NEWS ON BUS FIRE AND ANOTHER BONUS PHOTO

With many thanks to Viv Carter an update on Thursday's fire the bus involved was ex Stagecoach East London Dennis Trident/ALX 400 17451 LX51 FJN now of course 451, the damage is believed to be unrepairable for the time being Carters have on loan an dual doored Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President from Ensigns until an replacement Dennis Trident is bought. To finish with another bonus picture from the Syd Eade Collection is Eastern Counties Lodekka LFS 114 FAH 114C peeking out of Norwich Bus Depot in January 1973.

FIRST NORWICH 66976 GOES YELLOW PLUS BONUS PICTURE!

I must thank Kieran on Norwich Buses Blog for allowing me to reproduce the photo he has on his blog today of ex Ipswich Volvo B7RLE 66976 KX05 MGZ which entered service on the Yellow Line 28 to Thorpe Marriott to me it looks a bit orangey but it looks pretty good.
In other news yesterday an Carters Dennis Trident 451 which i saw yesterday in the OCM caught fire on London Road shortly before 6pm full story can be seen here

http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/passengers_get_safely_off_double_decker_bus_after_it_goes_up_in_flames_1_4228487

A bonus picture today by Syd Eade of Eastern Counties LFS 54 54 CPW in Lowestoft Beach Road in July 1980 this bus certainly did the rounds starting out at Ipswich then Great Yarmouth, Cambridge and finally Lowestoft.

THURSDAY SURPRISES?

Not a lot to report today apart from a few oddities on Ipswich Buses routes this must rate above as one of the most bizarre allocations i have seen on daytime services at any rate usually the 15/A is Double Deck worked so a 35 seat ALX 200 dart 141 Y273 FJN has to go down as a strange one,another odd working was Scania Omnicity 71 YN56 NVF on the X1. Meanwhile a rare spot for me today was Galloways DAF SB300/Plaxton Premiere coach on training duties sat beside Beestons spare for the day MX04 MYY a Scania Omnidekka.

Now time for a rare beast in Mulleys 444 NXX a Volvo B12BT/VDL Berkhof Axial 100 spotted on Monday in Crown Street Lay by.

EASTERN COUNTIES ALLOCATION SHEET SEPTEMBER 1975

Once again may i thank Peter Horrex for allowing me to use his pictures it's much appreciated.

Today's classic allocation sheet is taken from September 1975, when Ipswich still had plenty of Lodekkas and the Bristol VR was few in number in Ipswich anyway! Above we see LS 794 which was still on the Ipswich allocation at that point but would be withdrawn in 1976 as can be seen it had been converted to becoming a bus complete with roof destination blinds, nowadays Queen Street is shut to buses.Taken in 1979 RL 506 BVF 822J for many years was an Ipswich allocated bus before moving over to Cambridgeshire in the 1980's and eventually Cambus in 1984 here she's travelling back to Ipswich on the 206.

MORE CLASSIC VIEWS

 Today a chance to view three recently purchased slide purchases that i have just scanned to my computer before they go up on Flickr, talking of Flickr i have also downloaded some of last months pictures from the Ipswich area which haven't necessarily been used on the blog, to start with we have a Northern Counties Dennis Falcon, IBT were only one of two companies buying this combination of bus the other being Hartlepool, here we see 108 C108 SDX on the 13 when fairly new.

 Here we Eastern Counties Bristol RELL RL 676 PPW 676F in Great Yarmouth Bus Station, during the summer of 1981, oh happy days!

Finally we see an 1960's image of Eastern Counties Bristol Lodekka LFS 74 AAH 174B seen when pretty new in the OCM in Ipswich and was allocated from new in 1964, and left for Kings Lynn in 1972 and withdrawn from Cambridge in 1980.

PRICE WAR ON FIRST AND IB CONTINUES

As can be seen by the above on a Ipswich Buses Scania Omnicity the £2 return ticket on routes X1/3, 12/13 and on First Ipswich's 53/60/61 continues when this is due to finish, i currently don't know, allocations on Ipswich Buses seem hard to work out another one i noticed today looks like when a Decker comes off the 6A and goes on the 4 at 1125 it's replaced by a single decker possibly off the 12 if anyone knows please get in contact.

IB Dart 89 X89 LBJ unusually was on the 15A to Thorrington Park usually the preserve of Deckers. 

FAVOURITE DECKER POLL RESULTS

IBT Atlantean 29 SDX 29R in the early 1980's repainted into the Barry Moore livery of Green and Cream.

Well it was obvious which one was going to win wasn't it the ubiquitous AEC Routemaster won polling 40% of the vote with the AEC Regent V in second place on 28%, AEC Regent III third with 20% and last was the RT with 12%.
This weeks poll is for your favourite Leyland Double Decker with 4 choices, the Atlantean, The Olympian and the Fleetline which i have included as both a Daimler/Leyland Bus and the Titan later style of course.

Copyright Clive Brown https://www.flickr.com/photos/cliveabrown/3398625740/in/photolist

London Northern  Leyland Titan 618 NUW 618Y.

Copyright NDL642M https://www.flickr.com/photos/ndl642m/12267982036/in/photolist

Rather an nice sunny livery this one for London Buslines an classic Northern Counties bodied Olympian 45 H145 LFX latterly 34345 with First Group.

Copyright Andy Reeve 

Smith https://www.flickr.com/photos/andysbusphotos/4872460421/in/photolist

My favourite body style on the Fleetline has always been the Alexander body particularly as i used to travel on them deliberately when in Bournemouth, by now this beauty was 20 years old but carries it's age well, Yellow Buses Bournemouth's 126 OEL 126M.