My unexpected day out with Dan was a great adventure yesterday. I had left the house hoping for a ride on the 128 at first, which we did accomplish, but it must be said I was not expecting to find myself in the deepest parts of Derwentside!
#21 - Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace to Durham Bus Station - (10:06 --- 10:22) - Go North East 6058 - Volvo B5HL/Wright Gemini 2
Left the house at 09:45ish, and initially planning on getting the 78 through to Sunderland first, I decided not to and made my way up to the Durham-Newcastle stretch of route. As I neared the stop, I saw the Gateshead Central Taxis Shuttle fly past. Damn! I was still under the impression that buses were NOT serving Clifford Terrace in any way; afraid the Customer Services guy didn't explain that clear enough, and I was left really pissed off as it headed up to Chester Moor. However, I suddenly saw an Angel head along Durham Road, yes!! My mood immediately improved, as this meant I could definitely catch the 128 at Durham. I hopped on, and paid for a Get Around for £3.75 before taking my seat at the front upstairs, right-hand side. Pleasant ride through to Durham; and when I got to the bus station - the entire day changed.
I saw a familiar face taking photos at the North Road roundabout, and identified him as being Dan. I gave him a wave, expecting him to see me. He saw me, but didn't do anything, so as I got off I dropped him a PM asking if that was him taking photos at Durham. I saw him take his phone out, then he looked across to me, and I made my way across to him. I introduced myself, and we got talking. As Dan has said before, our objectives for the day were quite similar: I had been planning on the 128 to Beamish, 8 to Stanley then float between Stanley, Consett and Durham. We moved up towards the railway station, and awaited 646 to come through on the 128; Dan planning on a shot of it heading up to the railway station. Unfortunately, neither of our photos came out great, I can't remember what was wrong with mine but with his set of photos I don't think the destination came out fully.
#128 - Durham Bus Station to Beamish Museum Main Gates - (10:44 --- 11:11) - Go North East 646 - Optare Solo SR M890/Optare
Once it had headed up to the railway station, we walked back to the bus station. After standing in the short queue for no more than 2 minutes, we saw it come down and enter the stand. We hit the back seats, and while the beautifully scenic route flew past, we discussed any other plans for today, and decided to go around together rather than part ways. 646 provided one of the best journeys of the day in my opinion; mechanically-sound, comfy seats, impeccably clean inside, and the route itself was most enjoyable to ride once again (having not been on it in ages). We left at Beamish Museum, and while the bus stood stationary; we utilised the opportunity to take a photo in front of the entrance building at Beamish.
Dan suggested we walk up to the very top (which killed my back, thanks buddy!) to get a shot of the 128, and possibly some 28s (both CLS-bound and NCL-bound enter Beamish roughly minutes apart, coinciding with the 128 being there!). This was a great decision, as I think my shot of 646 leaving Beamish was one of the best I took all day. We also took a few photos of 4959 entering and leaving, and I managed a photo of both 646 and 4959 at the bottom, together (unsure if Dan decided to or not). As we got to the top, and into Beamish village itself, we checked a few timings, Dan tracked a few buses, and we waited for some photos. Unfortunately not many of mine came out great, but luckily Dan took some great shots which compensated for this. Eventually, 4896 (which we had both expected to be 4853!)'s distinctive noise filled the air, and flagged the bus to a halt.
#8 - Beamish (opp. Shepherd and Shepherdess) to Stanley Bus Depot - (11:33 --- 11:45) - Go North East 4896 - Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
Dan was pleased to be reunited with his old friend, 4896, and he explained it was allocated to a specific run he used to catch for a time. Brilliant bus, just like the last ride (646) - mechanically fine, you almost wouldn't be able to tell it was 15 years older than the former, seriously! As we headed into Stanley, I pointed out that we were passing Stanley depot, which we both agreed would offer some interesting photos - as Dan was in need of a few photos of Volvo B7s (I think he was after 6011 specifically?). His main aim for today was some photos of Red Kites, and 5241 was preparing to exit the main entrance of the depot. This was great, and we walked around the side. A Diamond Merc really pissed me off here, as it was constantly blurring every time I hit the trigger, but I did manage a shot of 3876 on the pits.
We walked back to the stop, and a former ''West Durham Swift'' route was due. We waited for it, hoping for an Olympian, but settling for 3888; as Tridents are good workhorses, we both agreed.
