The buses affected by the oil cooler problem had to await parts from Alexander Dennis, with 33822 returning to traffic on 14th as outlined above, then 33814 on Thursday 15th and finally 33821 on Friday 16th. 33816 was removed from K16 at lunchtime on Tuesday 13th for its MOT preparation and returned to work on Saturday when it worked K5. Incidentally, MOTs which for many years had taken place on Thursdays, now occur on Fridays. 33813 is the current 'star of the show' having worked every day since April 25th.
The Enviros, like their predecessors are diagrammed on a pretty random basis and it is unusual to get the same vehicle on the same turn for more than a couple of days. Last week though 33811 developed a particular affinity for Great Yarmouth being garaged there every night for a week. During this time it worked turn Y13-XL19 every day from Monday through to Friday, On a similar theme, 33804 worked the internal King's Lynn diagram K15-XL02 on Monday to Thursday inclusive.
The timetable has had a few hiccups. On Friday 9th, 33809 became embroiled in heavy traffic on K19-XL06 16.15 from Peterborough and finally passed Walpole Highway 21 late. Saturday 10th saw only minor delays, caused by a broken down lorry near Scrarning and an accident on London Road (Lynn) at Millfleet.
Another broken down lorry caused morning delays on Tuesday 13th, this time on Guyhirn Bank. K2-XL08 due off Wisbech eastbound at 08.20 was noted arriving at 08.43 with 33807, K3-XL09 passed Bruce at Walpole at 09.38 (33 late) with 33819 and as a result, 33812 was inserted to work the turn forward from Lynn. K4 travelled via Wisbech St. Mary and was seen arriving at Wisbech 11 late. After this services resumed taking the normal route.
Richard Adderson wrote to me on Wednesday (14th) and said "The eastbound carriageway of the Norwich Southern bypass is closed this week 8pm - 6am between A146 and Postwick junctions. I suspected the X1 might be diverted along Thorpe River Green tonight, and I was proved right. Here's the 8.35 from Norwich in the gathering gloom about 25 mins ago - awful photo but the best I could manage in the circumstances!"
Looks Ok to me Richard and thanks for taking the picture of the X1's 33803 'off route' :
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| Photo copyright : R. Adderson |
A visit to the Woolpack at Terrington on Friday lunchtime saw Y11- XL17 pass by about 25 minutes late eastbound with L12 and 33814 only about 5 minutes behind it. The continued closure of Wisbech Town Bridge (it was due to reopen today 19th, but hasn't as yet !) saw a traffic build up in the afternoon. K15-XL02 with 33820 was seen arriving at 15.16 eastbound, 11 minutes after it should have departed. Saturday also saw some delays reports Bruce. Y11-XL17 was badly affected for the second successive day, being 27 minutes late heading east. Later K15-XL02 passed by en route to Peterborough 16 late and 33820 on K16-XL03 which failed to appear next, later came back 2 minutes early !
I had a couple of X1 trips at the weekend. On Saturday I boarded 33824 at Wisbech working K6-XL12 07.33 Swaffham - Peterborough. Departing on time, we were hampered by slow moving A47 traffic, but entering Peterborough via Boongate and the Passport Office, we were nevertheless half a minute early into Queensgate. Coming back on Sunday, I took the 16.08 from Peterborough railway station with a Lowestoft driver, 33822 left nearly a minute late, but lighter traffic saw us regain time until we came to rest in a huge queue on Guyhirn Bank. This proved to be a false alarm and whatever had caused the tailbacks in both directions had obviously cleared, so after police and ambulance had passed through, we were away again and were only a minute late into Wisbech. Now there have been comments, both here and in other blogs about the rattling on some Enviros. I can only say that with the road surface on the A47 at the moment, it is not in the least surprising. The section between Eye Green and Thorney is appalling, particularly so near Pode Hole Quarry. Cambridgeshire County Council need to act quickly !
Lowestoft sightings have included 44513 on the 14.55 X2 to Norwich on 12th, 34114 on the 101 town service followed by the 14.55 X2 on 13th and again on 14th, 37566 on rail replacement work on 15th. 17th May saw an old X1 favourite, 34108, defying the odds and working 12.05 X2 from Norwich, while less spacious was 44513 taking the 13.35 back to Norwich. Thanks to Malcolm Hicks for his usual comprehensive notes.
"You haven't mentioned X1 adverts lately" says Robin, well that is true so here we have some examples. Kieran Smith was in Dereham on Friday just gone and managed to capture the following :
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| 33811 was heading for Peterborough working (as it had done all week) Y13-XL19 08.15 Lowestoft - Peterborough. The advert for the horror film 'The Quiet Ones' was applied on March 30th and for a while was carried by 12 of the Enviros. Currently 33812 is the last example to carry it as 33811 had its boards changed on Sunday. |
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| 33813 is seen here with passengers boarding the 07.30 Peterborough - Lowestoft, due off Dereham at 10.08. The advert for the national lottery can still be seen on 33813/24 although 8 Enviros originally carried this campaign from April 19th. |
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| 33819 working K4 - XL10 08.35 Peterborough - Lowestoft. The advert for Norwich Airport flights dates from April 6th and was applied to 6 of the X1 fleet but 33819 is the last to retain it. |
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| Our last picture from Kieran features 33821 with an ad for the X-Men. A relatively new campaign fitted on May 5th , this is currently carried by 33804/5/7/21/22. This was 33821's first day on the road for a week after having been sidelined with the oil cooler problem. The working is the 08.05 from Peterborough (K3-XL09) All photos copyright : Kieran Smith |
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