This is my new Google blog, the old one is now set to be read by me only.
This blog will have a lot less about work & I hope can not offended anyone at National Express or any other evil coach company's.
745004 platform 1 9P19 08:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 09:38 platform 14 -
745006 platform 2 - 1P02 06:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 07:47 platform 2 -1P21 08:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 10:19 platform 11
745007 platform 1 - 1P04 06:25 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe 08:20 - 1P23 09:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 10:47 platform 5 -
745003 platform 2 - 1P06 07:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (08:47 ) for 1P25 09:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 11:17 platform 10 -
745005 platform 1 - 1P08 07:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorope arrived at (09:19) for 1P27 10:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 11:47 platform 9 - cleaning ?
745009 platform 3 - 1P16 09:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (11:18) for 5P16 11:40 Norwich Thorpe to Crown Pointb Depot 11:58 - 5P67 19:18 Crown Point Depot to Norwich Thorpe 19:39 - 1P67 20:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 21:49 platform 9 -
++++++ Friday ++++++ 09:30 to 21:30 Thorpe Station five hours overtime 🚉🚉🚉🚉🚉
[07:35, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745002 platform 2 - 1P10 08:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (09:45) for 1P29 10:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 12:17 platform 10 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:36, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745010 platform 1 - 1P12 08:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (10:19) for 1P31 11:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 12:47 platform 9 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:37, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745101 platform 2 - 1P14 09:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (10:46) for 1P33 11:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 13:17 platform 7 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:37, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 755334 755415 755406 platform 2 - 1P18 10:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (11:44) for 1P37 12:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 14:17 platform 10 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:38, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745004 platform 1 1P20 10:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (12:21) for 1P39 13:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 14:47 platform 9 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:38, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745006 platform 2 - 1P22 11:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (12:44) for 1P41 13:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 15:17 platform 10 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:39, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745105 platform 1 - 1P24 11:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (13:18) for 1P43 14:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 15:47 platform 9 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:40, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745003 platform 2 -1P26 12:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (13:44) for 1P45 14:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 16:18 platform 8 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
[07:40, 17/01/2025] Michael Noël Turner: 745005 platform 1 - 1P28 12:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (14:21) for 1P47 15:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 16:51 platform 9 Late Shift
745004 platform 2 - 1P02 06:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (07:47) for 1P21 08:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 10:19 platform 11 cleaning inside and cabs
745007 platform 1 - 1P04 06:25 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (08:20) for 1P23 09:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 10:47 platform 5 - cleaning inside and cabs
745006 platform 2 - 1P06 07:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (08:47) for 1P25 09:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 11:17 platform 10 - cleaning inside and cabs
745009 platform 1 - 1P08 07:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (09:19) for 1P27 10:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 11:47 platform 9 - cleaning inside and cabs
745002 platform 3 - 1P16 09:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (11:18) for 5P16 11:40 Norwich Thorpe to Crown Point Depot 11:58 - no cleaning - 1P67 20:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 21:49 pklatform 9
745101 platform 1 - 5P35 Crown Point Depot to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (11:25) for 1P35 12:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 13:47 platform 6 -
+++++ Thursday +++++ 07:30 to 14:30 Thorpe Station 🚉
755334 755415 755406 platform 2 1P15 07:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street
745003 platform 1 for 9P19 08:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street
Notice at 07:14
745004 platform 2 - 1P02 06:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 07:48 (07:47) for 1P21 08:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 10:19 platform 11 cleaning inside and cabs 🚖
755423 Low Level arrived at 07:39 , after being 1P00 06:39 Ipswich to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 07:19 (07:22)
745007 platform 1 - 1P04 06:25 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 08:47 (08:20) for 1P23 09:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 10:47 platform 5 - cleaning inside and cabs
24 minutes late at Flordon 08:34 vs 08:02.