#X31 - Stanley Bus Depot to Lanchester Village Green - (11:58 --- 12:27) - Go North East 3888 - Dennis Trident/Plaxton President
Running a few minutes late, we boarded, and I picked up a timetable for the 15s; as we had decided to go all the way to Lanchester, as neither of us had taken photos there before, and we could catch the 15/15A from there to Consett; adding a bit of variety, rather than get the V8 from Stanley to Consett; meaning two Solo SRs, sort of destroying the variety somewhat. As we departed Stanley bus station, those two kids mentioned in the ''What's made you happy today'' thread joined us at the front; the following conversation was one of the highlights of the day haha!! They got off in Annfield Plain, leaving us to talk freely again. As we got to Lanchester, we hopped off and took photos of 3888 as it stood stationary, waiting to leave for Newcastle.
We had a 25 minute wait for our 15 to Consett, so took a photo of 3860 heading to Durham, before making our way to Cooplands, me offering, obviously, hehe!! I offered to buy him a drink; but he declined and just went for a slice of Pepperoni Pizza, and I went for a corned beef pasty. We sat at a bench, discussing his work with Go North East, etc, and eventually I saw 6009 coming. Dan was most happy about this, as he was in need of a photo of it since it's repaint into the corporate livery.
#15 - Lanchester Village Green to Consett Bus Station - (12:51 --- 13:10) - Go North East 6009 - Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President
Front seats were free, and so we hit them. The windows kept closing with the wind, which was annoying with the heat coming through the windows. As Dan said in his review; 6009 absolutely powered up banks. The 15 route up to Consett has some very intense slopes, which I imagine many would struggle to walk up. Flew up most of them, without a doubt one of the best Presidents in the fleet, in my opinion. A few chavs got on at Delves Lane, which was a slight downside, but thankfully I don't think they sat upstairs and just stayed downstairs.
After disembarking in Consett, Dan had managed to time this perfectly, 5234 was waiting to depart on a 46 for Newcastle. We got photos of it leaving, which was another great aspect to the day! Also, a group of Olympians parked up were present, and even though we did get a few remarks from some scruffy teenagers, the brief stop at Consett proved to be a great decision; I imagine had we been there at a different time, we wouldn't have caught 5234's photo, which wouldn't have been desirable.
#45 - Consett Bus Station to Shotley Bridge - (13:29 --- 13:45) - Go North East 5240 - Scania CN230UB/Scania OmniCity
We hopped on this, and Shotley Bridge couldn't have come any sooner! The decision to take photos there was a great decision, but this OmniCity was a dreadful ride. I've always thought of OmniCities as being characterless, ugly, loud machines; basically, never liked them. This journey can add further to that opinion...the seats I wound up with were as bad as the legroom at the front on a Dennis President! About a dozen kids at the back pressing the bell repeatedly, messing around, etc, added further to the annoyance of having little-to-no legroom. However, Dan got some good seats, just behind me. haha...at least he managed to enjoy the journey somewhat!
As we got to Shotley Bridge, Dan pressed the bell at the last moment possible to stop the bus in time. Seemed to become a habit of his on the Red Kite routes. When we hopped off, Dan worked out which stop the next 46 to Consett would be at, allowing us a photo, and where to get the next bus in the other direct to was stopping at. After working all this out, I pointed out there was a river flowing under the large bridge, and to kill a few minutes, we went down for some photos as it appeared to be such a beautiful looking view. When we walked back up, the 46 to Consett (5239) came into view; and allowed us both to get a photo of a Red Kite on the Red Kite route, which I'm sure Dan was most happy about, seeing as it was one of his aims for the day!
#46 - Shotley Bridge to Dipwood Road, Rowlands Gill - (14:06 --- 14:25) - Go North East 5235 - Scania CN230UB/Scania OmniCity
After waiting for what felt like a century, 5235 appeared, quite a few minutes late. I wasn't expecting this OmniCity to be much better than 5240 - but I was wrong. I'm not sure what Dan made of it, but I felt it was much, much better. Rattles and squeaks to a minimum, less passengers on than with 5235, and the seats that were free had great legroom. Dan initially went to sit in a reserved seat...but I reminded him that would mean death should a gang of O-APs wish to board, so he joined me at the seats I generally go for on any single decker.
