(05 Apr 2014, 1:49 pm)NEBCD Malarkey I only paid £26.50 for the exact same Train Departures as stated above, Although I was in the Quiet Coach, so maybe a bit cheaper than any of the other carriages but of thought it of made a difference to be honest.

(05 Apr 2014, 2:31 pm)Dan As much as I'd love to, I don't think I will be returning to Edinburgh until summer now (when, I imagine, it will be my overnight trip to Edinburgh from Sunderland via somewhere in Wales, London and Glasgow, with opportunities for Inverness too. September and October will be my trips to Edinburgh after that.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:10 pm)Tom I'm having a fab day, Premier Inn is faultless, and has a beautiful view of the castle.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:13 pm)aureolin The prices I quoted were to/from Glasgow Queen street. Your ticket is only fixed to and from Edinburgh, but you're free to make a trip each way to and from Glasgow any time during the day.


That sounds like a bloody long trip Mega Bus?

I'm down Brighton again in May for a week, so looking forward to a couple of photo opportunities down there. Edinburgh is just a random trip for Easter, but I plan on going over Carlisle at some point too.


Tend not to stay in Premier Inns much these days, but never ever had a problem with them. Holiday Inns are usually just as good.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:21 pm)Tom Only issue I've got is the horrendous evening meal choice at the Thyme.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:23 pm)aureolin I never usually bother with evening meals at hotels. Pub is far too appealing.

(05 Apr 2014, 5:13 pm)aureolin That sounds like a bloody long trip Mega Bus?

I'm down Brighton again in May for a week, so looking forward to a couple of photo opportunities down there. Edinburgh is just a random trip for Easter, but I plan on going over Carlisle at some point too.

(06 Apr 2014, 11:52 am)Dan Well I set off yesterday on the 06:53ish Tyne & Wear Metro service from Stadium of Light to Central Station, arriving 07:15am. To my disappointment, I had refurbished Metrocar 4090 for this journey. I can - and have - dealt with Go North East's enthusiastic Next Stop Announcements at this hour and it's never been as painful as my journey on 4090 yesterday.

From Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley, I had Class 91 set 91102.

I walked around the Princes St area for a while and then walked to Edinburgh Bus Station via St. Andrew's Square. Although the main objective was to get some change as I only had notes and Lothian don't give change, this allowed for some photography of many various coaches as well as some of Perrymans' fleet. Also new since I last visited Edinburgh was the Enviros on the 40/40A. Got a few photos of those too.

After this, I walked to Lothian's Central depot to see if anything was visible to photograph. Not a great deal there and it's amazing to compare how different it is on a normal operational day compared to the Open Day hosted last year.

I then jumped on a 26 to Lothian's Marine depot, and this is when it started to rain a little. Nevertheless, I got a few photos and then we were off again.

It was time to hunt down Volvo B5TL demonstrator 286, so I eagerly waited at The Mound until having the idea of getting on a Hunters Tryst bound 27 and hopefully seeing it en-route and catching it up on the following 27. This didn't take long, as we saw 286 the stop after The Mound! In true Edinburgh fashion, it was stuck in traffic and so we had enough time to jump off our bus and run back to The Mound so we could have a ride of it. We caught it with time to spare and had a ride of it all the way to Silverknowes on the top deck. Once we got to Silverknowes, we took some photographs and then when it was due to depart, we jumped on it again and had a ride back to the City Centre.

I took a few photos at The Mound and on Princes Street again while my friend from Edinburgh grabbed a sandwich quickly. Next on the agenda was to sample a Volvo 7900H as we only had a few minutes on them last time I was up there. We stayed on until Clermiston, and it was good to go there as I hadn't actually been there before.

Soon after, the 21 to Gyle Centre pulled in and we decided to get on that as I hadn't been on the 21 before. Again, it was nice to visit Gyle Centre as I hadn't been there before and there was quite a bit of variety, with a few smaller operators being present alongside Lothian and First.

After a quick photo session at Gyle Centre, we jumped on a 22 all the way to Ocean Terminal. I think most people have been to Ocean Terminal before so most will appreciate that it's a nice place to go for a little break as it has clean toilet facilities as well as places to eat. The long 50 minute or so journey there allowed me to sort through some of my photos and delete the "duplicate photos" I'd taken as buses were coming towards me.

To my surprise, the fair was on at Ocean Terminal and this meant that it was a lot busier (and louder) than usual. A Scania with the lovely seats turned up, and we jumped on that to Holyrood. I do have a soft spot for Lothian's Darts (well, some of them - there's one which has hideously squeaky brakes!) so I had a short ride of the 36 from Holyrood to the City Centre.

I grabbed a bite to eat in the City Centre, and then realised I had an hour or so left - so it was time to get as many photos as possible!

We did a quick tour of the City Centre again by walking to the bus station and then walking back to Princes St and The Mound, where I'd timed another photograph of 286. Walked to The Scotsman and got some photographs on that bridge, and that was me done for the day.

My train home was "Skyfall" 91107, and my Metro home was 4042. I was tired, so I wasn't particularly impressed when another refurbished one turned up...


I had a wonderful day and the weather was reasonably good compared to what had been forecast. I'm just in the process of uploading last year's Edinburgh trip photos to Flickr and I'm just glad that this time, my camera wasn't broken! Quality of those shots are awful but they're a lot better this time.

(06 Apr 2014, 12:51 pm)aureolin Sounds like another cracking day out. Look forward to the photos. Did you find you had enough time? Too much time? Not enough time?

I've just booked tickets during the Easter week, but I'm going to head up on the 1042 East Coast and back on the 1830. It should still give me over 5½ hours of usable time.

(06 Apr 2014, 1:04 pm)Dan I found I had enough time, yeah. I took roughly 200 photos when I was there and to most that'll seem incredibly excessive - but it's around the norm for me on such a long day like that!

I find the 0742 up and the 1830 back down gives me enough time to sample some of the fleet too. The 1830 back down is a lovely journey - best part of five people has been the maximum number of passengers on all of my trips down on that journey in the Quiet Coach.

(06 Apr 2014, 12:51 pm)aureolin Sounds like another cracking day out. Look forward to the photos. Did you find you had enough time? Too much time? Not enough time?

I've just booked tickets during the Easter week, but I'm going to head up on the 1042 East Coast and back on the 1830. It should still give me over 5½ hours of usable time.

(06 Apr 2014, 2:34 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Anyone heading to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games?
I imagine there will be some different stuff knocking around then.

It should be my next non business related trip up that way.

(06 Apr 2014, 3:32 pm)aureolin Probably going to head up and back one day, depending on the train fares.

(06 Apr 2014, 5:11 pm)Andreos Constantopolous Taking full advantage of the family and friends railcards.
Is it not worth buying one of the railcards you can get to go with two adults?

(06 Apr 2014, 5:09 pm)Tom I've got a few photos, but haven't saw the B5LH.

(06 Apr 2014, 5:39 pm)NEBCD Malarkey It should be on the 27 Tom, unless it has Suspension Issues again like it did on Friday, in which case it'll be in Central Depot, but as it is Sunday I doubt it'll be out anyway.

(06 Apr 2014, 5:43 pm)Dan As I noted yesterday, it had the same issues again when I was sat on it - racking up a 13m delay.

From what I've been told, it pretty much constantly runs late... Good bus for you right there.

It seems Lothian's drivers aren't familiar with the good ol' "turn it off then turn it back on again" trick, as that sorted everything out yesterday when a Go North East driver/enthusiast said that might help...

(06 Apr 2014, 6:32 pm)Tom What a sight though, lovely to wake up to!