(10 Apr 2013, 7:06 am)Daniel wrote Correction as to what I said yesterday...
I'm assuming the 61/X35 do still interwork on one board only. It must arrive before 8am, but departs at 08:05am on a Doxxy Park short.
Drifter Cadet 58 is on that bored today - which was also the one that was on the 38s yesterday!
It would seem that it was the 38 that the X35 interworked with before, and not the 61. 8258 was on the 16:09ish 38 departure. Easy mistake to make, given that the 38 and 61 used to interwork also - prior to the recent changes!
That said, I'm making this assumption on the fact a "Drifter" branded Cadet hasn't replaced a vehicle working the 38s each day (and I'm sure you'll agree one of those is more unlikely than the other)!
Also, "Laser" Scania 4946 is on the 61 today. I haven't seen it during the course of my day at school, and, being situated on Stockton Road, I usually have a good eye for the allocations through the day on services X7, 42, 60 and 61. This would suggest in my eyes (though it may have gone by unnoticed while I've been working in a lesson) that it wasn't originally allocated for today, and was a replacement for a vehicle that was originally on there - perhaps the President which I saw on the 08:02 departure (will verify timings when I get back home to prove this) as I didn't see that later in the day either!
What is of more significance is the fact it has a broken destination blind, yet it does not carry a piece of paper with the service it is operating on it. I told the driver, and he was already aware. It's times like these that odd allocations are really bad. If you can only view the side-blind on a vehicle, what really is the point if the service is on the same route as other services which it could get mixed up with? Its doors are also broken. Driver had to get out on three occasions to open/close them in the short time I was on the bus.
The vehicle itself wasn't fit for purpose, which makes you wonder why a more suitable candidate wasn't chosen from the depot!