I felt the route was a lot more scenic between Shotley Bridge and Rowlands Gill than the former and Consett. Some of the woodland areas, with skyscraper trees, then desolate fields, were beautiful to ride through. Almost made an OmniCity bearable! Dan managed to press the bell at the last minute, yet again...haha.
#45 - Dipwood Road, Rowlands Gill to Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station - (14:34 --- 15:00) - Go North East 3832 - Volvo Olympian/NC Palatine 2
After walking from the stop we left 5235 at to the next along the long road, Dan checked his tracking system, and found it was 3832 that would be operating our 45 to Newcastle. Hallelujah! Unfortunately due to the angle of the sun, we couldn't get a decent photo of the Red Kite heading to Consett, but the Olympian made up for this. A superb ride into Newcastle, had some good conversation whilst on board...shame the front seats were taken! I think we can all establish that Olympians are among the smoothest vehicles ever to be made. Although I must say, I prefer the NC Palatine 1 body, with the flat front - they were amongst the first Olympians I ever rode, when 3916 and 3917 were stalwarts at Chester-le-Street.
We left in Eldon Square, and headed up to Percy Street for a photo, before Dan and I went over to Haymarket for a quick ride on the Cobalt Clipper up to Jesmond.
#310 - Newcastle, Haymarket Bus Station to Sandyford (near Arriva's Jesmond depot) - (15:17 --- 15:22) - Go North East 6105 - Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
We boarded 6105, which was waiting in it's stand at the Haymarket. Sat at the rear downstairs, and had a brief conversation while we waited for the stop to come. Really nothing to say about it! No evident problems with this vehicle, nice sounding engine, don't know if Dan can elaborate on it?
Walked around to Jesmond, I'd seen the depot before when I've passed through Jesmond, but never actually been near it (if that makes sense). Dan pointed out that you wouldn't think the big white structure in front of us was a bus depot, and it took me a moment to realise we were looking at Jesmond (from a different angle)! What can I say, I'd had a long day! haha Then we had those two young ladies ask us about places to eat, an explanation on what the Metro was, was certainly more eventful than I expected! Nonetheless, great that we got some photos of the Streetlites and E400s in the depot, seeing as many others are doing so as well.
#309 - Sandyford (near Arriva's Jesmond depot) to Newcastle, Haymarket Bus Station - (15:37 --- 15:42) - Go North East 6113 - Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
Headed back to the bus stop opposite where we disembarked 6105, and noticed how late it was getting (for me! haha). We had intended to get the 58 to Gateshead, but being pressed for time, just decided to get the next Go North East bus that came. You know when it feels like all the buses are going the other way and none are coming your way? That's what it felt like. Must have been there a good 5-10 minutes waiting. If I'd chosen to do an Explorer, we could have just got the Arriva Streetlite that passed us...I can vividly remember the wince on Dan's face...haha!!
Eventually the 309 emerged, and we were welcomed by the warmth of 6113. I brought up the 919's withdrawal, and Dan mentioned how he got a photo on it's first day of operation with 3866 providing the motive power. Then he mentioned it's registration; 340 GUP, and one thing led to another and 3866 is now officially called ''GUPpy''. Anyway, not a bad ride back into Newcastle, and a Durham-bound 21 was on Percy Street. Hybrid too! Great, not going to be hanging around while a bunch of Chester-le-Street-bound's float in!
#21 - Newcastle, Eldon Square Bus Station to Chester-le-Street Clifford Terrace - (15:46 --- 16:39) - Go North East 6069 - Volvo B5HL/Wright Gemini 2
Dan hopped on with me, as he was heading to Gateshead. Not so crowded heading out of Newcastle, and when we got to Gateshead, Dan abandoned me on the upper saloon and I thanked him for a great day out. When I passed him on High Street West, he was trying (and failing) to photograph 6069 with it's updated destination blind. His further fate is unknown. haha
Just put my earphones in for the remainder of the journey; which I have done dozens of times before. Nothing special about 6069; expect it's last two digits. Got me to my stop for 16:40, and I was in the house by 17:00. Had a great day out, all courtesy of Dan. I sincerely thank him for a great day out, plenty of photo opportunities, and some good conversation.
Thanks for reading (if you've got this far)!
Marcus
