My Trip to Norfolk and Suffolk Part 4: Lowestoft

After 3 blog posts 2 in which were very long, I'm finally on my 4th and final post featuring buses on last weeks travels and I decided to end it with Lowestoft. This was my main base for the few days I was there but it wasn't my main location for photos though as I didn't take that many there. The Buses in this post were seen in the short window I was there before I went on my travels. 

The Buses:

E200 44532

E400 33820

Gemini 37154

Gemini 37563

I'm going to start with E200 44532 the last time I had seen this bus back in 2018, it was missing Lowestoft fleet names now it has them and is seen right by the entrance to the Bus Station on local route 101.

E200 44532 works the 101 service

 33820 was one of many buses which were new back in 2013 for the X1 service when it ran the full length long before the route was split at Norwich it still does the Eastern side of the route today and is seen departing the Bus Station on the X1.

Excel E400 33820 is seen departing on an X1 to Norwich

 I was unsure how my phone would have coped with photos of buses entering the Bus Station but turns out that it did really well Gemini 37154 is seen turning into the Bus Station and it has to be timed perfectly to avoid a disaster.

Volvo Gemini 37154 enters the Bus Station

 The X2/X22 has a few E400s on it now which were made redundant from the Western Side of the XL but when I was in the area, it was still mainly operated by Volvo B9TLs with Eclipse Gemini bodywork here is 37563 departing the Bus Station on an X22 to Norwich.

Volvo Gemini 37563 leaves with an X22 service to Norwich

I do hope I can visit the area again this year and stay longer this time round and snap more buses.

My Trip to Norfolk and Suffolk: Part 3 other operators in Norwich

My previous post was showcasing First in Norwich this post is a post featuring some of the other companies in Norwich and there is quite a few different operators in the city itself ranging from independents to Go-Ahead and both of these are featured. There is a range of bus types featured and they are:

Border Bus

Konect Bus

Sanders 

Simmonds 

I have a massive soft spot for Border Bus as I really like the combination of colours featured on the livery. The 2 buses in this post are an E200 and Scania Omnicity both working the 146 service.

Border Bus E200 104 BB62 BUS works the 146

Scania Omnicity 211 BB06 BUS is also seen on the 146 this was Stagecoach London 15126 LX59 CLV

 Konect Bus: Go-Ahead are the other big group in the area and operate a mixture of buses here is 2 of their E400s and E200 MMCs.

Konect Bus E400 601 is seen in the Bus Station 

A park and Ride E200 MMC works Park and Ride route 5

Another MMC on the 5

A Konect Bus E400 is seen working Park and Ride route 502

 Sanders and Simmonds: The orange Buses with Sanders and white buses with Simmonds can't be missed here are 2 examples of an Eclipse 2 and MCV.

An Eclipse 2 of Sanders is seen on the 43

An Simmonds MCV  Evolution on the 2

Final part of the post will be buses from where my base was.

My Trip to Norfolk and Suffolk Part 2 First Norwich

Welcome to part 2 of a review of my latest trip to Norfolk and Suffolk. This time, I found myself in Norwich with a wide selection of buses on offer ranging from First to other companies. This post features the First Bus fleet members I snapped with other companies to follow in the next post as there were far too many photos from that day.

Bus types featured: E400s, Scania E400 Cities, Presidents, Gemini 2s and Eclipse Singles  I will now caption the photos.

E400 33423 on the X1 minus tinted windows

Old Excel E400 33810 on the X1

33821 is seen not in service 

 My main aim was to snap the new buses on the XL routes which feature cameras instead of mirrors buses featured are 36903, 36908 and 36913 fleet numbers which feature on Stagecoach E200s. They are Scania N250UDs with E400 City bodies the 1st non gas Scanias with this combination.

E400 City Scania 36903 is seen out in front with 36913 behind it

Here is 36908 on the D

Here is 36913 also working the D

A Eclipse carries a wrap promoting mobile tickets

A standard Eclipse on the 41

Trident President 33163 is seen in the City Centre

Here is Orange Line branded 33150

Purple Line 33166 is seen with a Konect Bus MMC behind 

Volvo Gemini 2 36171 works the Turquoise Line

Unbranded 36202 works the Blue Line in place of a blue Gemini 

36265 carries Yellow Line branding here it is in the City Centre

36173 also works the Turquoise Line 

Unbranded 36270 is seen on the Yellow Line

Part 3 will be the next instalment of the posts after this one.

