North East Buses

(07 Jun 2015, 12:49 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote [ -> ]Going back a couple of posts in this conversation, I remember in early 2013, when I was starting to go to places like Durham, Newcastle and Sunderland by myself - I decided to make my first journey on an Arriva bus, an X2 to Durham.

This was a red double decker, looked extremely old when an ''Angel'' B5 drove past it at the bottom of Chester-le-Street. I've searched Flickr, and come to the conclusion that it was numbered 7260. All I remember from that journey was that it was an absolute beast, and flew up Chester-le-Street Front Street (the uphill climb from the bottom to the middle). I have to say I'm sad I only got to ride it for about 15-20 minutes. It had some sort of red seating, quite comfortable if my memory is correct. Nobody else was upstairs, so I had the front seats and the entire upper deck to myself. That was a great ride.

I think that red double decker was a Scania of some sort, I'm sure it had to be an Olympian.

Yeah it was a Scania N113DBR/East Lancs (searched Flickr to find out what it was). Arriva Durham had a few of these at that point, some were repainted although 7260 and 7266 operated in red for all their time at Durham.

Quite liked them and they often popped up on the 7/7A, 63/64 and 50/754.

Now we are pretty much into the summer now and I don't really have any particular buses I need to get photographs of, so I am hoping to go on some outings further afield in the next few months. Here are some places I am maybe hoping to get to soon...

Sat 11th June
Whitby / Sapphire 5/5A/X3/X4.

Sun 12th June
Dalesbus (Inc. York).

Sat 27th June
Carlisle

Sun 5th July
First Moorsbus of 2015.

Dates undecided
Alnwick / Berwick.
Scarborough / Filey / Bridlington.
Blackpool.
Northallerton / Ripon / Richmond

All plans are subject to change based on availability and if I feel confident in making some of these outings, such as the Dalesbus outing where I am a little confused about the stop in Ingleton and what would be the best way to ride buses on this outing.

(08 Jun 2015, 9:02 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Now we are pretty much into the summer now and I don't really have any particular buses I need to get photographs of, so I am hoping to go on some outings further afield in the next few months. Here are some places I am maybe hoping to get to soon...

Sat 11th June
Whitby / Sapphire 5/5A/X3/X4.

Sun 12th June
Dalesbus (Inc. York).

Sat 27th June
Carlisle

Sun 5th July
First Moorsbus of 2015.

Dates undecided
Alnwick / Berwick.
Scarborough / Filey / Bridlington.
Blackpool.
Northallerton / Ripon / Richmond

All plans are subject to change based on availability and if I feel confident in making some of these outings, such as the Dalesbus outing where I am a little confused about the stop in Ingleton and what would be the best way to ride buses on this outing.

I hope the weather stays kind for you, Jimmi

(08 Jun 2015, 9:02 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Now we are pretty much into the summer now and I don't really have any particular buses I need to get photographs of, so I am hoping to go on some outings further afield in the next few months. Here are some places I am maybe hoping to get to soon...

Sat 11th June
Whitby / Sapphire 5/5A/X3/X4.

Sun 12th June
Dalesbus (Inc. York).

Sat 27th June
Carlisle

Sun 5th July
First Moorsbus of 2015.

Dates undecided
Alnwick / Berwick.
Scarborough / Filey / Bridlington.
Blackpool.
Northallerton / Ripon / Richmond

All plans are subject to change based on availability and if I feel confident in making some of these outings, such as the Dalesbus outing where I am a little confused about the stop in Ingleton and what would be the best way to ride buses on this outing.

If you are considering Alnwick / Berwick a good trip on a Saturday is Spirit Buses Service 16. Its a round trip covering Alnwick,  Rothbury and then onto Alwinton and the upper Coquet Valley. Leaves Alnwick 14.10 and gets back there 16.10.

