 ZXH/J

Iveco /Euromotive B16 FL GN51 DGE, Iveco/Frank Guy B16FL YE52 LKF/G, Iveco/Mellor B16FL MX53 VHC/L

Coaches

Dennis Javelin/Plaxton C53F
N945 EWG/P11 BSL/YO52 FHG(C55F)

Transbus Javelin/Transbus C70F
YO53 ZNB/E/H

ADL Javelin/Plaxton C57F
AF57 WHF

Irisbus/Marco Polo C70FL (CTZ Is C57FL,CUJ is C51FL,CUK/O/U are C57FL)
PO57 FTZ/CUA/C/G/H/J/K/O/U

Volvo B9R/Plaxton C59F
YX14 RZU/V

Volvo B8R/Plaxton C55/70F
YX15 OUL(C55F) YX15 OUM(C70F)

Volvo B8R/Plaxton C72/59F
YX16 NWS(C72F) YX16 NWT(C59F)

ADL E300 SN56 AYO from the second batch delivered to Suffolk Norse.

MONDAY OBSERVATIONS

Ipswich Buses Ex Carters MCV Evolution 156 on the 98 to Shotley today.

Plenty of observations to be found out and about in Ipswich, kicking of with Ipswich Buses and MCV Evolution 156 has found a new home on the 98 to Shotley displacing one of IB's ALX 200 Darts, East Lancs Lowlander 57 is now permanently allocated to 92-94 services and was joined today by Ex Lothian Trident 24, town services particularly the 8/13 are now seeing an even wider selection of Buses including Dart 86/87 and Excel 171, the 15A saw Dart 84, and the X3 had 85, Solo 244 was on the 16, whilst the 4 lost it's regular Solo 241 picture below, for a extremely tatty ALX 200 Dart 144 with a cracked window and a rattly pole, with Excel 172 also making a welcome appearance.

New IB Enviro 200 107 YX66 WCL was on the 10 which in the main is now also Single Decker worked.

SATURDAY FLASHBACK

Eastern Counties Bristol Lodekka FLF 441 GPW 441D, Felixstowe Bus Station.

In case you are wondering i have had to take down the fleetlist's blog as the information came from a PSV Circle book which does not allow information to be copied, so please if you do glean any information from any of there publications please do not pass it on to me, said information is probably available somewhere so i will try and source it else where.

Photo by RJ Elseworthy. Eastern Counties Bristol VR 186 PEX 386R, with it's strange number blinds waiting time at Sudbury

THREE C'S FLEET SEPTEMBER 2016

Three C's Volvo B10M/Jonckheere S72 UBO seen earlier this year.

THREE C'S FLEET

TJI 7516 Leyland Leopard/Plaxton C53F originally XGS 777X new 09/81
S72 UBO  Volvo B10M-62/Jonnckheere C57F new 08/98
X12 CCC  Volvo B10M-62/Plaxton C49FT  originally X143 RNV new 09/00
AB03 CCC Scania K114IB4/Irizar C53F originally YN03 WPT new 04/03
YN05 HVH Volvo B12B/Plaxton C57F new 03/05
YN07 LDJ Scania K310EB4/Irizar C53F new 04/07
YN07 LDL Scania K310EB4/Irizar C53F new 04/07

Fleetlist will be added to menu shortly for easier access.

THE OTHER 106 and 108 PLUS MONDAY UPDATED

 A couple of photos illustrating the previous 106/108 from my collection, these have been featured before, but not for some time, 106 C106 SDX was an one off Dennis Falcon with East Lancs body which survived for 22 years, sadly this was scrapped a few years back, following that we have 108 C108 SDX with an Northern Counties body, these seem to be genuinely unloved at the time this one was delayed the most not entering service until late in 1986, most were sold off fairly early, most passing eventually to First Leicester with some ending their days as driver trainers.

Update to Monday's observations include the now use of a full size single decker on the 19, East Lancs Dart 93 X93 LBJ, Scania Omnicity 71 was on the X3 as well, and yesterday reportedly 2 Double Deckers were seen on the X3, if anyone has anything to say on theses changes, please let me know, as i would like to gauge people's opinions, you can do this by commenting below.

Coming Soon Updated Fleet Lists

A full update on all the local operations, plus additions like Mulleys and Suffolk Norse.

IB'S NEW ENVIRO 200'S AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

After a fruitless excursion out to the never reaches of Felixstowe this morning, the afternoon saw a much more productive results with all four of Ipswich Buses Enviro 200's captured on camera, even though it was playing up, coming into Ipswich i had spotted 106 YX 66 WCK first of all at Ipswich Hospital on the X5 so this was the first one i photoed at Tower Ramparts, 108 YX66 WCL was next up on the 15 while 105 YX66 WCJ was on the 12 and 107 was caught at the Ipswich OCM on the 202 to Shotley. Other observations reached from today sees the 4 converted to 1 Optare Solo and 1 ALX Dart which is rather disappointing to see from my point of view, whilst the 9/10 routes also seeing mainly Single Deckers,Scania Olympus 68/69 have been taken off the X5. Other spots today was Scania Omnidekka 62 on the X1, and Scania Omnicity 71 on the X3,whilst First Ipswich had Volvo B7TL 32487 on the 60/61.

