North East Buses

(28 Apr 2017, 10:41 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]Cheers - we're going on only possible on Sunday and bank holiday GNE day tickets, so was wondering whether to use these or aim for a Q3.

30 minute frequency is poor, mind. I suppose I could up our step count for the day!

I do find it rather disappointing as it's chance to mean some or most buses are likely to only go out on one run all day, so I'm chance to miss some as I'm not arriving until around 11:45 and I just know that they will be one's I ain't been on (winners).

I feel it should have been every 15 or 20 minutes. Based on last year, I had a feeling that this is what the outcome would be.

(29 Apr 2017, 12:02 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]I do find it rather disappointing as it's chance to mean some or most buses are likely to only go out on one run all day, so I'm chance to miss some as I'm not arriving until around 11:45 and I just know that they will be one's I ain't been on (winners).

I feel it should have been every 15 or 20 minutes. Based on last year, I had a feeling that this is what the outcome would be.

Even if you arrive earlier I doubt there'll be any winners for haulage - mostly duds I reckon.

(28 Apr 2017, 10:41 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]Well, bu....

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Cheers - we're going on only possible on Sunday and bank holiday GNE day tickets, so was wondering whether to use these or aim for a Q3.

30 minute frequency is poor, mind. I suppose I could up our step count for the day!

I'd say you're best off heading to Haymarket for a Q3, and walking down past the Free Trade. 

I do hope that isn't the be all and end all of the shuttle runs, because it would be a massive come down from the fantastic day down Teesside, last Sunday.

What time are buses arriving

(29 Apr 2017, 2:39 pm)Adrian wrote [ -> ]I'd say you're best off heading to Haymarket for a Q3, and walking down past the Free Trade. 

I do hope that isn't the be all and end all of the shuttle runs, because it would be a massive come down from the fantastic day down Teesside, last Sunday.

Aye - it would be a natural thing to do to hop off an angel at Gateshead and wait for a shuttle. Then again, we're catching the 59 from home because the 22 is just too unreliable on a Sunday ad Big'un won't use it, so won't even get to Gateshead until 11:15, if the Angel runs to time, and I'm blown if I'm forking out for Explorers. Going right into Newcastle means we have a chance to pop into Pret for some lunch. I suppose we could get off at Blackett street then catch the Q3 from market Street. We're only going to get an hour down there, at best, but that tends to be all we need.

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I'm a sad git.

(28 Apr 2017, 3:21 pm)Kuyoyo wrote [ -> ]Well, scratch Arriva off - HQ have squashed the efforts of the lads and said no.......

Unfortunately this piece of information is spot on. Originally there was a plan to bring SIX vehicles from various depots across the north east. Depots were up for it, Drivers were up for it all but one driver had done a rally before. However yesterday afternoon we were told our efforts are in vain as red tape and the health and safety boffins at Doxford Park said no to the idea. 

Heres hoping for better luck for Durham!

Greatly looking forward to today's  NEBPT North East Bus & Coach Show 2017 at Spillers Wharf, Newcastle Quayside, just down-river of where the Ouseburn enters the River Tyne !

This replaces the North East Bus Preservation Trust event which has been based at the Metro Centre coach park for the last 25 years.

The route will be well sign-posted, and there is a large FREE car park adjacent to the new display site - and there will be a FREE bus shuttle service to and from the Gateshead Metro Interchange (bay D).

(29 Apr 2017, 9:56 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]Aye - it would be a natural thing to do to hop off an angel at Gateshead and wait for a shuttle. Then again, we're catching the 59 from home because the 22 is just too unreliable on a Sunday ad Big'un won't use it, so won't even get to Gateshead until 11:15, if the Angel runs to time, and I'm blown if I'm forking out for Explorers. Going right into Newcastle means we have a chance to pop into Pret for some lunch. I suppose we could get off at Blackett street then catch the Q3 from market Street. We're only going to get an hour down there, at best, but that tends to be all we need.

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I'm a sad git.

Your Q3 is every 30 minutes, not 15

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Clowns... | HPK507N by Jamie MP, on Flickr

YJ13HOH / 696 - Optare Solo by Jamie MP, on Flickr

NK07KPO / 5279 - Mercedes Citaro by Jamie MP, on Flickr

P981FNW by Jamie MP, on Flickr

8124WX / CUG27 by Jamie MP, on Flickr

HKL826 / OR2 by Jamie MP, on Flickr

SCN268S / 268 by Jamie MP, on Flickr

WK58EAE / 706 - Optare Solo by Jamie MP, on Flickr

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(30 Apr 2017, 9:28 am)Jamie M wrote [ -> ]Your Q3 is every 30 minutes, not 15

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Aye. I noticed that.gave us time to eat our lunch then grumble about it being late!

