On Sunday 7th July, Zak and I were invited into Norse's depot in Norwich by Norfolk Norse Operations Manager, Andrew Quinsee. The site, located in the Airport Industrial Estate, doesn't usually open on a Sunday, however Andrew had a meeting on site that morning, and kindly agreed to let me and Zak in for a wander round the depot.
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| 7163, 7170 and 7171 spend a day off at the depot. |
Excluding 7167 PN03UMD, which was hidden away in the workshop, all thirteen Plaxton President's were present on site. Andrew informed us that he'd even gone to the liberty of arranging the fleet to make them easily photographable! Thanks to this, we were easily able to snap a shot of 7163, 7170 and 7171, Norse's three 'spare' Trident's. These three are used to cover the Sprowston, Airport and Postwick Park and Ride buses if for whatever reason, a Park and Ride bus cannot operate.
Also on site was my beloved OY53REU, sitting forlorn in the corner of the yard. Watch out for a new feature on the blog coming soon, Fleet Focus will be a weekly series focusing on a bus which has or is operating in Norfolk or North Suffolk. OY53REU will feature in one of these posts, so watch this space!
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| Norwich School's Plaxton Paramount probably visitng for a service. |
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| One of twenty seven Dennis Javelin Caetano Cutlass's which Norse employ on school work. |
Also of interest was Norwich School's Plaxton Paramount F459NDV sat next to 7165 which has now been out of service for over seven weeks! Norse aren't yet sure when 7165 will re-enter service, though the minute she does, we'll let you know!
As you'd expect, the majority of Norse's Cutlass's were present. Pictured below is 7102 T703APX, one of several Caetano Cutlass's Norse employ on school work.
Another piece of information Andrew provided us with is that latest arrivals, 7177/8 will eventually be repainted into the standard Norse livery, the same livery as LKZ 4453. They have retained the livery of their original owners as the paint was in very good condition, and are likely to wear that livery for at least a few months yet.
We would like to thank Norse, and especially Andrew for allowing us into the depot as well as providing us with free custard creams!
Other pictures from our visit can be found on our Flickr accounts. Zak's Flickr Sam's Flickr