The views on the Cheviots are excellent, well worth the trip. Unfortunately they don't accept Explorer Tickets but their fares are reasonable. There's also an earlier bus on a Saturday morning. I took it last September and had about 4 hours in Alwinton walking in the Cheviots. There's a good pub in Alwinton with some good ales on tap, it gets busy on a Saturday afternoon though.  

The Alwinton service also runs on Tuesday and Thursday daytime. The Wednesday only service to Elsdon is well worth it for the scenery. I did this journey in February and there was only myself and an old lady on board.

Charles

I never really write much in here. There has been the odd exception to the rule, but as I have said elsewhere, me sharing the every day banalities of my life isn't top of the list of priorities.

There are trips here there and everywhere (think I have mentioned trips to other parts of the UK for work and my experiences on the likes of Brylaine).

Today, I had a little trip to the shops.
Couldn't be bothered to drive and thought the car needed a rest, so managed to make my own way to the shops.
Several bags later (including frozen stuff) and with umpteen beads of sweat dribbling down my back, I thought it wise to get the bus back.

4962 was my chariot home. Having just seen a Merc pull away, I waited until the next bus was due - glancing at the sun and the bags of frozen shopping, fearing Mrs C would have a go if I ended up bringing home puddles of shopping, rather than the odd frozen pizza and other stuff.

Anyway, 4962 pulled up. There were already several people on the bus and a few others boarded behind me, paying their cash fairs for the short hop down the road.
I reckon about 12, which considering the time of day, wasn't too bad.
I have no idea whether the bus was on time, with it seemingly turning up and as when it can.

The bus wasn't too hot. Windows were open and with it being a quarter full, not too unpleasant smell wise.
It wasn't a Percy Main vehicle, so unless the Shake n Vac woman had been doing some moonlighting - there wouldn't be the nice smell, that they apparently come with.

The journey was fairly short, with not much traffic on the road. The annoying rattle mentioned in the rare and odd workings thread, was - annoying. But nothing fell into the saloon nor bounced off down the road during my trip thankfully.

I pressed the bell, got off alongside another passenger and then trundled through the streets until I got home.
Mrs C's ice cream didn't melt, the Aunt Bessie Yorkshire Puddings were still whole and the pizza for a rainy day, hadn't collapsed.
The beads of sweat didn't go down too well when she tried ravishing me like.

All in all, a successful trip out. Apart from being knocked back, with a look of disgust on my arrival home.

I've managed to shift the bingo out of the way and will be doing a bus trip this Sat. Loads to bash that I have missed recently.

Not really a bus outing but this is just a quick review of what buses I rode whilst I was in Blackpool yesterday.

1756 68 Royal Oak - Blackpool Town Centre (Stagecoach - Enviro 400 #19031)
Waited for the first bus heading into Blackpool Town Centre from this stop and this is what turned up first with an ALX400 turning up behind us and I am glad a Stagecoach bus turned up first as the kids waiting at this stop were annoying, as I was getting on this bus one of them saw one of their friends coming and shouted their name really loudly, think this actually caused more damage to my ears than the gig did. Not a great deal to say really as it was not a very long journey although we did get stuck in traffic on the promenade which is pretty standard really but was a fairly nice bus although some of the seats could have done with being re-trimmed though.

2300 Blackpool Town Centre - Old Bridge (Preston Bus - Optare Solo SR #702)
Yeah didn't end up staying out into the early hours of the morning and headed back to the hotel straight after the gig so instead of paying goodness knows how much for a taxi, the bus was the chosen method of transport back to the hotel. Thankfully got to the bus stop just before 11pm and this was waiting further up the road then after about a minutes wait this came down to the stop, pretty friendly driver and there was no-one else on-board until we got to the Central Pier when two young lads jumped on so this was a quiet journey. This was quite a nice little bus from what I remember and was pretty quiet. Got to the bus stop not far from the hotel although much to the drivers annoyance someone pulled onto the bus stop just as he was about to drop us off at that stop and he didn't sound amused.

I took a few photos whilst I was there which will be uploaded to my Flickr this evening.

