Back into the past again part 2

VR 189 RPW 189R at the OCM in the Mid 1990'S freshly painted in the new livery

As there is not an awful lot happening on the bus war lately and due to illness i haven't been out and about i thought i would dip into the past again with a selection of photos, from the 1990's my era, i got into buses in 1981 when i recieved my first model bus an Silver Matchbox Londoner, and from 1983 when i went to secondary school i started using what was then Ipswich Borough Transport and then my interest developed further with my travels in the late 80's on the fantastic sunday services sponsored by Suffolk County Council to Yarmouth and Clacton, shame we didn't have digital cameras in those days as the pictures i did take were wholly useless

OC3 F103 AVG an Northern Counties Olympian, which in general had shorter lifes due to chassis and bodywork problems around 1994 i would think what with the Blobby adverts helping matters

 

Bank Holiday blues

Not much going on at the moment, one recent observation is the return of 65540 to service on town routes after receiving a new engine, if anyone has any observations or news please get in touch.

EARLY FIRST AND PRESENT DAY FIRST ANY DIFFERENCE

VP85 Volvo B6 M585 ANG later 48085 when new in around 1995 on Bramford Road, photographer anon .

This was a time when First regional liveries still existed and was based i believe based on the old Grampian Regional Transport livery, later on we had the much better Anglia Yellow base with Red at the bottom which was quite a striking livery although typically First never repainted many, the only complete batches to be done i believe were the B6 plaxton pointers and the Ex Beeline Olympians F172-5 LBL and i believe a National Greenway which is now preserved ex Carters of course.

69430 at Tower Ramparts on the 21/8/12

Coming bang up to date with this livery and how times have changed not a particular favourite with many people, too me it doesn't catch the eye in the same way as IB'S purple and green livery. Travelling on First today you can see how they have lost their way, presentation of the fleet lacks in terms of cleanliness and vehicle age, although Firsts driving staff do their best considering what they given and in general they are very friendly to my eyes! The mix of buses continues on the town routes and i do have make one correction in that seems to be 8 Buses on the 55/56/60/61 routes yesterday Darts 42431/43460, Scanias 65532/90/65675 and Volvo B7RLES 66850/69008/66850, today Dart 43460, Scanias 65531/32/88/89 and 65690 with Volvo B7RLES 69005 and 69433.

BUS CONDUCTORS BACK FOR ONE WEEK ONLY IN  BATTLE OF THE BUS WARS

IB trident 12 LG02 FDC at Tower Ramparts on the 16.8.12

Ipswich Buses have bought back conductors on their services for the last week only, in the latest round in the battle of the bus wars, see Fridays Star  http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich_conductors_are_latest_weapon_in_bus_wars_battle_1_1484947 

It will be interesting to see how First react in the long run as far as publicity is concerned there has been little in the way of advertising, with IB doing all the running with daily adverts in the Star, maybe newer buses coming in after the Olympics or with the withdrawal of services in Norwich buses being cascaded from there, we will have to wait and see. 

Bus War day 4

BUS WARS DAY 4

A surprise on the town routes today was 65547, as the P reg Scanias  don't have blinds for the new town routes,  i would imagine this was a replacement for a broken down bus as travelling into town, it smelt of disinfectant so had presumably been recently cleaned.

Day 4 shows how things seem to be getting worse for First on the new town routes, as i left Broke Hall Shops at 1.42pm i was the only passenger heading into town until The Reavells Stop on Foxhall road From that point we only picked up 4 children, 3 OAPs and 1 Adult Fare, traffic along Woodbridge Road was very busy snaking back towards Grove Lane due to roadworks from Bond Street and into Woodbridge Road. Buses on the town cycle was 42431,43460,43486,65547,65588,65672,69008,69009 although 42431 left the cycle at some point as it failed to turn up for the 1545 56 to Broke Hall. On the 70 to Sainsbury's Warren Heath was 65528/29,69433, 69432 was deputising on Park and Rides. It seems to me that very few people are using First's new services, most 70's were leaving empty, although most people are sticking to the 60/61 rather than IB's 6A. As mentioned the 4 buses bought for the X3 and X5 mentioned on Monday were sticking to their designated routes.

IB dart 144 waiting to take up duties on the X5 today

Bus War Hots Up

                                  BUS WAR HOTS UP

Ipswich Buses ALX 300 Dart 143 in between journeys on the X3  today showing  the  full  effect of the new branding.

Today the bus war hotted up with the introduction of the 3 new IB services the X3 to Ravenswood, the X5 to Ipswich Hospital and the 6A to Gainsborough, for which 4 of the 5 new darts bought for these routes, were in operation 138/9 on the X5 and 142/3 on the X3, on both of these routes the IB promotions team were out and about handing out leaflets, on the other route the 6A was Enviro 300 83, as this was the first day patronage wasn't too high, indeed along Foxhall Road both IB and First were swapping places again at most swaps. Meanwhile First had out there usual mixture of buses including 42431 and 69007 on the 70 and on the 56/55/60/61 cycle were 43486/65673/65532/65590/65690/69005/69431. A surprise on the Felixstowe's today was what is believed to be an loan from Great Yarmouth of Northern counties Palatine 2 Olympian 34157, the first time an Olympian of this bodywork has been used in Ipswich. More comments were mentioned in the Star on Friday Night see this link for more details  http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/ipswich_three_new_routes_served_up_by_ipswich_buses_1_1477243

Into The Future, and Back into the Past

IB Dart 143 ready for action at Constantine Road Depot, with route branding for the X3  to Ravenswood

As mentioned in previous posts this is one of the 5 Darts to be bought for competition with First in Ipswich, however there is now 2 more Darts to come which have been bought for route 4 to Broke Hall and will be similarly adorned to the buses being used on the X3/5 and are numbered 138-44 no reg no's yet for 140/141, 138/39/42-44 are Y262/71/92/94/95 FJN and are ex Stagecoach East London via Ensign Dealer.

VR 276 in the short period of time when the new privately owned Eastern Counties took over both IB  local routes 4 and  6 on the 26.10.86, funny how history repeats itself. This was taken at Broke Hall shops.

Funny enough i can remember that day, as i caught an Leyland National home on the 4 one of the R reg ones also i remember one of the fine ex Ribble VRs being used that day, during that short time Eastern Counties run anything and everything including the ex Bickers coaches, Bristol LHs and VRs .