ALL THREE LOTHIAN DECKERS ON THEIR WAY TO IPSWICH

Both pictures come from Leon Wells and remains his copyright

All three ex Lothian Deckers Dennis Tridents 601/06/07 SN51 AXF/O/P seen here above at Washington Services are on there way back to Ipswich as can be seen from the above photo 606/607 are painted in the later Lothian livery while sister 601 remains in the previous Harlequin style livery, thanks to MD of Ipswich Buses Jeremy Cooper i can reveal that  both will be repainted into fleet livery but will not be refurbished.

Above is one of the two Lothian Dart SPD's 135 SN53 AVK that entered service this week as i have previously stated due to a busy schedule i haven't got too much time to take photos at the moment so if any one has would you be kind enough to send me some. Copyright Hadleigh 1849 https://www.flickr.com/photos/76466268@N06/20215006461/in/photolist

THE GREAT EXCHANGE OF 1973 PART TWO

One of the large jumbo sized Bristol VR'S finished it's day's in good old Ipswich here we see ex Norwich and Yarmouth VR 309 LFS 281F heading out to Shotley in 1980 a year before withdrawal.

I thought i would add a few things to my report from yesterday, two other NBC companies United Counties and Bristol were also due to send Bristol FLF's to Scotland but as the buses were Bristol 6LW engined the deal didn't proceed, many of the received VR's were in a very poor states as the good old Scottish rock salt had caused a great deal of corrosion, one today is preserved by Julian Patterson originally numbered VR 303 LFS 303F

this became VR 308 when the last batch of VR's received by Eastern Counties took the numbers up to VR 304. Below you can one of the original liveries carried by the Scottish VR's shortly before they transferred down to England, this particular VR BN 367 NGM 167G in the Central SMT livery was one of five originally destined for Eastern Counties that went to Lincolnshire in exchange for five Lodekkas, this one became 1981 in the Lincolnshire Road Car fleet, while below that in a shot from Graham Walker you see one of the ex Lincolnshire Road Car Lodekka's FLF 431 VFE 459 in Cambridge in 1982.

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In other news photo's of the last two of Ipswich Buses Dart SPD's ex Lothian of 134/35 show that 134 entered service today i believe and 135 yesterday if anyone out there has photos of them i would be grateful if you could get in touch.

THE GREAT EXCHANGE OF 1973

Eastern Counties Bristol VR VR 324 OSF 306G with no destination blind was by and large an Norwich allocation.

By the early 1970's the Scottish Bus Group was so sick and tired of the problems caused by the early Flat front VR's that they sort buyers of the whole lot, in 1971 Eastern National took 15 Bristol Lodekka's 2865-9 RVW 391-4D, 2870-73 RWC 941-5D,2878-80 SVX 277-79X and 2881-83 UEV 219-21E in exchange of 15 Bristol VR's from Alexander Midland MRT1-15 SMS 31-45H.
Eastern Counties weren't the only ones involved with the swap, Alder Valley sent 12 Lodekkas, Southdown 7, Northern General 11, 3 from Southern Vectis and 9 from United, Eastern Counties sent FLF 476-500 KVF 476-80E/KPW 481-87E/LAH 488-91E,MAH 492-500E, FLF 343-47 MNG 343-47E, FLF 349-54 ONG 349-54F and FLF 355-64 ONG 355-64F. In the end Eastern Counties only received 30 Bristol VR's from Scotland, 12 were of the jumbo size being  83 seats while the rest were 77 seats, these being VR 301-12 LFS 291/304/303/293/94/290/280/301/281/302/286/83F and VR 324-26 OSF 306-08G from Scottish Omnibuses, VR 316/19-23/27, NGM 157/174/162/170/166/65/164G from Central SMT and VR 317/18/28-33 OCS 579/78H, NAG 591G/OCS 580H/NAG 585/89/87/84G from Western SMT. 13 VR's that were to come to Eastern Counties instead went to Lincolnshire Road Car and Eastern National with 12 and 8 Bristol Lodekkas respectively coming to Eastern Counties.