Good turn out today at spillers. Nice to see go north east there too

Overall, I quite enjoyed today. Thanks to everyone who brought a bus!

Dare say it was not as well organised as last week's rally, and I can't say I was a fan of the 30-minute frequency timetable. Seemed to be more Go North East buses doing runs than preserved ones? Things seemed to get a bit slacker in the afternoon, though by this point a large number of people had already left.

Obtaining photographs was a bit naff until 12:00 - buses parked far too closely together (despite there being absolutely tonnes of space!) I struggled to photograph anything on the eastern section of the site as the buses were parked close together and they were parked too close to the stalls.

It seemed awfully quiet by 14:00, but it was still booming at this point at the Metrocentre. Hopefully a few lessons learnt from today for improvements next year?

(30 Apr 2017, 4:32 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Overall, I quite enjoyed today. Thanks to everyone who brought a bus!

Dare say it was not as well organised as last week's rally, and I can't say I was a fan of the 30-minute frequency timetable. Seemed to be more Go North East buses doing runs than preserved ones? Things seemed to get a bit slacker in the afternoon, though by this point a large number of people had already left.

Obtaining photographs was a bit naff until 12:00 - buses parked far too closely together (despite there being absolutely tonnes of space!) I struggled to photograph anything on the eastern section of the site as the buses were parked close together and they were parked too close to the stalls.

It seemed awfully quiet by 14:00, but it was still booming at this point at the Metrocentre. Hopefully a few lessons learnt from today for improvements next year?

I agree. Although I stated that I wanted to leave to avoid odd questions, this is partly because there was no space and everything and everybody looked as if they were jammed together in the razor-sharp fenced-off compound. I understand that circumstances have changed with using Metrocentre, but I don't think the space was used effectively here in the site. I hope a better site is located for next year, or somebody can sit down with pen and paper and ensure that there are no more jail semantics to add to the decent list I already have!

People will always turn up to these events, and I don't see shuttle buses being and issue given it's very easy to get to with the Q3 etc.

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Sadly I missed the event today.. would of been good to go down to Spillars.

Mind you the Metrocentre location for the event was far easier and convenient, why was the location changed - is the event likely to return to the Metrocentre in the future?

The site was large enough and it's good that the ground was solid, but I agree about the layout being odd. We kept finding ourselves behind buses when we wanted to be in front of them all.

A wee bit exposed, too. Some poor chap had his display blow off his table and a load of mugs crash to the ground. Mind, you, I saw him try to set it all up again, instead of abandoning the big wooden display stand that caught the wind in the first place!

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(30 Apr 2017, 5:14 pm)thetravelman wrote [ -> ]Sadly I missed the event today.. would of been good to go down to Spillars.

Mind you the Metrocentre location for the event was far easier and convenient, why was the location changed - is the event likely to return to the Metrocentre in the future?

I don't think the MetroCentre was very good for bus rides, though. It's ridiculously congested on a bank holiday weekend. The rides across the river and back, today had a lot of people stopping and looking.

(30 Apr 2017, 5:33 pm)BusLoverMum wrote [ -> ]The site was large enough and it's good that the ground was solid, but I agree about the layout being odd.  We kept finding ourselves behind buses when we wanted to be in front of them all.

A wee bit exposed, too. Some poor chap had his display blow off his table and a load of mugs crash to the ground. Mind, you, I saw him try to set it all up again, instead of abandoning the big wooden display stand that caught the wind in the first place!

Did Big'un get many pics?

(30 Apr 2017, 1:52 pm)Jamie M wrote [ -> ]Clowns... | HPK507N by Jamie MP, on Flickr

YJ13HOH / 696 - Optare Solo by Jamie MP, on Flickr

NK07KPO / 5279 - Mercedes Citaro by Jamie MP, on Flickr

P981FNW by Jamie MP, on Flickr

8124WX / CUG27 by Jamie MP, on Flickr

HKL826 / OR2 by Jamie MP, on Flickr

SCN268S / 268 by Jamie MP, on Flickr

WK58EAE / 706 - Optare Solo by Jamie MP, on Flickr

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We saw the round the town tours bus near Durham, earlier, this week.