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Might change my mind about what I plan to do as an outing on Saturday as I think the weather isn't going to be as bright and sunny on Saturday so I may do the originally planned Sapphire 5/5A/X3/X4 outing another day and just go wherever I feel like or see what turns up and where. 

Annoyingly the weather forecast is terrible tomorrow so I am totally unsure that I will go anywhere tomorrow.

Sunday is dry but still isn't great so I am going to change the date for the Dalesbus outing (again!). Also I am unsure where the bus stop is to change buses at Ingleton is.

Might just have a quick trip to Darlington tomorrow afternoon and I may do a rare Sunday outing although I will have to plan my every move due to limited frequencys on many services.

(12 Jun 2015, 12:44 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Annoyingly the weather forecast is terrible tomorrow so I am totally unsure that I will go anywhere tomorrow.

Sunday is dry but still isn't great so I am going to change the date for the Dalesbus outing (again!). Also I am unsure where the bus stop is to change buses at Ingleton is.

Might just have a quick trip to Darlington tomorrow afternoon and I may do a rare Sunday outing although I will have to plan my every move due to limited frequencys on many services.

If its Ingleton near Kendal there is only one stop there.

(12 Jun 2015, 3:00 pm)Tom wrote [ -> ]If its Ingleton near Kendal there is only one stop there.

It's the Ingleton that is served by the Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire service 581.

The issue I'm having is where exactly the stop is as I have looked on Google Street View but there is no evidence to suggest that this is a bus stop, there is no pole, sign or roadmarkings so I am unsure where exactly to flag the 581 down to Settle/Skipton. Admittedly I don't think the map has been updated since 2009 do it may be different now.

May try contacting Arriva and Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire about it.

(12 Jun 2015, 3:23 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]It's the Ingleton that is served by the Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire service 581.

The issue I'm having is where exactly the stop is as I have looked on Google Street View but there is no evidence to suggest that this is a bus stop, there is no pole, sign or roadmarkings so I am unsure where exactly to flag the 581 down to Settle/Skipton. Admittedly I don't think the map has been updated since 2009 do it may be different now.

May try contacting Arriva and Kirkby Lonsdale Coach Hire about it.

Aye, when I've been I got the 80 from near the pub. 

(12 Jun 2015, 12:44 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Annoyingly the weather forecast is terrible tomorrow so I am totally unsure that I will go anywhere tomorrow.

Sunday is dry but still isn't great so I am going to change the date for the Dalesbus outing (again!). Also I am unsure where the bus stop is to change buses at Ingleton is.

Might just have a quick trip to Darlington tomorrow afternoon and I may do a rare Sunday outing although I will have to plan my every move due to limited frequencys on many services.

Is the Dalesbus being operated fully by Arriva or will EYMS and Yorkshire Coastliner bring something along aswell, if its the latter I will put that at the top of my priorities!

(12 Jun 2015, 4:08 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote [ -> ]Is the Dalesbus being operated fully by Arriva or will EYMS and Yorkshire Coastliner bring something along aswell, if its the latter I will put that at the top of my priorities!

The Dalesbus services are run by various different operators including Arriva North East who do the 830 service running Middlesbrough - Darlington - Richmond - Hawes - Ingleton and a few other places.

Click the link below to view the timetables for Dalesbus services.
http://www.dalesbus.org/

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Ingleton Community Centre bus stop is where I am having problems at (search it on Google, I tried to link the stop on Street View on here but it didn't work).

I may just walk down to the other stop which is 7 minutes walk away and I should have around 15 minutes between Arriva 830 arriving and 581 leaving and I walk pretty quick so it will probably only take me 5 minutes to walk to the other stop at The Bridge Inn so providing the 830 arrives on-time there should be no problems.

(12 Jun 2015, 4:24 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]The Dalesbus services are run by various different operators including Arriva North East who do the 830 service running Middlesbrough - Darlington - Richmond - Hawes - Ingleton and a few other places.

