RECALLING WINTER 1985/86

Copyright Peter Horrex.        Eastern Counties Bristol VR 275 TAH 275W in Kesgrave heading back to Ipswich.

The winter of 1985/86 which i have covered before certainly sticks out amongst the many i have lived through including 1981, from memory the snow was around from the December through to the January at this time i was a paper boy and each day my round lasted around 3 hours before people started to complain and half was given to someone else, my round was heading out towards Foxhall and Bixley Farm and if you know the area, is quite up and down certainly on foot. These were the days when you still went to school in the snow crossing Copleston School playing fields in several foot of snow, and wearing your outdoor jackets in class because the radiators had packed up, unlike today, so here's a few pictures to get those memories flooding back.

Copyright Peter Horrex. Here we see Eastern Counties Leyland National LN 593 WAH 593S also in Kesgrave

Copyright Stuart Ray. The winter of 1985/86 saw IBT borrowing Great Yarmouth Swifts due to shortages and the late delivery of the Northern Counties Falcons 107-13, here we see 59 LEX 859H at Tower Ramparts, with John Grose all over ad Leyland Atlantean 12 RDX 12R behind.

WHO HAS HAD THE MOST IMPACT IN IPSWICH?

20514 WV02 EUP an Volvo B12M/Plaxton was one of three repaint/refurbishment this year in Ipswich, the others being 2 E200's for the 59/70/A routes.

As it's coming to the end of the year, it's time again for the end of the year polls, this particular will concern the two major operators in the town who compete against each other Ipswich Buses and First Ipswich, First have had a year of stability in Ipswich with some gains and some losses, whilst Ipswich Buses have appointed a new MD, had three new Mercedes Benz Citario's, and 3 Darts and 3 Tridents from Lothian as well as numerous route numbering and timetable changes. This year in the bus industry has seen companies suffer from a shortage of drivers something which is set to continue, oil prices have dropped meaning less passengers using the bus, and many established companies folding during the course of the year, mostly due to concessionary passes and a lack of funding to blame. As mentioned on Thursday IB have on order 3 E300's for next year, while with First it will be concentration on the Norwich fleet with Ipswich unlikely to receive anything new during the year, a lot of rumors still seem to persist with the future of the depot which has been denied by management, but who knows. Both companies have wagered war on the cost of fares, with First in the summer announcing £1 single fares and £2 returns, Ipswich Buses responded with an £3.50 day ticket and reduced their fares to the same as First on selected routes, so who has had the most impact this i'm going to leave it up to you to decide.

One of three Mercedes Benz Citaro's added to the fleet of Ipswich Buses this year was 155 BF65 HVV.

FRIDAY FLASHBACK

Two new images for you today travelling back to a time when all over adverts were the thing, during this period many of Ipswich's Atlantean's appeared in such schemes as Roe Bodied Atlantean 34 the penultimate Atlantean in the batch of 21-35 appeared in an advert for Britannia Stores i would presume this would be very early 1980's as Tower Ramparts School had been demolished.

The date on this one would be late 1980's as Eastern Counties Bristol VR 243 JAH 243V is fitted with a new blind set introduced from 1986 onwards, seen here on the forecourt of the Ipswich Garage in Star Lane.

One for Mr Speed i think showing the difference in style of the East Lancs body which i always found to be rather boxy compared to the more elegant style of Great Yarmouth's, Ipswich Swift's were never that popular for many reasons and had rather shorter careers than normal, during the hard winters later on in 1985/86 we saw a brief  period when Yarmouth's Swifts came on loan to Ipswich, here we see Ipswich's 91 DDX 91L, ironically Great Yarmouth bought and then stripped them for spares when withdrawn.

JEREMY COOPER INTERVIEW IN CBW

A rare event today to see an IB Scania/Optare Olympus 68 YJ60 KGX anywhere apart from the 10, however in years to come that may not be the case, seen today on the X.

If you want to read the Jeremy Cooper full interview it can be found in Coach And Bus Weekly available from WH Smith until next Wednesday or by subscribing on-line at http://coachandbusweek.co/.

I have selected a few bits from the interview mainly as i have covered some of the facts in the interview with him during the Summer.

Ipswich Buses have a near perfect record of MOT passes, mainly due to the buses being slightly over maintained however this gives them a low rate of breakdowns, currently the fleet average is 11 years which some may see as being high, this partly due to the company breaking even, recent changes, such as introducing School Buses back into Afternoon peaks and switching buses from Double Deckers to Single, have minimised the amount of time the larger buses are in use therefore saving costs,this result will see 4 ADL 200's being delivered next year possibly replacing Double Deckers, X Reg Spectras 51-53?