Was actually going to go here today but had something else planned - judging by the photos seemed like a decent event for the first go so hopefully will be able to try it next year

Unforseen circumstances, meant any outside chance of getting there went out of the window.

However, as is seemingly the norm after these events, I ended up passing a number of vehicles returning to their stables.

This time it was the Teesside examples.
With the Stagecarriage VR leading the 500 Group VR.
No idea whether the punter on the Open Topper had sat there all down the A19, but they were looking cold!

Was the Stagecarriage Olympian there? Saw that earlier displaying '#UTB'.

I was going to go but by the time I got to Gateshead I gave up on going mainly because of the metro

I had a good time at the event today. Site was better than I thought with plenty of space (although this could have been used more effectively).

Slightly slow start as I arrived just after 10:15 with the first shuttles being Go North East 6307 and 5279 so I decided to wait for something a bit better.

Did 3 round trips in total with 4 buses. First was a full round trip on Stagecarriage open top Bristol VR. Then Bristol MV 8124 WX to Gateshead. Once I arrived at the interchange I changed straight onto the AEC single deck open topper. This was my favourite shuttle run of the day. Finally a full round trip on Busways Leyland Atlantean. Although the frequency of these shuttle runs started out at every half an hour, it seemed to be more frequent by the time I left with sometimes 2 buses leaving at the same time.

Photos from the day can be found here

Had a mint day today. For it being the first bus event I've been to, it was great.

Day started with my shuttle there being 4708, arriving at 10:24 ish. Got a few photos towards the right side (e.g. where 6307 was) and then headed towards the left side. Decided to buy a hotdog and I managed to find Dan, Jimmi and someone who I don't recognise on the front of that open topper. 

At around 11:30 I went back down towards the right side of the show, and get some interior photos, and was allowed to go into the cabs of 4922 and 6307! It was a great experience to see the big difference betweenness the both...

At around 11:45, I left the scene on 5279 as I had to return home. It was a great day and I loved it. Can't wait for more events to come by.

Also, I apologise if any of you saw me and I didn't say anything - I am incredibly shy!

(30 Apr 2017, 7:28 pm)EL1TE wrote [ -> ]Had a mint day today. For it being the first bus event I've been to, it was great.

Day started with my shuttle there being 4708, arriving at 10:24 ish. Got a few photos towards the right side (e.g. where 6307 was) and then headed towards the left side. Decided to buy a hotdog and I managed to find Dan, Jimmi and someone who I don't recognise on the front of that open topper. 

At around 11:30 I went back down towards the right side of the show, and get some interior photos, and was allowed to go into the cabs of 4922 and 6307! It was a great experience to see the big difference betweenness the both...

At around 11:45, I left the scene on 5279 as I had to return home. It was a great day and I loved it. Can't wait for more events to come by.

Also, I apologise if any of you saw me and I didn't say anything - I am incredibly shy!

I spent more time going and coming from there than I did there, as Jimmi will probably let us all be aware of for him too

There is parking for 70p nearby so I should have just drove but I wasn't sure.

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(30 Apr 2017, 7:37 pm)Jamie M wrote [ -> ]I spent more time going and coming from there than I did there, as Jimmi will probably let us all be aware of for him too

There is parking for 70p nearby so I should have just drove but I wasn't sure.

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Parking was free at the site adjacent to the rally - that's where I was parked.

(30 Apr 2017, 7:45 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Parking was free at the site adjacent to the rally - that's where I was parked.

I probably skipped over something then haha

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I parked round the corner on that bank where those billboards are, got 4708 there as wasn't sure where the site was so got HPK 507N back to Gateshead to get the car from Trinity Square


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I quite enjoyed myself today.

I will echo some things that have already been said, the space could have been used a bit more effectively plus some of the vehicles could have been placed not in direct sunlight by the afternoon, would have been better if most had been parked against the metal fence as this is where the sun was for the vast majority of the day.

I noticed that the amount of people had died down by about 2pm. Noticed that there was less attendees than there had been at the Metrocentre in the last few years from both commercial operators and buses in preservation, unsure as to why this was the case though, the change of venue, fuel costs or boycotting due to the heavy GNE presence?

Nice to see the usual plus some new faces today, sorry I didn't get to say hi to all of you's today. You should all know what I look like now! [emoji1]

Pleased that a more regular service was being provided on the shuttles by about lunchtime instead of the original intended 30 minutes.

