My annual trip by Bus to Hastings

Once a year every year I go to Hastings by Bus leaving town on an 99 just after 10 in the morning. It is enjoying an day out a bit further along the Sussex Coast enjoying the brilliant sunshine. I got some pictures of Buses whilst I was there at the Bus/Train Station it is where I got my Bus back. My main aim was to photograph some Arrow Buses as some are being debranded prior to some transfers taking place within the South East division later on this year. I also aimed it at some of the new MMCs on the Wave 100/101/102 route.

Saw this on an short 99 working once last year but a few weeks ago, 36499 was on its normal Arrows route

The last ever old bodied E200 built for Stagecoach 37327  (YY15 OWR) works one of its allocated Arrows routes

More Arrows action now as another E200 works Arrows route 20

Another MMC for my small collection of MMC photos is one of the later ones in the batch of MMCs  it is seen working its normal 100 route

Arrows loads up 

Lost Loops over the past week and one actually on the Loop

You can't trust these "new" Loops some of the time as they still appear off route. There has been quite a few Enviro400s branded for the Loop appearing on their former 1/1A route and a few others throwing up some really interesting workings on the 51 and 54. That has been the case for the past week with 19659 appearing on the 1/1A for 2 days in a row before going back onto the route it's branded for again.

We start with 19659 appearing on the 1/1A. The massive dent in its tree guard has been there for some time it was there when they first got it.

19659 OU60 CVA appearing on the 1A

 Now for some interesting workings, 19649 and 19652 appeared on the 50 series routes on the same day there was 19652 (SP60 DPU) on the 54 replacing an TransBus E300 which broke down and 19649 (SP60 DTK) appearing on the 51/251/252.

How about a ride on the 54 to Uckfield on a Loop 19652 SP60 DPU appearing on the 54 it's seen at the 54s terminus in the town centre

19649 (SP60 DTK) appearing on the 51/251/252 at the 51s terminus in the town centre

 Now this E400 is a good example of one which wasn't off route when I photographed it the Bus is 19650 (SP60 DTN).

This Enviro400 is on route 19650 SP60 DTN works the Anti-Clockwise Loop

The 13X changes operators for the summer

The 13X is a route which runs from Eastbourne to Brighton via Beachy Head. I would have brought this post sooner, but was waiting to get some photos to actually use in this post. The 13X is originally run by Brighton&Hove using Scanias and Geminis. The route is now run by Compass Bus using VDL Geminis. This is only temporary as it is only just for the summer months.

The photos I have are of Brighton&Hove and Compass on the route.

One of the former route 2 Omnicities works the route in the few weeks leading up to Compass taking over for the summer.

Compass Bus use their VDL Geminis on the route YJ05 PXB drops off passenegers 

I knew Compass would use Doubles on the route as it would be disappointing if they used Singles on it.

A variety in the early weeks on the 5/5A

I rode these routes as the 51 on my Bus days but however it all changed the 51 was cut back to the Town Centre and anything after that there would not have been a Bus service. However, there is a Bus service still in those parts as 2 new routes the 5 and 5A were formed to serve the Harbour side of the 51. They were routed to serve the stops that were once served by the 51 and uses an mixture of Single and Double-Deckers that were found on the Loop and 1/1A before the routes were formed.

 

The 5 (Eastbourne Town Centre-North Harbour via ASDA) and the 5A (Eastbourne Town Centre - South Harbour via Beatty Road) are what has replaced the 51 on that side of the Town Centre. All Buses had their blinds reprogrammed to show these routes it is basically taking the 1 off 51 or replacing the 1 with A.

 

After being away last week photographing some of the Buses from Dorset I used today as a chance to get photos of both the routes and it took numerous attempts to get the blinds to come out on both Buses. I managed to capture an E200 on the 5A and an E400 on the 5.



 

 

The 5 is represented by Double-Decker 19668 (SP60 DTO) which was one of the E400s that was left unbranded after losing one branding

The 5A is represented by former accident victim 36899 (GN13 HHP) after its crash in March whilst working the Loop, it was repaired and has been back in service for a bit. This was repaired given the fact that it's only an 13 plate an older Bus would be a write off

These are the first 2 Buses I have photographed on the routes and I hope to get some more photos of other Buses on the routes. Also note that 36899 has lost its white line under the blinds.