Courtesy of Syd Eade we see one of the buses involved in the great swap FLF 496 MAH 496E at Norwich Bus Station.

FIRST IPSWICH DEPOT WIN AN AWARD

Congratulations to First Ipswich depot who picked up an award on Thursday in the UK BUS Excellence awards as Highly commended depot of the year, well done to everyone at Ipswich who has made a concerted effort to turn around the depot from admittedly one of the worst three years back to one of the best in the country. In fleet news Cameron on Yarmouth Bus Page revealed that the two Enviro 200 destined for Ipswich are 45119 RT09 JPT seen below copyright Stuart Ray and 44928 EU08 FHB, both were originally at Lowestoft before moving to Norwich earlier this year currently both are destined for Rotherham next week, while the following week Volvo B7RLE 66982 and later one other will move to Norwich this is due to a fall in PVR on the 64/65 routes at the end of August.

While i enjoyed the merits of the Ipswich Buses Demonstrator the lucky people on the 4 route have had the delight of Enviro 200 81 YX63 LGE for the past 4 days, deputising for Dart 85. 

AD ENVIRO 400 MMC ROAD TEST

Today something a little different, as aided by an Adult Day Trip ticket i experienced the AD Enviro MMC demonstrator YY64 GWX which is currently on loan to Ipswich Buses after two days on the 9/10 to Whitton/Castle Hill it has now been on the X5 to Ipswich Hospital for the last two days. When entering the bus you are overwhelmed by the sheer elegance of it all some of the highlights of the spec is that the flooring is made from plywood to make the cleaning more easier, the glazing uses the quick release glazing system which can be replaced by one person as well as a sealing system which prevents water coming through, the engine is a Cummins Six Cylinder turbo charged diesel engine to full Euro six standards. What i noticed throughout the journey was the excellent acceleration particularly up Grove Lane and it's easy ability when pulling away from stops, now i haven't been on the older Enviro 400 which by all reports suffers from rattling obviously AD have listened to the operators as all the poles are now integrated into the structure of the bus, now i often moan about seats particularly as i'm tall but the seats were amongst the most comfortable i have been on, also the legroom between seats was also good, if you can do experience because it's certainly worth it. Ipswich Buses MD Jeremy Cooper has stated that in the future they maybe interested in buying some as replacements for the older deckers, if my experience is anything to go by i would be urging the council to buy them, while perhaps not the most aesthetically design externally it's certainly catches the eye.

 The view from the top while the tables are useful for inter city services i wouldn't think most operators like Ipswich Buses would specify them, AD has an options list which include LED destinations and upper saloon tables.

BEESTONS RECALLED

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Two more flashbacks today this one is taken back in 1990 which shows an ex Dundee Daimler Fleetline/Alexander  PYJ 456L with Beeston's note the predominately brown livery which i can remember well from various school trips in the 1980's

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Back in 1974 Eastern Counties suffered from vehicle shortage and many local predominantly Norfolk Independents hired buses for operations in the Norwich area including this ex Barton's AEC Reliance with Willowbrook body, still carrying Barton fleet numbers but purchased from Safeguard of Guildford, we see her in the village of Homersfield on the 11B, the shortages lasted around one month and up to 30 buses/coaches were hired at one time.  

WEDNESDAY FLASHBACK

Time for a Wednesday flashback with 2 recently acquired slides, above we Ipswich Buses Atlantean 21 SDX 21R, as many or may not know this bus for the centenary of 1980 was painted in a brown and cream livery, this being the original livery colours this livery was then revamped without advertising the centenary then into a darker green base with lime green middle then this being branded lurid was changed for a darker green. This bus was then sold to Lincolnshire Road Car where it had yet another green based livery.

Seen here in the early part of the 1980's location unknown is the classic Eastern Counties Bristol RE RLE 874 YAH 874J my guess puts it in the Cambridgeshire area but the lack of a destination blind?