FIRST MB CITARIO REPORTED WITH IPSWICH BUSES

Just a quick blog tonight to report that one of the three Mercedes Benz Citario's due for Ipswich Buses was seen yesterday thanks Ben, heading for Ipswich, in the current fleet livery, bound for Evobus in Coventry one was trialled by IB back in February on Park and Ride, BG63 VVE seen above, if anyone has the exact details of the registration for the first one please let me know.

BUS PROFILE:BRISTOL LH

Copyright Unknown.

A chance to take a look back at Eastern Counties different types of Bristol LH the first one up is the first of the new style Bristol LH which was introduced at the Commercial Motor Show in 1972 and was the first bus in the new NBC Poppy Red livery and the last with a Perkins engine it was destined for a short career with Eastern Counties of nine years before becoming preserved and is now with John Appleton, Higham Ferrers.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_addison/3262887778/in/photolist-6JLSS1-4VvLS8-5o7FJy-5Yk9RQ-7LU6Pi

Here we see late on in it's career with Eastern Counties is LH 903 XPW 903H a series one LH in 1980 suffering with a water leak problem inside Kings Lynn depot, by the following year it would be withdrawn.

To finish up with we see a collection of three of the last Bristol LH's which finished their days at Ipswich depot including dual purpose LH 930 WEX 930S and it's bus sister's LH 927/29 WEX 927/29S, LH 930 would be later painted in a deregulation livery of Grey/Orange/Cream which you would have to see it to believe it.

IB FIRST DAY OF SERVICE CHANGES

First day of service changes saw quite a bit of confusion as once again Ipswich Buses decided to move round all the positions of the stands let alone all the number changes, first photo illustrates the renumbered 11 which now becomes the 6A, while Dennis Trident 20 Y436 NHK is on what was the 7 but has now become the 15A.

An interesting change on the 4 route now sees an double decker come off the 6A at around 1125 and do one 4 to Bixley Farm and return, then a 4 to Martlesham Tesco and return, then a 4 to Bixley Farm, which terminates there at 1428. Seen here today with my good friend Tony the driver in hand is Scania Omnidekka 62 PJ54 YZV, now this a livery to like!

And another Scania Omnidekka this time YN05 HFY with Beestons which is a recent repaint into the new livery alongside is Galloway DAF/Wright Cadet 1754 PP.

MEMORIES OF IPSWICH ROUTES 7/11

Copyright Stuart Ray
Today a trip back featuring the two routes that will still exist tomorrow but now of course with different numbers the 7 will become the 15A and the 11 becomes the 6A, leaving just the 4/6/8/9 as the only single digit numbers in use! The first features my favourite AEC combination the AEC Regent V with Massey body, taken from the top of Warwick Road we see one of the earliest ones in 37 LDX 37 heading back into Town with the wrong blinds on the 11 when it used to terminate at Selkirk Road, picture taken 1970. Below we see IBT cream and green liveried Leyland Atlantean/Roe 8 MRT 8P, outside what is now residential flats but back then was Mc Namara Motors car showroom heading back from Foxhall Road which on return became the 7 to Chantry.

While the number 7 still lives on well sort of First Ipswich's new Felixstowe express service is numbered X7 obviously someone forget to programme the LED blinds, as it left for Felixstowe with 7 Town Centre!

FIRST IPSWICH E200'S IN SERVICE/END OF THE LINE FOR IB 7/11

Today was the first day of First Ipswich's operation of the 59 and 70 routes and as can be seen the 59 was particularly busy as can be seen by AD Enviro 200 44928 EU08 FHB loading up in Tower Ramparts this morning, while sister bus 45119 RT09 JPT,see belows pictures was on the 70 to Woodbridge both these routes as previously mentioned are under contract to Suffolk County Council.

 

As can be see by the picture above and below Ipswich Buses routes 7/11 will no longer exist from Thursday as they become 15A and 6A respectively, the 7 is particularly a long standing number as it's history goes back all the way to 1928 when trolleybuses first served London Road, while the 11 was created shortly after the second world war in 1947 to serve Sidegate Lane, the number 11A will be still used ableit as an 11A school journey for St Albans School, picture above shows Scania Omnidekka 62 PJ54 YZV on the 7 today whilst below we see recent repaint Dennis Trident 22 LR02 BBJ on the 11.

MORE MUTTERINGS

Sadly now departed to that great scrapyard in the sky, but back in 2004 before cascade down to the Ipswich area Dennis Dart SLF Plaxton Pointer 2 43477 R477 CAH is seen in Castle Meadow Norwich.

Further to yesterdays blog i have looked back 11 years to 2004 and compared the scale of First Group's operation to that of 2015, the most important sell off a few years back was the sell of the entire London Operations, by looking back to the First Bus Handbook then you can see how much has been lost.
Glasgow: Cumbernauld and Stevenston, Manchester:Ince, sold to Stagecoach Wigan, Midlands:Sold to Stagecoach,Birkenhead and Chester, Closed Crewe,Newcastle Upon Lyme,Evesham,Hereford,Redditch sold to Rotala and Northampton,Leeds:Cherry Row,South Yorkshire:Halfway, Eastern Counties:Bury St Edmunds, Kings Lynn bus operations only,Essex:Braintree and Harwich,Beeline:Bracknell,Wales:Tycroes,Carmarthen,Llanelli,Maesteg and Pontardawe, Somerset:Yeovil,Bristol:Muller Road,Devon and Cornwall:Barnstaple,Plymouth and St Austell.

SUNDAY MUTTERINGS

Many thanks to Joe at Ipswich depot for sending me this the transfer of Volvo B7RLES 66976/78/80 to Norwich was completed this morning.

Now i don't like to moan very often on here but i think this open to debate, so please have your say if need be, it seems lately that First Group lately seem to be on the slide, throughout the UK, with the closures of Braintree, Bracknell, Plymouth and Hereford depots, most of those depots vehicles upon closure were rather old particularly Plymouth it seems to me that First seem to think that the major towns and cities such as Bristol and Manchester come off better for this years new bus orders, you only have to look at Stagecoach for example upon snapping up the Chester and Newcastle operations immediately invested in new buses which turned them into profit making depots, looking at the regional aspect here in Eastern England, we are rather rural in nature particularly Suffolk and Norfolk, indeed the last new buses excluding the ex Park and Ride B7RLE's was the 2003 batch of deckers for the 66 route, First in Ipswich under previous management particularly gave up many of their traditional routes, one example was the 90 route to Sudbury, which seems to do well with Beestons, Hedingham,Chambers and Stephensons equally as well have turned round previous First Essex routes. Steve W sadly has gone into retirement however yesterdays news on the movements up north in Norfolk was particularly worth reading http://busandtrain.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/first-vehicle-cascades-and-more.html so i won't repeat it here.

First Volvo B6 386 L101 WYS at the ITM back in 2003.