Trouse 27 minutes late 08:44 (08:16)
745006 platform 2 - 1P06 07:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 09:20 (08:47) for 1P25 09:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 11:17 platform 10 - cleaning inside and cabs
1P21 delayed 10 minutes, at Flordon 08:48 (08:37)
1P06 Siss 15 minutes late 08:44 (08:29)
Flordon34 minutes late 09:11 (08:37)
1P06; Siss 3 minutes late 09:05 (09:01)
745009 platform 1 - 1P08 07:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 09:49 (09:19) for 1P27 10:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 11:47 platform 9 - cleaning inside and cabs
1P21 36 minutes late at Diss 09:23 (08:47)
1P23 15 minutes late at Diss 09:32 (09:17)
1P08 31 minutes late at Flordon 09:40 (09:09)
745010 platform 2 - 1P10 08:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 10:00(09:45) for 1P29 10:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 12:17 platform 10 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
1P10 16 minutes late at Flordon 09:58 (09:52)
745008 platform 1 - 1P12 08:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 10:36 (10:19) for 1P31 11:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 12:47 platform 9 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
1P12 18 minutes late at Flordon 10:27 (10:09)
745107 platform 2 - 1P14 09:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 10:58 (10:46) for 1P33 11:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 13:17 platform 7 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
1P14 13 minutes late at Flordon 10:49 (10:36)
745002 platform 4 - 1P16 09:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at (11:18) for 5P16 11:40 Norwich Thorpe to Crown Point Depot 11:58 - no cleaning - 1P67 20:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 21:49 pklatform 9
745101 platform 1 arrived at 11:18 for 1P35 12:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 13:47 platform 6
755334 755415 755406 platform 2 - 1P18 10:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 11:49 (11:44) for 1P37 12:32 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 14:17 platform 10 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
745003 platform 1 1P20 10:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 12:27 (12:21) for 1P39 13:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 14:47 platform 9 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
745004 platform 2 - 1P22 11:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 12:45 (12:44) for 1P41 13:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 15:17 platform 10 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
745108 platform 1 - 1P24 11:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 13:21 (13:18) for 1P43 14:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 15:47 platform 9 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
1P24 5 minutes late at Diss 13:05!(13:00) & Flordon 13:13 (13:08)
1P26 on time at Stowmarket 13:16 (13:16) pass
745006 platform 2 -1P26 12:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 13:43 (13:44) for 1P45 14:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 16:18 platform 8 cleaning 🧹🧼 inside and cabs 🚖
745009 platform 1 - 1P28 12:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe arrived at 14:19 (14:21) for 1P47 15:00 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 16:51 platform 9 Late Shift
745103 at Norwich Victoria Sidings, notice at 14:32
745006 1P45 14:30 Norwich Thorpe to London Liverpool Street 16:18 platform 8 - 9P46 17:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe due to arrive 18:39 platform 2
745108 platform 9 1P44 16:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe due to arrive at 18:18 platform 1
745102 Ipswich platform 3 - 1P34 14:00 London Liverpool Street to Norwich Thorpe 16:44 platform 2 - Ipswich 15:05 - 15:07
The British Motor Corporation Limited(BMC) was aUK-based vehicle manufacturer formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of theMorrisandAustinbusinesses.[1]
BMC acquired the shares in Morris Motors and the Austin Motor Company. Morris Motors, the holding company of the productive businesses of theNuffield Organization, ownedMG,Riley, andWolseley.[1]
The agreed exchange of shares in Morris or Austin for shares in the new holding company, BMC, became effective in mid-April 1952.[2]
In September 1965, BMC took control of its major supplier of bodies,Pressed Steel, acquiringJaguar'sbody supplier in the process. In September 1966, BMC merged with Jaguar Cars.[3]In December 1966, BMC changed its name toBritish Motor Holdings Limited(BMH).[4]
A BMC share certificateA BMC ambulanceA 1963 AustinMiniSuper-Deluxe The Mini was BMC's all-time best seller.A 1965 Riley 4/72
BMC was the largest British car company of its day, with (in 1952) 39% of British output, producing a wide range of cars under brand names including Austin, Morris, MG,Austin-Healey, Riley, and Wolseley, as well as commercial vehicles andagricultural tractors. The first chairman was Lord Nuffield (William Morris), but he was replaced at the end of 1952 by Austin'sLeonard Lord,[6]who continued in that role until his 65th birthday in 1961, but handing over, in theory at least, the managing director responsibilities to his deputyGeorge Harrimanin 1956.
