The Departure of one really good bus

It always upsets me when I have to do a tribute to a bus I really like but have to in this case. I was informed via Facebook Messenger earlier that E300 27573 has gone a little bit further East along the Coast to Hastings to be reunited with 27571/2. Its replacement is a pile of junk which is not good at all. 

It's now a very slim chance that I will see this E300 down this way as they normally do the 304/254 from Hastings to Tunbridge Wells here is my little tribute to such a good bus. But anything can happen and there will be rare workings.

27573 is seen in Cornfield Road sometime late last year 

 27573 sometimes worked the 51 here it having just terminated in Eastbourne Town Centre

27573 is seen having just finished working route 51

 Like all E300s that have operated in the area, 27573 spent most of its time on the 1/1A services the route it was new to 11 years ago.

27573 works route 1 in Eastbourne Town Centre

My final photo of 27573 was taken on New Years Eve a week before I knew of its transfer

It's not all doom and gloom as they're still running GX58s in Eastbourne just not as many as they used to 27573 will be missed loads.

2019 highlights

What a year it has been for the buses loans and new arrivals transferred in as well as trips out too. 2019 was the year the Tridents were brought back, route number changes, rare workings, loans, the Santa Bus and so much more all took place last year here are a selection of photos from the year.

Tridents were brought back in the last few months of 2019 as demonstrated by 18161 GX54 DVB a few days after Christmas.

18161 was 1 of 3 Tridents that reinstated Trident operation works the 1A

I also went on a trip to Brighton in July 2019 and was lucky enough to snap Pulse branded E300 27677 GX60 PDU on the 17 normally worked by unbranded E300s.

Bringing a Pulse to Brighton E300 27677 works the 17

 August 2019 saw me go to Hastings to sample their open top service Trident 18477 LX55 ESF took me on the whole of route 66.

Open Top Trident ALX400 18477 was my ride on route 66 in Hastings in August 2019

 February 2019 saw the 9 day Brighton line blockade. All of the E300s at the time were sent to do the rail replacement resulting in loans being brought in to cover normal services which mainly were Scanias.

Scania 15438 KX08 KZH was brought in to cover normal services whilst E300s were on rail replacement in February 2019

Scania 15475 GN09 AZP was also a loan here it is working the 1A

 E300s 27571/2 left back in 2018 and can rarely be found in the area 27572 was working the Wave 99 in summer 2019.

E300 27572 GX58 GKC works the Wave 99 in Summer 2019

 I tried to keep my distance away from rail replacement because of bullying but at the end of May 2019, I went to see some and saw Scania 6958 belonging to MetroBus.

Scania 6958 is seen in Eastbourne station in May 2019

 There was a massive timetable change in September 2019 which saw the 56 changed to the 6 here is E300 27578 GX58 GKK on the route. This was one of the loan buses that were brought in back in February 2019 only to find itself working in EB for the long term in July 2019.

E300 27578 works route 6

 Brighton and Hove sometimes have their Beach Bus 489 BJ63 UJT and South Downs Bus 490 (BJ63 UJU) on the Coaster.

Volvo 489 BJ63 UJT works the 12X

490 BJ63 UJU departs from one of the new bus shelters

 Finally, December 2019 saw the Santa Bus return this time it was E300 27579 GX58 GKL and I managed 2 rides on it too. 

December 2019 saw the return of the Santa Bus E300 27579 was decorated and is seen working the Loop

The Santa Bus campaign

Every year, Stagecoach in Eastbourne do a Santa Bus complete with decorations and a driver dressed up as Santa to raise money for charity. In it's 5th year, it is even better with more decorations, special blinds and a singing reindeer on its cab door which is really funny. The campaign is to raise money for children's charity You Raise Me Up a good cause which helps sick children and their families. The chosen bus for this year is ADL E300 27579 GX58 GKL which has also been treated to a fresh respray which it really needed.

Some of the decorations in statistics:

1200 lights inside the bus

50 teddy bears

A real Christmas Tree 

It took the driver 5 - 5.5 hours to decorate 27579

Santa has been doing the rounds on selected local routes The Loop, 1, 1A, 3 and 4 and here are my selection of photos from the past week.

I'm going to start with E300 27579 showing a Santa Bus screen and working route 3.

This is the first year the Santa Bus has displayed Santa Bus on the blind fully as demonstrated by E300 27579 GX58 GKL

Santa working route 3 after dropping off in South Street in Eastbourne Town Centre he even waited to go until I took some photos.

 27579 even spent a few days on the Loop working the Anti-Clockwise one day and the Clockwise the next day. Also included is an interior shot of my 4th Santa Bus ride taken from the back of 27579

The 2019 Santa Bus E300 27579 GX58 GKL is seen on the Anti-Clockwise Loop 

Inside decorated E300 27579 

 Santa is spending most of his time driving the 1/1A services here he is working route 1 in Eastbourne Town Centre.

Santa Bus 27579 is seen working route 1 

27579 is the 3rd E300 to be decorated in all the years of the Santa Bus joining Scania E300 28609 GN61 EVP back in 2016 and ADL E300 27574 GX58 GKE back in 2018. Hopefully he will raise loads of money for charity.

