Another day on the farm 10/04/15

While your blogmaster was working hard (well, attending at least, too much hard work is bad for you they tell me) Paul and Gary paid a second visit to the farm to draw a conclusion to the work undertaken towards the front end of 2599, both internally and externally. 

First of all, Gary jacked the bus up to remove the block of wood under the front wheel while the new cross-member plate was being fitted, meaning that 2599 was now standing on solid ground for the first time for several months. The next task was to re-hinge some lose panels, including the access flap for the isolator switch on the nearside and an access flap for the screenwash just above the platform. Once some red lino has arrived, the wood over the battery box region can be covered over before getting onto the biggest job for some time - re-assembling the rear wheel and hub assembly and the rear nearside brakes.

Floor in 03/04/15

A little more progress made with 2599 on this day, with Gary going up to the bus to do a little more work around the battery box area. The wood has been trimmed down further in size and is now sealed in place where the now redundant floor trap used to be. And believe me, Gary has done a good job too! The sponginess in the floor around this region is now gone, with no movement in the new wood whatsoever (even with my 6ft3 fat lump stood on it!)

Now that it is secured to the new steelwork around the battery box, all that remains to do now is to sand it down a little further once the sealant has set properly, lay the lino over the wood and refit the missing seat.

22/03/15 pt2: Shoes off...

Our day out at Norwich for the group's second rally appearance of the year wasn't our only highlight from Sunday 22 March. While your blogmaster and project leader were gallavanting around Norwich and rural Norfolk in 1321 Gary was grafting away once again on 2599, where our attention had returned to the rear brakes now that the battery box repairs had been completed. With Tim's work commitments in the real world and subsequent departure to pastures new in Birmingham to pursue new opportunities in the Railway industry, the brakes had taken something of a back seat so Gary picked up from where Tim's hard work had left off.

With a lot of persuasion, Gary established that the bushes in the shoe were not sitting centrally, preventing it from coming off, so he heated them up to flip the shoe over while it was in situ, to then padsaw the ends of the bushes off to finally remove the shoe. By doing this, the axle mounts were not damaged by trying to punch the bushes out, and it means that the shoe is good enough to be relined with two new bushes and can be used again.

A small update it may be, but a massive effort for all concerned! Between Tim, Nik and Gary's hard work, it has taken on and off around ten months, but the shoe was finally off! We could now press on with refitting and rebuilding the rear brakes, but that is a story for a future chapter, dear readers...for now, as they say, duty calls!

22/03/15 pt1: The day we went to Naaaah-ritch, a roight nice city hint et...

Sunday 22 March, one month after our last rally debut, and dawn was actually breaking as we dragged 1321 out of the farm around 6am to attend our second rally of the season, the Norwich Bus Running Day. Apart from a brief stop for stretching of legs and for people to shake hands with Mr Porcelain, we made excellent progress, arriving at our first port of call - Kings Lynn - just before 09:15. It was here the bulk of our passengers transferred to preserved ex-Eastern Counties Bristol RE/ECW RE747 (GCL349N) for onward travel to Norwich, with Paul following in 1321, stopping off en-route at Swaffham services for photos, refreshments and forward propulsion fluids.

(C) Stephen Longmire

(C) Reg Vardy

We arrived at Norwich County Hall about 10:45, and wow! Our jaws dropped, a sea of proper buses - many new to Eastern Counties or operated by independents in the region - as far as the eye could see! The site was thick with people also, eager to take photographs and ride on the motely collection of heritage buses on offer. So after photographing much of what was on offer at County Hall (Paul and the gang had buggered off by this stage on an Eastern Counties VR), I decided to sample Eastern Counties FS LFS125 (GNG125C) for a round trip into Norwich and back, which did not disappoint I am pleased to say. My attention then turned to a lovely Plaxton Paramount-bodied Bedford of Norfolk Coachways 2176MZ, on which your blogmaster and some of his associates took a ride around Stoke Holy Cross and Trowse before our very own 1321 made her second trip of the day around the same circuit as the Bedford, complete with a full load of happy punters, many of whom had most favourable comments about the bus and even more surprisingly about its shareholders, as I found when I checked in on a post about the event on the Norwich Buses Blog where Paul and I were described as "wonderful group of gents with the most amazing sense of humour". Seeing the smiles on people's faces and comments like this all go a long way, and make our efforts as a group worthwhile, and it really is appreciated.

(C) Patrick Munford

(C) Kieran Smith c/o Norwich Buses Blog

And while Paul was out on an open-top VR somewhere in Norwich, there was just time for your blogmaster to squeeeeeze in one more run on Richard Walker's Eastern Counties Leyland National Greenway LG587 (WAH587S) to Mulbarton and back, beautifully restored in post-NBC Eastern Counties red, cream and orange. It is just a shame the post-NBC era around the late 80's/early 90's isn't represented a bit more in preservation.

Sadly, after all this excitement, it was time to head home, and after saying our goodbyes and passing on our thanks to the organisers of this fantastic, well organised event, we headed back in the direction of Nottingham with the sun setting. The journey back was not without its problems, an accident on the A47 adding over an hour onto our journey home, but we arrived back in Nottinghamshire around 21:30 after an excellent day.

And our verdict? Fantastic! We were most impressed with proceedings, and it was great to talk to so many people who genuinely took an interest in 1321 and our group. It was also great to make some fantastic new friends and contacts, many of whom we hope to see on the rally circuit again very soon...

A Mother's Day treat 15/03/15

 

Prior to 1321's second rally appearance at the Norwich Bus Running Day the following weekend, Paul and I were both off work on Sunday 15 March (Mother's day), so we decided to have a run out with the Tiger and blow off a few cobwebs. Nothing spectacular to report in this chapter, had a run round the Nottingham area stopping off for a few photos, prior to randomly ending up in Grantham for lunch (as you do eh?!!!) It was also a good opportunity for Paul to surprise one of our supporters, Kath Parry, and her family for a Mother's day treat. Here are a selection of photos from the day's events...

Fame at last: Paul's moment in the spotlight March '15

Moving away from progress with both 2599 and 1321 for a moment, with a brief dedication to our project leader Paul Waplington, whom is becoming something of an overnight sensation thanks to his ability to greet his National Express passengers in 25 different languages.

He is also highly commended by many for his attempts to not only make coach travel a fun and entertaining experience, but also his larger than life personality and 'above and beyond' approach to customer service (something I have first hand experience of). He is also highly popular amongst his regular passengers on both the 329 service from Nottingham to Newcastle and the 450 service from Nottingham to London.

So far Paul has been interviewed by transport industry press, news channels and radio about his efforts, and his popularity has continued to grow. So well done Paul, and here is the link to the youtube video, which has over 27,000 hits as I write this!

Battery box developments: 08/03/15

With 1321's moment in the spotlight still fresh in our minds, our focus once again returns to 2599, with Gary and Paul paying a visit to the bus on 8 March to put in a bit more work on the battery box area.

Having removed the former corroded battery divider (no longer required), Gary set to work cutting the metal to size and riveting this over the hole left by the former divider, before coating the metal in a protective lacquer to prevent battery acid seeping through. All that remains now is to finish off sanding the wood down to the correct size to fill the hole where the battery access panel used to be and finally apply the lino over this before our attention can return to an area that has been a lot of work over the space of ten months...2599's rear brakes.