Noted last week on the X5 in St. Neots was 53617. Made a change from the usual E400 replacement.

hi all

im hearing reports from some drivers that the 300/301 route shared between Stevenage and hemel is to be split with Hemel operating routes 400/401 Hemel - st.albans - hatfield with some extentions to hatfield south/Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage depot operating 300/301 Stevenage - Welwyn - hatfield with some extensions to st albans/hatfield south.


im hearing this is due to happen in march 2019. Can anybody else confirm this?

I had an appointment in town on Saturday afternoon so did 19888 on an 81 and viewed the following specimens:

1 - 18336, 18419, 18423, 19706
2 - 36935, 36937
3/7 - 34829, 48035
4 - 37438  (27643 arrived in the bus station with 4 on the blind but was on route 5)
5/6 - 27522, 27523, 27642, 27643, 27645, 34825, 36045
8 - 47351
9 - 19889, 27646, 27647, 37437
41 - 34828, 37439
42 - 19705
50 - 11136 (1432), 18410 (1532)
51 - 19702, 19893
53 - 36043, 37431
71 - 19893, 34425
72 - 19888
73 - 19702, 19891, 34827
81 - 18424, 19706, 19888

I went home on 37437 on the 9. I am told that 11 of the 13 X4 gold buses have now appeared on the 50 in Bedford with just 11132 and 11135 to appear which goes to show how many I have missed at work as I've only rode on two of them so far.

I was most distraught yesterday afternoon to learn that I had missed a big winner over the weekend in nearby Peterborough. Ex Stagecoach Barnstaple surfer bus 16017 was working shuttles to the model railway show at the East of England Arena and I would have been there had I known earlier.

This morning route 9 included 34825 and 37438 but I had to walk into town as lack of funds until a visit to the cash point. 18336 and 18424 did the 0900 and 0912 1's, 37431 the 0905 41, 34832 the 0915 81, 19704 the 0915 51 and 18423 the 0915 73. Also viewed were 19706 on a 42, 34425 on a 3, 19888 on a 51 and 37439 on a 72.

On this date in 2011 I had 16230 on the 2 to Elstow Park & Ride.

In comparison to Saturday just gone, back in 2012, 8 December was also a Saturday and turned out to be a decent day. I did 16593 to Oakley and back on the 51, I then did 16221 on the 74 to Biggleswade and back. 16221 then did the 42 so as it was also required for that route I stayed with Sylvia to Flitwick and back. 16593 was a winner for Luton so when it did an 81 I took it to Luton and back and remained on board as it then did a 74 to Biggleswade where I eventually got off it and dropped back an hour for the next 74 which yielded 16581 so this was taken back to Bedford ending another satisfying day.

Thursday on route 9 was of no interest as all that was available were 27520, 27523, 27642 and 27645 so I walked. At least I had 18419 on the 6 to work. 48025 overtook us on another late 6 passing 19706 on a 51. The 0915 81 reverted back to a decker when 19699 produced whilst 18336 and 18423 were on 1's. After work I had 34829 on the 6 and went home on 37437 on the 1730 81 to avoid the 9. I did notice an Enviro single deck bus on the W7 EMT job but too dark to see which one it was.

This morning I was nailed by the pink 36045 on the 9 but at least it was on time despite the downpour. 27522 was my 6 but annoyingly we were overtaken again by another 6 which was a trident but whether that picked up in the bus station is another matter if running late. 18424 had arrived on a 1 at the bus station but was deemed unfit for further human consumption and was parked up. In the meantime the 0915 73 was 19890 and the 0915 51 was 19892. As I was leaving 18336 dropped into the far bay so I assume it replaced 18424 on the 1 as it had been spare. If not, it could only be the 0915 81 running 8 minutes late.

On this date in 2010 my 9 into town was 16680, a world of difference from the pink crate I had today.

In addition to Tridents in full Stagecoach livery being taken West down A47 on suspended tow on 26th @ 16.05 and 27th @ 15.10, just passed 47306 also on suspended tow at 14.40 heading West.