Trident returns

I didn't think I was going to say this but more Tridents have returned to the South Coast which was so unexpected and surprising. More possible YouTube recordings are on the horizon as they're a different type of bus to what I normally record as I mainly record E300s and Scanias. 

These Tridents that have joined the fleet are from the GX54 batch which they had 3 years ago but not these ones though. One carries a private XIL registration but was originally a GX54 the other 2 carry their original registration marks. The Tridents also carry flip dot screens which are easier to photograph than the normal orange LED screens as flip dot screens come out easier. 

The first example is 18160 it entered service with its screen not working or programmed so carried a paper route number on its first day it now has a working screen.

Trident 18160 with a paper route number as the screen wasn't working here it is on the 1A

 Now for 18161 which like 18160 also carries its original registration mark here it is working route 5.

Trident 18161 is seen on an odd working of route 5 it had replaced an E200 

 Finally onto 18163 this one has a private registration mark here it is working route 1.

18163 works route 1 

These are meant to be kept on town routes only but knowing what strange allocations there have been the past week, then they could go out further.

The former route 56 now route 6

I did a blog post a while ago highlighting the extended 5/5A and waited for a bit until I got some photos of route 6 as I was lacking route 6 photos back then. Route 6 has been used before down here for the open-top service last year which only lasted one year as it wasn't well used. 

Now route 6 is back again this time as a replacement for route 56 running more or less the same route as what the 56 did and it still requires the same amount of buses on it to what the 56 did. Here are some of my photos highlighting the use of buses on the route.

Scanias on route 6: The route is mainly run by E400s during term time either ADL or Scania with one Single-Deck working here are Scanias 15490 and 15329 on the route.

Scania 15490 having just terminated after working a route 6

A Wave is really rare on a route that isn't the 99 here is my very first route 6 photo Scania MMC 15329 doing the route

 E300s on route 6: The route uses Single-Deckers of any size here are E300s 27578 and 27574 on the route with 27578 being on an E400 working so it was a rare working.

E300s have been appearing on the route recently here is 27578 having just finished the route this working normally uses an E400

At the start of the journey is E300 27574 here it is on the school holidays and Saturdays only 14:36 route 6

 The former: As mentioned earlier, route 56 was replaced by route 6 here is Scania 28606 on the old 56 route.

The former route 56 was replaced by route 6 here is Scania E300 28606 on the 56 a month before becoming route 6

Change of place for photos

After losing the other location because of the works, I'm back at my former location for more photos as the buses have returned there again. There are 2 bus stops one houses the Wave, the 3 and terminating routes and the other holds other bus routes that don't terminate in the town centre. As always, I've been out and about at these 2 locations to get some photos anything from Scanias, E300s and MMCs to a Trident the only difference is that the road is now bricks.

I'm starting with the most recent photo and that is of ADL MMC 10701 working the Wave 99 covering for one of the Scania examples that normally do the route.

ADL MMC 10701 picks up for a Wave 99 service in a short dry spell

Just over a week before Wave branded ADL MMC 10724 was seen in the exact same place as what 10701 was.

ADL MMC 10724 also picks up for a Wave service

 Now onto a few Scania E400s now: Seen further down from the Wave was Scania 15450 working the 5 service to the North Harbour, Ex Breexe 15503 and back at the Wave stop Scania 15544 on the Wave 99.

Scania 15450 is seen picking up for route 5 further down

Scania 15503 was also photographed in a similar place

Scania 15544 at the Wave stop working the Wave 99 covering for 15330

 E300s near or at the Wave stop: The Wave 99 stop is also used for terminating buses E300 27579 and Scania 28608 are both seen at the stop.

E300 27579 is seen having just completed the 51 took 3 photos of this and this was the only one with a screen showing

Scania E300 28608 is seen having just finished its 51 trip

 Back further down now to E300 27582 right next to the pub.

E300 27582 is seen near a pub in the town centre

 Another bus to add to my collection is Trident 18074 it has been appearing on the 98 and 99.

Trident 18074 at the Wave stop 

 Finally, with a Loop branded E400 for company (Think it's 19650), is Scania E300 28609 on the 5A service.

Scania 28609 works the 5A

The extended 5 and 5A the first 4 weeks additional photos

As I mentioned in my previous posting about the service changes including photos of 28606 and 27578, I have decided to do a post highlighting routes 5 and 5A almost 4 weeks on. As you can tell, I'm still struggling to get a photo of a bus on route 6 as the only one I had got didn't have most of its screen showing

So for now, It's only 5As and 5s featured here are some additional photos from the past few weeks. Let's start with Scania E300 28610 this was a recent shot from this week of 28610 working the route it's seen working the 5A. An cropped version will be uploaded to my Instagram and Facebook.

Scania E300 28610 is seen working route 5A

 The next photo features 28607 another Scania E300 here it is also working route 5A picking up its load.

Scania E300 28607 is also seen working route 5A

 28608 is the next bus featured in this post this working isn't allocated a Scania E300 like the previous 2 photos here it is also on the 5A.

Scania E300 28608 seen working the 5A

 Now for the mention of the 5 a route which terminates at Langney Shops one side and North Harbour the other side this would change to a 5A though for the South Harbour ADL E300 27577 is seen on the route.

ADL E300 27577 is seen working route 5 

I'm yet to get a photo of 28609 on that working though I will do soon!