Click the link below to view the timetables for Dalesbus services.
http://www.dalesbus.org/

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Ingleton Community Centre bus stop is where I am having problems at (search it on Google, I tried to link the stop on Street View on here but it didn't work).

I may just walk down to the other stop which is 7 minutes walk away and I should have around 15 minutes between Arriva 830 arriving and 581 leaving and I walk pretty quick so it will probably only take me 5 minutes to walk to the other stop at The Bridge Inn so providing the 830 arrives on-time there should be no problems.

somehow ive managed to mix up dalesbus and moorsbus!  Sorry jimmi!  could someone give me details about this years moorsbus please.

but this dalesbus 830 route sounds good , might plan a journey round that! Do you know what type of bus works it? probably a pulsar or omnicity id think.

(12 Jun 2015, 4:47 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote [ -> ]somehow ive managed to mix up dalesbus and moorsbus!  Sorry jimmi!  could someone give me details about this years moorsbus please.

but this dalesbus 830 route sounds good , might plan a journey round that! Do you know what type of bus works it? probably a pulsar or omnicity id think.

11 reg Solo (or at least that's been used the last few years) is used operated by Darlington. depot.

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Moorsbus timetables can be seen on the link below.
http://www.moorsbus.org/page4.html

Ah ok that's going to be my route in hopefully 2 weeks, Might get a photo of Ribblehead viaduct while im there. then get the connecting train to skipton and then maybe the dalesbus to York and back home

May do a trip to Carlisle on Saturday 27th June.

Not sure when I'll do Dalesbus now as the weather this Sunday is not great, it's Howlands Rally the following Sunday, could do Sunday 28th June but I'm planning on going to Carlisle the day before and I'm doing a Moorsbus outing the Sunday after that. Still plenty of time left though.

Decided I am going to have a little trip out tomorrow and do the following, and hopefully avoid the rain also.

• Go to the Car Show down at Team Valley for an Hour or so.
  
• Photograph the remaining Branded Orbit/Quaylink Versas at Various Locations for my Archives.
  
• Photograph the Riverside Based Dual Door Ex Oxford Wright Renowns for my Archives
  
• Photograph the Citysightseeing Olympians.
  

(12 Jun 2015, 10:53 pm)Malarkey wrote [ -> ]Decided I am going to have a little trip out tomorrow and do the following, and hopefully avoid the rain also.

• Go to the Car Show down at Team Valley for an Hour or so.
  
• Photograph the remaining Branded Orbit/Quaylink Versas at Various Locations for my Archives.
  
• Photograph the Riverside Based Dual Door Ex Oxford Wright Renowns for my Archives
  
• Photograph the Citysightseeing Olympians.
  

Wrekenton is a decent spot for photos for the Orbit services 

I haven't written a review for the past few weeks as Marcus has been with me a lot recently - I certainly wouldn't wish to upstage him! I'd intended on staying in today given that there was heavy rain forecast earlier in the week and I hadn't checked the weather since. As it seemed pretty mild and looked like we were going to avoid the rain, I set out fairly early this morning for a few hours out.

As I use the Metro to commute between Sunderland and Gateshead on a daily basis, I try to avoid using the Metro (if possible) on a weekend. Sadly, I didn't get up early enough to get the bus, so I had to settle for the Metro. Compared to the weekday Metros between 07:00am and 08:00am, my journey this morning was bliss, as it was more or less empty. I arrived promptly into Haymarket just after 08:15am, and I headed towards Eldon Square Bus Station, where I intended to meet a connection to the 08:35am 74 service to Hexham.

On boarding, I was pretty sure that I'd used the 74 service in the past. After we headed out of Newcastle, I soon realised that this was not the case, and I must have used the old 684 service on a number of occasions in the past instead, as the route the bus took was not familiar. The standard of a driver at Hexham was recently questioned on the forum with regards to some reversing difficulties in Newcastle. Having used the 74 service with a full-sized vehicle allocated, I must say that any driver to complete this route without bumping into anything is incredibly skilled. The 74 service certainly isn't your run-of-the-mill route with the odd tight corner here and there - I'd argue that the fair majority of the route as soon as you hit the Northumberland county border poses a difficult challenge (especially in anything larger than an MPD) and requires some careful manoeuvres to complete the route. Being used to the X85 service when travelling from Newcastle to Hexham, I realised that I'd definitely taken the slow route, and that I wouldn't have a great deal of time in Hexham.