BMC's headquarters were at the AustinLongbridge plant, nearBirminghamand Austin was the dominant partner in the group mainly because of the chairman. The use of Morris engine designs was dropped within three years and all new car designs were coded ADO from "Amalgamated Drawing Office". The Longbridge plant was up to date, having been thoroughly modernised in 1951, and compared very favourably to Nuffield's 16 different and often old-fashioned factories scattered overthe Midlands. Austin's management systems, however, especially cost control and marketing, were not as good as Nuffield's and as the market changed from a shortage of cars to competition, this was to tell. The biggest-selling car, theMini, was famously analysed byFord Motor Company, which concluded that BMC must have been losing £30 on every one sold. The result was that although volumes held up well throughout the BMC era, market share fell as did profitability and hence investment in new models, triggering the 1966 merger withJaguar Carsto formBritish Motor Holdings(BMH), and the government-sponsored merger of BMH withLeyland Motor Corporationin 1968.
At the time of the mergers, a well established dealership network was in place for each of the marques. Among the car-buying British public was a tendency of loyalty to a particular marque and marques appealed to different market segments. This meant that marques competed against each other in some areas, though some marques had a larger range than others. TheRileyandWolseleymodels were selling in very small numbers. Styling was also getting distinctly old-fashioned and this caused Leonard Lord, in an unusual move for him, to call upon the services of an external stylist.
As well as the car manufacturing arms, the company had its own printing and publishing firm, theNuffield Press, inherited from the Morris Motors group.
In 1958, BMC hiredBattista Farinato redesign its entire car line. This resulted in the creation of three "Farina"saloons, each of which wasbadge-engineeredto fit the various BMC car lines.
The compact Farina model debuted in 1958 with theAustin A40 Farina. This is considered by many to be the first mass-producedhatchbackcar: a small estate version was produced with a horizontally split tailgate, its size and configuration would today be considered that of a small hatchback. AMark II A40 Farinaappeared in 1961 and was produced through 1967. These small cars used theA-Seriesengine.
Most BMC projects followed the earlier Austin practice of describing vehicles with an 'ADO' number (which stood for 'Austin Design Office' but after the merger 'Amalgamated Drawing Office'). Hence, cars that had more than one marque name (e.g. Morris Mini Minor and Austin Mini) would have the same ADO number. Given the often complex badge-engineering that BMC undertook, it is common amongst enthusiasts to use the ADO number when referring to vehicles which were a single design (for example, saying 'The ADO15 entered production in 1959'- this encompasses the fact that when launched, the ADO15 was marketed as the Morris Mini Minor and, later, the Austin Seven—soon replaced with Austin Mini). The ADO numbering system did continue for some time after the creation of British Leyland – notable models being theAustin Allegro(ADO67) and the prototype version of theAustin Metro(ADO88).
Most BMC-era commercial vehicles were sold as Morris, but there were sometimes Austin equivalents. Radiator badges on the larger vehicles were often BMC.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, BMC set up 21 plants overseas, some as subsidiaries, and some as joint ventures, to assemble its vehicles. One wasBritish Motor Corporation (Australia)which was established in 1953 at the Nuffield Australia site on the one-timeVictoria Park Racecourse, Sydney.[8]This facility went from a marshalling area for fully imported Morris cars (Austins were up until then being assembled inMelbournefrom an earlier Austin Motors establishment), to a facility for makingCKDcars, to the total local fabrication and construction of vehicles, engines, and mechanicals.[9]
Denmarkwas a particularly strong market for BMC products in Europe. In the postwar period, the Danish government closely regulated exports and imports to maintain the country'sbalance of trade. High-value imports such as cars were heavily taxed.
From 1963 to 1975, a company was established in Spain to produce BMC cars under licence, its name was: 'AUTHI' -'Automoviles de Turismo Hispano-Ingleses' -'Spanish-English Tourism Automobiles'. The factory was in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain, and when the production of Austin and Mini cars was discontinued, Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo (SEAT), owned by the state and some banks and industrial investors, purchased the factory. After the takeover of SEAT by Volkswagen, SEAT made an 'internal' resale of the Pamplona factory, formerly Authi, to Volkswagen, which soon started producing there the 'Polo'.