£3.50 Day ticket got First Ipswich worried to the extent that over the summer holidays they introduced a £1 single fare on services both companies were competing, he also mentioned that it was sad to see First cut the frequency on the 66 to Martlesham, that they also get complaints about First services as buses now use the First Ipswich fleet name.

Visitors to the town see Beestons Volvo B12BT/Van Hool 523 FN and Thompsons of Framlingham WJ02 VRT a Volvo B12M/Van Hool Alizee T9 ex Soames.

DOUBLE DECKERS ON THE 4 AGAIN!

Not a great lot to report on today, mind you with my PC failing yet again i have try and use a Windows 10 laptop which suffice to say isn't easy! As i reported on Mondays Double Deckers seem to be holding sway on Ipswich Buses 4 to Bixley(Martlesham Heath), this week whether this is due a lack of the usual darts or a change of schedules, perhaps one of the drivers who read the blog might know! Yesterday's choices were Lowlander 54 and Trident 25 with Trident 19 employed on one Journey up and down after a school run. Today seen above on Penshurst Road heading back into the town is Optare Spectra 51 X151 LBJ, followed by Trident 19 V162 MEV, on it's single trip to Bixley, and finishing with Scania Omnidekka 62 PJ54 YZV both at Broke Hall Shops.

EASTERN COUNTIES COACH FLEET 1965

Eastern Counties Bristol MW LS 833 APW 833B, was new the previous year and was allocated to Peterborough at this time.

LS 750 OAH 750  Bristol LS5G/ECW C39F 1953
LS 751/52 OAH 751/52 Bristol LS6G/ECW C39F 1954
LS 753-56 OAH 753-56 Bristol LS5G/ECW C39F 1954
LS 757-60 PVF 757-60 Bristol LS5G/ECW C39F 1954
LS 764/65 SNG 764/65 Bristol LS5G/ECW C39F 1955
LS 766 UNG 766 Bristol LS5G/ECW C39F 1956
LS 767-78 VVF 767-78 Bristol LS5G/ECW C39F 1957

LS 779-87 YNG 779-87 Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1958
LS 788-91 5788-91 AH Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1959
LS 792-94 7792-94 NG Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1960
LS 795-800 4821-26 VF Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1961
LS 801-803 4827-29 VF Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1961,803 C32F
LS 804-15 3804-15 PW Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1962,804-06 C32F
LS 816-23 816-23 BNG Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1962/63
LS 824-35 APW 826-35B Bristol MW5G/ECW C39F 1964

BVS 848-53 PPW 848-853 Bedford SBO/Duple DP35F 1954
BV 854-65 PPW854-65 Bedford SBO/Duple C37F 1954

LSC 866-72 TVF 866-72 Bristol SC4LK/ECW C33F 1956
LSC 873-75 WAH 873-75 Bristol SC4LK/ECW C33F 1957

RE 876-78 AAH 124-26B Bristol RELH/ECW C47F 1964
RE879-81 GNG 479/92/481C Bristol RELH/ECW C47F 1965

With only one further year on fleet strength is Bedford SBO BVS 851 PPW 851 here still numbered earlier on as BV 481 at Great Yarmouth, 848-53 were converted to Dual Purpose use and used on normal service work, at the end of 1965 this was allocated to Norwich,

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS

To paraphrase a Carpenters record 'Rainy Days And Mondays always get me down' what is it with Mondays lately it always seem to rain, fortunately for me it meant a change in the usual fare on my route the 4 from the usual Single Deckers usually Darts 84-87 well any two from the batch, today i was afforded a ride to and from town on 2 different Double Deckers firstly IB Trident 20 Y436 NHK then Optare Spectra 53 X53 LBJ which then runs on to a school contract in the afternoon, and both for their age were pretty good internally and gave particularly smooth rides, Trident 19 also put in appearance on the 4 subbing for a nearly 20 minute late school run Trident, also seen was Trident 12 on X3 and 15 on the X1. The Ipswich Star reports tonight that the future of the Ipswich Park and Ride services is under threat as SCC considers its future costing in the region of £750,000 per contract, reports indicate that both sites average around  70% capacity.

Ipswich Buses DAF Lowlander 59 PJ53 OLB on the 4.

Galloway Van Hool TX15 YJ13 GWG in Crown Street Lay By