I planned to get the 10:41am #689 service from Hexham to Consett, and then work something out from there. I had just enough time to walk to Go North East's depot and back, and sort out a destination display issue on an MPD. Rather unusually, the service arrived in about five minutes late, meaning that I needn't have rushed back from the depot as I initially thought I would have to. Again, this route is another which requires great precision when navigating tight corners, and I'd imagine it would be difficult to achieve in anything larger than a minibus. A pheasant with a death-wish made the driver take a rather harsh brake at one stage of the route, and an old woman on-board suggested the driver should have knocked it down! 

Upon arrival in Consett, I headed to the chip shop near the bus station. With the 15A service being due to depart in 10-15 minutes from my arrival, I decided to get the chips wrapped and eat them on the bus. As Tom had posted a photo of a Streetlite on the 61/62 services and I wanted to catch up with the recently branded Park & Ride Solos at Durham, I thought it would be a good shout. The ex-London Presidents have something of a bad reputation on this forum, but I must say I've never been able to fault Stanley's examples, which are truly hammered six days of the week on the 15/15A services. They're a bit slow on steep banks, but are quite comfortable and are capable of keeping to schedule...

On arrival into Durham, I saw "the dotty Solo" head down North Road. For once, I decided it wasn't worth running for. After I bought a drink in Tesco, I headed up to the usual photo spot and took a few photos. Instead of waiting for another President to come and take me back to Tyneside, I decided to spice it up with a "MAX" spec VDL Pulsar on the X12 instead... The one I had was in far superior condition to some of the examples based at Durham and Jesmond - sadly I don't get much of a chance to ride any others! Was a pretty quiet journey (in terms of passenger numbers - the sound of the engine was incredibly loud), but this is pretty common on the Newcastle to Durham stretch, with the majority of customers opting for GNE's 21/X21 services instead. I abandoned ship in Gateshead, so I could try and catch up with GNE's recently repainted 8334. I saw a Lolyne occupying the stand belonging to one of the former "West Durham Swift" branded services, so I ran up the bank at the back exit of Gateshead Interchange, only to see aureolin and Marcus occupying the front seats on the top deck! I made an attempt at taking the photo while waving - unsure how well that worked...

As tyresmoke asked someone to check what was in Thorntons' yard if anyone was in the area, I decided to make it my business to go to North Seaton on the X20. Was one of the '09 batch of ADL Enviro400s, and I was quite impressed with how well it handled the A1 (sorry DaveyB!) As ever, the journey flew over, and we were at North Seaton. Jumped off, and then went for a walk to Thorntons and back. After this, I decided to head home via Morpeth and Newcastle. I was pretty tired by the time I got to North Seaton, never mind Morpeth, and as an Alexander ALX400 turned up on the 35 rather than a Streetlite, I managed to have a comfortable journey which allowed for some shut-eye! I was on the front seat and had the bus to myself for the majority of the journey, so I'm guessing nobody caught me to put on a certain "Sleepy Commuters" thread!

A pretty good day was had considering I didn't plan to go out at all today... A summary of the journeys I made is given below:

07:50 Metro: Stadium of Light to Monument - Tyne & Wear Metro 4031
08:35 #74: Newcastle to Hexham - Go North East 4979
10:41 #689: Hexham to Consett - Go North East 652
11:45 #15A: Consett to Durham - Go North East 6014
12:51 #X12: Durham to Gateshead - Arriva North East 1441
14:05 #X1: Gateshead to Newcastle - Go North East 6005
14:30 #X20: Newcastle to North Seaton - Arriva North East 7521
15:41 #35A: North Seaton to Morpeth - Arriva North East 7472
16:23 (12l) #X18: Morpeth to Newcastle - Arriva North East 7532
17:24 Metro: Haymarket to Stadium of Light - Tyne & Wear Metro 4058

Hopefully get the photos up on Flickr at some point tonight / tomorrow - I'm certainly in no rush though!  