My trip to Norfolk and Suffolk: Part 1 Great Yarmouth

I've been on my travels again whilst the rest of the family went to a boring shopping place, I decided to go to Great Yarmouth for some bus photography. I got a wide range of bus types on camera including Scania,Volvo and ADL. 

I got the X1 from Lowestoft and the bus that took me there was B7 Gemini 37043. It was my first time on this combination having gone on a B9 many times in the past!

Volvo Gemini 37043 took me there here it is at Market Gates Bus Station

 I also came for Border Bus route 580 and seen on the route was Scania Omnicity 208 BB58 BUS

Border Bus Scania 208 BB58 Bus on the 580

 Now for an Ex Green line Gemini and 37274 is seen in soggy conditions on an X1 service.

Gemini 37274 works the X1

Border Bus E200 BB11 BUS on the 580 after BB58 BUS

 Finally, the Excel got new buses which I will talk about even more in a future post the previous allocation of ADL E400s have moved onto other Excel Routes here is 33807 on the X1 a shorter route for them

E400 ADL 33807 on the X1 service

ADL MMCs on 99

In my previous post, I reported on the departure of 15331 and 15332 to East Kent. What I didn't report on was what could be filling in the gaps on the Wave 99 as the route will never be fully Scania MMC again. The answer would be anything but the most dominant bus type stepping in is the ADL MMCs. 

These buses offer the same luxuries like the remaining Scania MMCs they run alongside like high backed seats, free WiFi and USB charging points but what lets them down is that they're unreliable and unsuitable for the route. The replacements for 15331 and 15332 are ADL MMCs 10703 and 10704 so it's very likely they could be on the 99 quite a bit despite being unbranded. Another regular visitor to the route is Wave branded 10725 which has been doing the route quite a bit for the past few weeks.

10703 SN66 VVP is one of the replacements for 15331 and 15332 here it is working the Wave 99

10704 SN66 VVR picks up for a 99 service to Hastings

Could the 99 be this buses main route now? It seems like it is given how many appearances it's had on it recently 10725 SN66 VWR is seen on the route this is the Wave branded ADL MMC which does it the most

The good news is that the weather was in my favour today as when all the ADL MMCs came in, it was cloudy which meant the sun wouldn't have ruined the photos. I was also in a rush to get into position to photograph both of them but was able to get the shots in the end. Finally, it also took me under a week to photograph both 10703 and 10704 unlike 10725 which took me over 3 years to snap.

The latest reshuffle

It wasn't until this afternoon until I had discovered that there was another reshuffle in the South East division over the weekend losses and gains were performed and 3 of the buses involved were Scania MMCs 15331 and 15332 along with ADL E300 27582. 15331 and 15332 were debranded from the Wave 99 ahead of their transfer to East Kent whilst 27582 made a journey slightly further along the coast.

The only bus that I'm probably still going to see out of this trio would be 27582 as that's still reachable for me whereas 15331/2 aren't. Here are 2 photos of each of the buses that transferred away elsewhere.

15331: This was they very first Scania MMC I had rode on its first day in service over a few years ago here it is branded and unbranded.

15331 working a short working of the 99 because of a late working when it was branded 

Here is 15331 on the 99 with no branding not long before its transfer

 15332: This was also a lovely Scania MMC and it didn't disappoint here it is branded and unbranded.

Scania MMC 15332 on the Wave 99 when it was branded for the route

Unbranded 15332 working the 98 

 27582: This was a really noisy E300 with me riding it many times when it was in the area here is 27582 in a few photos.

ADL E300 27582 works a Anti-Clockwise Loop a few weeks before transferring away

27582 works the 1A with a Scania E400 on the 1 behind

27582 was a shock but was expecting 15331/2 to leave though all 3 buses will be missed to bits.