Sunday Mixed Bag

Church Link
(here) at approx 1015

LIVE on Sunday morning
thereafter "streamed"

Caveat Emptor (!)

fbb has a strange disease which manifests itself in the destruction of laptop keyboards. Keys ping off and will not ping back on; but, more seriously, the noxious fluids that exude uncontrollably from the fbb fingertips dissolve the letters on the most used keys.

After some debate with No. 3 son who was visiting fbb mansions (in a "bubble", obviously) ...

... it appeared "easy" to fit a replacement. So to EBay with an order on 20th July.

When it had not arrived by Friday 24th, fbb was suspicious; First Class post is usually very good in remotest Seaton. So he "contacted seller" and received a prompt reply.

Hmmm?

Then on Saturday 25th whilst excitedly awaiting the Monday call. a keyboard-sized packet flopped through the fbb letterbox.

And it contained a keyboard!

It was postmarked 24th July with a post-paid label marked as 12p.

Was it delayed because two first class stamps (not cancelled) were insufficient or did they forget to post it and send it out with the lad, Igor, in a bit of a hurry? Perhaps Igor had to pay the extra 12p.

Monday's email may be interesting.

Toon Begats Kite Begats X

Only in GoAhead-Land could that headline make any sense - and then only to something of an expert in bus services towards Consett. Here is today's map ...

... with little bus-blobs trundling around. And here is a chunk of today's timetable.

But it used to be plain 45, 46 and 47 ...

... branded Red Kite.

OR maybe X45, X46 and X47 branded Red Kite.

Or was the 47 branded Toon Bus?

Yes it was, but it was changed to Red Kite ...

... or was it Waggonway?

... or maybe just plain "Northern".

But do not fret yourself if you are confused (fbb is!) because the brand is changing again. The latest "craze" from Go NorthEast is "Xlines". The X45, X46 and X47 have become such with green wedges at the rear.

But for those who are now more confused, the buses still carry a reference to Red Kite, outside ...

... and in.

Basically, this time, the routes don't appear to have changed.

But that just illustrates the problem with branding.

What happens when you run out of buses with a big Red Kite eye on the side (scary)?

How many of your passengers will be confused when a green-ish bus turns up instead of the evil looking bird?

When fbb was a little lad he began a lifetime's love of toast, butter (lots) and Marmite. The lid was sealed with a shiny gold coloured strip of metal ...

... which could, and did, slice your fingers when you removed it.

But it is still the same Marmite and the same jar overall today.

fbb is still a dedicated toast, butter (lots) and Marmite gobbler whilst Mrs fbb hates it with a passion that is vehement beyond measure!

What will the Red Kite be called in 70 years time?

A Family Livery
Maybe a better solution can be found with another GoAhead company, a few miles further south down the East Coast.

With the takeover by their northern near neighbours, East Yorkshire adopted a somewhat revolutionary livery.

Then for its "touristy" services between Scarborough and Bridlington ...

... the "Coaster" brand is similar but with the addition of a blue seaside splodge.

Likewise the open top route along Scarborough sea front (an excellent ride, especially when gales blow in from the east) ...

... has maintained the family likeness.

It does mean that an "unbranded" bus on these routes would hardly be noticed.

Would the family likeness work with this version?

It has appeared on Twitter and Ray Stenning responded by teasing us with "Wait till you see it when it's finished?"

Oooooh?

Puzzle Picture 1
What building is this? It is an "artists's impression" or a transport related structure.

Answer tomorrow.

Puzzle Picture 2
It relates to ONE of the items in this blog.

Ditto!

Spoilt For Choice
fbb well remembers Hornby Dublo's first diesel model. It was for the 3-rail system and provided modellers with an excellent (for its time) model of D8000.

Back in the day, there was no choice of livery because there was only one. Neither was there any choice of number; you had D8000 and if you wanted another one - the originals often ran in pairs - you had to change the number or have two D8000s running in tandem.

Here is Heljan writing about their latest OO model.

Yes; that is 12 versions - all different - of the same basic loco.

And here is how our older readers will remember the class 25 ...

... but here you can choose from all 12.

Why not buy one of each?

 Next Monday Mixed Bag blog : Monday 27th July