I'm going to do a Streetlite "Bash" on Wednesday or Thursday, I am hoping to try the following:
Red Kite Streetlite
Coast and Country streetlite
An Omnidekka.
If anybody is interested I'll be more than happy for you to join me

(13 Jun 2015, 6:41 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]The ex-London Presidents have something of a bad reputation on this forum, but I must say I've never been able to fault Stanley's examples, which are truly hammered six days of the week on the 15/15A services. They're a bit slow on steep banks, but are quite comfortable and are capable of keeping to schedule...

You must be lucky with the Presidents as all the ones I've had on the 15/15A have not been great, last time I had 6014 it couldn't do anymore than 15mph. Although some of my awful experiences on them are things such there being no heating on cold days. The best ex London President's I have been on are probably the examples based at Chester-le-Street although I quite enjoyed a ride on 6020 on the X20 one night and I think this is now my favourite ex London President.

(13 Jun 2015, 6:57 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]You must be lucky with the Presidents as all the ones I've had on the 15/15A have not been great, last time I had 6014 it couldn't do anymore than 15mph. Although some of my awful experiences on them are things such there being no heating on cold days. The best ex London President's I have been on are probably the examples based at Chester-le-Street although I quite enjoyed a ride on 6020 on the X20 one night and I think this is now my favourite ex London President.

I think I've been on all of them now and can't recall a bad journey.

Some better than others mind - I remember not being keen on 6008 when it arrived at Deptford from Stanley (iirc), and likewise 6042 from Riverside. Quite like 6039, which is still at Deptford now.

(13 Jun 2015, 6:57 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]You must be lucky with the Presidents as all the ones I've had on the 15/15A have not been great, last time I had 6014 it couldn't do anymore than 15mph. Although some of my awful experiences on them are things such there being no heating on cold days. The best ex London President's I have been on are probably the examples based at Chester-le-Street although I quite enjoyed a ride on 6020 on the X20 one night and I think this is now my favourite ex London President.

I hate them, they are horrendous

(13 Jun 2015, 7:00 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]I think I've been on all of them now and can't recall a bad journey.

Some better than others mind - I remember not being keen on 6008 when it arrived at Deptford from Stanley (iirc), and likewise 6042 from Riverside. Quite like 6039, which is still at Deptford now.

I had 6039 last year when it was based at Riverside, and I hated it but I think 6008 is the worst

(13 Jun 2015, 7:00 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]I think I've been on all of them now and can't recall a bad journey.

Some better than others mind - I remember not being keen on 6008 when it arrived at Deptford from Stanley (iirc), and likewise 6042 from Riverside. Quite like 6039, which is still at Deptford now.

Some are better than others and some may vary from day to day, had 6042 on the X35 from Peterlee to Hartlepool recently and it seems to make a lot of noise but isn't the fastest President in the fleet.

(13 Jun 2015, 7:03 pm)Davie wrote [ -> ]I hate them, they are horrendous

I don't hate them but at the same time I wouldn't say I like them either.

(13 Jun 2015, 7:08 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]I don't hate them but at the same time I wouldn't say I like them either.

They are my third least favorite buses in the current Go North East fleet, ahead of Vykings and omnicities

We all know pdiddy's thoughts on them!

(13 Jun 2015, 7:12 pm)Davie wrote [ -> ]They are my third least favorite buses in the current Go North East fleet, ahead of Vykings and omnicities

Out of interest why do you not like Omnicity's so much?

(13 Jun 2015, 7:17 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Out of interest why do you not like Omnicity's so much?

I find them uncomfortable and unreliable and get (especially 5274) rattle a lot. It is probably just my opinion