A Southend Supporters Coach on the M25

[CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER]

Coming Back from Gatwick today looked across the other side of the M25 saw a broken down coach.... with loads of Southend United Supporters sitting on the bank....

Hope they all made it on time n a replacement came as there was an accident a mile up the motorway n holding up the traffic ... made me laugh tho


One Team In Essex

SOUTHEND UNITED FC

 

[prittlewellshrimper]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:22)]Coming Back from Gatwick today looked across the other side of the M25 saw a broken down coach.... with loads of Southend United Supporters sitting on the bank....

Hope they all made it on time n a replacement came as there was an accident a mile up the motorway n holding up the traffic  ... made me laugh tho


One Team In Essex

SOUTHEND UNITED FC

Made you laugh ? Sorry but where's the funny bit in any of that story ?? Weirdo ! And you were 1/2 way to Bournemouth at Gatwick why didnt you go south rather than north ??

 

[CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER]

Quote[/b] (prittlewellshrimper @ April 01 2006,13:26)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:22)]Coming Back from Gatwick today looked across the other side of the M25 saw a broken down coach.... with loads of Southend United Supporters sitting on the bank....

Hope they all made it on time n a replacement came as there was an accident a mile up the motorway n holding up the traffic  ... made me laugh tho


One Team In Essex

SOUTHEND UNITED FC

Made you laugh ?     Sorry  but where's the funny bit in any of that story ??     Weirdo ! And you were 1/2 way  to Bournemouth  at Gatwick why didnt you go south rather than north ??

I may be weido but not a muppet, not sure if the people I was picking up would appreciate a detour after a 5 hour flight

p%&*k....

 

[prittlewellshrimper]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:30)]

Quote[/b] (prittlewellshrimper @ April 01 2006,13:26)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:22)]Coming Back from Gatwick today looked across the other side of the M25 saw a broken down coach.... with loads of Southend United Supporters sitting on the bank....

Hope they all made it on time n a replacement came as there was an accident a mile up the motorway n holding up the traffic  ... made me laugh tho


One Team In Essex

SOUTHEND UNITED FC

Made you laugh ?     Sorry  but where's the funny bit in any of that story ??     Weirdo ! And you were 1/2 way  to Bournemouth  at Gatwick why didnt you go south rather than north ??

I may be weido but not a muppet, not sure if the people I was picking up would appreciate a detour after a 5 hour flight

p%&*k....

Sorry cs what i meant was weird sense of humour . You still didnt point out what the funny bit in it was though ?? And what does p%&*k.... stand for ?? No need mate really is there ??

 

[CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER]

no worries got the wrong end of the stick....

One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

 

[prittlewellshrimper]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:38)]no worries got the wrong end of the stick....

One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

No prob. Big manly handshake and make up then eh !

 

[CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER]

Quote[/b] (prittlewellshrimper @ April 01 2006,13:44)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:38)]no worries got the wrong end of the stick....

One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

No prob.  Big manly handshake and make up then eh !

or pop down the railway n i buy u a pint next saturday

Never lose the Faith...

 

[dave cusaks nose]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:58)]

Quote[/b] (prittlewellshrimper @ April 01 2006,13:44)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:38)]no worries got the wrong end of the stick....

One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

No prob.  Big manly handshake and make up then eh !

or pop down the railway n i buy u a pint next saturday  

Never lose the Faith...

dont go, its a set up, they will get you drunk, spike your drinks with date rape, then set to work on you............

 

[canada shrimper]

doesn't sound like they are gonna need date rape drugs Andy.It sounds like they are both willing partners,not that there's anything wrong with it.

 

[Shrimperstrust]

The broken down coach had a water leak.

A replacement coach has picked up the supporters and they are well on their way to the Ground, and should arrive somewhere around 3 to 3.15

 

[Sao Paulo Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:58)]

Quote[/b] (prittlewellshrimper @ April 01 2006,13:44)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:38)]no worries got the wrong end of the stick....

One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

No prob.  Big manly handshake and make up then eh !

or pop down the railway n i buy u a pint next saturday  

Never lose the Faith...

Will see you down there Rich, mines a bottle of stella.

 

[CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER]

Quote[/b] (Sao Paulo Shrimper @ April 01 2006,16:12)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:58)]

Quote[/b] (prittlewellshrimper @ April 01 2006,13:44)]

Quote[/b] (CSWICKFORDSHRIMPER @ April 01 2006,13:38)]no worries got the wrong end of the stick....

One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

No prob.  Big manly handshake and make up then eh !

or pop down the railway n i buy u a pint next saturday  

Never lose the Faith...

Will see you down there Rich, mines a bottle of stella.