In 1964, BMC Turkey was established in cooperation with the British Motor Corporation. The Turkish partners retained the 74% of the capital while 26% held by the UK-based British Motor Corporation.
TheWilson Labour government (1964–1970)came to power at a time when British manufacturing industry was in decline and decided that the remedy was to promote more mergers, particularly in the motor industry.Chryslerwas already buying into theRootes Group, andLeyland Motorshad acquiredStandardTriumphin 1961 (and would buyRoverin 1967), becoming a major automotive force. BMC was suffering a dramatic drop in its share of the home market.Tony Benn, appointedMinister of Technologyin July 1966, brought pressure to bear on the industry.
In mid-1965 BMC offered to buy its major supplier Pressed Steel and took control in September with 27,000 employees.[10][11]Twelve months later, BMC merged with Jaguar Cars adding a further 7,000 employees.[12]On 14 December 1966 BMC shareholders approved the change of its name toBritish Motor Holdings(BMH) and it took effect from that date.[4]
Little more than 12 months later in January 1968, under pressure from theLabourBritish governmentand Minister of TechnologyTony Benn, a further wave of mergers occurred in the British car industry. BMH merged with theLeyland Motor Corporation(LMC) to form theBritish Leyland Motor Corporation(BLMC).[13]BMC Ltd (which contained most of the operations of the former British Motor Corporation) remained a subsidiary company of BLMC after the merger, although its name was later changed to "Austin-Morris Ltd" - reflecting the newAustin-Morrisdivision of BLMC, with the BMC name subsequently disappearing from public view.
Within the new conglomerate, the various marques were grouped together into two main divisions, based largely on the original BMC and LMC businesses; with the former mass market BMC marques becoming part of theAustin-Morrisdivision of BLMC, whilst LMC stablematesRoverandTriumphjoined Jaguar in the Specialist Division.
This basic structure remained in place right up until the creation of theAustin Rover Groupin the early 1980s, by which time BLMC had been nationalised and renamedBritish Leyland Limited[14](later just BL plc), although by this time both Jaguar and Land Rover had been placed in their own independent subsidiaries which were separate from the old BMC/LMC divisions.
Following the merger with Leyland, a review of company records undertaken with the support of the new board, author Graham Turner stated that at the time of the merger, 16 versions of the Mini were being produced, yielding an average profit of just £16 per car, while everyMorris Minorsold lost the group £9 and everyAustin Westminstersold lost £17.[15]This helps to explain why the Westminster and Minor were among the early casualties of the merger, as well as the introduction of theMini Clubman, capable of being built for less, but sold for more than a standard Mini thanks to simplified ("modernised") front panels.
Even the UK's best seller, theAustin/Morris 1100, had to be subjected to an emergency cost-reduction programme which removed about £10 from the cost of each car, applying changes that included the omission of lead sealing from body joints (£2.40 per car), removing provision for optional reversing lamps (£0.10) and "changes in body finish" (£0.75).[15]
Rebuilding theCowley plantto include "new automated body building facilities" saved £2.00 in transport costs per car for bodies that no longer needed to be transported from the corporation'sSwindonplant and in the longer term further transport costs were saved by concentrating assembly of the model at a single plant, rather than splitting it between plants at Cowley and Longbridge.[15]
Because of the high proportion of auto-production costs represented by fixed costs that needed to be allocated over a planned production volume, and the use in the 1960s of investment appraisal criteria that were ill-suited to accounting for volume fluctuations and the rapidly changing value of the UK currency in the 1960s, the precise figures quoted may be open to challenge, but the new management's diagnosis that BMC's profitability was insufficient to fund support and new model investment to cover its disparate range of brands and models was hard to refute.[citation needed]
Throughout the 1960s, the failure of the United Kingdom to join theEuropean Economic Communitymeant that the company could not exploit the lucrative European markets due to high import tariffs, whereas BMC's key rivals Ford and General Motors both had German subsidiaries producing and selling within the bloc, and were therefore immune from those import tariffs.[citation needed]
In 2002,BMC (Turkey), aTurkishcommercial vehicle builder, originally set up by the British Motor Corporation to build its designs under licence in the 1950s, began exporting its vehicles to Britain. This allowed the return of the BMC brand to British roads for the first time in over 40 years.