Hopefully it will return again next year, maybe with a few slight improvements.

Managed to rush a small selection of photos from today onto my Flickr, as know you all love these plugs so much!

Rally album can be found here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskYKUbwm

I wasn't a huge fan of this one if I'm honest. It felt like a bit of a come down from the teesside one.

The lack of cream and green was very noticeable! The highlight for me was the first outing of the prestige! It was that good I had to go on twice!!!

It's no metrocenter but it will do!

I've very mixed feelings on this year's Bus and Coach Show.

I'll start by saying the NEBPT deserve some credit for the very quick turnaround/short notice on which they organised this year's event. It was unfortunate to lose the Metrocentre, which in my opinion was a cracking venue, but the show must go on...

Rather than my normal early start and catching of the run in, I decided to head across for the start at 1000 instead. Rather than wait for the first shuttle bus, which I imagined would be rather full, I decided to grab the Q3 from Haymarket. There were a few other enthusiasts that opted for this option too, and after all, it is only a short walk down from the nearest bus stop. When I got there, there were half a dozen buses already on site, and Go North East were starting to arrive. I'd say there was only a handful of members of the public on site at that time. It wasn't very clear where to pay your money on arrival, as the stewards seemed to be busy still setting up at the time, which led to others just walking straight in. 

I wasn't there for long before other vehicles started to arrive and park up, and the site soon began to fill up. I did find the site layout to become quite confusing, and there was no real plan of what was parked up where. A bit of a free for all really, which at one point led to most of the buses being tightly parked together at one end of the site. Perhaps if the site is secured for future years, a proper site plan can be drawn up, thus allowing land to be used to its maximum potential?

It was nice to see Go North East attend on mass still, and it was a shame that Arriva couldn't be there. The latter, I agree, a notable miss from this year's event. Hopefully the issues this year can be resolved with the NEBPT for next year.

The free shuttle service was very popular as usual, with very few buses going out without a full load. I sampled both Stagecarriage's HPK507N and A-Line's N703LTN. I had missed the Stagecarriage VR at Teesside last week, so I am pleased I had a chance to sample this week. The route was a simple up and over the Tyne Bridge to nearby Gateshead Interchange and back. Acting solely as a bus station shuttle, rather than a running route, as you previously had at the Metrocentre. Hopefully this is something that can be expanded on in future years, but I appreciate that the Quayside market makes things a bit difficult. A special mention goes to Go North East and Scarlet Band, who both supplied a 'low floor' shuttle to assist wheelchair users. The disabled access to the site was pretty grim, so I am pleased that both companies and their drivers stepped in to help.

There was a good variety from the trade stands as usual, but I did feel a bit sorry for them with the wind! I don't think there is a lot you can do with that though, unless industrial windbreakers can be hired in?

Although the rally was advertised to finish around 5pm, the reality was people were ready and packing up by about 3pm. The number on site had actually dropped dramatically by around 2pm, on what I'd say was a much lower turn out compared to the Metrocentre, anyway. This did however allow for a quick photoshoot at the end, with thanks to the NNRG for bringing 4855 across the site to make that happen.

It is disappointing that I have to say this, but I will - There has been a lot said on here and other discussion platforms, about either people causing a nuisance or doing things that they shouldn't be doing on site. Whilst I think it is common sense not to start opening doors on a bus to help yourself, get into driver cabs, or whatever else. I am 31 year old... many who attended the event are a lot younger than that, and are going to tend to do something unless they know better. Children are understandably excited and enthused to get up close and have a proper look at these fantastic buses. They do not have the same level of emotional control as grown adults. Why not spend the time to demonstrate and explain the bus to them and allow them to learn something, instead of sitting on board with the doors closed? It might be a good time to explain so-called rally etiquette to them, and hopefully they take something away from it. The key here is that nobody should have their day spoilt by others, and at the same time, nobody should be made to feel unwelcome either.

All in all, I still think the site has potential, but I do think the event is massively lacking any injection of ideas. It is in dire need of a refresh, and has been for a number of years now. It needs new people to get involved and compliment the experience and hard work of those that are currently involved, and more so build a contingency to ensure the events continue for years to come. The stewards were clearly rushed off their feet today, and there are so few of them to begin with. There was no printed literature about the event, and I know we have spoken on here about having programmes before.

Thanks to everyone who turned up and brought their buses along for others to enjoy!