IPSWICH BUSES NEWS

Ipswich Buses ex Metroline Dennis Trident 22 LR02 BBJ has been used on regular routes during the school holidays seen here last Thursday on the 10.

I have published this information before but as this comes into force today i thought i would reissue it, meanwhile Ipswich Buses have added a further ADL Enviro 200 KX59 GNY in Ex Premiere, Nottingham, then back to Mistral Dealer, Stewarts of Mortimer then Bristol Greyhound in the last year, this was partly swapped with the only coach in Carters fleet Volvo B10M NK51 ZSR.


X1/X2/X3 – There are adjustments to times in the afternoon peak time on Mondays to Saturdays to reflect passenger demand. There will be a slightly earlier first journey to the station and an extra afternoon X3 from John Lewis.
4 – The 0935 journey from Tower Ramparts on Saturdays will now depart at 0940. 
X5 – No changes. Now that the roadworks at Major’s Corner have finished we hope to be able to operate the timetable we tried to introduce in April more punctually.
6/6A – In response to customer requests we are extending the 1500 6A all the way via Ravenswood and Gainsborough to Ipswich Central – offering an earlier journey home for children from St Alban’s.
8 – We have adjusted various most times, including providing an additional morning peak journey. 
9/10 –The 1457 service 10 will operate on all days, offering schools a better service back into town, but the 1512 service 10 will terminate at Meredith Road shops on schooldays. Some very early morning journeys to Whitton will start at Westwood Avenue bus stop instead of at Norbridge.
12 – The 0700 journey from Ipswich Central will now depart at 0655 to improve connections to the station and run earlier throughout.
13 – As promised we have made further improvements with more peak time buses. A big thank you to our customers on this route who have stayed loyal to your locally owned company. 
14 – We have had to make some economies on this route because of cuts to Suffolk County Council funding for concessionary fares. We have withdrawn a number of peak time journeys in order to reduce the number of buses required in our fleet as a consequence of this. We are also shortening the route so that on the way out of town buses will turn into Hawthorn Drive and then straight into Primrose Hill. The bus will no longer serve Pimpernel Road and customers for Stonelodge Lane West and Sheldrake Drive can alight on the way back to town.
15 – The 1805 & 1825 journeys have been retimed to make them more punctual.
16 – No changes.
17 – No changes.
18A – No changes.
19 –. We have had to make some economies on this route because of cuts to Suffolk County Council funding for concessionary fares. We have withdrawn a number of peak time journeys in order to reduce the number of buses required in our fleet as a consequence of this, however we have taken the opportunity to allow buses more time to complete their journey and we hope that buses will be more punctual as a consequence.
92 – The service will now run hourly during the day Monday to Saturday. The early journey to Manningtree Railway Station will now depart from Old Cattle Market Bus Station at 0710 and run Monday to Friday on all non-Bank Holidays. Journeys will no longer start or finish at East Bergholt.
93/94 – Revised running times to improve punctuality, with fewer journeys serving Great Wenham. The 0817 93C and the 1520 return journey are renumbered to 93A.
98/202 – Revised running times to improve punctuality. Some 98 journeys are renumbered 98A and will now serve Chelmondiston Lings Lane bus stop, providing a bus every hour to Chelmondiston. There are now buses every hour on route 92 to Holbrook at those times.
Routes 464 and 465 – these routes to Stowmarket High School are now provided as local bus routes.
Routes 501 & 502 to Suffolk One will now be restricted to college students only.

East Lancs Spryte Dart 94 X94 LBJ was deputising for a Mercedes Benz Citario on Thursday along with Scania Omnidekka's 60-62, although 61 later appeared on the 4,deputising for an Solo on the 19 was Dart 141 Y273 FJN, which followed that up with an appearance on the 4 on Friday, while Dart 138/42 were also on the 4 Tuesday/Wednesday. Darts 84-87 continue to be used on the 8/13 in the main although 87 escaped on Saturday back on to its intended route the 4.

FROM ENGLAND TO SCOTLAND THE 1973 SWAP.

Both Pictures Copyright ETCS

During 1973 Eastern Counties were involved with other NBC companies to swap Bristol Lodekka's apart from ones with Bristol Engines, above ex Eastern Counties FLF 491 LAH 491E became BE 357 with Central SMT gaining the triangular destination common to SBG companies, other NBC companies such as United didn't have to send there Lodekkas very far, strangely this one THN 264F moved to Western SMT based in Glasgow new in 1968 it retained it's 4 piece set blinds as well as it's Cave Brown heating system.