Good to see u are finally coming home Ben :-)

Great timing BTW with the Shrimpers doing so well

C ya next week mate... safe journey

Rich
One Team In Essex
SOUTHEND UNITED FC

 

[Soton Blue]

They arrived 10 mins after kick off

 

[bas blue]

well done to the trust for sorting out the replacemant coach. Not sure what the problem was with it. Seemed like the gearbox went turnd out it was oil leaking not water. The annoying thing was the company didnt seem to give a toss if we got there or not. Quite apparent the coach was going nowhere yet we had to wait 90 minutes for a mechanic to turn up, and pronounce the last rites on the 20 yr old heap. The driver didnt seem to have a clue of his duties, as he left half of the passengers sitting on the coach on the hard shoulder instead of telling them to get off and wait on the grass bank. But like i say, well done to whoever arranged the replacement coach. speial mention to the driver too, he was dragged out of bed as he had been working the previous night. And put his foot down all the way so we only missed ten minutes or so of the match

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

I remember coming back from Bournemouth on a coach in 1991 and the tyres blew on the M3. How the driver kept the coach from rolling down the embankment I will never know but I DO know he received one of his biggest tips of his life when we finally reached Southend!

 

[overseas shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Xàbia Shrimper @ April 02 2006,10:50)]... I DO know he received one of his biggest tips of his life when we finally reached Southend!

Was the tip "Always check your tyres before setting off."?

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Quote[/b] (bas blue @ April 02 2006,08:42)]well done to the trust for sorting out the replacemant coach. Not sure what the problem was with it. Seemed like the gearbox went turnd out it was oil leaking not water. The annoying thing was the company didnt seem to give a toss if we got there or not. Quite apparent the coach was going nowhere yet we had to wait 90 minutes for a mechanic to turn up, and pronounce the last rites on the 20 yr old heap. The driver didnt seem to have a clue of his duties, as he left half of the passengers sitting on the coach on the hard shoulder instead of telling them to get off and wait on the grass bank. But like i say, well done to whoever arranged the replacement coach. speial mention to the driver too, he was dragged out of bed as he had been working the previous night. And put his foot down all the way so we only missed ten minutes or so of the match

All sounds a bit dodgy to me, the trust coach sounds very smart but as for the others?

Hope the replacement driver had enough rest before taking over on the new coach?

 

[The Late One]

Quote[/b] (bas blue @ April 02 2006,08:42)]well done to the trust for sorting out the replacemant coach. Not sure what the problem was with it. Seemed like the gearbox went turnd out it was oil leaking not water. The annoying thing was the company didnt seem to give a toss if we got there or not. Quite apparent the coach was going nowhere yet we had to wait 90 minutes for a mechanic to turn up, and pronounce the last rites on the 20 yr old heap. The driver didnt seem to have a clue of his duties, as he left half of the passengers sitting on the coach on the hard shoulder instead of telling them to get off and wait on the grass bank. But like i say, well done to whoever arranged the replacement coach. speial mention to the driver too, he was dragged out of bed as he had been working the previous night. And put his foot down all the way so we only missed ten minutes or so of the match

Whilst a mechanic was on the way, SBC were trying to get a replacement coach out to the broken down vehicle - they were not waiting for the mechanic to look at the problem. Have you ever tried to get a coach at short notice on a Saturday ? I spent two hours on the phone yesterday trying to get a coach but the usual reply was "the office is now closed" or "all our vehicles are out today". Think about it another way, if you breakdown in your car a hour and a half wait for a car mechanic is not that ott but how many car mechanics are there compared to coach mechanics ??

As for it being a 20 year old heap - it is a R reg vehicle, so work it out !!

 

[bas blue]

not criticising the trust at all, i appreciated all your efforts greatly. maybe it was a communication problem then. all we was told (by the driver) was that no back up coach would be sent untill a mechanic had been to see if he could fix it. and seeing as no one had turned up for over an hour or so we were fearing the worst.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Quote[/b] (The Late One @ April 02 2006,14:07)]As for it being a 20 year old heap - it is a R reg vehicle, so work it out !!

R reg = 1997 (i hope you mean second time around as the first time was 1976

)

A coach will cover 80,000+ miles per year and will require a heavy maintenance & service schedule. So the coach that broke down has probably done well over 500,000 miles. Just look what happened with another local coach company they kept running with an ageing fleet and kept on suffering numerous breakdowns.

Still you can't beat the Old Red Fire Engine Coach of Blues on Tour, how it ever made it up that hill in Barnsley I will never know. Now that was an old coach. Also remember the 30 seater mini bus thing they used sometimes, if you looked under the carpet you could see the road through the massive rust holes.